Philippians (Understanding the Bible Commentary | UBC)
Overview
The letter from Paul known as the ‘epistle of joy’ is a thank-you note to the believers at Philippi for their help in his hour of need. It provides instruction on Christian unity. His central thought is simple: only in Jesus are real unity and joy possible. This commentary pulls the rich truth from this letter and makes it live for us today.
Top Highlights
“If such love increases among the Philippian Christians, it will remove those threats to their unity of heart and purpose that arise from occasional clashes of personality and temperament. Paul returns to the subject in 2:2, where he urges his readers to make his ‘joy complete by … ‘having the same love.’ ’” (Page 36)
“The fruit of righteousness that Paul desires to see reproduced in the Philippians’ lives is essentially identical with those graces which, according to Galatians 5:22, 23, make up the ‘fruit (or ‘harvest’) of the Spirit.’ These qualities are the spontaneous product of the new life implanted within them, a life based on ‘the righteousness that comes from God’ (3:9). It is because of their union with him by faith that they will display the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ and which was manifested perfectly in his own character and action. There is no room for self-congratulation here.” (Page 37)
“As he emphasizes elsewhere, the Spirit does what the law could not: the law could tell people what to do without supplying the power, or even the will, to do it; the Spirit supplies both (Rom. 8:3, 4; 2 Cor. 3:4–6). When the Spirit takes the initiative in imparting to believers the desire and the power to do the will of God, then that desire and power become theirs by his gift, and they do his will ‘from your heart’ (Eph. 6:6).” (Page 82)
“Should it be for the advancement of Christ’s cause that Paul is sentenced to death and executed, then welcome death! But if it is for the advancement of Christ’s cause that Paul should be acquitted and granted a further lease of mortal life, then welcome life!” (Page 49)
This is a valuable commentary. . . . I find [F. F. Bruce’s] exposition and exegetical/philological judgments and comments very competent and insightful. He is very fair and gives the opinion of others in detail while he justifies his own judgments with good argumentation.
—P. M. Meagher, Institute of Religious Studies
- Title: Philippians
- Author: F. F. Bruce
- Series: Understanding the Bible Commentary Series
- Publisher: Baker
- Print Publication Date: 2011
- Logos Release Date: 2012
- Pages: 208
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subject: Bible. N.T. Philippians › Commentaries
- ISBNs: 9781441251954, 9780801045769, 1441251952, 0801045762
- Resource ID: LLS:NIBCNT71PHP
- Resource Type: Bible Commentary
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-12-12T21:58:51Z
F. F. Bruce (1910-1990) was known worldwide as the "dean of evangelical scholarship"—a reputation earned by a lifetime of scholarship, teaching, and writing. Trained in classics at the University of Aberdeen and Cambridge University, he taught at the Universities of Edinburgh, Leeds, and Sheffield before serving for nearly twenty years as the Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis at the University of Manchester in England. During his distinguished career, he wrote many outstanding commentaries and books, including Paul, Apostle of the Heart Set Free; Israel and the Nations; New Testament History; The Books and the Parchments: How We Got Our English Bible; Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament; and The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? He also served as general editor of The New International Commentary on the New Testament.