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Philippians 1:18-26


Welcome back! Thank you for joining us on this path through Philippians. Today we're going to share notes on Philippians 1:18-25. These notes are from N.T. Wright's online course.

Here are my notes

  • Here is Paul's intimate reflection about the question of death
  • Paul is in prison and could face death
  • Paul is saying, There would be gain in dying but there's more work to be done
  • He's wrestled with this 
  • He quotes Job 13:16 "... this will turn out for my deliverance" 
  • This word 'deliverance' can also be translated as salvation. Literally, it means "rescue."
  • If you're also doing the course with N.T. Wright, you heard him say "inverted commas"--that's a British expression for quotation marks. Also, Bishop Wright encourages us to look at the context when Paul quotes a verse--to see what's going on--so that we can try to figure out the point Paul is trying to make.
  • Salvation can sum up the entire blessing of the gospel and everything you get by belonging to Jesus.
  • The support of the Spirit and their prayers is how God works. God wants to work through us!
  • Paul has such an intense and intimate sense of who Jesus is and what it means to belong to him that the thought of simply being with him is a wonderful prospect
  • Between death and resurrection there's a time of being with Jesus. Resurrection is bodily.
  • Beyond death there's a sure and certain hope of the presence of Jesus then ultimate resurrection.
Let's end with a reflection question: What fruitful work does God have for you to do?

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