The Wesleyan Way

The way many people see Philippians 2:19-30 is that Paul is doing something similar to many preachers who say, "And one more thing . . ." and then preach for another twenty minutes. But I don't see Paul as the typical Baptist preacher. I think this pause is intentional. I don't think it was an early ending and then Paul had more ideas and kept writing. Paul is sending two people to the Philippians, and he's explaining why he's sending them. They are, as Bishop Wright says, "working models" of what Paul has been teaching. They think like Jesus. They understand the gospel, it's meaning, and they're practicing it. They are humble and they are living in this new Jesus way. While these verses may not be the most exciting, they help us to piece together the story of what's going on. Around the year 55 or 56 AD, Paul is in prison--likely in Ephesus. During that time, Paul wrote this letter. Timothy will hand-deliver this letter to the P...

Welcome back! Thank you for joining us as we work through Philippians. In Philippians 2:12-18, Paul is expressing what it means to live as people who worship. And he has two images that are shaping the examples he shares: the exodus and the Temple. The exodus happened when God led the Hebrews out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and into the promised land. So how is Paul using that as an image? Because we are people who are being led by God. And as he leads us through the wilderness, we have to "work out" our "salvation." What does that "work out" look like?  It looks like us growing up and becoming more mature in our faith. It looks like us knowing God in a new way--a way that's personal. And it looks like us developing our minds so we learn to think the way Jesus does. So this working out our salvation means that we figure out what "salvation" means in practice. Salvation in practice looks like holiness. Holiness is not a word that...