27 thoughts on “Philippians 1:6-11”

  1. Another great lesson and thank you Tim and thank you Paul and this great letter. I get confused a little with that term ‘sanctification’. I get the justification piece, as Christ followers (believers) we freely received the gift of grace in which our sins are forgiven and we are in right standing with God. But when you say God makes us Holy by sanctification is that in terms of salvation later? Or is Paul saying it next in his prayer that he prays we can discern what is blameless (in other words we do the next right thing always with words and actions) so that we can be sanctified later? Am I on track or is this a dumb question, LOL

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    1. Kelly, I don’t think you’re alone. I was confused by the terms too when I first heard them. I understand the difference to be that justification is immediate when we freely receive the gift of grace and sanctification is the process by which God matures us in our faith over the course of our lives. Anyone can correct me if I’m off track.

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    2. Great question Kelly. I don’t have the full answer nor want to be confusing. I have heard teaching, which makes sense to me, that justification is our “positional” stance before God when we receive the work of Jesus on cross, and sanctification our “practical” stance. God works in our practical daily lives and remakes our attitudes to be more and more like Jesus’ attitudes. Which then our daily behavior would follow in all areas that we operate in, family, work, play, etc.
      Thank you Kelly for asking your question that I benefit greatly from.

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    3. Kelly, this is a GREAT question. You’re right; sanctification is a confusing term and I’m not sure I did a great job of defining it in the video. While justification puts us in right standing with God and assures us of our eternity, sanctification is the process by which we become the holy version of ourselves that God (and we) long for us to be. It’s the life-long journey of being cleansed of sinful behavior and becoming “pure and blameless”, which you rightly point out is in Paul’s prayer. I hope this helps add more clarity!

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  2. I’m amazed of how the words that Paul wrote back in his time is still relevant and top of mind today on our relationship with each other within the Body of Church! Such encouraging words that I need to read and hear and apply each day. Love the study thus far. Thanks again for leading and teaching us.

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  4. Tim your explanation of carrying a heavy yoke was spot on! I agree that sometimes the “right” thing seems so difficult & burdensome, but once you start on the path, Jesus is there to carry the heavy load with you, making it much lighter than you thought it would be. This is another thing that brings me hope! Jesus is with me & will continue to help me on my journey through life.

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  5. Thanks for this lesson! These passages made me think of serving. I sometime struggle with what I ought to do and what I want to do. Particularly on Saturday afternoons when it is time to leave to serve at church. There is a part of me that is “ugh, why am I leaving to go inside a building when it is so beautiful outside?” Or “why do I do this, does it really matter?”
    And I am not kidding, that EVERY single time, I end up coming home on Saturday nights full of gratitude, hope, and Christs love. God has done this for YEARS! He does something in my heart and it changes me when I am there at church and with all of you. I am continually amazed at how God just shows up and takes my yucky or ornery feelings that I might have at first, and carries out His work if I just put my shoes on and put my car in drive. That’s maybe a simple way but one way I think of sanctification. Big churchy seminary words can be scary!

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    1. Thanks Laurie, you’re so right! And I promise not to throw out too many big scary church words in this study… we’ll just wrestle with a few here and there. You think maybe some day God will heal us to the point where we won’t have the ‘ornery’ feelings you describe? For my sake, I hope so!

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  6. Tim’s encouragement in justification speaks to our immediate acceptance by God unto salvation when we sincerely repent and turn to Him and are born again. We are justified in the eyes and heart of God through our faith in Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins. The fellowship that the church enjoys even when we are apart has to do with like-mindedness in our spiritual thinking, serving and praying together. Sanctification is the spiritual process of transformation that we are all undergoing. None of us still living have yet arrived at complete sanctification, but together we share that journey. With a grateful heart, Paul prays for those still in Philippi with whom he shared part of his sanctification, same as Tim does for us. (I love to be reminded of our former pastor Russ’s wisdom and love of Christ. When we let God do His work in us, we grow in love for each other.)

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  7. What a great reminder. I think what you said about the importance of trust is so key in our lives, specifically right now. There are so many unknowns that are leaving me with no other thing but to surrender everything to God. This is something that I struggle with regularly, and the Lord has given me the perfect situation to not have any other option. I think it is cool how the church of Philippi is so intertwined and that their hearts are drawn together by the Body of Christ. This passage was a great reminder to me that during this time where I am facing a lot of unanswered questions, that the Lord is working & He has given me a body of people to grow and strengthen with.

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  8. This is so refreshing and good. Made me want to refresh on love so I went to 1 Corinthians 13 and Galatians 5. I need the heart check and it is freeing when I realize I can’t create good fruit and true love by my efforts or wisdom. Its freeing to believe and trust that God wants this for me and is creating it in me. Thank you!
    Challenging, personally, but good points on community and inter-connectedness to the point of sharing financial support along with emotional investment in each other’s hatdships and lives; thank you. Loved hearing again of Jesus’ call to yoke up with Him and how light that truly is. Phew!!
    And for first time reading Phil.1:6, I saw that work Jesus began and will complete as applying to the collective church there but globally too. I’ve always seen it as just a “me” thing when it could also be a “we” thing.
    Thank you everyone.

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    1. Konie, you’re bringing up a really important point: it’s totally a ‘we’ thing. Maybe as we go through the study we can come back to this… but when Paul says God’s carrying a good work to completion in us, we hear that with individualist ears… which is not untrue. But Paul’s also saying “God’s going to continue to sanctify y’all… his church. Together you’ll become the body of believers that he wants you to be.” That’s a pretty cool thought.

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      1. Yeah, I don’t know how I am just now seeing “you” as plural in 1:6. I’ve probably heard it taught as applying to the Body of Christ but it just now clicked. Also, me reading this alone at a table as opposed to it being read aloud to the anxious and excited, ( in my imagination), group of Believers, adds to that bent towards “me” vs. “we”.
        But how thought provoking now to think on the “we”…

        And back to their solidarity towards Paul… was he like their Lead Pastor or main Missionary or sole mission focus that they gave so much to him?

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      2. Here’s another thought on, “He who began a good work in ‘you’ , (seeing ‘you’ as the Body of Christ, not just myself…
        Instead of it being mostly about my personal growth, I now see it as the growing of the Church and the Gospel which God started and will continue until the day of Christ Jesus; seeing that it spreads to the “four corners of the earth”. From Philippi to St. Louis and beyond!

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  10. Reading this alone, I totally missed the Promise Paul is giving us. “…all of you share in God’s grace with me.” Thank you Tim and Paul for the lesson. I’m also reminded to look inward everyday to seek God’s will for me; God’s transformative power to continue sanctification of me. I’m encouraged to take action and responsibility for what I am being nudged to do everyday to deepen my trust in this life-long process. Surrendering to God’s will, not mine, in transforming my heart and my mind is a conscious and deliberate decision everyday. An absolute must for me to find Peace in this broken world. God Bless, my Church Community.

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  11. Verse 6 has always been one of my favorites. It gives me Hope that God will complete his ‘sanctfication’ (big word used to make me seem more of a theologian) but really that God does His work in me. Why? Because when I try,in my own strength, it doesn’t work. To Tim’s comment of trust – do I trust Him enough to let go of me? That is what is hard – letting go.

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  13. Keeping in the theme of “we” as opposed to mainly just “me”…
    Pastor Greg highlighted the famous Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for ‘You’…” You as in “me” or You as in “we”.
    There it is again, I thought. He’s talking to the whole family group/nation of Israel. He has plans for the community. But yes, the community is made of individuals, so His plans to prosper, to give a hope and future is on a personal level. But too often I have applied this verse to my personal wishes or goals. For me, it is good to scoot back into the circle of community and move forward in God’s Blessings with the mentality of it being a group thing and not primarily about me. Hope I am making sense. Bottom line: It’s freeing for me to see myself in the group that God is doing a Good work in, Philippians 1:6 and has Plans for Jeremiah 29:11, than to be trying to fulfill this in myself.
    At any rate, thank you all for making this study happen!!! I love reading each of your thoughts so far.

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  14. Thank you so much, Tim. I listened to the service at 4:30 on Saturday and have now started this study. I am fully caught up and completely moved. I trust God is doing my heavy lifting.

    By the way: I loved how your hill of your lawn is in the back of this video! I cut the lawn this morning and then got into this study. How beautifully ironic that you got me in the word and into my garden. 🙂 I look forward to following along with every new video!

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    1. Jessie, welcome to the study!! So glad you’re joining us. And I completely forgot that my hill is in that video… ha! Pictures just don’t do it justice, but I’ll stop complaining. Hopefully we’ll have a new video for everyone soon…

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