02/22/2024 – Day 182 – Philippians – Chapters 1 & 2 / “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for his sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.” Philippians 1:29 – 30 / Post 2 of ?
This quote speaks a commentary in God’s Truth, courtesy of “The Evidence Bible, NKJV” , once again:
“Suffering and sacrifice are essential to the Christian life just as they were essential to Christ’s life. ‘When Christ calls a man’, [Dietrich] Bonhoeffer wrote, ‘He bids him come and die’ (The Cost of Discipleship). This doesn’t always – or even usually — necessitate our physical deaths, but Christ calls us first and foremost to die to sin and to ourselves. Leave your home, sell everything you own, turn the other cheek, do not store up earthly treasures, love your enemies, take up your cross and follow me. None of Christ’s commands call believers to a life of comfort. All require patience, suffering and sacrifice.” Daniel L Weiss
Here is John Gill’s commentary for just this verse:
https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/philippians-1-29.html
Soli Deo Gloria!
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Questions for fellowship generation, the lifelong sanctification process:
- What does the text reveal about God’s character?
- How has this reading generated prayer for you and/or us?
- What themes stand out to you in this bible study?
- How does our reading fit into the bigger picture (creation, the fall, restoration, etc.)?
- What verse(s) jumped out at you like never before? Is it explainable at this point?
- Do you have any questions you would like to put before the group as to how to interpret any particular verse(s) in our reading. Let scripture testify to scripture: Share with us where you sense contradiction between passages elsewhere.
- What did you find convicting and inspiring at the same time? Share with us how the Spirit of God is working within you as a messenger, both within and outside of our fellowship group.
- Share with the group how our study is calling or confirming to you a new mission to glorify God in our times.
Thoughts? Reflections? Questions? Prayer.