Learning How to Study an Epistle with the Book of Philippians Lesson #2

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1 Learning How to Study an Epistle with the Book of Philippians Lesson #2 Last week we discussed the importance of laying out a plan for studying a book of the Bible and received tools to help accomplish our plan to study the book of Philippians. So far we have added study Bibles, commentaries, sermons, and various helpful articles. Our first step was to look at the background surrounding the letter. We determined the author, recipient, setting, and the purpose. This information helped us as we began to read the text. Our goal in reading through Philippians for the first week was to pick out the theme. This theme came from Philippians 1:9-11. Paul s prayer for the church in Philippi was the theme from which the rest of the letter flowed. He desired that their love would abound more and more so they might discern what is best and become blameless on the day of Jesus Christ. The Next Step Our assignment this week is to reread the entire book of Philippians, with a few extra steps involved. We will begin to add some additional tools to help us dig deeper into the text that we are reading, and to make the themes and messages in the text become clearer. These tools will help you study Philippians exegetically. Exegesis is the method by which we ascertain what authors meant when they wrote a particular piece of literature, 1 and the tools that are introduced throughout this study will help us to exegete well. The two processes for studying an epistle that we will use this week are structure and underlining. Both of these can help tremendously in studying Scripture. Underlining/Highlighting Another good process of studying an Epistle that helps to bring out the themes and messages in the text is underlining. When we underline words or phrases, it is to draw emphasis to the text. Some ways that you can use underlining to deepen your understand of Scripture is by looking at repeated phrases, repeated words, words that stand out, phrases that tie to the theme, passages for memory, commands, truths about God and us, etc. Underlining is a fantastic way to process the text and even simplify it as well. This week we are going to apply the process of underlining/highlighting to our study of Philippians in 2 ways. 1 Schreiner, Thomas R. Interpreting the Pauline Epistles. Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Loc P age

2 1. Highlight every time Paul uses the word joy or rejoice. 2. Underline any thoughts that tie back to the theme of the letter (Philippians 1:9-11). Reminder: The theme of Philippians comes straight from Phil. 1:9-11 as Paul prays that the church would be able to discern what is best and be holy and blameless on the day of Jesus Christ. Example: Philippians 2:14-15 contains the phrase that you might become holy and blameless. Paul instructs the church to do everything without grumbling or arguing. This is a perfect example of Paul tying some of his instructions to the theme of his letter. Not all of the phrases and thoughts that point back to the theme are as simple as this one, but there are plenty to consider! Structure Structuring books of the Bible helps the reader break up long chunks in order to draw out meaning and then tie the pieces together to see a bigger picture. A helpful analogy we could is a car engine. We could look underneath the hood of our cars, start the engine, and watch it work. We ll look at it and say, Yep! It works great! but we don t necessarily understand everything going on. At this point, we can see that we know the engine works, but we still don t know how. We are left wanting more! When we study the structure of a book, we take the engine apart and look at how all the parts work together to make a masterpiece. By the end we are able to see the intricacies and beauty of every piece and its part in the whole, and we end up gaining so much more understanding. The way we are going to structure the book of Philippians is to simplify it into an outline. Our goal is to break up verses in chunks and give them a title that can tie to the theme of the letter. For homework this week, your job is to create your own outline for the letter of Philippians. Before you go through the letter, you need to think about the genre of the literature. Since it is a letter, there is most likely a structure that Paul used to write his letters. For example, our letters today contain a formal greeting and a formal closing. In between we have what we call the body. Even within this structure, we might have an introduction, an update on our status, and maybe some questions about the reader s status. When we read Philippians, we will see a similar structure. Before you get started, I want to give you a few things to look for. Things to Look For: Formal Greeting

3 Thanksgiving and Prayer (Introduction) Body (outline this as you see fit) Formal Closing Some tools that can be helpful for this process are study Bibles (no copying), commentaries, and other articles. I have attached a sample outline of Philippians at the end of this document to help give you some direction. Structured Outline Please provide an outline below based upon your understanding of the text. There is an example outline available on the Faith West website.

4 1.) Did you highlight or underline anything this past week that impacted your walk with Christ? 2.) What brought Paul the most joy? What brings you the most joy? 3.) What things detract us from the joy that Paul had? Are there any areas of your life where you are clinging to something other than the joy of the Gospel? 4.) What practical differences would you see in your life if you increased your joy in the Gospel?

5 5.) What questions do you have that you would like to ask the group about Philippians? What sections were challenging or difficult for you to structure? Come prepared to share and discuss with your Faith Groups.

6 Sample Outline Philippians Philippians 1:1-11 Introduction 1:1-2 Formal Greeting 1:3-11 Thanksgiving and Prayer Philippians 1:12-26 Paul s Update On His Circumstances 1:12-18a Joy In The Gospel Being Preached 1:18b- 26 Joy in Christ Being Glorified Philippians 1:27-2: Conduct Worthy of the Gospel 1:27-30 Unity and Boldness Amidst Suffering 2:1-4 Call for Unity in the Church 2:5-11 Jesus the Example of Humility 2:12-18 Obedience Without Grumbling and Arguing 2:19-30 Timothy and Epaphroditus: Lives Worthy of the Gospel 2:19-24 Timothy 2:25-30 Epaphroditus 3:1-21 Confidence in the Gospel not the Flesh 3:1-3 Watch out for Evil Workers 3:4-11 Christ Above Everything 3:12-21 Always Pressing Forward 4:1-9 Final Exhortations 4:1-3 Stand Firm in Unity 4:4-7 Rejoice and Trust in the Lord 4:8-9 Follow Paul s Example Philippians 4:10-20 Thanks for the Gifts Philippians 4:21-23 Final Closing

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