ACHIEVING HOLINESS, THROUGH TOGETHERNESS, FOR GOSPEL WITNESS: PHILIPPIANS 2:12-18 FROM GREEK TEXT TO TEACHING OUTLINE

Transcription

1 ACHIEVING HOLINESS, THROUGH TOGETHERNESS, FOR GOSPEL WITNESS: PHILIPPIANS 2:12-18 FROM GREEK TEXT TO TEACHING OUTLINE Matthew D. Mitchell GRK6500A Greek Syntax and Exegesis Dr. David Alan Black August 17, 2012

2 1 ACHIEVING HOLINESS, THROUGH TOGETHERNESS, FOR GOSPEL WITNESS: PHILIPPIANS 2:12-18 FROM GREEK TEXT TO TEACHING OUTLINE As frail, finite creatures that live and move and have their being in Almighty God, it is essential that the people of God listen when he speaks to them. Furthermore, this listening cannot be merely passive. God s people must actively attend to his address, inclining their ears and engaging their hearts and minds to ensure that they properly understand what they are hearing. If this is true for the church in a general sense, how much more so for the one who is a teacher of God s Word! For those who teach in the church, the responsible handling of Scripture should be of utmost importance, because we who teach will be judged with greater strictness (Jas. 3:12 [ESV]). What follows is a demonstration, using Philippians 2:12-18 as an example, of a ten-step process that will allow the teacher or preacher to move from the Greek text to a homiletical outline with efficiency and integrity. Step 1: Survey the Historical Context Nearly all New Testament scholars agree that the Apostle Paul wrote the book of Philippians. 1 The letter s recipients, addressed as all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi (Phil. 1:2), enjoyed a particularly warm and affectionate relationship with Paul. 2 He regarded them as his partners and co-workers in the spread of the gospel (1:5; 2:25; 4:3, 10-18), even though he himself had established the church during his second missionary journey (Acts 16:11-40) and was to them both an authoritative teacher (e.g., 2:1-18; 4:2-3) and a model of 1 Gerald F. Hawthorne, Philippians, Letter to the, in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, ed. Gerald F. Hawthorne and Ralph P. Martin, (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1993), See the language of Phil. 1:7-8. Note also Paul s frequent use of ajgaphtoiv (2:12; 4:1 [2x]) and ajdelfoiv (1:12; 3:1, 13, 17; 4:1, 8).

3 2 godly living (3:17; 4:9). It was in this pastoral role that Paul wrote to address a problem of great importance in the Philippian church: their unity was being threatened by personal conflict and discord within the body (1:27; 2:1-5, 14-16; 4:2-3). 3 The main purpose of the letter, though not explicitly stated by Paul, is to persuade his readers to undertake a united course of action in the future on the grounds that it is the most advantageous course. 4 Recognizing this overall purpose is the first step toward understanding the overarching structure of the book, which provides the literary context in which 2:12-18 is found. Step 2: Observe the Larger Literary Context In order to unify the Philippians around the gospel, Paul composes a carefully ordered and deliberately structured argument. Black writes, Philippians has a comprehensive macrostructure that determines and controls the choice of its words and the construction of its sentences. This structure has, in turn, a specific communicative goal: to persuade the Philippians to put aside their differences and, with single-minded purpose, to live for the gospel. 5 It is within this context that the paragraph of 2:12-18 must be understood. Paul begins Philippians with a greeting (1:1-2) and a body opening (1:3-11) before launching into the body proper in 1:12. In the first body subsection (1:12-26), Paul details the circumstances of his imprisonment, and provides his hearers with a model of gospel faithfulness in the midst of suffering: himself. The subsection that follows (1:27-2:18) is a hortatory section whose theme is announced in 1:27: only live as good citizens in a manner worthy of the gospel 3 [D]ifferences between key leaders in the Philippian church have provoked animosities and contempt. Thus Paul writes the letter because he suspects the existence of contending groups within the church and because this is an important concern for him. David Alan Black, The Discourse Structure of Philippians: A Study in Textlinguistics, Novum Testamentum 37 (January 1995): Black, Discourse Structure, Ibid., 45.

4 3 of Christ (movnon ajxivwv tou: eujaggelivou tou: Cpistou: politeuesqev). Black identifies the common theme of this section as the need for common thought and conduct on behalf of the gospel. 6 This hortatory section of 1:27-2:18 can be further divided into three subsections: 1) 1:27-30, 2) 2:1-11, and 3) 2: In the first section (1:27-30) Paul calls the church to unity for the sake of the gospel and, by drawing a contrast between the wickedness of the world and the holiness of God s people, makes it clear that a community which hopes to be effective in spreading the gospel must be characterized by unity and holiness. After calling the church to cultivate humility after the example of Christ in the next subsection (2:1-11), Paul revisits the connection between unified, holy living and gospel effectiveness in 2: In all of this, Paul s desire is for the Philippian church to maintain a faithful witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ and so fulfill the Great Commission as faithful ambassadors for Christ. Step 3: Resolve Any Significant Textual Issues The only textual variant noted in UBS4 for Phil. 2:12-18 occurs in verse 12, where the relative article wjv (from the phrase mh; wjv ejn th:/ parousiva/ mou movnon ajlla; nu:n pollw:/ ma:llon ejn th:/ ajpousiva/ mou) is omitted in some manuscripts. However, the evidence weighs heavily in favor of wjv being the original reading, and the decision by the editors to include it was made with the greatest possible level of certainty. 7 Commenting on Phil. 2:12, Bruce Metzger writes, The omission of wjv from B al is probably accidental, although copyists may have deliberately deleted it as superfluous; in any case, the presence of the word is strongly supported by P 46 and representatives of both the Alexandrian and the Western types of 6 Ibid., As evidenced by the capital letter A in the apparatus.

5 4 text. 8 This passage therefore poses no significant text-critical issues, and the interpreter can move to lexical studies, confident that he has the original text before him. Step 4: Determine the Meaning of Any Crucial Words Several important words call for deeper study. The first of these words, swthrivan, is found in verse 12 as part of Paul s command to together work out your own salvation (ejautw:n swthrivan katergavzesqe). To understand Paul s command, it is necessary to determine how he is using swthriva. BDAG lists two essential meanings for this word: (1) deliverance, preservation, w. focus on physical aspect, and (2) salvation, w. focus on transcendent aspects. 9 In the context of the entire letter, where Paul presents suffering for the sake of the gospel (even, perhaps, to the point of death) as a fundamental element of the Christian life, it seems unlikely here that Paul is exhorting the Philippians to work for their own physical preservation. Rather, he is exhorting them to work for their transcendent (i.e., spiritual) salvation. Since Paul s theology precludes the possibility that he is advocating a works-based righteousness in this passage, something other than the justification of the believer must be in view. Rather than viewing swthriva as a single event occurring at conversion, Paul instead sees it as a process spanning from conversion to new creation, a broad category containing justification, sanctification, and glorification. Since glorification is still in the future for believers, and justification is fixed in the past, Paul probably has the Philippians sanctification in mind. Hawthorne, however, argues for a similar (if somewhat less religious ) interpretation: In the papyri, swthriva ( salvation ) is commonly used to convey the ideas of health or well-being.... The wider context of Phil. 2:12 strongly suggests that swthriva here is 8 Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed. (New York: United Bible Societies, 1994), Frederick W. Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000),

6 5 being used in this non-eschatological sense. Thus the church at Philippi is urged to work at its spiritual well-being until its well-being is complete, until its health is fully established, until every trace of spiritual disease selfishness, dissension, and so on is gone. 10 Either conclusion is satisfactory in this context. Another word that calls for further study is the participle ejpevcontev, found in verse 16 (in the phrase lovgon zwh:v ejpevcontev). Commentators are divided as to whether the verb ejpevcw in this context carries the meaning of to hold fast or to hold forth, hold out. 11 BDAG provides support for both meanings, although support for the latter is much weaker (BDAG s option of hold toward, aim at does not quite equal hold forth, hold out ). 12 Louw and Nida do not define ejpevcw in any way that comes close to hold forth, hold out, 13 despite having 54 entries under the semantic heading of give (none of which are ejpevcw). 14 Therefore, the meaning of hold fast is to be preferred here, especially in the context of 1:27ff. where Paul says that his desire is to hear that the Philippians are standing firm in one spirit (sthvkete ejn ejni; pneuvmati). However, as Gordon Fee explains, to prefer hold fast over hold forth is not to deprive Paul s words of their evangelistic thrust. He writes, Thus, it is not some kind of defensive posture that is in view (as in, hold the gospel fast so that the enemy does not take it away from you ), but evangelism, that they clean up their internal act so that they may thereby hold firm the gospel, the message that brings life to those who believe. 15 This interpretation does justice to both the lexical evidence and the immediate and surrounding contexts. 10 Gerald F. Hawthorne, Philippians (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1983), See, e.g., John Reumann, Philippians: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008), ; Peter T. O Brien, The Epistle to the Philippians: A Commentary on the Greek Text (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1991), 297; Gordon D. Fee, Paul s Letter to the Philippians (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1995), Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon, Johannes P. Louw and Eugene A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains, Vol. 2 (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), Louw and Nida, Greek-English Lexicon, Vol. 1, Fee, Philippians, 248.

7 6 Step 5: Analyze the Syntax Moving from lexical studies to issues of syntax, the first syntactical question that requires resolution occurs in verse 13. Translators often render qeo;v gavr ejstin oj ejnergw:n as something along the lines of for it is God who works in you, taking qeo;v to be the subject and oj ejnergw:n to be the predicate nominative. 16 articular suggests the opposite. 17 However, the fact that qeo;v is anarthrous and oj ejnergw:n is The absence of the article before qeo;v not only indicates its function in the sentence (predicate nominative rather than subject), but also indicates that Paul is emphasizing the qualitative aspects of God rather than his individual identity. 18 Commenting on Philippians 2:13, Wallace writes, The anarthrous qeo;v seems to be viewed somewhat qualitatively. Paul is stressing God s power more than his person, for the issue raised by v 12 has to do with the how of sanctification, not the who. 19 He says elsewhere that the force in this context seems to be a bit more on what God does in the believer rather than who it is that does it. 20 Another syntactical feature that must be mentioned is Paul s use of plural pronouns and verbs. To a large extent, this is to be expected in a letter written to an entire community, but in certain instances Paul s use of the plural becomes exegetically significant. For example, in his command to work out your own salvation (th;n ejautw:n swthrivan katergavzesqe) in verse 12, both ejautw:n and katergavzesqe are in the plural. That Paul should use the plural imperative katergavzesqe is predictable, but his use of the plural reflexive pronoun ejautw:n in the phrase th;n 16 See, e.g., NIV, ESV, KJV, NASB, NLT. 17 Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996), One could argue that qeo;v is a proper name and should be given equal consideration as the subject of this subject-predicate nominative clause, and furthermore that in this instance qeo;v should be given greater priority because it occurs first in the sentence. However, Wallace demonstrates that qeo;v should not be considered a proper noun and that therefore this rule does not apply here. 18 Ibid., Ibid., Ibid., 264.

8 7 ejautw:n swthrivan is not. It indicates that the swthriva Paul has in mind is not individualized but communal; it belongs not to individual persons but to the group as a whole. Therefore, the meaning is not each of you must individually work out his or her own personal salvation but rather you must come together as a body to collectively work out your common salvation. This subtle but highly significant distinction greatly influences the interpretation of this passage. Step 6: Determine the Structure 21 The compositional structure of a passage also figures prominently in discerning its intended meaning, and Phil. 2:12-18 is no exception. After making the transition from the preceding paragraph with $Wste, ajgaphtoi mouv, Paul follows with five independent clauses, three of which are in the imperative. In the first of these, after a considerable amount of subordinate material, Paul commands the Philippians in verse 12 to together work out your (pl.) own salvation (i.e., sanctification) (th;n ejautw:n swthrivan katergavzesqe). Paul then uses the coordinating conjunction gavr to connect the first independent clause to the second: for the one working among you (pl.) is God (qeo;v gavr ejstin oj ejnergw:n ej ujmi:n). This indicative clause in verse 13 may be thought of as the theological foundation which makes the command of verse 12 possible. 22 This tight conceptual connection suggests that these two verses can be considered together as a single subunit. Next, the passage s third and central independent clause features another imperative verb, as Paul instructs the Philippians how to do all things (pavnta poiei:te). 23 This pivotal section in 2:14-16, composed of this main clause (driven by the imperative verb poiei:te) together with an 21 For a structural diagram of Philippians 2:12-18, see Appendix B. The following two paragraphs highlight the most salient features of the passage structure, which is given in greater detail in the diagram. 22 O Brien, Philippians, Paul s emphasis here is not on what is to be done, but how it is to be done (hence the unlimited scope of pavnta poiei:te).

9 8 abundance of subordinate material, is by far the largest in the passage (containing 44 of the passage s 115 words) as well as the most complex. It is in this section that Paul most forcefully urges the Philippians to protect their gospel witness by purging their community of all dissension and unholiness. In contrast to the size of this central section, the two main clauses which conclude the passage (in verses 17 and 18, respectively) are relatively short and may justifiably be considered together as one subunit, with a single theme: despite his suffering for the gospel, Paul continues to rejoice in communion with the saints in Philippi (caivrw kai; sugcaivrw pa:sin ujmi:n [v. 17]), and even commands them to reciprocate and join him in this (caivrete kai; sugcaivretev moi [v. 18]). Step 7: Look for Any Significant Rhetorical Features Paul communicates meaning not only through literary structure, but also through rhetorical devices such as paronomasia, as in verse 12 when he exhorts his hearers to work out their own salvation not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence. The words used here for presence (parousiva/) and absence (ajpousiva/) are almost identical in sound, and the fact that ajpousiva is an hapax legomenon not only in the Pauline corpus but in the entire New Testament strongly suggests that this paronomastic wordplay is intentional on Paul s part. Paul is thereby emphasizing that his exhortations are to be followed regardless of the circumstances, and that the Philippians are to do these things no matter what. Paul employs another rhetorical device in verses 12 and 13 when he follows the verb katergavzomai in verse 12 with a double usage of ejnergevw in verse 13. Paul repeats these related verbs in order to reassure the Philippians that they possess the ability to work out (katergavzesqe) their common salvation, because the one who is at work (oj ejnergw:n) in them is

10 9 God, who will not only give them the desire but also the ability to work (to; ejnergei:n) for his good pleasure. Step 8: Observe How Any Sources Were Used Paul seems to be employing Old Testament imagery and language in 2: Most striking are the words genea:v skolia:v kai; diestrammevnhv, which reproduce the language found in Deut. 32:5 LXX. While this is almost certainly not due to coincidence, attaching any major significance to this intertextuality is not necessarily warranted. As Bockmuehl cautions, Philippians contains not a single explicit reference to the Old Testament; nor is there any indication or indeed likelihood of intimate familiarity with it on the part of Paul s readers. It seems improbable, in the absence of contrary evidence, that Paul could in any case assume a specific awareness of a link with Deuteronomy 32 on the part of his readers. 24 Paul, expertly trained in the Hebrew Scriptures and intimately familiar with their contents, surely had a mind that was saturated with the God-breathed language of those sacred writings. Therefore it is not surprising that, when searching for words to describe a culture in utter rebellion against the Lord, Paul expresses himself using Old Testament language (even if he does not intend to communicate any special meaning as he does so). Step 9: Determine the Key Thought of Your Passage Having completed the previous eight steps, it is now possible to arrive at the main idea of the passage, which is this: By the power of God and for the sake of the gospel, do whatever it takes to live fearlessly, blamelessly, and selflessly as a holy community in the midst of an unholy 24 Markus Bockmuehl, The Epistle to the Philippians (London: Hendrickson, 1998), 157.

11 10 world. At this point, the teacher or preacher can communicate this truth to God s church using a homiletical outline based on a structural analysis of the Greek text. Step 10: Derive a Homiletical Outline from the Text The following is an example of a homiletical outline that is true to both the message and structure of the Greek text of Philippians 2: Title: Theme: Achieving Holiness, Through Togetherness, for Gospel Witness By the power of God and for the sake of the gospel, we must do whatever it takes to live fearlessly, blamelessly, and selflessly as a holy community in the midst of an unholy world. Outline: I. Introduction: What does it take to be a church that commends the gospel to its culture? II. Body A. Pursue communal holiness through God s enabling power B. Be unified and blameless before the unbelieving world C. Sacrifice yourselves for others and for the cause of Christ III. Conclusion: Striving together as a local body for unity and holiness. Sermon summary: The Philippian church was not unified and as a result was in danger of failing to fulfill the Great Commission. Paul writes in order to unite them around their common identity in Christ and their common purpose of spreading the gospel. Paul calls them to pursue holiness as a community, and reminds them that the ability to do this has already been graciously given to them by God. They are to pursue unity and holiness for the sake of the world around them, so that as they more closely reflect the holiness and character of God, the fruit of their gospel ministry would increase and people would be saved. They were to pursue this goal at all costs, even if it meant sacrificing everything for each other and for the gospel. How much do we as a local body resemble the church at Philippi? Certainly, Paul s words are just as relevant and urgent today as they were for the Philippians.

12 11 Conclusion The same God who has caused the dawn to know its place (Job 38:12 [ESV]), who is not a God of confusion but of peace (1 Cor. 14:33), and who has commanded that all things should be done decently and in order (1 Cor. 14:40), has revealed himself through the Scriptures in a logically ordered and structured fashion. As God s people seek him diligently and worshipfully through his Word by surveying every contextual landscape, deciphering every text-critical puzzle, uncovering every lexical stone, examining every syntactical crevice, dissecting every compositional structure, and digesting every morsel of rhetoric, Christ will be revealed to them with a clarity that is proportional to the passion with which he is pursued.

13 12 Appendix A Outline of Philippians 25 I. Greeting / 1:1-2 II. Body / 1:3-4:20 A. Body Opening / 1: Paul s Thanksgiving and Affection for the Philippians / 1: Paul s Prayer for the Spiritual Health and Growth of the Philippians / 1:9-11 B. Body Main / 1:12-4:9 1. Paul: A Model for Gospel Faithfulness in Suffering / 1:12-26 a. Rejoice When the Gospel Advances through What You Suffer / 1:12-18a b. Rejoice When Your Faith is Made Visible Despite Your Suffering / 1:18b Exhortations and Instructions for the People of God / 1:27-2:18 a. Be Unified for the Sake of the Church s Gospel Witness / 1:27-30 b. Exhortation to Unity and Humility / 2:1-11 1) Promote Unity by Fostering Humility / 2:1-4 2) Emulate Christ, the Preeminent One Who Became Subservient / 2:5-11 c. Strive to be a Holy Community in an Unholy World / 2: Timothy and Epaphroditus: Exemplars of Gospel Living / 2:19-30 a. Timothy s Proven Worth / 2:19-24 b. Epaphroditus Selfless Service / 2: Paul: An Example of Gospel-Centered Thinking / 3:1-21 a. The Worthlessness of Human Achievements Compared With Christ / 3:1-11 b. The Folly of Self-Congratulation and the Need to Stay Focused / 3:12-16 c. The Influence of Godliness Versus the Influence of Ungodliness / 3: Final Exhortations to God s Gospel Community / 4:1-9 a. Stand Firmly Together / 4:1 b. Strive Together for Unity / 4:2-3 c. Endure Hardship Together / 4:4-7 d. Rally Together Around the Truths and Thoughts of God / 4:8-9 C. Body Closing / 4: The Philippians Recent Provision / 4:10-14 a. Paul s Gratitude for the Gift / 4:10 b. A Model for Maintaining a Godly Attitude When in Need / 4: The Philippians Past Provisions / 4:15-20 a. Paul s Gratitude for the Gift / 4:15-16 b. A Model for Receiving Gifts in a Godly Way / 4:17-20 III. Closing / 4:21-23 A. Greetings From Paul s Co-Workers and Brothers and Sisters in Christ / 4:21-22 B. Benediction / 4:23 25 Adapted from Black, Discourse Structure,

14 13 Appendix B Structural Analysis of Philippians 2:12-18 $Wste, ajgaphtoi mou, meta; fovbou kai; trovmou th;n ejautw:n swthrivan katergavzesqe` kaqw;v pavntote ujphkouvsate, mh; wjv ejn th:/ parousiva/ mou movnon a;lla; nu:n pollw:/ ma:llon ejn th:/ ajpousiva/ mou qeo;v gavr ejstin oj ejnergw:n ej ujmi:n kai; to; qevleiv kai; to; ejnergei:n ujpe;r th:v eujdokivav. pavnta poiei:te cwri:v goggusmw:n kai; dialogismw:n, i{na gevnhsqe a[memptoi kai; ajkevraioi, tevkna qeou: a[mwma mevson genea:v skolia:v kai; diestrammevnhv, ejn oἷv faivnesqe wjv fwsth:rev ejn kovsmw/, lovgon zwh:v ejpecontev, eijv kauvchma ejmoi; eijv h:mevran Cpistou:, ὅti oujk eijv keno;n ἔdramon oujde eijv keno;n ejkopi;asa. caivrw kai; sugcaivrw pa:sin ujmi:n` ajlla; eij kai; spevndomai ejpi th:/ qusiva kai; leitourgiva/ th:v pivstewv ujmw:n, to; dev aujto; kai; ujmei:v caivrete kai; sugcaivretev moi.

15 14 Sources Consulted Black, David Alan. The Discourse Structure of Philippians: A Study in Textlinguistics. Novum Testamentum 37 (January 1995): Linguistics for Students of New Testament Greek: A Survey if Basic Concepts and Applications. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, New Testament Textual Criticism: A Concise Guide. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, Using New Testament in Greek: A Practical Guide for Students and Pastors. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, Bockmuehl, Markus. The Epistle to the Philippians. Black s New Testament Commentary Series. London: Hendrickson, Danker, Frederick W. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Fee, Gordon D. Paul s Letter to the Philippians. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, Hawthorne, Gerald F. Philippians. Word Biblical Commentary. Waco, TX: Word Books, Philippians, Letter to the. In Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, edited by Gerald F. Hawthorne and Ralph P. Martin, Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, Köstenberger, Andreas J., L. Scott Kellum, and Charles L. Quarles. The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing, Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene A. Nida. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. 2 vols. New York: United Bible Societies, Metzger, Bruce M. A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament. 2nd ed. New York: United Bible Societies, O Brien, Peter T. The Epistle to the Philippians: A Commentary on the Greek Text. The New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1991.

16 15 Reumann, John. Philippians: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries. New Haven: Yale University Press, Russell, Ronald. Pauline Letter Structure in Philippians. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 25 (September 1982): Silva, Moisés. Philippians. 2nd ed. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, Swift, Robert C. The Theme and Structure of Philippians. Bibliotheca Sacra 141 (July- September 1984): Wallace, Daniel B. Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996.