Philippians 3:17-21 (TNIV) -
17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
My thoughts -
"Their god is their stomach." What a line! But what does Paul mean here? And what does he mean when he says "their glory is in their shame"? There's a lot of places the mind goes when reading this passage.
First, can you be a slave to the desires of your flesh and be a servant of Christ? Paul clearly is saying that you can't but then, we've all got to eat, right? We have these physical bodies and these bodies have needs and quite frankly, if we don't give the body what it needs we don't get to keep it for very long. So, when we do focus on meeting our own physical needs we can't really be doing anything wrong, can we? We're sustaining life here. And if we get some kind of satisfaction out of that it can't be too bad either, right? Jesus feasted, after all. There's a lot of Biblical precedent for enjoying physical things. So what is Paul saying? What is Paul responding to? Who is Paul talking about?
This is another one of those passages I don't have enough of an education to dissect as closely as I'd like to. But it doesn't make sense that Paul would say that people who enjoy life and physical things are destined to be destroyed, would it? That's pretty harsh and pretty much everyone falls into the category of "people who enjoy physical things". We live here, in a physical world, in physical bodies that are wired to reward us when we give them what they need. Meeting the body's needs is in and of itself rewarding. This can't be what Paul is talking about.
So how do we make our god our stomach? How do we become people who live as "live as enemies of the cross of Christ"? How do we focus so much on Earthly things that we lose sight of our Heavenly citizenship? How do we get to where we love worldly glory so much that it becomes our shame?
I would argue that we do this when we allow the things of this world to possess our admiration so much that we are not willing to sacrifice them for the cause of Christ. When we have a lifestyle here that we are unable or unwilling to give up for the cause of Christ then we have done this. I think of the story of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19. Here is a man who clearly desired to gain citizenship in Heaven, and yet he was so attached to the physical things in this life he could not give them up.
I don't think there's anything wrong with loving your life. I don't think there's anything wrong with enjoying physical things. But these things can not distract from or take precedence over following Jesus. When they do we have made our stomach our god.
Because "their citizenship is in Heaven" the brethren of The Messiah are but "aliens and pilgrims while on the earth"! So it is that they no longer have their portion with those who follow "the broad way that leads to destruction" because they have taken heed unto The Call to "Come Out of her, MY people"!
ReplyDeleteThey have "Come Out" of this wicked world and it's systems of religion and have taken heed unto the exhortation to:
“Love Not The World”
”For the WHOLE(not just a portion) world is under the control of the evil one”.......(I John 5:19)
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world will pass away, and the lust thereof: but he that does the will of The Only True GOD will abide for ever.”(IJohn2:15-17)
“If you were of the world, the world would love it’s own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than his Master. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also.” (John15:19-20)
“Where do wars and fighting among you come from? Do they not come of your lusts that war in your members? You lust, and have not: you kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: you fight and war yet you have not, because you ask not. You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts. You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that friendship with the world is to be at enmity with The Only True GOD? Therefore whoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of The Only True GOD.” (James 4:1-4)
“The world cannot hate you; but the world hates Me, because I testify that the works of this world are evil.” (John 7:7)” and “The Messiah gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of The Only True God, Our Father.”(Gal 1:4)
The Messiah testified: “If the world hates you know that it hated Me before it hated you.”(John 5:18) Truly, Truly, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone: but if it die it brings forth much fruit. He that loves his life in this world shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall have it unto life eternal.” (John 12:24-25)
John testified: “Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you.” (I John 3:13) “ James testified, “Whoever would be a friend of this world is the enemy of GOD”(James4:4)
"Come Out of her, MY people"!
Global warming, polluted air, land and waters, toxic wastes, sexual perversion, evil inventions of destruction, greed, hate, carnal warfare, dis-ease(no-peace),,etc,, are all destructive processes that have their root in “the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life” all of which fuel the fires of mankind’s “imag”ination ;-(
"Come out from among them and be separate"!
Peace, in spite of the dis-ease(no-peace) that is of this world and it's systems of religion, for "the WHOLE(not just a portion) world is under the control of the evil one" indeed and Truth......
Truth IS, a lie never was and is not.......
Abide in Truth....... francis