Ange

4.1 He asks it so they may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ Jesus. 4.2 They'll be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Christ Jesus. 4.3 Selfishness clouds discernment in that the selfish partner is more concerned with things that please him. Selfishness blinds us to the needs of our loved ones. 4.4 The differences between "good" and "best" is that there can be more than one of "good". Whereas "best" stands alone. "Best" is beyond compare. "Good" can exist in a crowd, which creates the "broad path that leads to distraction" (Mat 7:13). On the other hand, "best" gets us walking a tightrope. No straddling the path! For us to choose "best", we have to be alert and choose carefully where our foot will fall next. Unlike "good", "best" doesn't have time for committees.

3.1 Paul expects God to bring the good work that He'd begun in the Philippians to completion. 3.2 God had started it, so it was His place to bring it to its end. 3.3 Paul's confidence is based on the fact that God would never begin a work that He couldn't finish. 3.4 The basis on which we can expect God to do it for us is His grace and love for us. God loves us, and since He began a good work in us, then we know that that which He began in us is the best for us. We know that that's what He wills for us. The neat thing is that He began it, and only He can bring it to completion.

Financial partnership is doing the next best thing to going there yourself. You become "closely associated" with the missionary, imagining what your needs would be if it were you preaching the gospel away from home, and then you finance those needs. That way you have the satisfaction that you've enabled your partner to deliver the good news to one more person. Sending a sort of care giver is another way of support. Because, chained between two wardens, Paul needed meals prepared for him; a launderer, a scribe and etc. Here too, the reward is that the representative is doing what you would do if you could be there yourself. Prayer, intercession, would be a key contribution. The Philippians had seen the opposition Paul faced in their country. So they knew that in Rome it would be worse. They had to hold him up in prayer.

Pre-salvation, my understanding of "slave" was from the American history and from Israel's history in Egypt - both cases involving coercion and brutal dominance, with the slave always watching out for any opportunity to break free! Post-salvation I learnt of bond-slaves, who turn down freedom, to become voluntary or willing slaves to a master who they've found to be benevolent. I think Abraham's Eliezer might be an example here - he had no thoughts of escape when he was sent on an "errand" with a ten-camel strong, wealth laden caravan (Gen 15:3;24:10). The difference between my pre and post salvation understanding is, as I've just learnt, a matter of who owns the slave. In the former, the masters used dehumanising methods to coerce the slaves to work and in the latter, the approach was different. Eliezer being the example - an opportunity for escape presented itself and the camels and the wealth they carried would've given him a cushy fresh start if he'd gone on walking! The fact that he went back and restored the remaining jewellery to Abraham's "bank vault" implies that his mind was made up that where he was was where he would die. The picture painted by Paul's words give that idea, that though in chains, he's happily about his master's mission. From Pst. Ralph's explanations, I find "saint" to be a synonym of "slave". At salvvsalvation, when we become the temple of Holy Spirit, we become New Creations. Even our nature changes. Where previously we belonged to the rogue angel, with his death-blood, salvation breaks us free from that and in-grafts us onto the true vine (Jhn 15:1). At that very moment, we are set-apart, made "saints". We are then owned by He whose "yoke is easy, and whose burden is light"! Like Peter and company (& Elisha), we leave all, and follow Him. Breaking free would be to return to that other one whose yoke & burden are on steroids!

Pre-salvation, my understanding of "slave" was from the American history and from Israel's history in Egypt - both cases involving coercion and brutal dominance, with the slave always watching out for any opportunity to break free! Post-salvation I learnt of bond-slaves, who turn down freedom, to become voluntary or willing slaves to a master who they've found to be benevolent. I think Abraham's Eliezer might be an example here - he had no thoughts of escape when he was sent on an "errand" with a ten-camel strong, wealth laden caravan (Gen 15:3;24:10). The difference between my pre and post salvation understanding is, as I've just learnt, a matter of who owns the slave. In the former, the masters used dehumanising methods to coerce the slaves to work and in the latter, the approach was different. Eliezer being the example - an opportunity for escape presented itself and the camels and the wealth they carried would've given him a cushy fresh start if he'd gone on walking! The fact that he went back and restored the remaining jewellery to Abraham's "bank vault" implies that his mind was made up that where he was was where he would die. The picture painted by Paul's words give that idea, that though in chains, he's happily about his master's mission. From Pst. Ralph's explanations, I find "saint" to be a synonym of "slave". At salvvsalvation, when we become the temple of Holy Spirit, we become New Creations. Even our nature changes. Where previously we belonged to the rogue angel, with his death-blood, salvation breaks us free from that and in-grafts us onto the true vine (Jhn 15:1). At that very moment, we are set-apart, made "saints". We are then owned by He whose "yoke is easy, and whose burden is light"! Like Peter and company (& Elisha), we leave all, and follow Him. Breaking free would be to return to that other one whose yoke & burden are on steroids!

Pre-salvation, my understanding of "slave" was from the American history and from Israel's history in Egypt - both cases involving coercion and brutal dominance, with the slave always watching out for any opportunity to break free! Post-salvation I learnt of bond-slaves, who turn down freedom, to become voluntary or willing slaves to a master who they've found to be benevolent. I think Abraham's Eliezer might be an example here - he had no thoughts of escape when he was sent on an "errand" with a ten-camel strong, wealth laden caravan (Gen 15:3;24:10). The difference between my pre and post salvation understanding is, as I've just learnt, a matter of who owns the slave. In the former, the masters used dehumanising methods to coerce the slaves to work and in the latter, the approach was different. Eliezer being the example - an opportunity for escape presented itself and the camels and the wealth they carried would've given him a cushy fresh start if he'd gone on walking! The fact that he went back and restored the remaining jewellery to Abraham's "bank vault" implies that his mind was made up that where he was was where he would die. The picture painted by Paul's words give that idea, that though in chains, he's happily about his master's mission. From Pst. Ralph's explanations, I find "saint" to be a synonym of "slave". At salvvsalvation, when we become the temple of Holy Spirit, we become New Creations. Even our nature changes. Where previously we belonged to the rogue angel, with his death-blood, salvation breaks us free from that and in-grafts us onto the true vine (Jhn 15:1). At that very moment, we are set-apart, made "saints". We are then owned by He whose "yoke is easy, and whose burden is light"! Like Peter and company (& Elisha), we leave all, and follow Him. Breaking free would be to return to that other one whose yoke & burden are on steroids!

Hi, name is Ange and I'm from South Africa. This is the second study I'm doing with Pastor Ralph, though I didn't participate in the forum the first time round. I'm excited already, with the Greek definitions that make "servant"; "slave" and "saint" interchangeable words! I know I'm going to enjoy the study. "See" you all around. Ange