Salvation Summaries

I am going through each book in the New Testament (again) and writing bullet point comments about how a person becomes a Christian and how a Christian should live.  The following notes are from the book of Philippians. Philippians has relatively little to say on how a person becomes a Christian, but a fair amount on how a Christian should live.

Summary

A person is saved by faith in Jesus, who is Lord of all. Trying to obey God’s laws, such as the 10 commandments, will not save a person, for no one can perfectly do this.

While we know that faith comes from hearing the gospel, and thus appears to be something a person does on their own, we learn from Philippians that God is the One who initiates the salvation “process,”  for He is the One who “begins a good work” in a person.

Philippians contains several verses that give a Christian assurance of their salvation. These verses support the view that a person’s salvation cannot be lost.

Similar to Ephesians, Philippians contains a laundry list of how a Christian should live. What stood out to me from this list was the need for a Christian to grow spiritually rather than to be content with their faith.  We see this in verses where Paul tells believers to (or implies that they should):  1) work out their salvation with fear and trembling, 2) cling to the gospel, 3) seek to know Jesus, 4) strive to live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, and 5) be filled with the fruit of their salvation.  Clearly, effort and a study of the Bible are required for a Christian to mature in their faith and become more Christ-like.

How a person is saved (and other verses relating to salvation)

• Righteousness comes from God and is by faith in Jesus ; it does not come from obeying God’s laws (Phil 3:9)
• God is the One who begins a good work (salvation) in a person, and will carry it on to completion (Phil 1:6)

Characteristics of a Christian

• United with Jesus (Phil 2:1)
• A servant or slave of Jesus (like Paul and Timothy were) (Phil 1:1)
• A saint (Phil 1:1)
• A brother (sister) in the Lord (Phil 1:14)
• Citizen in heaven (Phil 3:20)
• Participant in God’s grace (Phil 1:7)
• Assurance of salvation
  • …He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion (Phil 1:6).  The “He” is God and the “good work” is salvation.
  • …Jesus…will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body (Phil 3:21). Paul could not have said this if their salvation was in doubt.
  • …the names of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life (Phil 4:3).  Paul could not have said this if their salvation was in doubt.

Characteristics of non-Christians

• Their mind is on earthly things (Phil 3:19)

How a Christian should live

• Do everything without complaining, arguing, grumbling or disputing so that you may be pure and blameless, and without fault, before others (Phil 2:14)
• Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit (Phil 2:3)
• Look out for the interests of others and not just yourself (Phil 2:4)
• In humility consider others better than yourself (Phil 2:3)
• Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:6-7).
• Cling to the gospel and its teachings (Phil 2:16)
• Be unified with other believers in Spirit and purpose (Phil 2:2)
• Strive to live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ (Phil 1:27)
• Seek to know Jesus; this was a strong desire of the apostle Paul (Phil 3:8, 10)
• Be filled with the fruit of your salvation/righteousness (Phil 1:11). The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal 5:22-23). Other verses in the New Testament show the importance of Christians bearing fruit:
  • Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire (Mt 3:10)
  • A tree is known by its fruit (Mt 12:33)
  • Every branch in Jesus that does not bear fruit God takes away; every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it bears more (Jn 15:2)
  • I chose you (Jesus is telling His disciples this), and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit (Jn 15:16)
  • You are to bear fruit in every good work and increase your knowledge of God (Col 1:10)
• Your attitude should be the same as that of Jesus (Phil 2:5)…He was humble and obedient.
• Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose (Phil 2:12-13).  This refers to obedience (Phil 2:12)
• Rejoice in the Lord (Phil 3:1, 4:4)
• Worship God (Phil 3:3)
• Paul desired to depart from this life so that he could be with Christ (Phil 1:24). What is your desire?
• As a believer in Christ, be prepared to suffer for Him too (Phil 1:29)
• Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things (Phil 4:8-9)
• Put into practice whatever you learn from the apostle Paul when reading his books in the New Testament (Phil 4:9)

Who God is

• Our Father (Phil 1:2)
• Exalted Jesus to the heights of heaven (Phil 2:9)
• Works in the life of a believer to will and act according to God’s good purpose (Phil 2:13). This is a mystery to me.

Who Jesus is

• The Lord for a believer in Him (Phil 1:2)
• Lord of all
  • At the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:10-11)

Other

• Paul believed that the prayers of other believers can change another’s circumstances (For I know that as you pray for me and as the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will all turn out for my deliverance, Phil 1:19).  If Paul believed this, we can too.
• Paul’s prayer…that:
  • your love for others will increase;
  • you will keep on growing in your knowledge, insight and understanding;
  • you may discern what is right;
  • you may live a pure and blameless life (Phil 1:9-11)