PHILIPPIANS

the NIV

APPLICATION

COMMENTARY

From biblical text … to contemporary life

Frank Thielman

__________________________

For my parents,

Calvin and Dorothy Thielman,

servants of Christ Jesus

__________________________

The NIV Application Commentary: Philippians

Copyright © 1995 by Frank Thielman

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 49530

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Thielman, Frank

Philippians / Frank Thielman.

p. cm.—(NIV application commentary)

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN-10:0-310-49300-5

ISBN-13:978-0-310-49300-6

1. Bible. N.T. Philippians—Commentaries. I. Title. II. Series.

BS2705.3.T47 1995

227’.606–dc 20 95-16836

CIP

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without prior permission of the publisher.

Contents

Series Introduction

General Editor’s Preface

Author’s Preface

Introduction

Annotated Bibliography

Text and Commentary on Philippians

Scripture Index

NIV Application Commentary

Series Introduction

The NIV Application Commentary Series is unique. Most commentaries help us make the journey from our world back to the world of the Bible. They enable us to cross the barriers of time, culture, language, and geography that separate us from the biblical world. Yet they only offer a one-way ticket to the past and assume that we can somehow make the return journey on our own. Once they have explained the original meaning of a book or passage, these commentaries give us little or no help in exploring its contemporary significance. The information they offer is valuable, but the job is only half done.

Recently, a few commentaries have included some contemporary application as one of their goals. Yet that application is often sketchy or moralistic, and some volumes sound more like printed sermons than commentaries.

The primary goal of the NIV Application Commentary Series is to help you with the difficult but vital task of bringing an ancient message into a modern context. The series not only focuses on application as a finished product but also helps you think through the process of moving from the original meaning of a passage to its contemporary significance. These are commentaries, not popular expositions. They are works of reference, not devotional literature.

The format of the series is designed to achieve the goals of the series. Each passage is treated in three sections: Original Meaning, Bridging Contexts, and Contemporary Significance.