A Coptic Orthodox Journey through the Bible

In turning to this chapter, St. Paul has already used himself multiple times as an example. He has joy with the Philippians. As he sits in prison, he is content. He shared that that contentment comes from focusing on Christ. Our Lord and Savior who always loves us. He also shares that their faith and strength add to his joy. In this chapter, St. Paul emphasizes how we may have joy in everything. H...

So far in Philippians we discussed “Joy in the midst of suffering” in chapter 1 and “Joy in the ministry in chapter 2. In this chapter, St. Paul discusses “Joy in the Lord.” He returns to a theme familiar to those who have read some of his other epistles - false teachers, Judaizers. As a reminder, Judaizers are Jews who came to believe in Christ but still insist that Gentile Christians must also f...

The theme for chapter 2 is “Joy in the ministry.” St. Paul emphasizes the importance of unity and humility in our lives. He holds Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ up for us as an example. Christ voluntarily humbled Himself by becoming a human, then He experienced the crucifixion and resurrection for us. St. Paul shares this because Jesus Christ is our ultimate role model. After holding Our Lord up...

The major theme of the entire epistle is joy. It is a joy that comes from God through difficult circumstances. It demonstrates to us a portrait of the believer as a saint, who, despite suffering in difficult situations, is always rejoicing in the Lord. The world cannot deprive us of the comfort in Jesus Christ, or of experiencing the spiritual victory over difficult circumstances. Chapter 1 focuse...

In the first 3 chapters of this epistle St. Paul presented theological arguments. In chapter 4, he begins discussing the practical application of how to live as a Christian. He begins broadly and with each chapter goes deeper and more personal. Here he explains how we all live together in unity, in one family, one Body. To meet this divine love practically, we have to be widening our hearts to one...

In Ch 4 we were instructed to walk in a manner worthy of our calling. We should walk in unity and purity. In this chapter we are urged to walk in love, light and wisdom. Additionally, the church is to accept God's call to enjoy the new life in Christ. And this new life is manifested in our individual life, worship and behavior. All of our actions should reflect "a sacrifice to God." When we live l...

We are now moving to part 2 of the epistle. As we have previously discussed, St. Paul’s epistles are usually divided where in the first part he presents his theological points and the second part is the practical application of the first part, which is what he does in his letter to the Ephesians. In the second part he will discuss: Unity and respecting talents (ch. 4); Worship and behavior and we...

In this chapter - St. Paul covers 2 points: 1) to understand the mystery that was hidden for so long but now, in the NT is revealed to the Church and through the Church; and 2) this chapter is concluded by a beautiful prayer; 2nd prayer in letter to Ephesians (see 1:17+) Regarding this chapter, St. Paul speaks about "the mystery of Christ," which is discovered through a revelation of God...

In this chapter, St. Paul explains the transition we make when joining the Church of God: 1) from death to life - before joining the Church of God, we were dead, after becoming members of the body of God we became alive (1st 10 verses of chapter) 2); and 2) from strangers to citizens - after joining God’s family we became citizens (verses 11-22). St. Augustine offers a way to look at this, which m...

This episode includes an introduction and verse-by-verse review of chapter 1. The introduction includes a brief look at the City of Ephesus itself, St. Paul's time in Ephesus during his 3rd missionary journey, an overview of the epistle. Additionally, this chapter implies two lines of thought, which are: "in Christ" and “the knowledge of the mystery of God." We are the church of...

In ch 5, St Paul spoke about the concept of freedom and liberty in Christ. He explained what it means to be free in Christ and highlighted that 1) liberty means freedom from the dead works of the Law; 2) through this freedom we will choose by our free will to enslave ourselves to one another, to serve one another in love; and 3) to be free in Christ means to walk in the Spirit and to live by the S...

St. Paul concluded chapter 4 by affirming that we are the children of the freewoman, Sarah married to Abraham as opposed to the children of Hagar the slave. St. Paul explains in this chapter the concept of freedom and liberty in Christ. Since we are free we are not required to keep the dead works of the law. But with this freedom we will be able to fulfill the law of Christ. Also we will be led by...

In the previous chapter St. Paul discussed the purpose of the law and what it was not for, which in part includes the concept that the law does not provide salvation. In this chapter St. Paul continues and concludes his defense that faith in Christ saves us while following the law does not.  In verses 1-7, St. Paul explains that when Christ came, He redeemed those under the Law and made it possibl...

In this chapter St. Paul emphasizes something that should be familiar to us by now, which is that we are saved by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law. St. Paul also calls out the Galatians for going backwards - they came straight to believing and being baptized for Christ but now they are thinking about backing up from Christ and relying on the works of the Law. This makes no sense to...

This chapter discusses what is believed to be St. Paul’s third visit to Jerusalem after meeting Jesus on the Road to Damascus. This is recorded in Acts 15 (the Jerusalem Council). As we will see this chapter discusses his visit about 14 years after his last visit. Barnabas and Titus go with St. Paul. He meets with some of the apostles, the pillars of the Church. The first part of the Chapter discu...

A deep dive into the background of this epistle, including the date, the recipient, and theme of this epistle. This includes a deep dive into why St. Paul argues that Gentile Christians did not have to follow the Law of Moses (become Jewish) in order to be Christian and follow Jesus. This episode includes a review of the first chapter of this epistle.

After showing the Corinthians every love and compassion, confirming that he will spend everything he has, and will give even himself for their sake. He makes his final promise regarding his 3rd visit to Corinth. He encourages them to examine themselves and prays for them that they do not do any evil but do only what is honorable. He also proclaims his apostolic authority, which he will not use exc...

In previous chapters, St. Paul defended himself against those who criticized him. He did it, not for himself but because he wanted the people of Corinth to not lose faith in him and start following the false teachers. These false teachers would take them away from Christ. St. Paul comes to the climax of his self-defense. Having related all his trials, adventures, and persecutions, he is about to s...

In the previous chapter, St. Paul refused to compare Himself with others, especially with the false apostles; counting his call as divine, and his measures as not according to the human mind. Now, however, he decides to respond to all the criticism he has been receiving from the false apostles in Corinth. From what is known, it is believed that these false apostles were Judaizers. As a reminder, J...

In this and the next couple of chapters, St. Paul is preparing them for his next visit. That is why in this chapter we see him responding to several charges and suspicions which they have raised against him, and warns that he will exercise strict discipline if it is necessary when he arrives. We know that there were many detractors who came to Corinth and were casting doubt on his Apostleship. Thi...

Chapter 8 is about the principles of giving. To ensure that he was not misunderstood in the last chapter of accusing the church in Corinth of being mean in giving, St. Paul presents an apology for his zeal in exhorting them to practice that grace (1-5). Then he goes on to give some instructions concerning the well-received gift, and how to practice it. While St. Paul writes about the collection fo...

In the previous chapter, St. Paul continued a discussion about how we perfect our holiness, his joy at the Corinthians repenting, returning to God and the Church. He discussed Godly vs worldly sorrow and he shares his joy regarding their interactions with Titus. St. Paul begins a new topic in this chapter. He discusses collecting donations for the Jerusalem church. We previously discussed how coll...

Remember, St. Paul’s whole goal with this epistle is to get peace back and reconcile the people with him. In the last chapter he was speaking to the people who felt alienated. Telling them to come back to Church and that if they do not come back to church, they will end up joining a different community, away from God. He reminded them that they are different people now. They have been baptized and...

In this chapter St. Paul speaks about his spiritual ministry, the sacrifice he is making for the Gospel, and about his authenticity as an apostle, because he wants the Corinthians to believe in his message - he is an authentic apostle and this message he delivers comes directly from Christ. This is important because there are a number of false prophets who are jealous of St. Paul and speak out aga...

St. Paul has been defending his apostleship and explaining the nature of his service. In chapter 4 he explained that in spite of the suffering, in spite of the false accusations, in spite of hardships he faces he will not lose heart/hope. In this chapter he gives some reasons why he will continue to be hopeful. He says that even if they killed him (tent) he will be raised with the glorious body (a...