Blogging Through the Book of Mormon

4:8-9 - This might be the most famous advice Paul gives for us members, because as the article on this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com says, “Of all the admonitions of Paul, of all his inspired advice, of all his exhortations, Joseph Smith included this one as the thirteenth article of faith. It is an admonition for the saints to search out all good. While the world accuses us of being closed-minded, the opposite should really be the case. We reject evil in all of its manifestations but accept every form of goodness and righteousness throughout the earth in whatever form it may be.” I love the concept of “truth is truth no matter where it’s found.” Paul’s statement encourages us to “think on these things,” which are “whatsoever things are true,” “honest,” “just,” “pure,” “lovely,” “of good report,” “if there be any virtue,” or “praise.” The 13th article of faith doesn’t use the word “think” but instead uses “seek after,” which is a much more active word than “think.” It’s also import...

4:1-5 - Paul urges the saints at Philippi to “stand fast in the Lord,” which means to remain committed to the cause and keep the commandments even when it gets hard. Interestingly, he also urges the men to “help those women which labored with me in the gospel.” The article on this chapter says that it was Lydia and “other sisters from Philippi” specifically who helped Paul. The IM quotes President J. Reuben Clark Jr. as teaching, “From (New Testament times) until now woman has comforted and nursed the Church. She has borne more than half the burdens, she has made more than half the sacrifices, she has suffered the most of the heartaches and sorrows.” That was encouraging to me because I feel like I do my best with the gospel, but it’s very hard and I don’t get a lot of help or support. Paul also advises “Let your moderation be known unto all men.” The article quotes Ezra Taft Benson as noting, “the condition of the physical body can affect the spirit. That’s why the Lord gave us the ...

3:9-10 - Everything that Paul gave up for the cause of the gospel, all the power, prestige, and wealth, he considers to be a good trade for what he gets out of the gospel, even though that comes with physical danger and injury and prison. He feels that it was a good trade because he knows now that “mine won righteousness, which is of the law,” can’t save him, only “that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” What he knows now that he didn’t know then is that salvation doesn’t come through obedience to law but through the atonement of Jesus Christ. The reward to accepting the gospel is “that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto him death.” The trade off for everything that Paul gave up and enduring his “fellowship of his suffering” is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I mean that should really put into perspective for the rest of us just how valuable a p...

3:1-3 - Just like Paul had to talk to his other audiences about those who trying to corrupt the true church of God, he brings up the conversation with the Philippians as well, even though they are doing well spiritually and there was no mention of these people being a problem for them so far. Paul says, “beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.” The IM points out that Paul is being metaphoric when he says “beware of dogs,” meaning that he isn’t saying specifically the species of animal that are dogs, or anything like that, but “dogs” refers to “an unworthy person,” specifically “Judaizers- people who taught that coverts to Christianity must follow certain Jewish customs, including circumcision. I sarcasm Paul referred to Judaizers as ‘the concision’ a term that implies mutilation.” It’s like he’s saying, “watch out for those mutilators who teach false doctrine.” It’s interesting that Paul says that those who preach circumcision are incorrect, because “we are t...

2:12-13 - Since we know that one day all people will acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ and that His gospel is the way to salvation, Paul urges “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” There are several parts of this phrase that bear investigating. First is the “work out your own salvation” part. The article on this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com says, “in the long debate between Mormons and Protestants, the issue of salvation by grace verses works has been perhaps the point of greatest debate. The Mormon position has depended on passages from James and this passage from Paul. Salvation by ‘works’ as some have taught it, required an individual to ‘work out your own salvation with fear and trembling’ as if salvation was ours for the taking- as if works performed with ‘fear and trembling’ could bring salvation in and of themselves. In our fervor to explain the necessity of works, we have at times distorted the reality that salvation is dependent on the grace of God, af...

2:5-6 - The way that we are supposed to treat each other doesn’t come naturally to most people, it isn’t part of our human nature. That’s why it’s good to have examples to follow, and Paul notes that we have the ultimate example in “Christ Jesus.” He then makes a really interesting statement, saying, “Who, being in the form of God, though it not robbery to be equal with God.” The article on this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com says, “Paul uses curious language to describe the divinity of Jesus Christ… Why would Paul use such language? Is he afraid to say that Jesus of Nazareth and Jehovah, the God of Abraham, are indeed the same individual? From our perspective, equating Jesus with God is not difficult. However, in Paul’s day, such a belief was blasphemy. Indeed, the ancient Jews did think it was robbery, even highway robbery, for Jesus to make himself equal with God. The orthodoxy of the day made no room for God taking upon himself the form of a man.” The article also points out that ...

2:1-4 - So even though the Philippian saints are given the gift of the gospel, sometimes, that requires suffering for the sake of the cause. But Paul reminds them “if there be therefore any consolation in Christ,” that suffering can bring joy and love and unity with “ye be likeminded.” So there is a built in support system with others who are also enduring for the sake of the gospel, they can build each other up in faith and confidence. He tells them that to receive and provide this support, they must “in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” The IM quotes Elder H. Burke Peterson as teaching, “A selfless person is one who is more concerned about the happiness and well-being of another than about his or her own convenience or comfort, one who is willing to serve another when it is neither sought for nor appreciated, or one who is willing to serve even those whom he or she dislikes. A selfless person displays a willingness to sacrifice, a willingness to purg...

1:20-26 - Even if there are some people preaching the Christ’s gospel “of contention, not sincerely,” the message is still being put out there and people who are ready will recognize it and be drawn to the teachings. All Paul hopes to do is live “with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live if Christ, and to die is gain.” The article on this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com says, “You would think after a few beatings or stonings that Paul would be more circumspect in his teachings. Perhaps he could display a more reconciliatory tone. Perhaps he would tone down his message a little if more suffering seemed imminent. However, the greatness of Paul’s spirit is that he would not hold anything back. It didn’t matter what he had suffered already. It didn’t matter that he was in prison. It didn’t matter that he might soon be killed for the cause. In spite of all he had been through, he would still preach C...

It appears that Philippians is going to be a different kind of letter and that is kind of exciting. For some background, we find that this letter from Paul to the saints in Philippi (Macedonia) while Paul is in his first imprisonment in Rome. The saints in Philippi were the first contacts that Paul had in Europe during his first ministry so they held a special place in his heart. According to the article on this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com, when the saints in Philippi found out that Paul was in prison in Rome, they “had sent Epaphroditus to Rome to take gifts to Paul and to minister to his needs.” Epaphroditus became very ill while in Rome and almost died, and after he recovered Paul could tell that he was homesick, so Paul sent him back home with this letter. The article continues, “Unlike most of Paul’s other epistles, this one did not seem to be prompted by major doctrinal squabbles or moral difficulties among the saints, but was rather ‘a letter of friendship, full of affection...

6:16 - So far as have the "belt" of truth or "having your loins girt about with truth," and "the breastplate of righteousness," and "your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace." Now we take on "the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." The article by April Moti entitled, "What Is the Full Armor of God? How Can I Put On the Whole Armor of God?" gives background information saying, "When Paul wrote this passage, Roman soldiers carried shields that were covered with heavy animal hide. Before a battle, they would dip their shields into the water so that when fiery darts hit them, the wet hide would extinguish the darts. In a similar way, a Christian's shield of faith needs to be regularly dipped in the water of God's word to be replenished and fully functional- because 'faith comes by hearing and hearing my the word of God.'" I just fou...

6:11-13 - Now we get to Paul’s iconic command to “Put on the whole armour of God,” lesson. This has been taught to saints starting in childhood since as long as I can remember. One of the things that is amazing about studying the Bible as opposed to the three books of scripture is that with the Bible, you have at your fingertips the whole of Christian scholarship available for insight. Paul starts with telling us why the Armour of God is important, saying that the whole purpose is “that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” That’s a pretty substantial reason. It’s interesting that Paul says “the wiles of the devil” because that implies that the armour will protect us regardless of whether or not we are aware of the threat. To me, “wiles” means sneaky or stealthy, and me not being that observant, I’m not confident in my ability to not fall victim to a person or animal’s sneaky attacks against me. So it’s comforting to know that I don’t even have to be aware of the dan...

6:1-3 - The household code continues with a basic Mosaic commandment for “children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother… That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.” I struggle with this commandment because I don’t have the type of parents that I can depend on to have my best interest in mind. In fact, repeatedly throughout my life, they have screwed me for their own personal reasons, so the whole “obey your parents,” yeah, no thanks, I’m good. So I don’t really know how this applies to me personally, I know that it was actually detrimental when I was growing up because I had so much guilt over my broken relationship with my parents because I was supposed to “honor and obey” them, so I felt guilty when I didn’t do that because of self-preservation. The IM quotes For the Strength of Youth, which says, “Honor your parents by showing love and respect for them. Obey them as they lead you in righteousness. Willingly he...

5:17 - Starting in verse 17, we start into what the IM calls the “household codes,” which are instructions for each household member on how to treat each other. It’s important to note here and it’s not each “family” member but each “household” member because during Paul’s time a household consisted of not just biological family members but servants, slaves, and adoptees also. The IM gives background saying, “Sing the early congregations of the Church met to worship and partake of the sacrament in Church members’ homes, the congregations Paul addressed would have included all members of a typical Greco-Roman household- fathers and husbands, mothers and wives, children, slaves, and masters. In the household setting, the well-being of house-church congregations was inseparable from the well-being of Christian families.” Just because we meet in larger, more spread out congregations now, and just because we don’t usually have a master-servant relationship with most people now doesn’t mean t...