Study questions

Life-Study of Philippians

1. The Background and Subject of the Book

  1. What are the four items that make up the background of the book of Philippians?
  2. What is the subject of this book and how does this subject enable us to deal with the each of the four items in the background of the book?

2. The Church in Philippi

  1. How do we see that the church in Philippi was a church in good order?
  2. What does it mean to think the same thing and to think the one thing and how can we in this way, like the Philippians, be saved from having dissension among ourselves?

3. Paul’s Suffering for the Gospel and His Enjoyment of Grace

  1. What does it mean to suffer for the gospel and why did Paul suffer so much in his gospel preaching?
  2. What was the grace Paul experienced in his sufferings and how is this grace related to the inward parts of Christ?

4. The Different Preachings of Christ

  1. What were the two types of preaching of Christ Paul encountered and what was his response to both?
  2. How did both types of preaching of Christ turn out to Paul's salvation? How can they turn out to ours?

5. The Bountiful Supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ

  1. What is the significance of the term "the Spirit of Jesus Christ"?
  2. According to the last section of this message, what are two aspects of the Spirit that are neglected in Christianity and what is their significance?

6. Magnifying Christ by Living Him

  1. What is the significance of living Christ and magnifying Christ and what is the distinction between these two terms?
  2. Explain what it means that "Christ’s life was Paul’s life, and Paul’s living was Christ’s living."

7. The Best Choice of Paul

  1. What kind of salvation is Paul referring to in verse 19 and what does it mean for Paul to say that “this" will turn out to salvation?
  2. What is the distinction between enjoying the presence of Christ and living Christ in Philippians chapter 1 verse 21?

8. Standing Firm in One Spirit, Striving Together with One Soul

  1. In addition to telling the saints in Philippi to stand firm in one spirit, why did the Apostle Paul also charge them to strive together with one soul?
  2. What is the difference between “in one spirit” and “with one soul” and why did Paul use the specific prepositions “in” and “with”?

9. The Believers’ Support to the Apostle

  1. What is the "one thing" that Paul charged the believers to think in 2:2?
  2. How do chapters 1 and 2 illustrate what should be normal in our experience of Christ?

10. Taking Christ as our Pattern

  1. How is it possible for us to work out our own salvation? If we could work out our salvation, would that not make salvation a matter of our own works?
  2. From 2:6-8 list the seven steps of Christ as our pattern. Where is this Christ who is our pattern today and how can we live such a life?

11. The Exaltation of Christ

  1. How does taking Christ as the pattern of a crucified life result in the exaltation of Christ?
  2. How can we exalt Christ in our personal universe—in our daily life, family life, and church life?

12. Working out our Salvation

  1. What does it mean to work out our own salvation and how can we do it?
  2. How does God's operating in us enable us to work out our own salvation?

13. Holding Forth Christ

  1. How is being children of God the base for our holding forth Christ?
  2. What does it mean to hold forth the word of life and how can we do it?

14. A Drink Offering Poured out upon the Sacrifice of the Believers’ Faith

  1. What is the drink offering in Philippians 2:17 and how is it produced or constituted?
  2. What is the sacrifice of the believers' faith in verse 17 and how it related to the drink offering? Include a definition of faith in your answer.

15. The Apostle’s Concern for the Believer

  1. How is our personal experience and enjoyment of Christ related to our caring for the church?
  2. Why must we be like-souled in our concern and care for the church and how can we be one in the soul?

16. Being Like-Souled and Risking our Soul

  1. Why is it so important for the saints to be like-souled and what is the result of not being like-souled?
  2. How is risking our soul related to our experience of Christ in the Body?

17. The Three Positive Aspects of the Spiritual Believers

  1. What caused Paul to continue the letter after his apparent concluding greetings at the end of chapter 2? Why was rejoicing "safe" for the Philippians?
  2. How do the three negative and positive characteristics in 3:2-6 relate to our subjective experience of Christ?

18. Counting All Things Loss on Account of Christ

  1. According to the context of chapter 3, what were the "all things" that Paul counted as loss in verse 8?
  2. How can our national philosophy and domestic culture keep us from a deeper experience of Christ?

19. The Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ

  1. What are the two major factors in the composition of the Old Testament and New Testament? How do they stand in contact to each other?
  2. What is the relationship between the excellency of Christ's Person and the excellency of the knowledge of Christ? How can we have such a knowledge of Christ?

20. To be Found in Christ

  1. What does it mean to be found in Christ and how can we be found in Him practically?
  2. How is our being found in Christ related to faith in Christ or the faith of Christ and how can we have the faith of Christ?

21. Seeking to Know Christ,the Power of His Resurrection, and the Fellowship of His Sufferings

  1. How is the excellency of our knowledge of Christ related to our experience of Christ and how can this be seen in the progression of the verses from Philippians 3:7-11?
  2. What is the relationship between our experiencing the “power of His resurrection” and our participating in “the fellowship of His suffering”?

22. Conformed to Christ’s Death to Attain to the Out-Resurrection from Among the Dead

  1. Why do we need to be conformed to the death of Christ and what is the result and outcome of this experience?
  2. Why must we continually put to death our human life and why is it a serious problem to treasure our natural life?

23. Gaining Christ by Pursuing Him

  1. According to 3:12-14, what is the purpose of our conversion? Did Paul consider to have reached it?
  2. What is the out-resurrection and how does it prove that all believers will not be treated the same at the judgement seat? How should that impact us today?

24. Having the Same Mind and Walking by the Same Rule

  1. What is "this mind" that we should have per verse 15? What if we have a different mind?
  2. What is the basic and governing principle for our Christian walk?

25. Awaiting Christ for the Transfiguration of our Body

  1. How is Paul's basic thought in Philippians 3 related to two kinds of people that damage the church? How are these two conditions related to us and how should we deal with them?
  2. How does seeing our heavenly citizenship and the transfiguration of our body enable us to deal with the second condition, related to the care for our body?

26. Thinking the Same Thing and Rejoicing in the Lord

  1. What does it mean to "think the same thing" and how is this related to the experience of Christ?
  2. What is the importance of rejoicing in the Lord in the context of the book of Philippians?

27. Excellent Characteristics of the Christian Life (1)

  1. What are the factors that motivated the apostle Paul to write the epistle to the Philippians?
  2. Describe the first two aspects of the expression of a life that lives Christ.

28. Excellent Characteristics of the Christian Life (2)

  1. What are the six governing aspects of a life that lives Christ and what are the two values of these six aspects?
  2. According to the final section of this chapter, what is the proper understanding of Philippians 4:5-9?

29. The Apostle's Secret of Sufficiency in Christ

  1. How does Philippians chapter 4 show us the secret that Paul learned and the way Paul applied this secret?
  2. What basic principle of the apostle's secret of sufficiency is shown through Philippians 4:13 and how is this related to Paul's enjoyment of Christ?

30. The Believers' Fellowship in the Apostle's Need

  1. How is the giving and receiving in in Philippians 4:10, 14-20 related to the experience of Christ and what words did Paul use to illustrate this?
  2. How is our giving and receiving of material things related to God’s glory?

31. Paul’s Suffering for the Gospel and His Enjoyment of Grace

  1. What was within Paul as he wrote his word of greeting to the Philippians and what was his greeting to them in the context of the book?
  2. What was the grace with which Paul blessed the Philippians and how may we enjoy it?

32. Grace, Salvation, the Spirit, and Christ

  1. Why did Paul say that he still needed salvation in 1:19? From what do you still need salvation through the Spiritual supply?
  2. How can we say that in our experience, grace, salvation, the Spirit, and Christ actually are one?

33. The Bountiful Supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ for Magnifying Christ

  1. How does the compound ointment in Exodus 30:23-30 portray the bountiful supply of the Spirit?
  2. Explain how this compound Spirit is for the Body and for God's service and how being in the Body and in God's service enables us to enjoy this Spirit as our supply.

34. To Live Christ by the Spirit

  1. What does it mean to live Christ? Use John 14 and 15 to explain support your answer.
  2. Explain how living Christ is related to receiving the Spirit as the holy breath. How can we practically breathe the Spirit as the holy breath in our daily life?

35. Living Christ by Receiving the Word through the Spirit

  1. What kind of salvation is referred to in Philippians 2:12 and how are God's operation and our cooperation involved in our experience of this salvation?
  2. How are the Word and the Spirit related in our experience of God's salvation?

36. The Riches of the Bountiful Supply of the Spirit Embodied in the Word

  1. What is the basic thought in the Bible and how is it related to the Word?
  2. How is the Word related to living and magnifying Christ?

37. The Rich Word, the Bountiful Supply, and Unceasing Prayer for Living Christ

  1. What does it mean to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly and how can we practice this?
  2. How is unceasing prayer related to the rich Word and the bountiful Spirit and what are some ways we can pray unceasingly?

38. The Riches of Christ Realized in the Bountiful Supply of the Spirit and the Bountiful Supply of the Spirit Embodied in the Rich Word of God

  1. How is our realizing of who Christ is and what Christ is related to our living Christ?
  2. How can the Spirit within and the Word without cause us to be permeated and saturated with the Triune God to live Christ?

39. To Participate in the Bountiful Supply of the Spirit and Enjoy the Riches of Christ by Receiving the Word of God (1)

  1. What does it mean to say Christ should be subjective to us? Use two verses as examples.
  2. According to Philippians chapters 1 and 2, give a definition of living Christ.

40. To Participate in the Bountiful Supply of the Spirit and Enjoy the Riches of Christ by Receiving the Word of God (2)

  1. What two phrases from Colossians 3:16 indicate Paul's burden was not for us to read and know the Word?
  2. What is better than pray-reading? What is even better than that and why?

41. Christ Making His Home in us by His Word Inhabiting us

  1. Explain the two extremes concerning the Spirit and how God's economy avoids these two extremes.
  2. How can the riches of Christ fill us in a practical way and how can we receive the word of Christ in order to live Him?

42. Doing Everything in the Name of the Lord by Being Saturated with His Riches

  1. What does it mean to be in the Lord's name?
  2. How can we do everything in the Lord's name?

43. Christ, Salvation, God, and the Word of Life

  1. According to this message, what is salvation?
  2. What is the relationship between salvation, Christ, God, and the word of life?

44. The Word of God Being the Embodiment of the Living God

  1. What are the two major steps that God went through in His process in order to become the life-giving Spirit?
  2. What is the relationship between the Spirit and the word?

45. The Word of Life Identical to the Living Christ

  1. Why do we need to contact the Word through the Spirit and what is the proper way to “strike” the “match” of the Word?
  2. How does the word of the Bible enable us to live Christ and to live a life full of the divine virtues?

46. Children of God Shining as Luminaries by Holding Forth the Word of Life

  1. Describe the best ways to receive the Word of God and how we can let the word of Christ dwell in us richly.
  2. As children of God, what is our function and how do we fulfill our function?

47. The Constant Salvation in our Practical Life

  1. Give a definition of the salvation Paul speaks about in 1:19-21 and 2:12.
  2. From what two categories of things do we need a constant salvation?

48. Constant Salvation through the Bountiful Supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ and the Inward Operation of the Indwelling God

  1. Why does Paul use the title "the Spirit of Jesus Christ"? What is in the supply of this Spirit?
  2. How is being saved from murmurings and reasonings deeper than being saved from judgement or even from gross sins?

49. The Divine and Rich Provision for our Constant Salvation

  1. What are the five aspects of the divine provision for our constant salvation?
  2. How should handle the word in the Bible so that it becomes the divine provision for our constant salvation?

50. The Sacrifice of your Faith

  1. How is faith related to the Word and the Spirit and to the enjoyment of Christ?
  2. How does our enjoyment of faith constitute us into a sacrifice for God's enjoyment?

51. To be Found in Christ in the Righteousness of God through the Faith of Christ

  1. How can the righteousness of God become our daily living?
  2. How can we be found on Christ through the faith of Christ? How is this related to the Spirit and the word?

52. To Obtain Christ by Experiencing the Power of His Resurrection

  1. What are the three stages of securing Christ?
  2. What is the relationship between the power of Christ's resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings, and being conformed to His death?

53. To Obtain Christ by Attaining to the Out-Resurrection

  1. What are the purpose and goal of God’s high calling?
  2. What is the out-resurrection and how may we obtain Christ by attaining to the out-resurrection?

54. Pursue Toward the Goal for the Prize of the High Calling

  1. In Philippians chapter 3 Paul desired to be found in Christ. Where is Christ today and how does this relate to obtaining the goal and prize?
  2. Can we reach the goal of the out-resurrection in this age, or can we only run the race and hope to reach the goal in the coming age? Use a verse to answer

55. The Unique Mind and the Unique Walk

  1. What is the unique mind?
  2. What is the unique walk? How can we have such a walk?

56. A Life Full of Forbearance but without Anxiety (1)

  1. Explain how forbearance is an all-inclusive virtue?
  2. How is realizing the Lord's nearness related to making our forbearance known?

57. A Life Full of Forbearance but without Anxiety (2)

  1. What is the relationship between forbearance and living Christ?
  2. How is “forbearance” the best word to sum up Christ’s human virtues?

58. A Life Full of Forbearance but without Anxiety (3)

  1. Under what circumstances and environments will we need to exercise forbearance?
  2. What is required for our forbearance to be made known to all men and how does Philippians 3:15-16 and 4:5 reveal this to us?

59. A Life Full of Forbearance but without Anxiety (4)

  1. From Philippians 4:4-5, explain what is the connection between rejoicing and forbearance.
  2. From Philippians 4:5-6, how can we see that forbearance is related to our prayer?

60. A Life Full of Forbearance but without Anxiety (5)

  1. Why at the conclusion of such a profound book on the experience of Christ does Paul mention forbearance and anxiety?
  2. What is God’s purpose in assigning circumstances to us which cause anxiety?

61. A Life Full of Forbearance but without Anxiety (6)

  1. How are anxiety and forbearance related to two kinds of lives, and two sources?
  2. Explain how there can be no coexistence between forbearance and anxiety.

62. A Life Full of Forbearance but without Anxiety (7)

  1. What is the secret of satisfaction?
  2. What are six points for us to understand and practice if we would be free from anxiety?