Philippians 4

Philippians 4:1:

^4:1So-that, my loved¹ and earnestly-longed-for brothers, my joy and crown, thus you must stand-firm in (the) Lord, loved-people¹.

Paul continues to teach regarding all that holy-people have received now and will receive from God by means of the Lord Jesus Christ at a future time, plus how we are to walk (behave, conduct ourselves).

The consequence and result is that…

·         my loved¹ (this word comes from the Greek word agape which is God's kind of love – beloved, truly you are loved by God and by myself with Godly-love)

·         and earnestly-longed-for (I have a real longing, desire on-top of what I already had for you)

o   brothers (again Paul addresses these Philippian holy-people as “brothers” and thereby he reminds them that all of them, including Paul, were children of God having received the same gift of holy spirit),

·         my joy (you are evidence of the joy that I have, a cause of rejoicing to/for me – because of receiving something good ultimately from God)

·         and crown (you are the crown that I have already received, a victory wreath or garland that is given as a prize to the victor/winner of a race and placed on my head – because you have become holy-people as I am in the spirit category; again Paul uses athletic terminology drawing attention to the truth of all holy-people being together moving in the direction of the same objective, being on the same team in the same contest),

…in this manner you must stand-firm (it is imperative that you stand fast as opposed to falling in the walk/behavior category)…

·         within the cause and sphere of action of the Lord (emphasis is being placed on the truth that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Master),

o   loved-people¹ (again Paul writes that these holy-people are beloved – truly you are loved by God and by myself with Godly-love).

[Reference: Philippians 1:8 and 27, 2:12; I Thessalonians 2:19 and 20. Also refer to the article Love in I Corinthians 13 (http://www.truebiblestudy.com/Love_in_I_Corinthians_13.htm).]