The Obligation of Joy- Phil 3:1

Paul is in prison when one day a man named Epaphroditus comes to him and brings news and service from the Philippian church. Having worked hard, and coming through a sickness that brought him near to death, Epaphroditus now returns to Philippi, letter in hand. This letter, known to us today as “Philippians” is filled with the message of joy. The word “joy” is used in Philippians more than any other New Testament letter. As we come into chapter 3 we find another instance of this theme, but in a different and perhaps strange form:

“Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble for me and is safe for you. Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.”

Paul closes chapter 2 by speaking about that which prompted the writing of the letter: the return of Epaphroditus. Now he comes to a transition in points: “Finally, my brothers” Don’t be confused when after you see the word “finally.” Paul still has over 40% of the letter left to write. Literally finally means “the rest.” So we should understand that Paul can use this word and continue on without closing, and this is no grammatical error. He also uses the term “my brothers.” This is one of Paul’s most used phrases. He uses it to call in the attention of his listeners, to show endearment, and to express solidarity with them.

After transitioning and grabbing his audience’s attention, Paul expresses a direct command: “rejoice in the Lord.” Before addressing what it means to rejoice in the Lord, let us consider the fact of the command, namely that God through Paul has told us how to feel. God has a right over our emotions. Throughout the Bible there are commands regarding how to feel (Phil 2:3- lowliness, Ps 51:17-brokenness, Rom 12:11-fervant passion, Col 3:15-heartfelt peace).

If we feel that commands like these are too intrusive, we should remember that Christianity requires total surrender. Everything is God’s. Unlike any other religion in the world, Christianity concerns itself with deep matters like heart attitudes. When God claims authority over our emotions, we see that he does not just want external service. Yes, he wants the external service, be he wants it coming from a changed heart producing a new attitude. Without Christ-like affections we are in sin, no matter how good our external performance may be.

In our culture subjective feelings are often regarded as unassailable. “Well that’s just how I feel” is often heard as the final authority on a matter. But God asserts his authority above any cultural standard, and here He uses Paul to specifically command: “Rejoice in the Lord” We have three questions to answer about this statement: “What does it mean?” “How is it accomplished?” and, “Why is it here?”


I. What does it mean to rejoice in the Lord?

“Rejoice in the Lord” is not a new command found only in Philippians. Many times in the Old Testament this is commanded and shown by example. Psalm 64:10, 97:12 command it; Psalm 35:9, 104:34 exemplify it. In the New Testament, rejoicing is assumed a few places (such as Rom 5:11) but only in Philippians do we find this specific command to rejoice in the Lord.

Taking the phrase apart backwards, we will examine “in the Lord” and then the command, “rejoice.” The phrase “in the Lord” could be referring to God or to Christ. Since Paul uses “Lord” to refer to Christ many places elsewhere in his writing, he probably has Jesus in mind here. But whether you agree with that or not does not make much of a difference in this passage. How do we know God? We see the glory of God in the face of Christ (2 Cor 4:6). So when talking about “rejoice in the Lord,” the idea is rejoicing in who he is, that is to say, his character. How do we know his character? Through the grace he has given to us (Eph 1:3-14, 1 Pet 1:3-9).

Why didn’t Paul just say: “Rejoice in the things the Lord has done for you”? Because it is easy to worship the gift and forget the giver. Say you and your friends go to Celebration Station or some similar place of amusement and one of your friends has forgotten his wallet. Generously, you give him money so he isn’t left out of the fun. But as soon as he has your money, without so much of a “thanks” he runs to his favorite game or ride or whatever and does not talk to you or even hang out with you all night. He just spends the night amusing himself at your expense. That is a small picture of how selfish we are when we enjoy all of God’s grace and never acknowledge Him. That’s why the command to rejoice is directed at his character.

So we learn that our rejoicing must go through the gifts to the giver for it to be “in the Lord.” But what does it mean to rejoice? I found this question to be slippery. How does one define any emotion? Go ahead, try it: What does it mean to grieve? What does it mean to be afraid? It is hard to describe emotions in simple language. Some synonyms for rejoice would be “to be glad” or “to delight” or “to exalt.”

Situations seem to be the better way to describe emotion. When Judas came to the Pharisees who longed to get rid of Jesus, and Judas sold Jesus into their hands, they rejoiced (Mark 14:11 Luke 22:5). In Matthew 2 the wise men look for Jesus, following the star. But when they get to Jerusalem they ask where they should find the Messiah. They are told to look in Bethlehem. When they go to Bethlehem the star guides them to where Jesus was, and Matthew says when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. Herod, the ruler in Judea, had wanted to see Jesus for a long time so he could ask Jesus to do some sign, and when Jesus was brought to him, he rejoiced (Luke 23:8).

Those are some Biblical examples, but what about your life? What about the time you were five and you got that shiny new bike or whatever it was you wanted? You rejoiced. Guys, when prom (Lakeside think: Junior/Senior) came around and you asked out the girl you really wanted to go with you and she said yes; you rejoiced. Or girls, when the guy whom you wanted to ask you did and you said yes. What about when you get handed back the exam you’ve been agonizing over, and the grade is a really good one, better than you thought you’d get? You rejoice. Rejoicing in the Lord is no less than those kinds of rejoicing.

But the analogies do break down in this way: the circumstances you rejoice in change. The shiny new bike gets rusty and you outgrow it. Prom ends, and you might not see that person much any more. The class with the exam is now over, and it’s a new semester, and you just flunked your first quiz. The difference is, our standing in God is secure because of the sovereign nature of his grace, so we can always rejoice in it because it never changes.


II. How does one “rejoice in the Lord”?

The problem with everything written above is not that it isn’t true. The problem is that very few days of the week do we feel like rejoicing in the Lord. For someone going through a hard time, whether it is physical hardship or a spiritual valley, this command might seem to be quite impossible. Feeling like this command is beyond our natural capabilities is actually a good place to start, once you acknowledge your inability and dependency on God to rejoice, there are some strategies that will help cultivate and attitude of joy in the Lord.

Trust God and his promises. Remind yourself of the beautiful passages about God’s grace to you and your standing in him, and believe them. Preach them over the circumstances of the day. Passages like Ps 16:11, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Ps 34:8, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” Rom 8:28, “And we know for those God loves all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Heb 4:15-16, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Other passages I would suggest are Rom 5:1-8, Eph 1:3-14, 1 Pet 1:3-9.

Pray that God would make this command a reality in your life. Pray especially over the Word of God. Look for the places where God commands or promises joy, and ask God to perform those things in your life. Notice that Moses prays this way in Num 14:17-20. He directly quotes God from what is now Ex 34:6-7 in his prayer, and God heard. This is not to say that we have to say some magical phrases or in some way connive God into granting our prayer. We simply come before him confessing our inability, proclaiming our trust in his truth, and adoring his unchanging, faithful character. James says “You do not have because you do not ask” (4:2). Jesus says that God is like a Father, willing to give good things to his children (Matt 7:7-11, Luke 11:10-12). It is clear that we will not rejoice in the Lord if we do not seek him out in prayer.

Choose to see the world as it really is. Often we are not joyful because we fail to see things as they really are. We do not see the world as destined to be made new (Rev 21:5). We don’t see other believers as brothers and sisters in Christ (Matt 12:50). We don’t see unbelievers as those who have no hope (1 Th 4:13). We don’t see our circumstances as coming from God’s hand (Rom 8:28). We don’t see ourselves as bought with a price (1 Cor 6:20), given everything we need for life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3), certain of victory (Rom 8:37) and ultimate perfection in heaven (Phil 1:6). If we saw ourselves truly of heirs with Christ (Gal 4:7) to whom belongs the world (Phil 3:20-21 Heb1:2), and realized that all of this comes from God who graciously gives it to us based on nothing in ourselves (Eph 2:8-9), we would rejoice more. Take hold of the fact that God is working in you (Phil 2:13) and has made you his own (Phil 3:12).


III. Why do we find this command here?

After Paul gives the command to rejoice he makes this interesting statement: “To write the same things to you is no trouble for me and is safe for you.” Before Ch. 3, Paul took some time to commend Epaphroditus and Timothy. The very last command he gave the Philippians before that section was the same word he uses in 3:1, “rejoice.” Later in the book Paul takes up this same theme of repetition in connection with the command to rejoice. He writes in Phil 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord, again I say, Rejoice.” The text then begs two questions: Why is it no trouble for Paul, and why is it safe for the Philippians?

“No trouble” is the idea of not irksome or bothersome or annoying. It didn’t get under Paul’s skin when he had to repeat something to the Philippians. All of us have some experience with the aid repetition provides to remembering. Paul knew that by repetition the Philippians would better be able to apply the word of God to their lives. Don’t forget that the average person in the church at Philippi would not have a copy of Paul’s letter to carry around like we do. If the word of God was going to speak into their lives outside of direct contact with the apostle’s teaching, remembrance was key. We already know Paul desires their obedience, so he has no problem with saying this again if it will help, and he knows it will.

“Is safe” carries the idea of something that guards or keeps safe, like saying “a helmet is safe for the biker.” How would writing the same thing to them keep them safe? Aside from the above-mentioned benefit of remembrance, the nature of the thing repeated is itself a safeguard against the legalism he is about to address. In 1 Cor 1:30-31, Paul has similar thoughts. Christ is everything to us, so we rejoice in him. If we rejoice in the Lord we acknowledge that our rejoicing in him comes from the grace he gives as a gift. Therefore we cannot at the same time praise the Lord, rejoicing in him for what he has done, and think that we did it. If I did it, I rejoice in me. But if I’m not rejoicing in myself, but I rejoice in the Lord, I exhibit clearly that heart of gratitude and joy that looks to the Lord as author of my righteousness and not to myself.

Before Paul turns to warn the Philippians of “dogs,” “evildoers” and “those who mutilate the flesh,” he wants to give them a positive command that will serve to strengthen them against the poison of the legalists. This is how “rejoice in the Lord” works in this passage. If you have joy in the Lord, then you will make your boast in him, and this will squelch the self-righteousness that is like a mold seeking the right environment to grow. Turn on the climate control of joy in the Lord and you will kill self-righteousness and the environment in which it thrives.


This is the first part of a series on Philippians 3. Next week we will see how Paul addresses this rising problem of self-righteousness and its advocates as we move into verses 2 and 3.