`the words which the Holy Ghost teacheth' such differences will be

acknowledged and obeyed.

`Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good

work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ' (Phil. 1:6).

It has been taught recently that the meaning of this passage is that

the special testimony of Philippians was to cease, and so lend its weight to

the further idea that Philippians does not belong to the group of Paul's

epistles of the Mystery.  Let us test this suggestion and seek the truth by

the application of the principle of 1 Corinthians 2:13.  Paul had spoken very

feelingly about the fellowship of the Philippians in the gospel `from the

first day until now' (1:5) and it seems a strange sequence of thought to say

`I thank God that your fellowship in the gospel has continued from the first

until now, for ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel,

when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning

giving and receiving, but ye only.  For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and

again unto my necessity' (Phil. 4:15,16), and then to add, I am confident of

this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will bring it to

an end, and discontinue this fellowship until the day of Jesus Christ.  For

further proof that there can be no idea of `leaving off', we turn to the

words which the Holy Ghost teacheth in a parallel passage which to us, and we

trust to our readers, will be final.  In 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 the apostle

speaks once again about financial fellowship:

`For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to

them of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago' (2 Cor. 9:2).

There had been, however, some slackening on the part of the

Corinthians, and Paul uses the same word `perform' (Gk. epiteleo) that he

employed in Philippians 1:6:

`And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have

begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago.  Now

therefore Perform (epiteleo, same word as in Phil. 1:6) the doing of

it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a

performance (epiteleo) also out of that which ye have' (2 Cor.

No one in his senses would believe that in this exhortation the apostle

was really advising the Corinthians to go back upon their promise and

`discontinue' the idea of an offering.  One further passage will show the

meaning of enarkomai, the word translated `begun' in Philippians 1:6, namely

the reference in Galatians 3:3:

`Are you so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made

perfect by the flesh?'

If Philippians is to be set aside as having no place in the

dispensation of the Mystery, something more convincing must be brought

forward than the interpretation of Philippians 1:6 that God was going `to

leave off' whatever it was that He had commenced.  It sounds too much like

special pleading.