Philippians 3:19

Php_3:19

Whose end is destruction

I.

Their sin. Earthly mindedness. It seems hard to say that we should not at all mind earthly things. These are necessary to sweeten our pilgrimage, and support us during our service. We have our earthly house that must be maintained (2Co_5:1). Therefore God does allow us in some sort to mind earthly things, but--

1. Not only. Some mind them who have no tincture of religion (Psa_10:4; Rom_8:5; Luk_10:42; Luk_12:21).

2. Not chiefly. The gross worldling is discovered by his only minding, the secret worldling by his chiefly minding. The rule is that spiritual things must be sought in the first place (Mat_6:33), and we must trust God for other things in the way of honest endeavours. The minding of earthly things is when religion is subordinate to the world, when the lean kine devour the fat (Luk_8:14). This matter will be known by three things.

(1) What is your chief end and scope? It must be God and heaven (2Co_4:18; Php_3:14). The end cuts out the work and forms the thoughts.

(2) What is your chief business? If it be about earthly things you are earthly minded. Surely our great business is to obtain salvation by Christ (chap. 2:12). It is dangerous to miscarry in so weighty a work.

(3) What is the great joy and trouble of your hearts? Is it to have and want the world? (Luk_12:19). The saints fetch their solace from spiritual things (Psa_4:6-7; Psa_119:14; Psa_94:19; Psa_30:7); but if disappointment in the world be the cause of our trouble, and happiness in the world feedeth our icy, surely we mind these things most.

3. Alas! a child of God is often too worldly. In particular acts he may carry himself too much like an earthly minded man, but no prevalent covetousness, voluptuousness, or ambition possesses his heart instead of God. He is growing out of these distempers and settling his soul to his constant bent, work, and joy.

II. The aggravations of this sin.

1. Whose God is their belly.

(1) They prize the belly. Provision for the flesh is the sum of worldly happiness. But the world yields no more than bodily food and clothing, which the poorest may attain without so much ado. Are they nearer to true comfort and further from the grave? (Psa_17:14). You say that some rich men will not afford themselves conveniences, but fare hard. Answer--

(a) Covetousness is usually the purveyor of the flesh (Rom_8:5). Those who seem to deal hardly with it, please it--by hoarding if not by spending.

(b) They are twice fools, for they transgress the laws both of nature end of grace (Ecc_5:18-19).

(c) They lay it up for them who spend it on the belly; and as one goes to hell for getting, so does the other for spending, till it revolve into hands that will use it better (Ecc_2:26; Pro_13:22; Job_27:17). Estates are ruined by sins of omission as well as commission.

(2) This belly is made a god. Our god is that which we value most, and for whose sake we do things (Col_3:5; Eph_5:5).

(3) How justly are they deprived of eternal salvation.

(a) They put a vile scorn on God and Christ (2Ti_3:4; 1Jn_2:15).

(b) They that serve a base god cannot but have a base spirit. Every mans temper is as his god is (Psa_115:8),

(c) They are not only unfit for God, but opposite to Him (Jam_4:4).

2. Their glory is in their shame.

(1) That which a man prizes most he will glory in, be it wealth, honour, parts, or the Lord (Jer_9:23-24). Man will glory in something. True Christians renounce all carnal gloryings (2Co_1:12; Gal_6:14; 1Co_15:10).

(2) The true object of glorying is God and Christ (Jer_9:23-24; Jer_4:2; 1Co_1:30-31).

(3) Not only benefits but sufferings for Christ should be more to us than all the world (Heb_11:26; Act_5:41; 2Co_12:9-10).

(4) A mortified estate is a greater cause for glory than an exalted, because it is a far greater mercy (Gal_6:14; Jam_1:9-10).

(5) The carnal rejoice in earthly things as pleasing to the flesh; and so do the godly, as far as the flesh remaineth in them; but this is our weakness and disgrace.

(6) This is to bid defiance to religion and to glory in your shame when you bless yourselves more for having an estate in the world than an interest in the promises. This is as if it were a sign of prudence to glory in the finding of a pin.

III. Their punishment--Their end, etc.

1. It is good to look to the end of things (Deu_32:29; Lam_1:9; Jer_17:11; Heb_13:7).

2. Worldly pleasures will end in everlasting destruction (1Ti_6:9-10; Rom_6:21; Rom_6:23; Gal_6:8; Rom_8:6; Rom_8:13; 2Co_11:15).

3. The punishment is the more dreadful to give us the more help, and the more powerful argument against those pleasing lusts. It is sweet to please the flesh, but it will cost us dear.

IV. Uses.

1. Do we mind earthly things or heavenly?

(1) Do not fix them as your scope (1Ti_6:9).

(2) Let not this be your great work (Mat_6:24).

(3) Let not earthly things be your great delight (1Co_7:29-30; Php_4:12; Psa_62:10).

(4) When your estate is yet to be made or gotten, let your desires be modest (Isa_5:8; Ecc_5:10; Heb_13:5).

(5) Moderate your cares about these things (Mat_6:25-32; Php_4:5-6; 1Pe_5:7).

(6) Be willing to resign them to Christ when the enjoyment of them is inconsistent with your fidelity to Him (Luk_14:33).

5. To dissuade us from earthly mindedness consider--

(1) You must shortly die and come to your account, and according to the account you give and the preparation you have made you must live in endless joy or misery.

(2) The danger of abundance (Mat_19:24; Ecc_5:11-12; Luk_12:48).

(3) See by faith those sure, great, and glorious things which are infinitely more worthy your love and labour (Col_3:2; Heb_11:25).

(4) Think often of your great necessities (Luk_10:42). (T. Manton, D. D.)

Earthliness

I. Its manifestations.

1. Sensuality.

2. Pride.

3. Covetousness.

II. Its shame. It degrades--

1. The understanding.

2. The moral nature.

3. The immortal spirit.

III. Its end.

1. Ruin.

2. Misery. (J. Lyth, D. D.)

Materialism

There is--

1. A philosophic materialism which reduces the soul to a series of phenomena to be accounted for by superiority of physical organization in man, and makes God an expression for the sum of natures workings.

2. A practical materialism which does not trouble itself to deny the existence of the soul or the claims of God, but is nevertheless buried in matter, and swallowed up of earthliness. There were baptized Christians in Philippi who were enemies of the Cross, because while wearing the Christian name they were given up to sensuality. This, in various forms, is a crying evil in all prosperous times. The text is applicable to the worldling now.

I. Who are they who mind earthly things?

1. Those whose sole care is the increase of wealth. Business occupies their whole attentions. Material interests absorb their whole soul. Such was the man described by our Lord (Luk_7:18, etc.). These divorce what God has joined together--diligence in business and fervency of spirit.

2. Those whose sole enjoyment is the pleasures of this life (Luk_16:19). Whose god is their belly describes one type of sensual enjoyment. But a man wholly given up to even innocent enjoyment is, in truth, a mere sensualist. He neglects and despises the pleasures of--

(1) devotion;

(2) godly companionship;

(3) heavenly anticipation (Php_3:20).

II. What is the end of those who mind earthly things? Destruction. They that sow to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption (Luk_16:24-25). (Family Churchman.)

Illustrations of the apostles sentiment

Even heathen thought in its higher types could brand sensualists as κοιλιοδαίμονες, men who worshipped belly gods. The striking words which Euripides puts into the mouth of the Cyclops, the type of this class, have often been cited in this connection: I sacrifice to no one but myself; not to the gods, but to this my belly, the greatest of the gods; for to eat and drink each day is the god for wise men. We have, further, the greatest of the German poets representing Mephistopheles as contemptuously, yet insinuatingly saying to the fool rejoicing in his possessions, Du hast dafur was Schluud und Bauch begehrt. And we have the words of scathing denunciation of John Ruskin, The creation over which God appointed us kings, and in which we have chosen to live as swine. With such instances of the contempt with which men can justly regard the lower, baser levels of life, we can the better comprehend the indignant yet sorrowing scorn with which the apostle contemplates the objects of his denunciation. In view, too, of such grossness of nature as is here depicted, we can listen to the call which Chrysostom has addressed to every true cross bearer--the call to higher things--Thou hast received a belly that thou mayest feed, not distend it; that thou mayest have the mastery over it, not have it as mistress over thee; that it may minister to thee for the nourishment of the other parts, not that thou mayest minister to it; not that thou mayest exceed limits. The sea, when it passes its bounds, doth not work so many evils as the belly doth to our body, together with our soul. They are men who, in the contemptuous words of the Roman satirist, in their all-engrossing care for their belly and their amusements, ask no other favours of their emperor than bread and circus games. They are those who, as Cornelius a Lapide puts it, are like the moles, ever concerned with the earth, ever blindly digging in the earth, and ever breathing of the earth, whereas Christians feed on heavenly food and breathe the air of heaven. Or once more, we can recognize these men in the picture in the interpreters chamber of Bunyans allegory, The man that could look no way but downwards, with the muck rake in his hand, while there stood over his head one with a celestial crown in his hand, and proffered him that crown for his muck rake; but the man did neither look up nor regard, but raked to himself the straws, the small sticks, and dust of the floor. (J. Hutchison, D. D.)

The curse of carnality

Carnal men are daily partakers of the serpents curse: they go on their belly, and eat dust. (Archbishop Leighton.)

Whose god is their belly

The Sicilians erected an altar and a statue in the temple of Ceres to Adephagia, the goddess of gluttony, thus literally illustrating these words. Similar examples of the personification and worship of lusts abound in modern heathenism. (J. F. B. Tinling, B. A.)

Glory and shame

Of Anacreon, the famous lyric poet (520 B.C.), whose genius was devoted to the praise of sensual pleasures, the people of Athens raised a statue in the citadel, in which he was represented as an old drunken man singing. He had lived to eighty-five, and was choked at last by a grape stone. (J. F. B. Tinling, B. A.)

Belly worship reproved

A gentleman in England, who had a chapel attached to his house, was visited by a person from London, to whom he showed the chapel. What a glorious kitchen this would make! said the visitor. When I make a god of my belly, replied the gentleman, I will make a kitchen of my chapel. (Biblical Museum.)

The love of this world is a great hindrance to the gospel

Dr. Justus Jonus told Dr. Martin Luther of a noble and powerful Misnian who above all things occupied himself in amassing gold and silver, and was so buried in darkness that he gave no heed to the five books of Moses, and had even said to Duke John Frederick, who was discoursing with him upon the gospel, Sir, the gospel pays no interest. Have you no grains? interposed Luther; and then told this fable:--A lion, making a great feast, invited all the beasts, and with them some swine. When all manner of dainties were set before the guests, the swine asked, Have you no grains? Even so, continued the Doctor, even so, in these days, is it with our epicureans; we preachers set before them, in our churches, the most dainty and costly dishes, as everlasting salvation, the remission of sins, and Gods grace; but they, like swine, turn up their snouts, and ask for guilders: offer a cow nutmeg, and she will reject it for old hay. This reminds me of the answer of certain parishioners to their minister, Ambrose R. He had been earnestly exhorting them to come and listen to the Word of God. Well, said they, if you will tap a good barrel of beer for us well come with all our hearts and hear you. The gospel at Wittenberg is like unto the rain which, falling upon a river, produces little effect; but descending upon a dry, thirsty soil, renders it fertile. (Luthers Table Talk.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3:19 Their god is their appetite may refer to their greed, their sensuality, or their self-interest (cp. Rom 16:18). • they brag about shameful things: This is best understood as a reference to immorality rather than to pride in being circumcised. • Eternal destruction is the ultimate judgment of God for those who reject Christ and live self-centered, sinful lives (see 2 Thes 1:8-9; cp. Phil 1:28; Matt 7:13; Rom 9:22; 1 Cor 1:18; 2 Thes 2:10; 1 Tim 6:9; 2 Pet 2:3, 13; Jude 1:10; Rev 11:18). • They are unable to see beyond this life (cp. John 12:25; 1 Jn 2:15-17).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Php 3:19. Ὧν, whose) The nominative is implied; comp. οἷ, which presently after occurs and is dependent on περιπατοῦσιν, walk.—τὸ τέλος, the end) This statement is put before the others, that what follows may be read with the greater horror. It will be seen in the end. [The end, to which the plans of every man tend, shows truly what is his condition.—V. g.]—ἀπώλεια, destruction) The antithesis is σωτῆρα, Saviour, Php 3:20.—ὧν ὁ θεὸς ἡ κοιλία, whose god is their belly) Rom 16:18. The antithesis is Κύριον, Lord, Php 3:20; and τὸ σῶμα, body, Php 3:21, as 1Co 6:13. Their belly is sleek, our body is wasted; the fashion [σχῆμα out of υετασχηματίσει] of both will be changed.—ἡ δόξα, glory) The previous, God, and glory, here are set down as parallel; and therefore δόξα, glory, in this passage denotes a god, or glorying concerning a god. Hos 4:7, LXX., τὴν δόξαν αὐτῶν εἰς ἀτιμίαν θησομαι, “I will turn their glory to dishonour.”—αἰσχύνη, shame) It corresponds to the Hebrew word בשת, for example, Hab 2:10. Comp. respecting this prophet, the note at Col 2:23; likewise ערוה below, ἡ κοιλία, belly. But at the same time the word alludes to ah idol, to which בשת, αἰσχύνη, , corresponds. The LXX. have sometimes αἰσχύνη, , for ערוה, ; therefore in this passage Paul seems to denote τὴν κατατομὴν, concision, to indicate, that the now was not , but a subject for . So the and are closely allied. They worship that of which they ought to be ashamed, and they will be miserably ashamed of it at the proper time, although even now they want frankness.[48]—ΟἹ ΤᾺ ἘΠΊΓΕΙΑ ΦΡΟΝΟῦΝΤΕς, who mind earthly things) The antithesis is at the beginning of the following verse.

[48] Beng. seems to mean, Even now they deprive themselves of that Gospel freedom which they who place no trust in carnal ordinances enjoy.—ED.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Php_3:19. A more precise deterrent delineation of these persons, having the most deterrent element put foremost, and then those points by which it was brought about.

ὧν τὸ τέλος ἀπώλ.] By this is meant Messianic perdition, eternal condemnation (comp. Php_1:28), which is the ultimate destiny appointed (τό) for them (τέλος is not: recompense, see Rom_6:21; 2Co_11:15; Heb_6:8). For corresponding Rabbinical passages, see Wetstein and Schoettgen, Hor. p. 801.

ὧν ὁ Θεὸς ἡ κοιλία] λατρεύουσι γὰρ ὡς Θεῷ ταύτῃ καὶ πᾶσαν θεραπείαν προσάγουσι, Theophylact. Comp. Rom_16:18; Eur. Cycl. 334 f.; Senec. de benef. vii. 26; and the maxim of those whose highest good is eating and drinking, 1Co_15:32. It is the γαστριμαργία (Plat. Phaed. p. 81 E; Lucian, Amor. 42) in its godless nature; they were κοιλιοδαίμονες (Eupolis in Athen. iii. p. 100 B), τὰς τῆς γαστρὸς ἡδονὰς τιθέμενοι μέτρον εὐδαιμονίας (Lucian, Patr. enc. 10); τῇ γαστρὶ μετροῦντες καὶ τοῖς αἰσχίστοις τὴν εὐδαιμονίαν (Dem. 524. 24).

καὶ ἡ δόξα κ.τ.λ.] also dependent on ὧν: and whose honour is in their shame, that is, who find their honour in that which redounds to their shame, as for instance, in revelling, haughty behaviour, and the like, in which the immoral man is fond of making a show, ἡ δόξα is subjective, viewed from the opinion of those men, and τῇ αἰσχύνῃ is objective, viewed according to the reality of the ethical relation. Comp. Polyb. xv. 23. 5: ἐφʼ οἷς ἐχρῆν αἰσχύνεσθαι καθʼ ὑπερβολὴν, ἐπὶ τούτοις ὡς καλοῖς σεμνεύεσθαι καὶ μεγαλαυχεῖν, and also Plat. Theaet. p. 176 D; ἀγάλλονται γὰρ τῷ ὀνείδει. On εἶναι ἐν, versari in, to be found in, to be contained in something, comp. Plat. Gorg. p. 470 E: ἐν τούτῳ ἡ πᾶσα εὐδαιμονία ἐστίν, Eur. Phoen. 1310: οὐκ ἐν αἰσχύνῃ τὰ σά. The view, foreign to the context, which refers the words to circumcision, making αἰσχ. signify the genitals (Schol. Ar. Equ. 364; Ambrosiaster; Hilary; Pelagius; Augustine, de verb. apost. xv. 5; Bengel; Michaelis; Storr), is already rejected by Chrysostom and his successors.

οἱ τὰ ἐπίγεια φρονοῦντες] who bear the earthly (that which is on the earth; the opposite in Php_3:20) in their mind (as the goal of their interest and effort). Comp. Col_3:2. Thus Paul closes his delineation with a summary designation of their fundamental immoral tendency, and he put this, not in the genitive (uniformly with the ὧν), but more independently and emphatically in the nominative, having in view the logical subject of what precedes (comp. on Php_1:30), and that with the individualizing (ii, qui) article of apposition. Comp. Winer, p. 172 [E. T. 228]; Buttmann, Neut. Gr. p. 69 [E. T. 79].

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Phi 3:19 . ἀπώλεια . Paul regards the two issues of human life as σωτηρία and ἀπώλεια (1Co 1:18 , 2Co 2:15-16 ). The latter, is a common word for “destruction”. There is much in the Epistles to support the statement of Hltzm [3] . ( N.T. Th. , ii., p. 50): “To be dead and to remain dead eternally, that is to him (Paul) the most dreadful of all thoughts”. (Similarly Kabisch, Eschatol. d. Paul. , pp. 85, 134.) ἡ κοιλία . Most comm. compare Eupolis, Κολακ . 4, κοιλιοδαίμων , a “devotee of the belly”. κ . is probably used as a general term to include all that belongs most essentially to the bodily, fleshly life of man and therefore inevitably perishes. Istorum venter nitet: nostrum corpus atteritur: utrumque schema commutabitur (Beng.). Hort ( Judaistic Christianity , p. 115 ff.) supposes that we have here the same development of Judaism which is attacked in Col 2:20-23 . But this type of life was by no means confined to Jews. ἡ δ . ἐν τ . αἰσχ . “Who boast of what is really a disgrace to them.” Wetst. aptly quotes Polyb., 15, 23, ἐφʼ οἷς ἐχρῆν αἰσχύνεσθαι καθʼ ὑπερβολήν , ἐπὶ τούτοις ὡς καλοῖς σεμνύνεσθαι καὶ μεγαλαυχεῖν . Cf. Pro 26:11 , ἔστιν αἰσχύνη ἐπάγουσα ἁμαρτίαν , καὶ ἔστιν αἰσχύνη δόξα καὶ χάρις . (So also Sir 4:21 .) This was apparently a current proverb. The limiting of αἰσχ . here to sensual sins is doubtful. οἱ τ . ἐπίγ . φρον . It seems reasonable to explain the nominative as a resumption of the opening words of the sentence, summing up tersely the character in view. Cf. Mar 12:38-40 . τὰ ἐπίγ . are opposed to τὰ ἔμπροσθεν or τὰ ἄνω . Curiously parallel is the Homeric phrase ( Odyss. , 21, 85), νήπιοι ἀγροιῶται ἐφημέρια φρονέοντες .

[3] tzm. Holtzmann.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Reward.

Which they hunt after at men’s hands.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

destruction--everlasting at Christ's coming. Phi 1:28, "perdition"; the opposite word is "Saviour" (Phi 3:20).

end--fixed doom.

whose god is their belly-- (Rom 16:18); hereafter to be destroyed by God (Co1 6:13). In contrast to our "body" (Phi 3:21), which our God, the Lord Jesus, shall "fashion like unto His glorious body." Their belly is now pampered, our body now wasted; then the respective states of both shall be reversed.

glory is in their shame--As "glory" is often used in the Old Testament for God (Psa 106:20), so here it answers to "whose God," in the parallel clause; and "shame" is the Old Testament term contemptuously given to an idol (Jdg 6:32, Margin). Hos 4:7 seems to be referred to by Paul (compare Rom 1:32). There seems no allusion to circumcision, as no longer glorious, but a shame to them (Phi 3:2). The reference of the immediate context is to sensuality, and carnality in general.

mind earthly things-- (Rom 8:5). In contrast to Phi 3:20; Col 3:2.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 19. Whose end is destruction] This is the issue of their doctrine and of their conduct. They are here described by three characters:

1. Their god is their belly-they live not in any reference to eternity; their religion is for time; they make a gain of godliness; and live only to eat, drink, and be merry.

2. Their glory is in their shame-they lay it down as a proof of their address, that they can fare sumptuously every day, in consequence of preaching a doctrine which flatters the passions of their hearers.

3. They mind earthly things-their whole study and attention are taken up with earthly matters; they are given to the flesh and its lusts; they have no spirituality, nor do they believe that there is or can be any intercourse between God and the souls of men. But their lasciviousness and uncleanness seem to be principally intended. See Kypke.

Despicable as these men were, the apostle's heart was deeply pained on their account:

1. Because they held and taught a false creed;

2. Because they perverted many by that teaching; and,

3. Because they themselves were perishing through it.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

19 Whose end is destruction He adds this in order that the Philippians, appalled by the danger, may be so much the more carefully on their guard, that they may not involve themselves in the ruin of those persons. As, however, profligates of this description, by means of show and various artifices, frequently dazzle the eyes of the simple for a time, in such a manner that they are preferred even to the most eminent servants of Christ, the Apostle declares, with great confidence , that the glory with which they are now puffed up will be exchanged for ignominy.

Whose god is the belly As they pressed the observance of circumcision and other ceremonies, he says that they did not do so from zeal for the law, but with a view to the favor of men, and that they might live peacefully and free from annoyance. For they saw that the Jews burned with a fierce rage against Paul, and those like him, and that Christ could not be proclaimed by them in purity with any other result, than that of arousing against themselves the same rage. Accordingly, consulting their own ease and advantage, they mixed up these corruptions with the view of mitigating the flames of others.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(19) Whose end is destruction. . . .—The intense severity of this verse is only paralleled by such passages as 2Ti_2:1-5; 2Pe_2:12-22; Jud_1:4; Jud_1:8; Jud_1:12-13. All express the burning indignation of a true servant of Christ against those who “turn the grace of God into lasciviousness,” and “after escaping the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, are again entangled therein and overcome.”

Whose God is their belly.—A stronger reiteration of Rom_16:18, “They serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly.” Note the emphasis laid on “feasting and rioting” in 2Pe_2:13; Jud_1:12.

Whose glory is in their shame.—As the preceding clause refers chiefly to self-indulgence, so this to impurity. Comp. Eph_5:12, “It is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.” “To glory in their shame”—to boast, as a mark of spirituality, the unbridled license which is to all pure spirits a shame—is the hopeless condition of the reprobate, who “not only do these things, but have pleasure in those who do them” (Rom_1:32).

Who mind earthly things.—This last phrase, which in itself might seem hardly strong enough for a climax to a passage so terribly emphatic, may perhaps be designed to bring out by contrast the glorious passage which follows. But it clearly marks the opposition between the high pretension to enlightened spirituality and the gross carnal temper which it covers, grovelling (so to speak) on earth, incapable of rising to heaven.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19. end] A word of awful and hopeless import. Cp. Rom_6:21; 2Co_11:15; Heb_6:8; 1Pe_4:17.

destruction] R.V., perdition. See on Php_1:28.

their belly] Lit. and better, the belly. Cp. Rom_16:18 for the same word in the same connexion. See too 1Co_6:13. The word obviously indicates here the sensual appetites generally, not only gluttony in food. Venter in Latin has the same reference. See Lightfoot.

The Antinomian boasted, very possibly, of an exalted spiritual liberty and special intimacy with God.

whose glory is in their shame.] It is implied that they claimed a “glory”; probably in such “liberty” as we have just indicated. They set up for the true Christian philosophers, and advanced dogmatists. (Cp. Romans 16 quoted above.) But in fact their vaunted system was exactly their deepest disgrace.

who mind earthly things.)] For a closely kindred phrase, in the negative, see Col_3:2; and observe the context, Php_3:5 &c. And for the meaning of “mind” here see notes on Php_1:7, Php_2:2, above.

The Antinomian claimed to live in an upper region, to be so conversant with celestial principles as to be rid of terrestrial restraints of letter, and precept, and custom. As a fact, his fine-spun theory was a transparent robe over the corporeal lusts which were his real interests.

The Greek construction of this clause is abrupt, but clear.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For our conversation is in heaven,.... The Ethiopic version renders it, "we have our city in heaven"; and the words may be truly rendered, "our citizenship is in heaven"; that is, the city whereof we are freemen is heaven, and we behave ourselves here below, as citizens of that city above: heaven is the saints' city; here they have no continuing city, but they seek one to come, which is permanent and durable; a city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God, Heb 11:10, as yet they are not in it, though fellow citizens of the saints, and of the household of God; they are pilgrims, strangers, and sojourners on earth, Lev 25:23; but are seeking a better country, an heavenly one, and God has prepared for them a city, Heb 11:16; they have a right unto it through the grace of God, and righteousness of Christ, and a meetness for it in him; and their conversation is here beforehand, while their commoration, or temporary residence, is below; their thoughts are often employed about it; their affections are set upon it, Col 3:2; their hearts are where their treasure is, Mat 6:21; the desires of their souls are towards it, and they are seeking things above, and long to be in their own city, and Father's house, where Christ is; and to be at home with him, and for ever with him. This is the work and business of their lives now, and what their hearts are engaged in. The Syriac version renders it, "our work is in heaven"; the business, the exercise of our lives, and of our graces, tend that way:

from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; Christ is now in heaven, at the Father's right hand, Act 2:33, appearing in the presence of God for his people, and making intercession for them, Heb 7:25; and so will remain, until the time of the restitution of all things; when he will descend from heaven, and be revealed from thence: and this the saints look for, and expect; they have good reason for it; from his own words, from the words of the angels at the time of his ascension, Act 1:11, and from the writings of the apostles and they expect him not merely as a Judge, under which consideration he will be terrible to the ungodly, but as a Saviour; who as he has already saved their souls from sin, and the dreadful effects of it, from the bondage and curse of the law, from the captivity of Satan, and from eternal ruin and wrath to come, so he will save and redeem their bodies from the grave, corruption, mortality, and death, as follows.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

Ver. 19. Whose god is their belly] A scavenger, whose living is to empty, is to be preferred before him that liveth but to fill privies; as they do that make their gut their god, that dunghill deity. Such a one was that Pamphagus, Nabal, Dives, and others, that digested in hell what they ate on earth. They say the locust is all belly, which is joined to his mouth and endeth at his tail. The spider also is little else than belly. The dolphin hath his mouth almost in his very belly; the ass-fish hath his heart in his belly. (Solinus. Aristot.) In mea patria Deus venter est, et in diem vivitur. In my country (saith Jerome) their belly is their god, they live from hand to mouth, &c. Epicurus said, that eternal life was nothing else but an eternal eating and drinking; ωστε παντα χρονον διαγειν μεθυοντας. See my Common Place of Abstinence.

Who mind earthly things] As they have their hands elbow deep in the world, so their minds are shut in their chests, as dead bodies are buried in coffins; they are interred in the Golgotha of this world, as moles in their hillocks.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Whose end is destruction - That is, as they have no true religion, they must perish in the same manner as all sinners. A mere profession will not save them. Unless they are converted, and become the true friends of the cross, they cannot enter heaven.

Whose God is their belly - Who worship their own appetites; or who live not to adore and honor God, but for self-indulgence and sensual gratifications; see Rom 16:18.

And whose glory is in their shame - That is, they glory in things of which they ought to be ashamed. They indulge in modes of living which ought to cover them with confusion.

Who mind earthly things - That is, whose hearts are set on earthly things, or who live to obtain them. Their attention is directed to honor, gain, or pleasure, and their chief anxiety is that they may secure these objects. This is mentioned as one of the characteristics of enmity to the cross of Christ; and if this be so, how many are there in the church now who are the real enemies of the cross! How many professing Christians are there who regard little else than worldly things! How many who live only to acquire wealth. to gain honor, or to enjoy the pleasures of the world! How many are there who have no interest in a prayer meeting, in a Sunday school, in religious conversation, and in the advancement of true religion on the earth! These are the real enemies of the cross. It is not so much those who deny the doctrines of the cross, as it is those who oppose its influence on their hearts; not so much those who live to scoff and deride religion, as it is those who “mind earthly things,” that injure this holy cause in the world.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whose end is destruction; their condition will at last be miserable, as he had limited above, Phi 1:28, of their being under the dismal token of perdition; their end will be according to their works, 2Co 11:15. However they may live delicately at present, in gratifying their sensual appetites, be free from persecution, admired and respected by many, and please themselves in their present course, yet their fruit and wages at the last cast will be dreadful, Rom 6:21,23; Ga 6:8; Rev 18:8; 19:20,21.

Whose God is their belly; the great business of these is, their sensuality, their good eating and drinking; they mind the pleasing of their carnal appetite, as if it were their God, 2Pe 2:13,18; 3:3; instead of our Lord Jesus Christ, really they serve their own belly, Rom 16:18, love their pleasures indeed more than God, 2Ti 3:4.

And whose glory is in their shame; yea, they boast of those things whereof they ought to be ashamed, thinking it reputation they have got many to imitate thein, Joh 5:44; 12:43 they are puffed up with that which should rather make them to blush, 1Co 5:2, as being attended at last with confusion.

Who mind earthly things; however under the colour of Christianity, they at present are taken up in the pursuit of their sensual and earthly enjoyments. The Greek word comprehends the actions and operations of the mind, will, and affections, importing they did inordinately mind, favour, and relish sublunary accommodations, Rom 8:5, the profits, ease, bounty, pleasure, and glory of this world, preferring them in their hearts to the things of Christ.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

19. Whose end—Eternal perdition instead of the heaven for which the cross would have prepared them.

Their belly—Finding their highest happiness in the sensuality of eating and drinking. The classics furnish many like expressions.

Whose glory—The low and grovelling pleasures which they delighted in, and boasted over, were really their shame, though they did not think it so.

Who mind—They thought, loved, and cared for only earthly things, and of even them they were chiefly intent upon the most debasing.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Whose end is destruction; rather, as R.V, perdition. Observe the contrast: not the prize of the high calling, but everlasting death. Whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame. (comp. Rom_16:18) They boast of their liberty, and pervert it into licence". (2Pe_2:19) Who mind earthly things; rather, they who mind. The irregularity of the construction (he returns to the nominative) seems expressive of the apostle"s indignation.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Whose end is destruction - This is placed in the front, that what follows may be read with the greater horror. Whose God is their belly - Whose supreme happiness lies in gratifying their sensual appetites. Who mind - Relish, desire, seek, earthly things.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

19. Whose end is destruction. Their final fate must be eternal ruin (2 Peter 2:3). Whose God is their belly. They obey their sensual appetites. Whose glory, etc. They glory in shameful things. Mind earthly things. Instead of setting their affections on the things that are above (Col. 3:1).

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

19. τέλος. A word awful and hopeless. Τὸ γὰρ τέλος ἐκείνων, θάνατος, Rom 6:21. Cp. 2Co 11:15, ὦν τὸ τέλος ἔσται κατὰ τὰ ἔργα: Heb 6:8, ἧς τὸ τὲλος εἰς καῦσιν: 1Pe 4:17, τί τὸ τέλος τῶν ἀπειθούντων τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ;

ἀπώλεια. “Perdition”; ruin. See above, on Php 1:28.

ὁ θεὸς. The antinomian boasted probably of a special intimacy with God.

ἡ κοιλία. “The” (not necessarily “their”) “belly.” Cp. Rom 16:18, where probably the same “school” is in view; Χριστῷ οὐ δουλεύουσιν, ἀλλὰ τῇ ἑαυτῶν κοιλίᾳ. In 1Co 6:13 the words βρώματα τῇ κοιλίᾳ καὶ ἡ κ. τοῖς βρώμασιν are probably quoted from a supposed advocate of this same evil “Gospel.”—Κοιλία is not used in classical Greek in other than its physical meaning (γαστήρ appears for “gluttony”; e.g. γαστρὶ δουλεύειν, Xen. Mem. i. 6. 8); but we have κοιλιοδαίμων in the fragments of Eupolis (Κολακ. 4), for “a votary of the belly.” So venter in Latin; Lightfoot refers to Seneca, de Vita Beata, IX. 4: hominis bonum quæro, non ventris.

ἡ δόξα ἐν τῇ αἰσχύνῃ αὐτῶν. No doubt they claimed a “glory”; a larger liberty, a deeper insight, a sublimated Christianity. But their vaunted wisdom was exactly their foulest shame.

οἱ τὰ ἐπίγεια φρονοῦντες. “They whose mind is for the things of earth.” The construction is free but clear.—Contrast Col 3:2, τὰ ἄνω φρονεῖτε, μὴ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς: and see the practical precepts in the context there, Php 3:5, &c.: νεκρώσατε οὖν τὰ μέλη ὑμῶν τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, κτλ.—For φρονεῖν see notes above, on Php 1:7, Php 2:2.

The dogmatic libertine would claim to live in an upper region, to be so conversant with celestial principles as to be free of terrestrial restraints. As a fact, his fine-spun theory was a transparent veil over the bodily lusts which were his real interests.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19. ὧν τὸ τέλος ἀπώλεια: ‘whose end is destruction.’

Τὸ marks the definiteness of the point to which their conduct tends. Τέλος is more than mere termination. Rather consummation; the point into which the whole series of transgressions finally gathers itself up. (Comp. Rom 6:21; 2Co 11:15; Heb 6:8.) Ἀπώλεια occurs in N.T. both in the physical and in the moral sense. For the former see Mat 26:8; Act 8:20. The latter is the more common, and Paul always uses it thus.

ὧν ὁ θεὸς ἡ κοιλία: Comp. Rom 16:18; 2Pe 2:13. The rare word κοιλιοδαίμων, ‘one who makes a god of his belly,’ occurs in the Κόλακες of the comic poet Eupolis, and in Athenæus. (Comp. Eurip. Cyclops, 335.) Xen. Mem. i. 6, 8, ii. I, 2, has δουλεύειν γαστρί, ‘to be the slave of the belly’; and Alciphro, 2:4, γαστρομαντεύομαι, ‘to divine by the belly.’ The contrast appears in Rom 14:17. The suggestion of Lips. (so Theo.Mop.) that the reference may be to Jewish laws about meats, is fanciful.

καὶ ἡ δόξα ἐν τῇ αἰσχύνῃ αὐτῶν: That in which they glory is their disgrace. Their so-called liberty is bondage to slavish lusts. For δόξα, see on 1:11. With ἐν supply ἔστι; ‘consists in.’ Beng., Mich., Storr, with Lips., refer αἰσχύνη to ‘the concision’ (vs. 2), and explain ‘pudenda.’

οἱ τὰ ἐπίγεια φρονοῦντες: ‘who mind earthly things.’ Their general disposition and moral tendency are worldly. (See on 1:7.) This is the root of their depravity. A contrast is suggested, probably intended, with τοῦτο φρονῶμεν, vs. 15. (Comp. Col 3:2.)

The change of construction to the nominative οἱ φρονοῦντες is variously explained. Win. xxix. 2, takes οἱ φρον. as a disconnected nominative with an exclamatory force. So De W., Lightf. Mey. and Hack. refer it to the logical subject of what precedes. Ellic. and Alf. regard it as a return to the primary construction, πολλοὶ περιπατοῦσιν. Of these explanations Win. is the least probable. The two others have grammatical precedent, but it is better to place the construction in the category of those instances which are not uncommon in N.T. and in class., where the nominative is introduced in a kind of apposition with what precedes. This is especially frequent in Apoc. (See Mar 7:19; Act 10:37; Rev 1:5, Rev 1:7:4, Rev 1:20:2; Blass, § 31, 6; Jelf, 477.)

Τὰ ἐπίγ. φρον. is the basis of a new contrast. Their character and conduct mark them as belonging to this world; but we are citizens of a heavenly commonwealth.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Belly. Rom 16:18. So the Cyclops in Euripides : "My flocks which I sacrifice to no one but myself, and not to the gods, and to this my belly the greatest of the gods : for to eat and drink each day, and to give one's self no trouble, this is the God for wise men" (" Cyclops, " 334 - 338). Glory. That which they esteem glory.

Earthly things [τα επιγεια] . See on 2Co 5:1. Compare Col 3:2.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.