“Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.”
My Notes
What Does Philippians 3:15 Mean?
"If in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you." Paul addresses disagreement within the community with remarkable grace: if you think differently about some things, God will show you. The correction will come from God, not from Paul's insistence. The truth will be revealed, not imposed.
The phrase "as many as be perfect" (teleioi — mature, complete) sets the context: Paul is addressing spiritually mature believers. The "otherwise minded" (heterōs phroneō — to think differently) describes people who are mature but disagree on certain points. Spiritual maturity doesn't require uniform opinion on every matter.
The confidence that "God shall reveal even this" (kai touto ho theos humin apokalupsei) trusts divine pedagogy: God teaches individuals and communities at their pace. What one person understands now, another will understand later. The revelation is coming — it just hasn't arrived yet for everyone. Patience, not pressure, is the prescribed response to disagreement among the mature.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What disagreement in your community needs patience rather than pressure?
- 2.How does trusting God to reveal truth change how you handle differences?
- 3.Can mature Christians disagree on secondary matters and still walk together?
- 4.What truth might God be preparing to reveal to someone in your community — at His pace, not yours?
Devotional
If you disagree on some things — God will reveal the truth to you. Not me arguing you into it. Not the community pressuring you into conformity. God. Revealing. At His pace.
Paul's approach to disagreement among mature believers is startlingly patient: he trusts God to teach what Paul can't force. Some truths need to be revealed, not argued. Some disagreements need time, not debate. Some differently-minded people need God's personal revelation, not Paul's insistent correction.
The word 'mature' is important: Paul isn't talking about beginners who need basic instruction. He's talking about grown-up believers who have different perspectives on secondary matters. Mature Christians can disagree. The maturity doesn't prevent the disagreement — it enables gracious handling of it.
The trust that God will reveal is the antidote to every community's impulse to force uniformity. Not every difference needs to be resolved by argument. Some differences are resolved by waiting — waiting for God to show what currently isn't clear. The revelation will come. Your job is to keep walking together until it does.
What disagreement in your community needs patience rather than pressure? What differently-minded person needs time rather than correction? Paul trusts God to do the revealing. Can you?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained,.... Whatever degree of knowledge of Christ, and the truths of his…
Let us therefore, as many as be perfect - see the notes at Phi 3:12. Or, rather, those who would be perfect; or who are…
As many as be perfect - As many as are thoroughly instructed in Divine things, who have cast off all dependence on the…
The apostle, having proposed himself as an example, urges the Philippians to follow it. Let the same mind be in us which…
perfect An adjective, not a perfect participle, as was the kindred word (" perfected") in Php 3:12. Is there a…
Cross References
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