Question
Please explain Epaphroditus’ prayer in light of what we are taught about praying in this age of Gentile grace.
Response
First off, I want to say that I am just going to set before you a brief synopsis of my understanding of the situation. Nevertheless, it should at least provide you with the basics of what I understand.
What Paul sets forth in Philippians 2:27 regarding Epaphroditus being “sick nigh unto death” and God ‘having mercy upon him’ is often brought up and cited as a case that proves ‘the exception to the rule’ pertaining to God physically healing in this dispensation. It is often expressed something like this; “Even though in view of the doctrine of I Corinthians 12-14 we know that there are no Divine healers anymore in this dispensation, and that God therefore does not employ physical healings anymore as a natural part of His program with us in this dispensation, this does not mean that God either cannot, or will not, physically heal anyone today. All we need to do is look at the situation with Epaphroditus in Philippians 2 and it is evident that God can and does heal, even after He had done away with the temporary gifts. He therefore does heal when it is His will to do so, just as with Epaphroditus.”
This, once again, is often how the situation is stated; with the Epaphroditus case being cited as ‘the exception to the rule’ and therefore the substantiation for the fact that God still physically heals today, but only when it is His express will to do so. And many years back I used to think the same thing, and pretty much said and taught the same thing. However, quite some time ago I changed my mind on this, primarily because I came to understand and appreciate the situation with Epaphroditus to be different from what I had thought. In other words, I came to understand that the situation with Epaphroditus is not one that falls into the category of what we might call ‘regular’ or ‘normal’ physical sickness, and along with this the issue of God ‘having mercy on him’ likewise does not fall into the category of God simply choosing to heal him in view of his sickness. Instead the Epaphroditus situation falls into a different category, and the issue of God ‘having mercy on him’ likewise pertains to this different category. Hence in my understanding what God did with Epaphroditus is not at all an ‘exception to the rule’ pertaining to God physically healing during this dispensation. For what God did with Epaphroditus has nothing to do with His ‘rule’ pertaining to physical healings. Rather what God did with Epaphroditus has to do with something else, and His ‘mercy on him’ was for another reason.
Very briefly put, my understanding is as follows: First of all as Paul states in Philippians 2:30, though Epaphroditus was “sick”, he was not “sick nigh unto death” as the result of acquiring a ‘normal’ sickness in the ‘normal’ course of his life, just as could happen to any one of us. Nor was his situation the result of that ‘normal’ sickness not responding to medication and worsening, and thereby bringing him “nigh unto death”. In other words, Paul does not talk about Epaphroditus’ sickness as something that is to be understood as falling into the category of a ‘normal’ sickness. He does not describe Epaphroditus’ sickness, nor the severity of it, as the product of what he has previously taught us in Romans to understand regarding what is ‘normal‘, and hence what we can naturally expect to experience as we live in this world. Instead the specific reason Epaphroditus was sick, and the reason he was “nigh unto death” in connection with it, was “for the work of Christ”; and more specifically on account of the selfless act that he undertook in connection with “the work of Christ” as Paul goes on to describe. Wherefore Epaphroditus’ sickness and situation is different. It is different from what God teaches us to understand and appreciate regarding the common, normal, and expected sufferings that we can and will experience in this dispensation, including that of physical sicknesses and even dying as the result of them.
Now in connection with the “work of Christ” that brought about Epaphroditus’ sickness, it is important to understand that the particular edification status and state of Epaphroditus (along with that of many of the other Philippian saints), was such that at this time in their sonship lives they were beginning to encounter and experience the privilege of ‘suffering for Christ’s sake’ in a very singular and God honoring way. Specifically, they were being privileged with being counted worthy of participating in the particular “sufferings of Christ” that would see them being allowed to be tried to the extreme by the policy of evil, including even dying at its hands. And this particular ‘high end’ privilege, so to speak, is something that Epaphroditus and the Philippians knew was coming, having been taught all about it in advance as part of our sonship edification. And knowing about it, they did not shrink back from it at all. But rather they undauntedly pursued the course of their edification, along with their progressive and matching participation in “the work of Christ” knowing full well that in so doing they would eventually encounter the degree of conflict with the policy of evil in which their very lives would be at stake. Furthermore, this privilege was something to which they looked forward to attaining, as they followed Paul’s example and participated with him in “the sufferings of Christ”. In addition, Epaphroditus himself specifically labored among them in connection with this privileged issue at this time. In so doing he also willingly gave up of himself to carry out the very “work of Christ” at this time that would ensure the ability of the Philippians to participate with Paul in this degree of the ‘conflict,’ and which would also provide for their ‘furtherance and joy of faith’ as they did participate in it with Paul. And it is for this particular reason (and it is at this particular stage of his edification and in these particular circumstances of his sonship life) that Epaphroditus became “sick nigh unto death”. And it is in direct connection with these things, and in express response to them, that “God had mercy” not only on Epaphroditus, but on Paul also.
Wherefore, it is my understanding that the mercy that God showed to Epaphroditus, and to Paul, was not strictly the issue of God healing Epaphroditus of his sickness. Rather it was the issue of God mercifully not permitting Epaphroditus to die under these ‘lesser’ circumstances, so to speak. It was the issue of God mercifully allowing him to die under the ‘greater’ privileged circumstances of the maximum ‘suffering of Christ,’ which privilege he had specifically accounted himself worthy to be a partaker of, and in so doing to greatly glorify God thereby. Moreover, it was for this very purpose of participating in this ‘greater’ privilege that Epaphroditus was engaged in doing the very “the work of Christ” that would enable the Philippians and himself to effectually face the great privilege of this particular ‘suffering of Christ’ and be able to endure it to the glory of God.
So then, once again, my understanding is that what God did with Epaphroditus is not an ‘exception to the rule’ pertaining to physical sicknesses in this present dispensation. Rather what God did with Epaphroditus pertains to a different matter altogether, and God’s “mercy” to him and to Paul was in accordance with the operation of His mercy as it deals with the policy of evil against His people and provides for their proper response to it to enable them to glorify Him thereby.
As I indicated previously, my present understanding on this matter is different from what it used to be and it is not something that I came to ‘overnight,’ so to speak. Rather I changed my mind years ago after a lengthy re-examination of a number of matters, which particularly resulted in me acquiring an altered, but also a better and yet increasing understanding of what Paul teaches us not only about “the sufferings of this present time” in Romans, but especially about what he teaches us in II Corinthians to understand regarding our privilege of being able to be partakers of “the sufferings of Christ”. And in connection with my altered and growing and increasing understanding of these specific issues, this naturally involved me coming to realize that I had not properly understood a number of things in these two doctrines, and had even poorly misunderstood some things, with this being primarily because I had not been properly, nor accurately, nor thoroughly handling the verses and passages dealing with them.
Now again, I say this simply to point out that this is where I think the main root of any misunderstanding, and that these are the doctrines that need to be dealt with first and foremost, and that must be accurately and more thoroughly understood, before Epaphroditus’ situation in Philippians can be recognized for what it is. So then I am persuaded in view of these particular doctrines, and also in view of the edificational status and state of Epaphroditus and the Philippians as it especially relates to their privileged participation in “the sufferings of Christ”, that if we ourselves are going to properly understand and appreciate the effectual working of the doctrines that God sets before us in Paul’s epistle to the Philippians, that it requires that we have much more than an elementary or fundamental or sketchy understanding of the doctrines about “the sufferings of this present time” and about “the sufferings of Christ”; (which elementary understanding in my case was not only deficient being elementary, but in being elementary and sketchy it was also flawed and contained a number of significant inaccuracies, errors, and omissions). Rather it requires that we have a precise and substantially thorough understanding of these doctrines, especially of “the sufferings of Christ” which is produced by the effectual working not only of the fundamentals on it that are set forth in Romans, but especially by the effectual working of the further developmental and substantial details of it that are particularly set forth in II Corinthians.
Keith Blades
Enjoy The Bible Ministries
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