“Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ,
so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that
you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side
for the faith of the Gospel, and not frightened in anything by your
opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of
your salvation, and that from God.” Philippians 1:27-28
To glorify Christ with your life in order to advance the gospel.
Paul’s Opposition
The apostle Paul is in prison
while writing this letter. He is on his second missionary journey. Jesus
told Paul that he was going to preach the Gospel to the gentiles,
anyone that is not born of a Jewish father and mother. In his pursuit of
advancing the Gospel, Paul had a lot of opposition. He was an
ex-Pharisee (a teacher of the law) that persecuted Christians because
they claimed Jesus to be the reigning kings of the Jews. This caused
problems because he was claiming that Christ is the only way to the
Father and all the Jewish customs were not necessary to be loved by God.
(Jesus was the fulfillment of the Jewish law and sacrifices.) Now, Paul
is not only affirming the claims of Christ, but he is preaching to
non-Jews as well that the Jewish God can love them. Because of this,
everywhere he went people wanted to kill him. Read below in 2 Corinthians 11:23-30 about Paul’s opposition.
“Are
they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a
madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless
beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of
the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods.
Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I
was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger
from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in
the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false
brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in
hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart
from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for
all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall,
and I am not indignant? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that
show my weakness.”
Advancing the Gospel amid adversity
I
think adversity is a calling and a gift from God. Paul is talking to
the church at Philippi to encourage them to live their lives as
inhabitants of heaven, knowing that the Christian life is hard. He says,
“Only let your manner of life be worthy of the Gospel of Christ”. What
he means by this is not that we are to try to earn to be worthy of
Christ love and affection but because of Christ’s love and affection we
are worthy and called to live a life that is holy. Because of Jesus’
finished work on the cross, we are able to live a life that is pleasing
to God. Paul goes on to say whether he is present with them or absent he
wants to make sure they are living in unity and striving to challenge
each other to obey Jesus so that Jesus might be known to the world.
Unified in the Spirit
Paul
is calling the Christians to be unified, to not to be fearful in
suffering. He is calling them to contend for the faith and to fight for
unity for the supreme worth of making Christ known.
This week, ask
the Lord that this would be true for Redeemer and for your Gospel
Community that we would learn to suffer well and make Christ known amid
adversity.
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