“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
Devotional Thought For The Day
Many are the encouragements in Holy Scripture for us to be “firm in one spirit, with one mind.” This is especially the case when it comes to “the faith of the gospel,” the glorious good news of God’s gracious mercy, forgiveness, love, and salvation in Christ Jesus, Who has taken away our sin and guilt and restored us to peace and fellowship with God. It is also obviously the case with any matter addressed in Holy Scripture, but especially in regard to anything that directly threatens the truth of the gospel of God’s grace, and a clear understanding of it and full faith and trust in it. Sadly, this will involve continuous striving so long as we are in this sin-darkened world. But it is so strengthening and encouraging when we do not strive alone but “side by side” with other humble, strong, and faithful believers. This is the preeminent characteristic of a life “worthy of the gospel of Christ.” But we are to strive in a meek, humble, unrelenting, but gentle and winsome manner.
We are encouraged to “not be frightened in anything by your opponents.” This is hard to do. Our opponents may have power to bring disruption, pain, dishonor, and persecution into our lives. They may be able to imprison us, or even take away our life. They may bring quite clever and sophisticated arguments against the gospel and faith, or against the other principles of godly living and proper churchly conduct as taught in God’s Word. We may resonate to their logic and find it difficult and uncomfortable to stand firm for God’s Word. We may fear that our intellect and wisdom is inferior and that the boldness of our opponents is a sure sign that we are missing something important, that we are the ones who just don’t get it. But in the midst of all of this the Spirit of God will continue to uphold us in the truth and keep us from capitulating – if we remain firm in spirit. And in the end we will see the truth of God’s Word and the fallacies of those who oppose it and argue against it.
Part of our witness is our demeanor – a fearlessness in the face of evil. Paul calls this “a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation.” The enemies can feign this confidence and fearlessness, but unless the confidence and courage is based in the clear teaching of God’s Word it is nothing but bravado and bluster, and even our enemies know this deep down inside of them. So the key to godly courage is to have clear grasp of the teaching of God’s Word and to hold on to it; then, regardless even of our own thinking, we will remain firm and secure in faith and truth, and will ultimately prevail. This drives our opponents to anger, false accusation, and blind rage – for it denies and belies their inner conviction of intellectual and spiritual superiority. This, however, is but a small foretaste of the torment they are headed for.
Again, if our confidence is in the Word of God, especially the good news of God’s gift of salvation, this is a sure sign of our salvation. We meet lots of people with confidence, false confidence in things which are contrary to the Word of God, or misplaced confidence in themselves or others. Mere confidence is no sign, but confidence in God’s Word and His love, firm faith in God’s Word, is a sure and certain sign of one’s salvation. This too is a gift of God, a blessing that comes from Him – along with all good and perfect things [James 1:17]. So as we apply ourselves to learning the truth of the gospel through our ongoing study of Holy Scripture, along with others, and being firm in one spirit and one mind in God’s Word, along with our fellow believers, let us pray God to bless us with His guidance and also with confidence, so that in all things we may live in a manner worthy of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a blessing He makes clear in His Word that He wills for us, so we may pray for it with utmost assurance!
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, we are busied and distracted by so many things in life that we find it difficult to apply ourselves to the study of Your Word. We are then fearful and insecure in our knowledge of the truth, sometimes even the truth of the gospel, and susceptible to heretical and erroneous positions which erode and destroy faith and faithfulness. Help us to get our priorities straight, and to grow proficient and confident in Your Word, that we be of one spirit and mind with the faithful. Then give us courage to maintain and defend Your gospel and Word against all adversaries, with humility, and unrelenting confidence. Amen.