Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
My Understanding: Paul said that, in his prayers for the saints in Philippi, he always prayed with joy because of their partnership in the gospel from the first day until the present, “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” So, in desiring to understand more fully what it means to be in partnership with the gospel, I first of all looked at what all the gospel entails, and then I looked up the term “partnership,” so that, in putting the two together, I could more completely understand and apply to my life what this means.
The Gospel
Jesus Christ, God the Son, left his throne in heaven, came to the earth, took on human form, suffered as we suffer, was tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin, was rejected, despised, afflicted, scorned, mocked, beaten and crucified, though he had done no wrong. Yet, when he died, he took upon himself the sins of the entire world, having put them to death on the cross, and having buried them with him in death. Then, he was resurrected back to life in conquering Satan, hell, death and sin so that we could go free from the ultimate penalty of sin (eternal punishment in hell), so we could be free from the control of sin over our day-to-day lives, and so we could be free to daily walk humbly in obedience to Christ, surrendering our wills to the will of God over our lives.
When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we are thus crucified with him in death to our old lives of sin by putting off our old sin nature, by being made new in the attitude of our minds, and by putting on the new self, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (see Eph. 4:20-24). This is the working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts in salvation, as we willingly choose to cooperate with that work through repentance (turning from sin), and through obedience to Christ and his commands (turning toward God).
This salvation is not a one-time experience at an altar, but it is a process of a lifetime of a life committed to obedience to Jesus Christ. The Bible says we are saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved. That is why Paul, in being joyful over their partnership in the gospel from the day they first believed until the day he wrote this letter to them, also stated his confidence that the work of salvation Jesus Christ had begun in them, he would carry it on to completion in their hearts and lives. Jesus Christ is faithful. And, we must be faithful in continuing in him, and in understanding that salvation is not something that happens in a moment and then we live our lives and one day we go to heaven. It is a process of Christ Jesus making us holy, maturing us in our faith, changing our hearts, and conforming us into Christ’s image, one day and one moment at a time, until we die or until Christ returns.
Partnership
A partnership is “cooperation between people or groups working together” (Encarta); “a relationship between individuals or groups that is characterized by mutual cooperation and responsibility, as for the achievement of a specified goal” - http://www.thefreedictionary.com/partnership; and “a relationship resembling a legal partnership and usually involving close cooperation between parties having specified and joint rights and responsibilities” - http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/partnership.
When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we enter into a covenant (contract; agreement; promise) relationship with him. Jesus Christ fulfilled his part of the covenant agreement through his death and resurrection, and he continues to be faithful in maintaining that covenant relationship with us in giving us the Holy Spirit within us, in giving us his word, and in providing all we need to live holy lives on a daily basis – his love, compassion, mercy, tenderness, kindness, counsel, direction, teaching, exhortation, correction, rebuke, discipline, forgiveness, his presence, his blessings, and his companionship, etc.
Yet, there is a part we must do, too. This is not works-based salvation as some may contend. This is obedience to Christ and to his commands in what he requires of us, as is taught in his word, the Bible. Repentance and obedience to Jesus Christ are essential elements of our salvation. We cannot be saved without them. Also, we must bear spiritual fruit in keeping with repentance, giving evidence that true faith actually exists within us. And, we must be faithful, we must endure, we must remain in Christ, and we must continue in Christ to the very end. This is taught all through the New Testament (in the Bible).
Still, this is not something we can do in our own flesh or in the will of man. It is Christ working in us and through us that makes these changes in our hearts, but there is one key word here in this partnership, and that word is found in all three definitions: “Cooperation.” Although salvation is a working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives, we have to cooperate with that work. And, we do this by yielding to Christ’s control over our lives, by submitting our wills to the will of God, by turning from our sin, by allowing the Spirit of God to transform us in our thinking and attitudes, and by walking in obedience to Christ and to his word, in the strength and power of the Spirit at work within us, and for his glory.
One other aspect of this partnering in the gospel is that we are to be lights of the gospel to the world around us. We are to be Christ’s witnesses, and we are to make disciples of people, teaching them to obey Christ’s commands. We are not to keep this salvation to ourselves, but we are to share it with others so that they, too, can come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives. If we truly have had a heart transformation and have been given new life in Christ Jesus, and we have been set free from the power of sin and death, should we not want to share that with others so that they can have it, too?
Chains
When we make that conscious decision of our wills to believe in Jesus Christ, to make him the Lord (master) and Savior of our lives, to commit our ways to him, to submit to his will for our lives, instead of trying to run our own lives; when we turn from our sin, and we turn to walk in faithful obedience to Christ, and we partner with the gospel (the whole gospel) and we begin to share the truths of the gospel with others who need to know Christ, too, we will face persecution for our faith and our testimony for Christ. Jesus Christ said we, as his servants, will be treated just like he was treated. We will be hated by the world, and even by the worldly church, because we don’t dance their dirge, because we take a stand against sin, and because we preach repentance and obedience to Christ Jesus. We will be rejected, despised, afflicted, mocked, abandoned, verbally and/or physically beaten down, imprisoned falsely, and perhaps even put to death for our testimony for Jesus Christ.
Love and Fruit
Yet, in all of this, it is imperative that we continue to grow in our faith, in our love for God, for his word, and for other people, and that we gain more knowledge, wisdom and understanding of who God is, of his love for us, and in how he wants us to love him and others, so that we may be able to distinguish and detect good from evil, and what is God’s best for us, and so that we may continue to live holy lives, pleasing unto God, until the return of Christ, or until we die. Then, we will be filled with the fruit (result; yield; outgrowth) of his righteousness (purity; holiness; uprightness) in our daily lives, that comes from Jesus Christ, and is the working of the Holy Spirit within us and out through us, and as we continue in Christ, being rooted and established (or built up) in him, strengthened in the faith as we were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness (see Col. 2:6-7 NIV ’84).
Jesus, Lead Me / An Original Work / July 22, 2011
Jesus, lead me all the way.
Be my hope and be my stay.
Gently lead me where I should go,
So Your Spirit, I want to know.
Open up my heart to You.
Fill me with Your love and truth.
Make my heart want to obey.
Be my Lord today. Gently lead always.
Jesus, lover of my soul,
Cleanse my heart, and make me whole;
Be transformed in my heart today,
As I turn from my sin and pray.
Make Your will known to my heart.
May I not from You depart.
How I long to hear You now,
As I humbly bow. Jesus, hear me now.
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTIM16o9ldg
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