“Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:1-4 NASB1995)
What should “encouragement in Christ” look like? How did
Jesus and his New Testament apostles encourage the followers of Christ of their
day? And how do the Scriptures encourage us who believe in Jesus today? For
those who have died with Christ to sin, and who are walking in obedience to the
Lord and to his commandments, who are in genuine fellowship with Christ, doing
his will, they were and we are encouraged to keep pressing forward, to keep
obeying the Lord, to keep resisting the devil, and to remain strong in faith.
Those who were still making sin their practice, still
holding on to some of their old sinful habits, who were not walking in
obedience to the Lord and to his commands, but who were living immoral and
ungodly lives, who were treating others with hate, and who were being
hypocritical by presenting one image outwardly while they were, instead, living
in sin and for self, they were and are encouraged to put those sins to death,
to repent, and to obey God with their lives in faithful surrender to the will
of God for their lives.
And what is consolation of love? Well, consolation is
encouragement, but it is also exhortation, an appeal, a strong urging, counsel,
or caution. And love (agápē) centers in moral preference and refers to what God
prefers, which is all that is holy, righteous, morally pure, upright, honest,
faithful and obedient to God and to his commands. So this isn’t about lying to
people to make them feel good while they go on living in sin. This is about
loving people enough to tell them the truth which can save their souls from
hell.
And what is fellowship of the Spirit? The word is koinónia,
and it means sharing, contribution, participation, cooperation and partnership
with the Spirit in the work of God in our lives, in obedience and in submission
to the Lord. So this involves us dying with Christ to sin and walking in
obedience to his commands in living our lives to please God and no longer to
live to please the sinful desires of our flesh. And all Christian affection and
compassion should then be a result of this, in agreement with God.
And what does that look like if we are “being of the same
mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose”? Well,
the “same mind” is the mind of Christ (of God) and of the teachings of the
Scriptures, taught in their appropriate context. And the same love is agápē,
which centers in moral preference, and which prefers all that God prefers. And the
one purpose is the purpose that God has for our lives, that we should die to
sin and obey God and walk in holiness and righteousness, no longer in sin.
And if that is how we are living, in truth, with purpose,
then we will not be those who are selfish and self-centered who care only for
ourselves and for what we want, regardless of how that impacts other people.
But we will be those who love God and our fellows humans enough to tell them
the truth of what the Scriptures teach, even knowing that we will be hated and
rejected in return. For we put the true needs of others above our own needs,
and we love as Jesus loves, even willing to die to see others go free from
their sin.
Refiner’s Fire
By
Brian Doerksen
Purify
my heart,
let
me be as gold and precious silver.
Purify
my heart,
let
me be as gold, pure gold.
Purify
my heart,
cleanse
me from within
and
make me holy.
Purify
my heart,
cleanse
me from my sin, deep within.
Refiner's
fire,
my
heart's one desire
is
to be holy;
set
apart for You, Lord.
I
choose to be holy;
set
apart for You, my Master,
ready
to do Your will.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSIazjrA0Ls
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Intent
on One Purpose
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