Scripture Reading: Phil. 2:14-16
In this message we shall consider 2:14-16. These verses continue Paul’s word about working out our salvation. In verse 12 Paul charges us to work out our salvation, and in verse 13 he tells us that God is operating in us. Now in verse 14 Paul issues a warning: “Do all things without murmurings and reasonings.” Murmurings are out of our emotion, mostly on the part of the sisters; reasonings are out of our mind, mostly on the part of the brothers. Both frustrate us from carrying out our salvation to the fullest extent, from experiencing Christ to the uttermost.
The context indicates that if we murmur or reason, we do not obey. Obedience to God slays all murmurings and reasonings. In order to work out our salvation, we must obey the very God who operates in us. He Himself is our salvation, and our obedience to Him is the working out of our salvation. The sisters need to realize that when they murmur, they disobey the God who works within them. Likewise, the brothers need to see that whenever they reason, they are rebellious against the One who operates in them. Only by obedience can murmurings and reasonings be put to death.
Paul’s word in 2:14 about murmurings and reasonings is a further indication that his purpose in writing the book of Philippians was not related to doctrine, but very much related to experience. Murmurings and reasonings are important factors that frustrate our Christian life. From experience Paul knew that if we would work out our salvation, we need to do all things without murmurings and reasonings. Often in important matters we may not murmur or reason. But in small matters we are prone to murmurings and reasonings. Any kind of murmuring or reasoning is disobedience to the inner working of the Triune God. How we need the Lord to save us from our murmurings and reasonings!
In verse 15 Paul continues, “That you may become blameless and guileless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” The Greek word rendered that means “in order that.” We should do all things without murmurings and reasonings in order that we may become blameless and guileless, children of God without blemish. The Greek word translated guileless also means “simple, artless, innocent; hence, harmless” (Matt. 10:16). It comes from a root which means “unmixed.” The word blameless describes our outward behavior, and the word guileless, our inward character. To be artless means not to play politics. No one who is political can rightly be called guileless. If we are artless, we are also guileless and harmless.
In verse 15 Paul refers to “children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation.” As children of God, we have God’s life and nature (2 Pet. 1:4). Being children of God with the divine life and nature, we are luminaries which reflect the light of the sun (Christ). As such, we are without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation. “Without blemish” is the total quality of being blameless and guileless. The Greek word translated perverted means “warped or twisted.” There can be no doubt that today’s generation is twisted and warped. In this kind of generation we should shine as lights in the world.
In verse 16 Paul goes on to say, “Holding forth the word of life, for my boasting in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain nor labored in vain.” The Greek word for holding forth also means “applying, presenting, offering.” As God’s children, we need to present the word of life to others. If the Philippian believers did this, Paul would be able to boast in the day of Christ that he had not labored in vain. The day of Christ is the day of the Lord’s second coming, also called “the day of the Lord” (1 Thes. 5:2; 2 Thes. 2:2; 1 Cor. 1:8; 2 Cor. 1:14) and “that day” (2 Tim. 1:18; 4:8). In that day all believers will appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive the reward each deserves (2 Cor. 5:10; Matt. 25:19-30).
Just as the Philippians could boast in Paul in Christ, so Paul wanted to be able to boast, rejoice, and glory in them in the day of Christ. He hoped to be able to boast that, as far as they were concerned, he had not run in vain or labored in vain. However, at the time Paul wrote this Epistle, he was concerned that his running and labor might be in vain. Whether or not his labor was actually in vain would be determined by the deeds of the believers in Philippi. Suppose the believers there did all things without murmurings or reasonings and thus became blameless and guileless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a warped and twisted generation. Suppose, moreover, that the saints in Philippi were shining forth as luminaries in the world and presented the word of life to those around them. If such were their situation, Paul would be able to rejoice and even boast at the time of the Lord’s coming back.
The title of this message is “Holding Forth Christ.” To hold forth Christ is to live out Christ, to express Christ, and to work out our salvation. As we have indicated, to work out our salvation is to obey the Triune God who is operating within us both the willing and the working for His good pleasure. Here we have five important, interrelated matters: working out our salvation, obeying God, living Christ, expressing Christ, and holding forth Christ. Christians commonly speak of obeying God. However, in most cases their understanding of obedience is very superficial. The other four expressions — living Christ, expressing Christ, holding forth Christ, and working out our salvation — are unusual and even extraordinary. It would be helpful if we would make such expressions part of our conversation in fellowship. As we speak to one another, we need to encourage one another to live out Christ and express Christ. We need to remind one another to hold forth Christ and to work out our salvation. Using these expressions will help us in ministering Christ to others, especially to young ones who have just received the Lord. We should not merely talk about the gospel and salvation in a common, ordinary way. We need to use expressions based on Paul’s word to the Philippians to stir in others the desire to experience the Lord in their spirit. It is very important that we bring these extraordinary spiritual expressions into our daily conversation, prayer, fellowship, and testimonies in the church meetings. This will serve to enrich our utterance. May we all be exercised to speak of living out Christ, expressing Christ, holding forth Christ as the word of life, and working out our own salvation.
We have pointed out that murmurings issue from the emotion, whereas reasonings proceed from the mind. Furthermore, murmurings are more of a problem among the sisters, and reasonings more among the brothers. Again and again we need to be reminded of Paul’s word in 2:14. When the sisters are washing dishes in the sisters’ house, they should remember not to murmur. As the brothers are taking care of matters in the service groups and the church life, they should remember to do all things without reasonings. They should not reason, but simply serve the Lord in the church.
If we do all things without murmurings and reasonings, we shall become blameless and harmless. What a great thing it is not to have murmurings and reasonings! However, I have never met a sister who did not murmur or a brother who did not reason. The problem of murmurings and reasonings comes out in particular in married life. For example, a wife may murmur if her husband does not show appreciation of the love and care she has for him. Some brothers have learned that one way to eliminate a wife’s murmuring is to use two simple expressions: “I’m sorry” and “thank you.” Using these simple expressions can make your married life much happier. If a brother never tells his wife that he is sorry or if he never says thank you, there is apt to be murmuring. If we are successful in eliminating murmurings and reasonings, we shall be blameless and guileless.
In 2:15 Paul says that the believers are children of God. This implies regeneration, the new birth. To be a child of God means that we have been born of God, that God has been conceived within us. When we were born of God in our spirit, we were mingled with Him. Conception always precedes birth. When we became children of God, God was conceived in our very being. This involves even more than mingling. However, we do not have words adequate to express the deep relationship between us and God that has been produced by God’s being conceived within us. He has been conceived within us, and we have been born of Him to become His children.
Now that we have been born of God, we need to eat Him and drink Him. To be sure, whatever we eat and digest is assimilated by us and mingled with us. The Lord Jesus said that He is the bread which came down from heaven and also that the ones who eat Him will live because of Him (John 6:50, 57). The Lord clearly likened Himself to food for us to eat, digest, and assimilate. Those who oppose the teaching that believers are mingled with God are short of the proper knowledge. They do not realize that at the time of our conversion, God was conceived within us, and we were born of Him. At that time, we and God, humanity and divinity, were joined in a marvelous way. After our spiritual birth, we need to feed on God day by day. The Triune God is our food and drink. We can truly say that the food we eat and the water we drink are not merely united to us, but also mingled with us. We simply cannot deny the fact that the food and drink we take in and digest are mingled with us and eventually saturate us metabolically. In the same principle, when we take in the Triune God as our food and drink, He is mingled with us, and we are mingled with Him. However, we must be clear that this mingling of God and man does not produce a mixture, or a confusion, of divinity and humanity. On the one hand, there is a genuine mingling; on the other hand, there is no mixture or confusion.
The expression “children of God” is very rich in its implications. It implies that God has actually been born into us and that we possess His life and nature. Christians often say, “I’m just a sinner saved by grace.” Although this, of course, is true, it is very shallow compared with the revelation in the New Testament. If we know the truth of the Word, we shall not say we are merely sinners saved by grace. We shall have the assurance to declare, “I’m a child of God born of the Spirit!” If you have truly seen the vision that you are a child of God, you will be filled with joy, wonder, and praise. If you were the son of the President of the United States, would you not have a special feeling? Would you not be proud of your status? Surely to be a child of God is infinitely greater than to be a child of the President. In a proper sense, we need to boast of our status as God’s children. No doubt, we are sinners who have been saved by God’s grace. But because we have also been born of God, we are now His children. How marvelous!
According to Paul’s word in 2:15, we are to be children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation. The generation in which we live is crooked, warped, and twisted. We, however, as children of God, must be different. Because we are God’s children, we should be both blameless and guileless, without blemish.
We can be children of God only by having the life of God. How marvelous it is to have God’s life! All those who are truly the children of God need to realize that they have the divine life within them.
The divine life within us wants to grow. Recently I noticed how much a palm tree planted in my backyard has been growing, thriving, and spreading. It is almost unbelievable how much this tree has grown. What a testimony to the strength of the inner life of the palm tree and to the riches of this life! When I looked at that palm tree recently, I had the sense that the divine life within me is far more energetic than the life of that palm tree. Praise the Lord that we have God’s very life! How sad that few Christians today know of this life and live by it.
Along with the divine life, we also have the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). Although we cannot fully define the divine nature, we know that as God’s children we partake of it and have it within us.
Every living thing acts according to its own nature. Everything it does comes out of its nature. For example, a peach tree produces peaches because it is in keeping with the nature of a peach tree to do so. It would be absurd for anyone to charge a peach tree not to bring forth apples, but only to produce peaches. As ridiculous as this is, in principle many Christians are doing this very thing. In giving commandments to others to behave in a certain way or to improve themselves, they neglect the fact that as children of God all genuine Christians have the divine nature. This nature should govern and direct us. Everything in the Christian life is according to the nature of God. How wonderful that we have God’s life with His nature!
As lights, or luminaries, the believers shine among those in this crooked and perverted generation. Actually, we have no light in ourselves; we are luminaries reflecting the light of the sun, Christ. Christ is the unique sun, and the church is the moon reflecting Him. Praise the Lord that we have a source of light to reflect!
In 2:16 Paul speaks of “holding forth the word of life.” The word of life is very different from doctrine in dead letters. The word of life is the living breathing of God (2 Tim. 3:16), the Spirit who gives life (John 6:63). We have the Lord Jesus as our pattern (vv. 6-11), we have God operating in us (v. 13), we are God’s children possessing God’s life and the divine nature (v. 15), we are luminaries qualified to reflect the divine light of Christ (v. 15), and we have the word of life to hold forth, to present to others. What a divine and rich provision! By such we are well able to carry out God’s salvation to the full extent.
The word of life we are holding forth is actually Christ Himself (John 1:1, 4). In order to have the experience of Christ revealed in the book of Philippians, we need to have Christ as our pattern, we need to have the Triune God operating in us, we need to be children of God with the divine life and nature, and we need to be luminaries positioned to reflect Christ. All these matters are necessary for the experience of Christ.
If we hold forth Christ as the word of life, the apostle will be able to boast in the day of Christ that he has not run in vain nor labored in vain. This is to make his joy full. In 2:1-16 we see that the way to make the apostle happy is to have a life of seeking Christ, living Christ, expressing Christ, and carrying out God’s salvation to its fullest. Because the apostle represents God, God will also be happy to see such a life. Then at the day of Christ, the day of the Lord’s coming, the apostle will be able to boast and rejoice.
