1If therefore there is any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion, 2make my joy full by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; 3doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself; 4each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.
5Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus, 6who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, the death of the cross. 9Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name, 10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth, 11and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
14Do all things without complaining and arguing, 15that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without defect in the middle of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world, 16holding up the word of life, that I may have something to boast in the day of Christ that I didn’t run in vain nor labor in vain. 17Yes, and if I am poured out on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18In the same way, you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
19But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered up when I know how you are doing. 20For I have no one else like-minded, who will truly care about you. 21For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ. 22But you know that he has proved himself. As a child serves a father, so he served with me in furtherance of the Good News. 23Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it will go with me. 24But I trust in the Lord that I myself also will come shortly.
25But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier, and your apostle and servant of my need, 26since he longed for you all, and was very troubled because you had heard that he was sick. 27For indeed he was sick nearly to death, but God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow on sorrow. 28I have sent him therefore the more diligently, that when you see him again, you may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful. 29Receive him therefore in the Lord with all joy, and hold such people in honor, 30because for the work of Christ he came near to death, risking his life to supply that which was lacking in your service toward me.
Be of One Spirit With Other Believers
Philippians 2 Part One
Be of One Spirit with Other Believers
If therefore there is any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion, 2 make my joy full by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; 3 doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself; 4 each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.
Paul is strongly encouraging the Philippians to be “like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” I recently had a conversation with an extended family member who is now in her 70s. She spent much of her life in the church, but claims she never heard the true gospel message until recently, when she was saved. I think this often happens. She had heard numerous lists of “do’s and don’ts” and thought salvation was tied to the “good stuff” she was doing. I am very happy for her discovery of grace. I’ve visited her a couple of times over the last 2-3 years, and have noted that, unknowingly, she has gone back to adding things to the grace experience.
Along with her discovery of grace, she has inadvertently latched onto things that divide the body of Christ. Paul exhorts us to be “like-minded.” She has been taught by someone that the term “rightly dividing the word of truth” means deemphasizing the Old Testament and anything written before Acts chapter 13. Her position seems to be that “none of that applies to us.” It doesn’t mean that. The term in Greek means to “plow in a straight line”, meaning to interpret scripture (handle scripture) in the right way. It has nothing to do with dividing up the Bible into parts. In a recent conversation, she insisted that “a believer’s baptism is not something biblical for the church, and we really shouldn’t practice it; it was a practice meant for Jews.” It made me wonder why Paul baptized a gentile Greek named Lydia. I asked her, but she didn't answer.
I have noticed that in each successive observation that she discovers and communicates, there is a hint of superiority in her supposedly newfound position. There is an air of “let me show you something that no one else knows other than a few enlightened Christians.” It often seems that such people believe they have stumbled on a hidden truth that no other orthodox believer has seen or considered in the last two thousand years. We must always do our best to be of one accord and to be like-minded with other true believers in the Body of Christ. None of the positions that she now holds is salvific. Whether they are right or wrong, they will not determine whether anyone spends eternity in heaven or hell. They promote disunity as opposed to being “of one mind.” I know this is a thorny area of discussion. Some things are indeed correct interpretations, but we must never eclipse the simple Gospel message with disputable matters. We must never discount the whole counsel of God’s Word (meaning the Old Testament is still relevant, as is all scripture), to support some new idea we might have. All scripture is inspired by God (Old and New Testaments), and it is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness. Try to find areas of agreement between yourself and other Christians. I think it’s a good practice to major in the significant elements of the faith, and not major in the minors. Never think you have a corner on the truth unless you’re talking about the basic gospel message. It creates disunity and can easily pull you into rivalry and spiritual conceit.