Evidence Of Christian Unity
Philippians 2:2
I would like for us to walk through verse 2 of this chapter and examine “The Evidence Of Christian Unity”. In this one verse, Paul lists 4 attributes that will be seen in a Christian assembly that is unified. Because of their encouragement in Christ, consolation from love, fellowship of the Spirit, and affection & mercy, the Philippians were equipped to join together with “the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord, and of one mind.”
Again, Paul’s appeal is one that promotes unity within the church. He declares that this kind of Christian unity would “fulfill his joy”; this literally means that if the saints lived together in harmony & unity of purpose, it would serve to make Paul’s joy complete; Paul has already declared his great love for “all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi” and the joy that he experienced as a result. Joy is one of the main themes in this letter; one of the primary reasons for his joy was the “fellowship” or “partnership” that he enjoyed with the saints at Philippi. If the saints continued to live and serve in unity, this would bring him even greater joy.
- In this verse he shares four exhortations that would assist them in this process. First of all we see that:
CHRISTIANS ARE TO BE LIKE MINDED
It is clear throughout this letter that it was Paul’s desire for his brothers and sisters in Philippi to be “like minded”. (Philippians 3:15-16 “Therefore, let all of us who are mature think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you. In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained.”) (Philippians 4:2 I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to agree in the Lord.)
In the verses that follow, Paul illustrates the kind of humility that is necessary for Christians to be “like-minded”. (Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.)
Following this, the Apostle shares the greatest example of humility and that is of course Jesus Christ Himself. (Philippians 2:5-8 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross.)
Christians will never be able to be like-minded and live together in unity if they fail to “adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus”. We must humble ourselves and we must not do anything “out of selfish ambition or conceit”. Furthermore, we must “consider others as more important than ourselves” and we must not “look to our own interests”, but rather to “the interests of others”.
Paul’s appeal for “like-mindedness” speaks to the fact that the saints in Christ Jesus should “think the same way”. This is a common theme throughout his epistles:
Romans 15:5 now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus,
1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
2 Corinthians 13:11 Finally, brethren… Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
One of the greatest attributes of the first century church was that they were “together and in one accord”. The amazing move of God that spread from Jerusalem, to Judea, to Samaria and beyond would not have been possible if it were not for the unity among those first Christians. Likewise, unity and like-mindedness is essential in the church today. Satan loves to sow seeds of discord and division among God’s people. Many once great local churches have ceased to exist because certain people in those churches lost sight of their true purpose; they began to focus on their own interests and not the interests of others. Even worse, they ceased focusing on Christ and began focusing on themselves.
Philippi was a great church, the overwhelming majority of this letter was positive, but there is clear evidence that there was an element of strife and division within that assembly. Paul’s great love for the saints motivated him to address this issue before it spread any further. He wanted them to continue to move forward for Christ, for this to happen, they must be of “like mind”. The same is true for the modern-day church. Any time God’s people assemble together there will be many different people from many different backgrounds. We all have different likes and dislikes, different views and personalities; we are from different backgrounds, races, and economic situations. Though we are very different people in many different ways, when it comes to the church, the gospel, the kingdom and the Christian life as a whole, we should all be of the same mind.
This is not meant to imply that all Christians are required to think and act alike; there are many secondary issues where we may agree to disagree. However we MUST agree on the fundamentals of the Christian faith. When we do this, we will achieve the like-mindedness that is described in this verse. In order for this to happen, we must have the mind of Christ; that is, we must see things the way He sees them and respond in ways that are pleasing to Him.
- Not only are we to have the same mind, we are to possess “the same love”. Notice that:
CHRISTIANS ARE TO HAVE THE SAME LOVE
As Christians, we should love one another with the love of Christ; this means that we are to love others with the same love that He has extended to us. This is another common theme throughout the New Testament. Paul said:
Romans 12:10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;
1 Corinthians 16:14 Let all that you do be done in love.
Colossians 3:14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
- John said:
1 John 3:16-17 This is how we have come to know love: He laid down his life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has this world’s goods and sees a fellow believer in need but withholds compassion from him — how does God’s love reside in him?
1 John 4:16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
- Peter said:
1 Peter 4:8 Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.
- Jesus said:
John 15:12 "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.
- The Bible makes it clear that Christians should be like minded, we should love one another with the love of Christ and as we move further we see that:
CHRISTIANS ARE TO LIVE IN ONE ACCORD
The New American Standard Bible translates “one accord” as being “united in spirit”. This is a phrase that literally means “togetherness of soul” and it carries the idea of people who live together in harmony. In Psalm 133 David said “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!” The members of Christ’s church should share the same purpose, goals and desires. These desires are not our own, if they were, unity would be impossible. However, when we have “the mind of Christ” this type of unity is very possible; in fact it is a guarantee! This is why it is important for us to live for Jesus and to follow the directions given to us through His Word.
If we are motivated by selfish ambition or focused on our own goals, likes and dislikes this is where discord arises. One prime example of this is the situation between Euodia and Syntyche in chapter 4; we don’t know what their disagreement was about but it is clear that there was a difference of opinion. If those women would “agree in the Lord” the dissention would be resolved and progress was possible. If they failed to have the same mind, same love and live in one accord, the discord would only intensify. This is true for all believers, when we begin to focus on our own desires and demand that we get our way no matter the cost, it will not be long before there is a disagreement, and minor disagreements unaddressed can become major issues within the local church.
- Believers must be like-minded, have the same love, be of one accord and finally we see that:
CHRISTIANS ARE TO BE OF ONE MIND
Being of “one mind” sounds very similar to the first exhortation in this verse where Paul says to be “like-minded”; this shows us just how intent Paul was for the believers to be unified and how they should strive together to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ. Remember he has already made it clear that they should “stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (1:27). Here, “one mind” speaks to the fact that the saints should be unified and “intent on one purpose”. What is that purpose? It is the spreading of the Gospel and the advancement of Christ’s Kingdom. When Christians are of one mind they will live together in harmony and they will be so united in purpose that is will be apparent that Christ is the one who is directing their activities.
- After telling the Philippians several things that they should do, Paul warns them against having certain attitudes and improper motives. Notice:
v3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
Paul’s aforementioned adversaries (1:16) were said to have preached Christ from “selfish ambition”; this tells us that their motives were not sincere. These men were not concerned with the advancement of the Gospel, they were concerned with their own agenda, and part of that agenda was adding affliction to Paul’s imprisonment. Here Paul exhorts the Philippians to guard against this kind of “selfish ambition” and “conceit”. The word “conceit” here literally means “vain glory”” and it speaks of the pursuit of personal glory, which is the motivation for selfish ambition.
Selfish ambition and conceit are two of two of the greatest enemies of unity among God’s people. Luke gives us a great example of this kind of mindset in his account of a man named Ananias and his wife Sapphira. In Acts chapter 5 we are told that they sold a certain possession and gave a portion of the proceeds to the Apostles, however they kept a portion of the profit for themselves. As Peter would tell them, the money was theirs and they had every right to keep it, however it was their intention for the people in the Church to believe that they were donating the entirety of the proceeds to the Lord’s work. Peter proclaimed that they had not “lied to men but to God." One of the great dangers of their deception is that it had the potential to disrupt the unity that the church was experiencing. Their motive was not genuine concern for the saints; rather they were prompted by selfish ambition and conceit!
It seems that there were some believers in Philippi who dealt with this issue as well. Sadly, church history records the stories of countless others who were consumed with selfish ambition and conceit. Furthermore, there are many in the modern-day church with the same problem. These people are a danger to the church and they have the potential to destroy the unity within the Church.
In contrast to this kind of selfish ambition and conceit, Paul calls on God’s people to exhibit “lowliness of mind”. This literally means that they were to have a deep sense of humility. Those who possess this kind of “lowliness of mind” will “esteem others better than themselves”. This is the basic definition of true humility.
- Humility is another Christian virtue that is prescribed throughout the New Testament:
Romans 12:10 be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;
Galatians 5:13 for you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
Ephesians 5:21 (submit) to one another in the fear of God.
1 Peter 5:5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
The Bible makes it clear that we should avoid selfishness and pursue humility. We should love others and put their interests above our own. In fact in the following verse Paul says to the Philippians “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” This is a characteristic that is virtually impossible to do in the flesh; therefore it is imperative that we walk in the Spirit; for it is the Holy Spirit of God who will empower and equip us to “esteem others better than ourselves”.
There was an element of division among these Believers; in this passage Paul gives them the solution for this problem. If they were to preserve the unity within the church it was essential for them to avoid doing anything from “selfish ambition or conceit”; and they must possess a “lowliness of mind” that would prompt them to “esteem others better than themselves”. When they possessed this kind of humility they would not only look out for their own interests, they would also look out for “the interests of others”. These truths apply to us as well!
In the Believers Bible commentary, William MacDonald shares a poignant quote from Charles Meigs. He says “Others, Lord, yes, others, Let this my motto be; Help me to live for others, That I might live like Thee.” (Source: MacDonald, William. Believer's Bible Commentary (p. 2860). Thomas Nelson.)
I pray that we are and will remain an assembly that has “the same mind, the same love, that we are in full accord and of one mind” for these are “The Evidences Of Christian Unity”
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