If you don’t mind, let’s go back to the beginning of this passage. We read there – in chapter 1, verse 27 – that we are to live our lives “in a manner [that is] worthy of the gospel.” This is a simple but urgent appeal to us, and if we are to respond to it, if we are to answer this compelling imperative, there are three things we must know. According to Paul, three conditions have to be in play for us to live our lives “in a manner [that is] worthy of the gospel:” First, we must know who we are and what we believe. Second, we must know whose we are and what that means. And, third, we must know where we are and what to do.
So, let’s begin with the first of these: We must know who we are and what we believe. Paul writes in verse 27, “Whether I come and see you [or not], I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel.” These words of Paul tell us who we are.
So, who are we? We are a people who are known by our firm stand on “the faith of the gospel.” We are identified by our confession of certain distinctive truths. That’s what Paul means when he says we “are standing firm in one spirit.” We breathe, as it were, the same air. That’s what he means when he says we are “striving side by side.” We labor at the same task. That’s what he means when he talks about having “one mind for the faith of the gospel.” We subscribe to the same beliefs. We have the same faith.
When the New Testament speaks of “faith,” it can mean one of two things, depending on the context. It can mean placing our faith in Christ for salvation, which is an act of trust and which, by the way, is essential for eternal life. That’s an important understanding of “faith.” But the term “faith” can also refer to “the faith,” that is, the set of beliefs that are taught in the Scriptures. In fact, that’s what “faith” almost always means when it is accompanied by the article “the.” The faith is the unambiguous, bottom-line, fixed truths that are revealed in Scripture. That’s what Paul means here in verse 27 when he talks about “the faith of the gospel.” So, what is “the faith of the gospel?” Broadly speaking, it is summarized for us in the great ecumenical creeds of the church: the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed, for example. More specifically, it is laid down for us in the confessional documents of the Reformation – like the Westminster Confession, the Scots Confession, and the Second Helvetic Confession.
And what he is saying is that it is important that we stand firm on these truths, that we strive side by side for them. Why? Because what we believe determines what we do. Presbyterians ought to know this better than anyone else, since we are a confessional church. We have written documents – confessions – that lay out our beliefs, and we require those we ordain to office to be guided by them.
This is critical. Paul makes that clear. It is critical because what we believe about the gospel will determine what we believe about God. It will determine what we believe about humanity. And it will determine what we believe about the world and our place in it. We must know who we are and what we believe. And we must stand firm in what we believe. We are a people whose very lives are molded and framed by the truth of the gospel.
So, we must know first of all what it is that unites us. No congregation that desires to have a meaningful witness in the world can be divided. That is why Paul insists that the Philippian church “be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind” (2:2). And, secondly, we must know what defines us. We must know whose we are and what that means. Paul tells the Philippians – as he tells us – “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others better than yourselves” (2:3). In other words, we must be defined by something other than self-interest and personal preference.
So, what shall define us? Paul says it must be Jesus Christ himself. If we ask whose we are, the only answer to that question must be: Jesus Christ. And what does that mean? Paul tells us. He says it means that “the same mind [will] be in you that that was in Christ Jesus….” In other words, you are to think of yourself in the same manner in which Jesus thought of himself. Paul is talking about something more here than simply imitating Jesus. He is not saying, “Get the mind of Christ.” He is saying that we already have the mind of Christ. In fact, that’s one possible rendering of verse 5, as you can see in the marginal notes of the NRSV. “Let the same mind be in you that you have in Christ Jesus” (emphasis added). Having the mind of Christ is the result of the gracious work of the Holy Spirit within us. He has transformed our minds so that we think like Jesus. And how does Jesus think?
We read here that “he humbled himself,” and what that means is that he “became obedient unto death – even death on a cross” (2:8). If we are to have the mind of Christ, there will be a cross for us just as surely as there was a cross for him. “If any want to become my followers,” Jesus said, “let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Lk. 9:23). And let there be no misunderstanding on our part: the cross is an instrument of death. If we are to have the mind of Christ, certain things in us are going to have to die. That’s why Paul says in another one of his letters that “those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24). That’s in Galatians, and in Colossians he says, “Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: …[all] the ways you once followed, when you were living that life. But now you must get rid of all such things.” What things? What things are we to “put to death?” Paul gives us a starter list: We are to get rid of “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language….” We are not to “ lie to one another, seeing that [we] have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed [ourselves] with the new self, which is being renewed…according to the image of its creator” (Col. 3:5, 7-10).
Jesus, you see, is the new self. We are to bear his image. We are to be clothed with him! Paul says in Romans that we are “united with him” in his death and that we will be “united with him” in his resurrection (cf. Rom. 6:5). We are his. We are joined to him, and he is whose we are. And what that means is: It is he who defines us. It is his mind – his way of constructing reality – that is to be our way of constructing reality. So, how did he put things together in his head? How did he think about things? To him, obedience to his Father was uppermost. It was his very sustenance. “My food,” he said on one occasion – his very food, you understand – “is to do the will of him who sent me” (John 4:34). “One does not live by bread alone,” he said, “but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). That is our Lord’s mind on things; it is to be our mind, too. We are his, and what that means is that he is to be that which defines us. We must be sure of this.
And one more thing we must be sure of. We must know (1) who we are and what we believe. We must know (2) whose we are and what that means. And, finally, we must know (3) where we are and what we must do. In short, we must know our location, because if we don’t know it, it – not Christ – will define us.
So, where are we? Paul says in verse 15 that we live “in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.” The word for “crooked” in the original is skolios, and it means “curved” or “bent.” Paul is saying that we live in a world that is bent away from God. It is “hell bent,” you might say. Not only that, he says; it is also “perverse,” a word that means distorted. So, not only is this world turned away from God; it also has blurred vision and distorted hearing when it comes to the things of God.
So, in that verse, Paul tells us where we are, and we have no illusions about our environment. But in that same verse, in verse 15, he tells us what we are to do. We are to “be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of [this] crooked and perverse generation.” And we are to “shine like stars in the universe” (NIV). We are to be a city set on a hill, a light shining in a dark place (cf. Matt. 5:14f.).
How are we to do this? Paul gives us three means, and I want to review them briefly for you – only, I want to take them in reverse order. First, let’s go to verse 16, where Paul speaks of “holding fast to the word of life.” What Paul tells us is: We need a firm grip on the Bible. Why? So that it can have a firm grip on us. There is an ancient prayer that says of the Scriptures: “Grant us [O Lord]…to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them.” There’s no lack of clarity there, is there? And that needs to be our prayer. We need to get in our Bibles so that our Bibles can get in us.
Second, look at verse 15. As the Scriptures shape us, Paul says, it will have an effect upon us. We will “be blameless and innocent, children of God [who are] without blemish….” To be “blameless” means neither to be led into sin ourselves, nor to lead others into sin. To be “innocent” means to have unmixed motives. In other words, our lives are to be in striking contrast to this “crooked and perverse generation.” We are to “shine like [the] stars against the darkness of the night sky.”
There is a third way we are to be distinguished from the world. Not only must we hold fast to the Word, and not only must we stand out from the crowd. Paul says in verse 14 that we must “do all things without murmuring and arguing.” Our saturation in Scripture will shape each of us personally. Our separation from the world will distinguish us from the society around us. But this third area will determine how we live together in the church. We must “do all things without murmuring or arguing.” In other words, we must guard against a spirit of complaint and contentiousness. We cannot embody the gospel and, at the same time, maintain an attitude of discontent. When we criticize other people or grouse about our circumstances – you know what that does? It betrays a fundamental lack of faith in God. We can’t habitually complain and still claim to trust his providence in our lives. We need to remember that discomfort is often God’s way of helping us to find our satisfaction not in our situation but rather in him.
Our lives will either validate the gospel we claim to believe, or they will discredit it. If we are to confirm the truth of the gospel, we must be of one mind on what we believe, we must be defined by Jesus Christ himself, and we must stand out in bold relief from the world around us. According to Paul, that is how we embody the gospel.
