Word of Encouragement (5/26/2021)
The prayer we are reflecting on is, “...it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Phil. 1:9-11). We saw how important love is and why love should be accompanied by knowledge and discernment. Paul prays that the Philippians would have such love “so that you may approve what is excellent....”
True love approves and desires what is excellent. But excellent for what? Different things are excellent for different purposes. A certain item of clothing may be excellent for exercising but not for a formal dinner. Paul tells us what he means by “excellent”: something that will help us “be pure and blameless for the day of Christ....”
There are many excellent things in the world. Some things are aesthetically excellent, such as masterpieces of art, music, and literature. Some things are practically excellent, such as reliable machines and accurate maps. You get the idea. But such excellent things will prove to be useless on the day of Christ (that is, Judgment Day). What excellent things of this world can protect us from God’s judgment for our sins? People might deem what we have produced or achieved as excellent. But to the holy, all-seeing God, they are but “filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6, KJV), smeared all over by our sins. Because this world is fallen, what is good for this life may not be good for the day of Christ; it may even be harmful: “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you…. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days” (James 5:1, 3).
What will be Judgment Day about? Among many things, it will be about being pure and blameless. What does it mean to be pure and blameless? Johnson says, “Of several Greek words that can be translated ‘pure,’ here Paul chooses one that focuses on sincerity, a lack of mixed motives and a transparent integrity that has nothing to hide” (p. 48). And regarding the word, “blameless,” he says, “Paul’s term here (the Greek adjective aproskopos) presents a ‘blamelessness’ that begins now, before we reach perfection. It describes an individual who does not ‘stumble’ into sin, or one who does not cause others to stumble” (p. 49). Of course, only Christ is pure and blameless in the absolute sense. Thankfully, when we put our trust in Jesus Christ as our Redeemer and Representative, God considers us pure and blameless. And precisely for that reason, we should live in a manner that reflects our new status in Christ Jesus.
To love wisely, we must keep in mind the inevitable coming of the day of Christ. All that we do for our loved ones will be in vain if we do not prepare them for the day of Christ and what they will have to face on that day. Does what we do for them deepen their roots in this perishing world or grow their roots in the eternal world to come? Are we encouraging them to lay up their treasures on this earth or lay up their treasures in heaven?