Word of Encouragement (5/27/2021)

Here is Paul’s account of his prayer for the Philippians: “...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). In this prayer, we see that Paul desires the Philippians’ love to abound more and more so that they might be “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.”

How do we become pure and blameless? Paul explains: “…filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ…” (v. 11). Here, Paul gives us the basis of his hope-filled, confident prayer. Without it, Paul could not have prayed this prayer with any sense of expectation that it will happen. Without it, Paul’s prayer would have come to us as a heavy, oppressive burden rather than a great blessing. How can we abound in love to such a point that we will be pure and blameless for the day of Christ? Can any of us say that our love is so pure in motive and execution that it will be acceptable to God? If that is possible, it is only because we can be “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ”! This doesn’t mean that righteousness comes through Jesus Christ but we have to bear fruit with our efforts. A more natural reading suggests that the entire “fruit of righteousness” comes through Christ.

This is not to say that we don’t have to do anything. The question is what it is that we have to do. The fruit-bearing analogy Paul is using here is very helpful. It reminds us of what Jesus said: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). But when Jesus says, “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit…,” He is not saying that we have the power to bear fruit on our own. Ultimately, He is the fruit-bearing Vine. It is only when we abide in Him and He in us that we can bear much fruit, just as a branch can bear fruit only when it is grafted to a fruitful tree: “…apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). If it can be said that we bear fruit, it is only in the sense that Christ’s fruit of righteousness is borne in and through us, just as a branch can be said to bear fruit only because fruits are hanging from it. Our main work is to abide in Christ.

To abide in Christ is not being passive and inactive. Jesus told us what He meant by abiding in Him: it is to have the words of Christ abide in us (John 15:7) through reading, reflecting, studying, and applying the Word; it is to pray (John 15:7); it is to keep His commandments (John 15:10), especially the command to love one another as Christ has loved us (John 15:12), even to the point of laying down His life for us (John 15:13). And isn’t this why Paul is praying that our love abound more and more…, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ?

Let us remember that the wise love of Christ is not just an example for us to follow. If that were the case, we should be depressed and full of despair. But we are united with Him as branches are to the vine. He abides in us through His Spirit and Word. He invites us to a God-glorifying, life-giving, life-transforming, heart-satisfying, joy-overflowing, others-building life in Him! Let us be grateful and embrace it wholeheartedly, starting now!

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