I know I spent a lot of time
granularly examining Ephesians (aka the “Queen of the Epistles”), but we’re
just going to do a kind of whirlwind tour of the rest of the New Testament
epistles since we have such a short time left. Also, much of the material I would’ve
covered in the remaining epistles has already been covered elsewhere on the
blog, usually during one of my short topical studies.
That's almost a shame, because I love the book of Philippians. Paul
loved the church at Philippi, and it showed in this letter and elsewhere; it’s
one of the most positive books of the Bible. Basically it’s an inspired thank-you letter written to the church that
took up a generous and sacrificial love-offering and sent it to him.
Paul listed two
prayers he regularly lifted up for the Ephesians. In his letter to the
Philippians, he listed only a short one, but it’s so beautiful and concise that
I couldn’t resist spending a day looking at it. Like most of Paul’s material,
he packs “10 pounds” of theology into a “one-pound bag.”
What did he pray for the Philippian
believers, these people so dear to his heart? What did he ask God to bring
about in their lives?
·
He asked that their love may abound more and more. It wasn’t that
they were really lacking in love.
They showed how much they loved the Lord and Paul through their sacrificial
giving. But none of us, save Christ himself, has ever loved as much as we can
and should. No matter where we are in our maturity level, there’s always room
for improvement. He wanted them to "step it up a notch," always striving
to be closer to he who is
love.
·
He wanted this love to be grounded in knowledge and
depth of insight.
I can’t think of any principle that needs more to be hammered home to this generation: Love must be grounded in truth and knowledge
and depth of insight. As C. S. Lewis put it, “In fact, because Christ said
we could only get into His world by being like children, many Christians have
the idea that, provided you are 'good', it does not matter being a fool. But
that is a misunderstanding . . . He told us to be
not only 'as harmless as doves', but also 'as wise as serpents.' He wants a
child's heart, but a grown-up's head. He wants us to be simple, single-minded,
affectionate, and teachable, as good children are; but He also wants every bit
of intelligence we have to be alert at its job, and first-class fighting trim.”
Or as Paul told us in another letter:
“Stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your
thinking be adults.”
·
This discernment will let me know what is best. In other words, I’ll be able to not only
discern between good and evil (that’s a given), but between what’s good and
what’s best. Quite often the good might
be the worst enemy of the best. There’s nothing wrong with watching a
hockey game: It’s a “good” pleasure I get out of life. But I need to make sure
it doesn’t interfere with the “best,” that which is of eternal significance. Or
to put it another way, “Never settle for less than God’s best.” That’s how I get
purity and prepare to be pronounced “blameless” when I see my Savior face to
face.
·
This love, which is grounded in knowledge and depth
of insight, will produce fruit. This is the “fruit of righteousness”
which is a natural result of our becoming more like Christ. “Fruit” is a
metaphor for visible results of an invisible process. Paul in Galatians lists
the fruit of the Spirit as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. As we’ve noted before,
however, that list isn’t comprehensive of what he wants to see in our lives,
like humility and perseverance. For my series on Christian virtues, see here.
·
The purpose of this is to the praise and glory of
God. Of
course, this is the summum bonum
of everything I am and do. As I become more like Christ and display more fruit,
he gets more glory. Duh.
Let me wrap this up with a way I like
to apply passages like this. Instead of just reading this in my devotional and
moving on, I like to pray this for myself: “Father God, please let my love abound
more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that I can discern what’s best
and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of
righteousness that comes through your Son Jesus—all to your praise and glory,
Father. In your Son’s name, Amen.” Or something like that.
Instead of me submitting a suggested prayer, I’d suggest making today’s passage your own.
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