Philippians 2:1-5

Continuing our study in Philippians we find Paul starting out chapter two speaking about the joy of unity.  Ouch!!  That one hurts right now in the physical realm because we are unable to meet together.  However, that doesn’t mean we can’t have unity.

I just sent out a text this morning with some scriptures from Ecclesiastes reminding us of our need for each other and the strength that comes from being able to count on the help of a fellow brother or sister in Christ.  The first verse of this chapter is a summary of some aspects of Jesus Christ that as a Christian we will obtain by becoming a saved child of God.  We all know how rotten we are in our cores.  We were born that way, but praise God we don’t have to stay that way.  Just look at the list of changes that can overcome our old nature through the acceptance of Christ AND obedience.

·         Consolation in Christ

·         Comfort of love

·         Fellowship of the Spirit

·         Bowels and mercies

Now that last one sounds kind of icky, but we’re going to examine it more closely and see that it is a really good thing. LOL Every one of these attributes is meant to show us that Jesus Christ had the attitude of a servant, and that attitude began in His heart because of His love for the Father.  In order for our church to have unity, it’s necessary for each of us to adopt the same attitude and practice the same servitude toward each of our members.

Consolation in Christ

The word “consolation” is translated from the Greek paraklēsis.  Besides consolation, other translations of this word are exhortation, comfort, and entreaty.  We also can find that parakletos of the same word family is the Greek word for the Holy Spirit.  Christ himself tells us that He will send us a “comforter” in the form of the Holy Spirit.  We know that the Holy Spirit works within our lives to lead us to be Christ-like in our behavior.  He helps us stay on the right path and He encourages us.  So….likewise as disciples of Christ we should also do this for our fellow brothers and sisters.

 There’s not a single person who does not need encouragement.  We can pretend we’re self sufficient, but we’re deceiving ourselves.  Scripture likens the body of Christ to the human body in order to help us see the necessity of every single part for a healthy thriving church body.  Can we be healthy and thriving if one of our parts is never made to feel that they are worth anything to the rest of the body?  I’m not talking about putting anyone up on a pedestal or shining a spotlight on them.  God says He is no respecter of persons.  We are all equal in His sight; therefore, every part of the body is just as important as any other AND just as worthy of encouragement.

Comfort of love

Have you ever noticed a difference between words of comfort given to you by a stranger versus those of someone you know and love?  As Christians, knowing that we are accepted unconditionally by God and by our fellow Christians (if they are heeding the word of God) is a totally different ballgame.  Are any of us perfect?  Nope, but we are to accept each other, faults and all, and love each other with no strings attached.  Having the confidence that that is the reaction and heart of the person who is comforting you makes a lot of difference.

Fellowship of the Spirit

Fellowship is translated from the Greek word koinōnia.  This word means communion or fellowship.  We’ve all heard it taught that fellow Christian’s spirits will bear witness with each other.  There is only one Spirit of God and we all receive Him when we accept Christ as our savior.  That Spirit leads us in a way that is like minded for everyone.  It gives us all something VERY important in common.

Bowels and mercies

Okay we know that mercies are compassion that God has on us so what is the bowels part?  Basically the Hebrews saw the bowels (deep inside us) as the seat of the more tender affections like kindness, benevolence, compassion.  Our compassion begins in our heart and is expressed outward to touch the lives of others.

                After Paul explains the attributes, he encourages the member of the Philippi church to apply them in a certain way.  His particular phrases are “be likeminded”, “having the same love”, “being of one accord”, and “of one mind”.  In a nutshell, he wanted them to be in unity.  He even went so far as to tell them that their doing so would make “his” joy complete.  We’ll see in a later chapter that there was a bit of disharmony in the Philippi church, so this may have been his way of prompting them to fix the issue.

                In the previous chapter we learned that there were some “Christians” out and about that were preaching the gospel but not necessarily for the right reasons.  Nothing about the gospel should ever be about us.  Serving one’s self leaves no room for serving anyone else and that’s our true calling.  We all need to have the mind of a servant which would make us all likeminded and living in harmony among ourselves.

                Next Paul encouraged them to have the same love.  Not just any love though.  The translation of the Hebrew word for love used in this verse is agapē.  Agapē love isn’t any run of the mill love.  It’s the kind of selfless, unconditional love that Jesus demonstrated for us when He came to this earth as a servant.  Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice and it was for whosoever.  Can we love each other like that?  With no partiality?

                The terms “soul sister” and “soul brother” were commonly used back in the seventies, but not in the way that Paul is encouraging the Philippi members in this scripture.  The word “accord” as used in verse 2 translates from Greek to English as “co-spirited or similar in sentiment” according to Strong’s.  Vine’s Expository Dictionary defines it as “fellow-souled or minded”.  Although you can find the word accord elsewhere in the Bible, Philippians 2:2 is the only place where it translates to these definitions.  It’s basically talking about being “one-souled”, describing a people who are knit together in harmony, having the same desires, passions, and ambitions.

                And that last one, “of one mind”, well that simply means that that group of “one-souled” people are all intent on one purpose, having the mind of Christ with the same goals and purposes for the church.

So how are we supposed to do this?  Well according to Paul, we’d better not be doing it in any way for self gain or glory.  It should be done humbly and with our thoughts on others before ourselves.  Being humble IS an individual responsibility.  Each person is responsible for fostering a spirit of unity in the church.  There is NO room for personal agendas!  Look at the 1828 Noah Webster Dictionary’s definition of humility.

In ethics, freedom from pride and arrogance; humbleness of mind; a modest estimate of one's own worth. In theology, humility consists in lowliness of mind; a deep sense of one's own unworthiness in the sight of God, self-abasement, penitence for sin, and submission to the divine will.

See that part about “a deep sense of one’s own unworthiness in the sight of God”?  We better remember who we are and not lose sight of which rung of the ladder we’re on.  In fact we’re not even on it.  It’s a one rung ladder and God’s on the rung.  LOL

                We are worth something to God though, because Christ shed His blood for us.  If we will lay aside selfishness and treat others with respect and courtesy we will be glorifying God by showing an example of the kind of example of humility that Christ himself portrayed.  As humble servant of God we will watch out for the needs of those we are serving.  This doesn’t just apply to people in positions in the church.  We are all to be serving one another, striving toward harmonious living.

                Paul says it all in verse 5.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.