As I have been
considering Paul’s amazing expression to the Philippians, “Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown,
stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved,”[1] I
have wondered why his joyful love stands out so strongly in this particular
letter. In other letters, he writes of being concerned, or perplexed, but this
one exudes a depth of affection that initially seems to stand alone.
What became
clear in my mind this morning was that the reason for differences in tone from
one letter to another was not due to differences in affection, or love. Paul
treated all the churches as brothers, and he loved them all equally.
The differences
between the letters were based on what was happening to the churches at the
time of writing. Paul was very encouraged with how the Philippian Christians
were getting along and growing in the Lord, so he poured out the depth of his
affection for them, building them up with the reminder of their identity in
Christ, and their “joy and crown”
relationship to him.
However, when
Paul wrote the Corinthians, he was dealing with some situations that had got
out of hand. In his first letter, he was troubled with the way they were
tolerating an especially repugnant expression of sin, and had to take a stand
to help them carry out church discipline.[2]
In his second
letter, he expressed his fatherly, shepherdly heartache that wolves had come
into the flock of God in the form of “super
apostles,”[3]
and he was afraid, “that as the serpent
deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere
and pure devotion to Christ.”[4]
Paul had
already made very clear that he still had the church in his heart, had pride in
them, that he was “overflowing with joy,”
he had growing affection for them, and felt “complete
confidence” in them.[5]
However, he was afraid of the way the super apostles were winning their hearts,
and beginning to lead them astray. His love, and joy, and affection for his
brothers in Christ caused him to make a strenuous attempt to keep them from
falling away.
When Paul
wrote the Galatian brothers, he was dealing with something even more grievous.
The Corinthians had not yet given their hearts over to the super apostles. Paul
was afraid of what was happening, and wrote them to take full advantage of his
love relationship with the church to bring them back to the “sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”
On the other
hand, the Galatians had already fallen prey to the false teachers, and Paul’s
loving relationship to these people as his brothers required an intense rescue
attempt. The Galatians had become POW’s of false teachers and a false gospel,[6]
and Paul had to give them the most intensely powerful call to return to the
true Lord Jesus Christ.
In the letter
to the Galatians Paul wrote, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?”[7]He feared that, “I may have
labored over you in vain.”[8] He expressed his longing to them that, “I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am
perplexed about you.”[9] He pleaded with them, “You
were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?”[10]
HOWEVER… in
all the pleading, and longing, and exhortation, the reason for what Paul wrote was
the same as all his other letters: these were his beloved brothers with whom he
wanted to share in the joy of partnership in the gospel of their Savior, Jesus the
Christ.[11]
What
stands out is that Paul still called these people his brothers,[12] showing that his concern for them was in the same brotherly love relationship
he had for all the churches. He concluded his letter by telling them, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with
your spirit, brothers. Amen.”[13]
All of this
reinforced that Paul was the same man, with the identicle love for all his
brothers, relating to each church based on what was taking place in each
particular city. The love and longing he felt for the Philippians were the same
as what he felt for the Corinthians and Galatians. He simply had to relate to
each church’s condition in customized ways, aiming to return everyone to the
same faith.
It is of
interest that, when Jesus wrote his letters to the seven churches in
Revelation, he was the same glorious, resurrected, exalted Savior, loving all
his churches without favoritism or partiality, and yet all the letters were
precise in revealing what Jesus knew was going on in each city. No matter what
he said about things he commended, or things he had against them, it was for
the solitary aim of calling the church of every city to live by faith as they
had been taught.
In the end, Jesus
is building one church.[14]
In this one church there is, “one body
and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your
call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over
all and through all and in all.”[15]
In this “one new man,”[16]
we are called to mutual joy and love, loving the brotherhood of believers,[17]and
maturing together as the body of Christ “builds
itself up in love.”[18]We
accept that “the Lord disciplines the one
he loves,”[19]and
so we accept that even Paul’s disciplinary letters express the same love as his
most affectionate sharing.
The Scriptures
are full of this unanimous picture, that God reveals everything in his word to
the children he loves. We are his beloved,[20]and
we are beloved whether he speaks rebuke or praise. In love, his word is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be
complete, equipped for every good work.”[21]
I
encourage everyone to develop the lifetime habit of spending daily time in God’s
word and prayer. As we read God’s word to hear God’s voice, we will find that
some things teach us how to live the life of faith, others reprove us for
things that are wrong, some Scriptures correct us so we know how to make
adjustments to the will of God, and everything together trains us in
righteousness.
However,
no matter whether it is teaching, reproof, correction, or training, the letters
God has given us through his holy apostles and prophets expressed his love
through those men when they were first written down, and they continue to
express God’s love as we read them, and as faithful pastors continue to preach
the word to us.[22]
Everyone
who has faith in Jesus Christ is a beloved child of God, no favoritism or
partiality; no first, second, or third classes of children; no core group and
fringe group. Our faith in Jesus Christ assures us that we are equally beloved
in the beloved Son of God.
So,
read God’s word. Meditate on his words day and night.[23]Help your church fellowship be the kind of people who “hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”[24]No matter what you hear him saying, it is spoken from the God who is
love, to his beloved children, through a man who considered the church his
brothers, the ones he loved and longed for, his joy and crown.[25]
One
day we will see these men in the fellowship of those Jesus gathers to himself
forever. Perhaps we will be able to thank them for their real-life love that
suffered so many things to make sure we could have the written words of God to
last through every remaining generation of time. God knows we need them.
© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
[1]
Philippians 4:1
[2]
I Corinthians 5:1-13
[3]
II Corinthians 11:5; 12:11
[4]
II Corinthians 11:3
[5]
II Corinthians 7:1-16
[6]
Galatians 1:6
[7]
Galatians 3:1
[8]
Galatians 4:11
[9]
Galatians 4:20
[10]
Galatians 5:7
[11]
Philippians 1:3-8
[12]
Galatians 4:28,31, etc.
[13]
Galatians 6:18
[14]
Matthew 16:18
[15]
Ephesians 4:4-6
[16]
Ephesians 2:15
[17]
I Peter 2:17
[18]
Ephesians 4:16
[19]
Hebrews 12:6
[20]
Ephesians 5:1
[21]
II Timothy 3:16-17
[22]
II Timothy 4:1-5
[23]
Psalm 1:2; read Psalm 1:1-6 as the beautiful and encouraging context.
[24]
Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22
[25]
Philippians 4:1
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