HOW TO MAINTAIN UNITY IN THE CHURCH: HUMBLE YOURSELVES AND DON'T BE SELFISH OR SELF-CENTERED

   IF YOU have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:1-4).


1 The following exhortation also concerns unity, but this time the focus is turned on problems within the church. To encourage the fulfillment of this injunction, Paul listed four incentives. All are stated as "if" clauses, but the condition is assumed to be true (the "if" becomes almost synonymous with "since"). (1) As Christians, the Philippians were in a vital union with Christ, and this placed obvious obligations on them. They were responsible to heed the orders of Christ as issued by him either directly during his ministry or through his apostles. (2) The comfort and encouragement provided by love should prompt the Philippians to desist from divisiveness in any form and to join hands in common action. (3) The fellowship produced by the Holy Spirit should stimulate the practical exercise of unity. They have been made one by the Spirit (cf. 1 Cor 12:13) and thus are partners with him and  with each other. (4) The existence of tenderness and compassion among them would make the unity that was being called for the normal and expected thing.


2-4 Paul exhorts the Philippians to make his joy full by "being like-minded" (lit., "minding the same thing"). He was already experiencing joy because of his association with this church (1:3-4; 4:10), but one attitude that was still needed to make his joy "complete" was like-mindedness. Of course, this was not a command for unity at the expense of the truth, for "the same thing" is also "the right thing."


      Paul now elaborates on his enjoinder to maintain unity in their thought and action. By complying with the next four instructions, his readers would create a climate where true unity could flourish. (1) Believers should posses a mutual love. Inasmuch as all were indwelt by the same Spirit (v.1), love as a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22) ought to be demonstrated in every life.


      (2) Believers should set their minds on oneness "in spirit and purpose." This phrase repeats what was said in v.2 and reinforces the conclusion that there was a problem of disharmony within the congregation. It may be unfair to center the problem on Euodia and Syntyche (4:2), but they were at least involved.


      (3) Believers should avoid "selfish ambition" and "vain conceit" and consider others above themselves (v.3). Paul himself had experienced adverse affects from selfish ambition among some unworthy preachers at Rome (1:17). Persons who seek to advance themselves usually enjoy glorying in their success. The Christian attitude should reveal itself in "humility", a concept not highly regarded among Greeks. Believers should be humble toward one another, mindful of their spiritual brotherhood and their ultimate subjection to Christ. In their exercise of humility, they should "consider others better than yourselves." This does not mean that we must have a false or unrealistic views of our own gifts as compared with those of others. Rather, our consideration for others must precede concern for ourselves (Rom 12:10). This will go far toward removing their disharmony.


      (4) Believers should be looking not only to their own interests but also to those of others. (v.4). The self-centeredness that considers only one's own rights, plans, and interests must be replaced by a broader outlook that includes the interests of one's fellows Christians. "Not only . . . but also" indicates that believers should not neglect their own welfare or that of their families (1 Tim 5:8) as they seek the good of others. Instead, Paul calls for a Christian concern that is wide enough to include others in its scope. When each member of the Christian community exercises this mutual concern, problems of disunity quickly disappear.
[NIV BIBLE COMMENTARY Volume 2: New Testament].


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JESUS IS LORD.

YOU ARE A WITNESS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD TO THE WORLD

13 You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste-its strength, its quality-how can its saltness be restored? It is not good for anything any longer but to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men.
14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid.
15 Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a peck-measure but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men that they may see your moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble and good deeds, and recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.
(Matthew 5:13-16).


13 In this verse and v.14, "You" is emphatic-"You, my followers and none others, are the salt of the earth." Salt was used in the ancient world to flavor foods and even in small doses as fertilizer. Above all, salt was used as a preservative. Rubbed into meat, a little salt would slow decay. Strictly speaking salt cannot lose its saltiness; sodium chloride is a stable compound. But most salt in the ancient world derived from salt marshes rather than evaporation of salt water, and thus contaminated many impurities. The actual salt, being more soluble than the impurities, could be leached out, leaving a residue so dilute it was of little worth.
     The question "How can it be made salty again?" is not meant to have an answer. The point is that if Jesus' disciples are to act as a preservative in the world by conforming to kingdom norms, they can discharge this function only by retaining their own virtue.


14-15 Though the Jews saw themselves as the light of the world (Rom 2:19), the true light is the Suffering Servant (Isa 42:6; 49:6), fulfilled in Jesus himself (Matt 4:16; cf. Jn 8:12; 1 Jn 1:7). Derivatively his disciples constitute the new light (cf. Eph 5:8-9; Php 2:15). In the OT as in the NT, light most frequently symbolizes purity as opposed to filth, truth as opposed to error, knowledge as opposed to ignorance, and divine revelation and presence as opposed to reprobation and abandonment by God.
      The reference to the "city on a hill" is at one level fairly obvious. Often built of white limestone, ancient towns gleamed in the sun and could not easily be hidden. At night the inhabitants' oil lamps would shed some glow over the surrounding area. As such cities could not be hidden, so also it is unthinkable to light a lamp and hide it under a peck-measure. A lamp is put on a lampstand to illuminate all. The "city on a hill" saying may also refer to OT prophecies about the time when Jerusalem or the mountain of the Lord's house would be lifted up before the world and the nations would stream to it (e.g., Isa 2:2-5). Jesus' disciples constitute the true locus of the people of God and the means of witness to the world. 


16 Jesus drives the metaphor home. His disciples must show their "good works"-i.e., all righteousness, everything they are and do that reflects the mind and will of God. And others must see this light. It may provoke persecution (vv. 10-12), but that is no reason for hiding the light by which others may come to glorify the Father. Witness includes not just words but deeds as well.
     Thus the kingdom norms (vv.3-12) so work out in the lives of the kingdom's heirs as to produce the kingdom witness (vv.13-16). If salt (v.13) exercises the negative function of delaying decay and warns disciples of the danger of compromise and conformity to the world, then light (vv.14-16) speaks positively of illuminating a sin-darkened world and warns against a withdrawal from the world that does not lead others to glorify the Father in heaven. 
[NIV BIBLE COMMENTARY Volume 2: New Testament].


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JESUS IS LORD.

LET THE LIGHT OF CHRIST'S GOSPEL SHINE IN YOUR HEART TO OTHERS

1 Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.
2 But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, who's mind the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake.
6 For it is God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 CORINTHIANS 4:1-6).


4:1 Paul now resumes the theme of 3:6-divine appointment and provision to be a minister of a new covenant. He had no reason to lose heart (cf. Gal 6:9), for God in his mercy had granted him a privilege exceeding the ministry of Moses (cf. 1 Tim 1:12-16). He had been called not to communicate the law but to dispense grace. Paul regarded this divine commission to serve under the new covenant as more than compensating for all the trials he endured for being true to his calling (vv. 7-12, 17; cf. Rom 8:18), including the malicious charges of his Corinthians opponents (v. 2).


4:2 To the thought of refusing to grow disheartened Paul will return presently (v. 16). Now he expands his brief self-defense of 2:17. Evidently he had been accused of deceitful behavior (cf. 7:2; 12:16) and of willfully adulterating the Gospel (perhaps by not insisting on Gentile compliance with the Mosaic law). These charges he emphatically rejects. The openness marking the new covenant had always been reflected in his conduct. He had never been secretive or deceptive, nor had he ever dishonestly manipulated the message of God entrusted to him.
      In any self-defense, self-commendation must play some part. But Paul's particular self-commendation was distinctive. He commended himself, not by self-vindication at every point, but simply by openly declaring the truth of the Gospel. He appealed not to a partisan spirit or the prejudices of other people but "to every man's conscience." In his self-commendation, God was an onlooker.


4:3-4 Paul's Gospel, some had claimed, was designed only for a spiritually minded elite; what he said was obscure and what he did was underhanded (v.2). For the sake of argument, Paul conceded his critics' point. Even if his Gospel is veiled in the case of some people, it is not his doing, he insists, because he sets forth the truth plainly (v.2). Any veiling (cf. 3:14-15) comes from the unbelief of "those who are perishing" (cf. 1 Cor 1:18; 2 Cor 2:15), whose minds have been blinded by the god of "the present evil age" (Gal 1:4)-i.e., Satan, who wishes to prevent people from seeing the light of the Gospel that focuses on Christ's glory as the image of God. Paul's reference to Christ as "the image of God" means that Christ is the visible and perfect representation of the invisible God (Col 1:15; cf. Jn 1:18). Christ is one with God the Father by nature, but distinct from him in person.


4:5 Though Paul might have been forced to commend himself to everyone's conscience (v.2; cf. 1:12; 6:4), he never advertised or preached himself. The essence of his Gospel was the proclamation of "Jesus Christ as Lord" (Rom 10:9; 1 Cor 12:3; Col 2:6), a message faithfully delivered by him and eagerly embraced by the Corinthians. Paul saw himself related to his converts, not as a spiritual overlord (1:24) but as a wiling servant. In this he followed in the footsteps of "the Lord of glory" (1 Cor 2:8), who himself had adopted the status and role of a servant (Php 2:7; cf. Rom 15:8).


4:6 Paul now states the reason why he preached Christ and served the Corinthians. It was because God had dispelled his darkness by illuminating his heart and had given him a knowledge of Christ he wished to share (cf. Acts 9:15; 26:16, 18; Gal 1:15-16). In this second creation, as in the first, darkness is dispersed and light is created by divine intervention. In the first case it was a personal word: "Let there be light" (cf. Gen 1:2-3); in the second creation it was a personal act: "God shone in our hearts" (cf. 1 Pet 2:9).
     This is an unmistakable allusion to Paul's Damascus encounter with the risen Christ when God "was pleased to reveal his Son" to him (Gal 1:15-16). Each of the three accounts of Paul's conversion mentions the noonday light from heaven, brighter than the sun, and emphasizes the revelatory nature of the experience (Acts 9:3-9; 22:6-10; 26:13-18). In the unveiled face of Christ (cf. 2 Cor 3:7, 13, 18) Paul saw God's glory.
[NIV BIBLE COMMENTARY Volume 2: New Testament].


[http://twitter.com/SowersOfTheWord].


JESUS IS LORD.