Having one purpose, one heart, and one life focused on Jesus Christ, our Lord unites us into Joy, Peace and Harmony. But why then do we so struggle, even within the body of Christ? How can it be that we separate, avoid, and even fight with our brothers and sisters in Christ? We struggle with our emotions, or how they make us feel. Perhaps it was an insult or a disagreement on politics, the masked versus the unmasked, or even the vaccinated versus the unvaccinated. Certainly, there can be moments in which we disagree regarding doctrine and that is when we must come to the table humbly presenting the gospel truth. Sometimes we may have misunderstood the scripture and the other helps us see clearer.
Yet, Paul made it very clear earlier in his letter that he was more concerned about their teaching the truth regarding the gospel message of Jesus Christ. Not that we should compromise on His Word; but, rather we should focus mostly on the spreading of His Name as Savior and Lord.
Philippians 1; 15 Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: 16 [c]The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; 17 but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.
Stand Firm in Truth and Love
As Paul points out, there are divisions which come over trivialities that do not even matter. Paul displays this also in many of his letters as he did in Romans 14.
Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. 2 For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. 4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.
Do not get me wrong, he does not want us to compromise on truth as he advised Timothy.
2 Timothy 2:14 Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to [a]strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But shun profane and [b]idle babblings, for they will [c]increase to more ungodliness.
But if we recognize that we are salt and light in a world that is perishing, then we must focus on that which is our mission to spread the gospel. Is not that the one purpose in Jesus for which we must focus. How can we do that if we a bickering, angry and showing everything but love to those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ? And don’t think I am not pointing my thumb directly back at myself here.
One Purpose in Jesus
Throughout the letter to Philippi, Paul has presented the core truths that lead to peace and joy.
- God is Sovereign. (1:6)
- He also presented the supreme worth of Jesus Christ in life and death. (3:8)
- As we embrace Christ with all that He is 6. To see the Law by Christ fulfilled,
- And hear His pardoning voice;
- Changes a slave into a child,
- And duty into choice. in us (through the work of the holy spirit) we merely glimpse at His Glory as He transforms us. As we humbly surrender our heart to Him (recognizing as did Isaiah that we are persons with unclean lips in a world of unclean lips)
William Cowper wrote in his hymn “No strength of nature can Suffice”
To see the Law by Christ fulfilled,
And hear His pardoning voice;
Changes a slave into a child,
And duty into choice.
- As we are freed from the clutches of sin, so as to be free to humbly love others, counting them as better than ourselves
- The joy and peace will free us to be fearless before the adversaries and the trials
- Both in unity, love, joy, peace, and strength we present Christ to the world in a manner that they should desire Him because they see His glory shine through our lives.
- Thereby, He graciously allows us to be a part of accomplishing the final ultimate aim of everything—As Fanny Crosby wrote:
TO GOD BE THE GLORY
To God be the glory, great things He hath done,
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
And opened the life gate that all may go in.
- Refrain:
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice!
Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory, great things He hath done.
But you might ask, how does that relate to unity in the church body? It is everything. So with such a lengthy introduction, let me briefly write about Philippians 4.
Philippians 4:
Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved.
With gentleness of spirit, reaching out to those fellow worshippers of Christ in Philippi. A church Paul had planted when the Holy Spirit drove him there. It was begun with a handful of praying women and the jailer amazed by Paul singing praises to God from the jail cell. He loved each individual believer. . Therefore, when he had to talk about a division in that church; he did it with such gentleness of spirit. Note the next verse.
Be United, Joyful, and in Prayer
2 I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 [a]And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.
Note how he began with I implore. He was coming alongside these two women who for some reason had split into two groups. Paul urged them to be of one mind, one purpose in Christ Jesus. He also asked the “true companion” to help them resolve the dispute. He recognized all the good that each had done and their labor of love for Jesus. Then he provides to them the means of how to do this with the following admonitions.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice! (Rejoicing does refocus us off the petty things of this world and place our eyes on Jesus.)
5 Let your [b]gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Don’t be afraid. God will guide you as you take that first step toward forgiveness, love, understanding, and peace with your brothers and sisters in Christ.
Meditate on These Things
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
This is true whether referring to your life or when you are referring to another Christian. If only we could see their good rather than focusing on the thing that hurt us.
But above all else we focus upon having one purpose in Jesus Christ. If we see this journey as a team then we will find joy, peace and harmony. It is like the veterans I work with. They say that when you go out onto that battleground, you must become ONE unit with ONE purpose. Nothing else matters as much as this for obtaining victory, Unity of purpose is the only way to victory. It is also true as warriors for Jesus Christ.
The only thing that will unite us with joy, peace, and harmony is having one purpose in Jesus Christ. He is our victory.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
DO YOU KNOW CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR AND LORD? He is our only Hope in Life and Death! Our Joy is found in Him.
If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord: I urge you to go to my page titled How to Be Saved by clicking on this link. There is nothing more important than this; because He is the way, the truth and the life. Therefore, I urge you to seek Him today.
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©Effie Darlene Barba, 2021
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. Furthermore, I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned except for my own books. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
Credits
New English Translation (NET)
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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