Worthy of the Gospel (Philippians 1:27-30)

Paul has explained to his friends in Philippi about his imprisonment in Rome and how two possible paths were ahead of him. One was that he would become a martyr and the other was that he would be released and be able to resume his apostolic activities. While he was imprisoned, many of his thoughts were on the churches he had founded and among them were his friends in the church in Philippi. As far as his friends were concerned, he wanted them to live in a certain way, whatever would happen in his situation. That way was connected to the gospel of Christ.

The gospel of Christ

What do we understand by this phrase? The first detail I would mentions is that it belongs to Christ. He is the one who decided what would be in the gospel. Although some have tried, no one can add anything to the gospel that Jesus did not say should be part of it, neither can anyone take anything away from it. The gospel is not primarily the possession of a church or of an individual which can be adjusted by human opinion. Instead, it always belongs to Jesus.

The second detail about this phrase is that the gospel is about Christ. In order for the gospel to be declared, the speaker must say who Jesus is. In doing so, they are stating something of the wonder of his person. Since he is both God and man, he is a unique, wonderful person. Saying who he is does not require us to understand all the consequences of his uniqueness. But we have to say who he is if we wish to speak about the gospel.

Moreover, we have to mention what he has done in order for the message to be one of good news. We know that there are different ways of explaining this. The basic fact is that it is good news for sinners because he has done something incredible for them. His action has often been summarised as living for sinners and dying for sinners. His perfect life takes care of their need to have such a life and his atoning death provides the payment for their sins.

So the gospel includes information about who Jesus is and what he did when he was on earth. In addition, when communicating the gospel, we have to include details connected to what happened to Jesus after he suffered on the cross. As we know, three days after his death, he rose from the dead and appeared to many of his people over the next few weeks. His resurrection revealed that he had defeated death, which should be very good news for people who are going to die.

The gospel also includes the fact that he ascended to heaven in order to become the head of an incredible kingdom, the members of which begin life here on earth as sinners. He sends the offer of salvation to them and when they trust in him they discover that he becomes their shepherd who leads them through this life, supplying their every need, and taking care of them spiritually. Although there are many of them, each of them is dealt with as if they were the only one.

There is more to the gospel because it also includes details of what Jesus will do in the future, when he returns. We can mention three incredible events that are part of the gospel. First, there is the resurrection of our bodies. No matter how long we have been dead, we will hear his amazing voice with our ears and rise immediately when he gives the command. We will be raised to die no more. Second, there will be an appearance at the judgement seat of Christ. How can we imagine such a prospect could be part of the message of good news? Because on that great day, his people ‘shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted’ by him. Of course, the reference to the judgement day is not good news for unbelievers, but it is for those who have trusted in Jesus. Third, Jesus will provide his people with an eternal home in the new heavens and new earth, whatever will be included in it.

As we think about those details, we can see that the gospel is straightforward. The gospel does not include how I or anyone else came to know Jesus. Such stories are interesting in their own place, but there is the danger that they take the focus off Jesus and instead we think about what may or may not have been important in a person’s conversion. Instead we have to tell people who Jesus is and what he did for sinners.

So we have seen that the gospel belongs to Jesus and is about Jesus. One more detail that we mention is what Paul says about the gospel when he writes in Romans 1:16 that it is the power of God unto salvation. He says that telling the details of the gospel is the way to see God’s power at work. How does that take place? When the details of the gospel are mentioned, the Holy Spirit often comes alongside and convinces the person that it is true. Looking back to the moment when we were converted, we cannot say that we were more intellectually capable on the day of our conversion than we were on the day before. Instead, we were the recipients of divine enlightenment and at that moment we just loved the gospel. The boring preacher suddenly made sense, the drab book became full of life. But the change was within and we realised the truth about Jesus.

People are often on the lookout for smarter ways of presenting the gospel. Most of those ways, I suspect, are more connected to the assurance of Christians than to other matters. If we want to see people converted, tell them about Jesus, what he has done, what he is doing and what he will yet do. And ask expectantly for the Spirit to reveal the power of the gospel.

Manner of life – soldier 

The phrase ‘conduct yourselves in a manner worthy’ is an attempt to translate one Greek word. Basically, it means that people should remember what city they belong to and live accordingly. All they should do and all that they should not do is connected to membership of the city. This word would have been relevant to those who lived in Philippi because they were given a special privilege and were regarded as citizens of Rome. No doubt Paul has a higher city in mind, the city of God, but the application is the same.

What is the manner of life that Paul expects from his readers in Philippi? It is possible for us to miss the point that Paul makes by inserting our own suggestions here. For example, we could say that the manner of life is holiness, which would be true, but it is not the way that Paul explains it here. Instead, the manner of life that he mentions is that of a soldier. Maybe he was led to use this illustration because he was chained to one at the time of writing – he certainly had contact with many during his imprisonment.

The apostle mentions three features of a soldier’s life that he expected to see revealed in the manner of life of the Philippians. First, there had to be a standing firm under attack; second, there had to be a striving which suggests close personal contact with the opponent; and third, they were not to be frightened by anything connected to their opponents. We can think of each of them briefly.

‘Standing firm’ reminds us that the enemy is trying to remove Christians from a certain position, and what is needed by them in order to remain where they are is intensity of desire, which is what Paul probably may have meant by ‘spirit’. Often, in a battle, those having to hold the line required courage, and courage is an expression of confidence. Of course, Paul could have meant the Holy Spirit as the source of strength enabling them to stand firm.

How were they to strive in the battle? Paul mentions that it occurs in the mind – that is how we know what we are fighting for, and here Paul summarises it as ‘the faith of the gospel’. We have already said what those details are, but here we can see their importance. The obvious implication is that we have to know what the details are. Because if we don’t know them, we will be defeated.

Then we can see that Paul urges his readers not to be frightened by all the noise, tactics and weapons of the enemy. Usually, defeat comes when the resources of the enemy are more effective than those of their opponents. By using our minds, we see that our resources are greater than those of the enemy kingdom. This is important to remember today as the devil goes around making a lot of noise and arranging for things to oppose the people of God. Whatever he does, he does not have more resources than a believer.

So we have those three features of the life of a soldier used by the apostle to describe the manner of life of believers. Yet we should observe another feature of a soldier’s life that he uses, which is that soldiers fight together. The apostle stresses this unity when he mentions each of the three areas of standing in one spirit, of striving side by side, and of facing the same opponents. A soldier fighting by himself is much less effective than an army fighting together. The same is true in the battles Christian endure. 

The manner of life must have unity, and if it doesn’t, it is not worthy of the gospel of Christ. After all, the Lord has taken his people out of their sins through the same gospel and that is what they are asked to defend together and to promote together. They are called to be one, whatever happens.

Evidence

As Paul finishes off this passage, he makes some more comments that were for the encouragement of his friends in Philippi. Obviously, they were facing some kind of opposition, although Paul does not say exactly what it was. But he does say three things about it to his friends.

First, being involved in a spiritual battle is a sign of salvation because it means that the powers of darkness are opposed to them. The believers can take comfort from the fact that others did not agree with them. While the conflict was not enjoyable, it did reveal they were on the Lord’s side.

Second, their difficult situation was actually a privilege granted them by God who had arranged for them to take part in this battle. Just as ongoing faith came from him, so did ongoing involvement in his cause. It was not only prominent people like Paul who had this privilege, but all God’s people do. Sometimes, we think that the opposition is always bad for us, yet we are to remind ourselves that in a sense it has come from God. He will give strength, and he will also give a reward for faithful service.

Third, there is only one war, although it takes place in different locations (they were in Philippi, he was in Rome), and this is a reminder how we should think about conflicts taking place around the world between believers and their opponents.

Three lessons

Having reflected on this passage, I would suggest three details for us to think about (although you may have more). First, it is obvious that if we are Christians we will have different values from the society around us. But we need to ensure that we have the right values, and the way to have the right response is to value the gospel. We can do this by setting our minds and our affections on it. 

Lesson two is that we should appreciate the heavenly city and get involved in its campaign on earth, which is to spread the gospel even to those who oppose us. After all, every citizen of the heavenly city was once an opponent, and it is from among them that new citizens will come. Evangelism is the attempt to get people to change cities through accepting the gospel, and by them moving from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City.

Thirdly, we need to measure opposition in the correct scales. Sometimes we can imagine that it will be too much for us because, after all, we face a powerful opponent in the devil. Yet the way to defeat him is by adhering to the truth, especially the truth of the gospel.