Untitled Sermon (2)
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
Paul’s thoughts easily moved from thanksgiving to petitioning prayer. The two were part of the same spiritual activity, but more than that, Paul acknowledged that the good done in the Philippians’ lives came from God. As a part of his response in praise, he prayed that God would continue his work in them.
This prayer resembles the prayer in Colossians. The similarity goes beyond the fact that the prayer follows quickly upon thanksgiving. Similarities of words reveal a similarity of content. No doubt Paul wrote them both at a time when he pondered the same thoughts on Christian growth, perhaps because of his own situation in life. The lexical and conceptual parallels include the following:
Phil 1:9–11
Col 1:9–11
I pray
praying
(proseuchomai)
(proseuchomenoi)
abound in knowledge
growing in knowledge of God
(epignōsei)
(epignōsin)
in all discernment
in wisdom and understanding
(aisthesei)
(sophia kai synesei)
being filled
you may be filled
(peplērōmenoi)
(plērōthēte)
fruit of righteousness
bearing fruit
(karpon dikaiosynēs)
(karpophorountes)
glory and praise of God
power of his glory
(doxan kai epainon)
(kratos tēs doxēs)
a good work
every good work
(ergon agathon)
(ergō agathō)
These parallels reveal that Paul thought consistently on the matter of Christian growth, and the fact that they are parallel emphasizes the basic themes found in his requests.
The prayer contains two basic petitions. These are known by two “that” (hina) clauses in the Greek text. The NIV fails to pick up this distinction and even makes the second petition part of a parallel statement (“and may be pure and blameless”). The two petitions are: “that your love may abound … so that you may be able to discern what is best” (1:9–10a); and that you “may be pure and blameless … having been filled with the fruit of righteousness” (1:10b–11). The first looks to the time interval between the present situation and the return of the Lord. The second takes the perspective of the second coming and looks back to the preparation of the church for that event. Paul prayed for a growing love (1:9–10b) and for a complete character (1:10b–11a).
PRAYER FOR A GROWING LOVE (1:9–10a)
Love entered Paul’s thoughts first. Perhaps that was because of the Philippians’ love demonstrated in supporting him at such a crucial time in his life. Perhaps it was because love summarized the Ten Commandments, as presented in Deut 6:5 and Luke 10:27. Love also epitomized Christian responsibility to other Christians (John 13:35; 1 John 2:7–11).
To these rather obvious commands regarding love, Paul added his own insights. If the Philippians’ love abounded, they would be well on the way to Christian maturity. Here Paul described the nature of a growing love, the environment for a growing love, and the result of a growing love.
The Nature of a Growing Love (1:9a)
Some confusion always exists in discussing love. It is at the same time the universal ideal to which all should aspire and the most personal and existential of all expressions.
1:9a The definition of love is addressed in this part of v. 9. Paul used the word agapē. The word predominates in Scripture as the expression of love. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish agapē from philos because the two occur frequently in Scripture with seemingly interchangeable meaning. Nevertheless, philos does contain an element of mutuality not found in agapē. It is a satisfying interaction with others. What is clear is that for Paul agapē emphasized the self-sacrificial love of Christ. It is a selfless action to benefit someone else. The model for this love is Christ, who gave himself for the sins of the world.
As Paul prayed for the readers’ love to abound, he prayed for their Christlike attitude of self-sacrifice to continue as it had been demonstrated earlier in their giving. The sacrificial nature of the love is further stressed in that there is no object for the love; it is a characteristic of the “lover” regardless of the object.33 Jesus taught that aspect in the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37).
The lawyer asked, “Who is my neighbor?” seeking to come to a clear understanding of his neighborhood and, thereby, of his responsibility (10:29). Jesus responded, “Which … was a neighbor?” informing the man that he had framed the question incorrectly (10:36). There are no boundaries to a Christian’s neighborhood. Love was to follow in the wake of their living.
The dynamic growth of love is presented in two ways in this first clause. First, the verb “abound” (perisseuē), which means to “be present in abundance,” occurs in the most dynamic of expressions possible.36 Their love was to “keep on abounding.” Second, the adverbial expression “more and more” stresses the dynamic of love. The Greek text actually has the expression “still more and more,” the first part of which is omitted in the NIV. The expression builds layer upon layer to make the point. “More” would have sufficed, “more and more” was better, but “still more and more” accentuated the point being made. Although exemplary in their love, the Philippians had not yet reached perfection. There was still room for growth.
The Environment of a Growing Love (1:9b)
1:9b The prayerful exhortation to love came with instructions about how to implement it. The words “knowledge and depth of insight” provide the twofold environment in which love may grow. They are, in fact, the most basic elements which foster love.38 The first aspect of the environment for growing love is knowledge. The Greek word for “knowledge” (epignōsis) is difficult to translate into acceptable English. The root word is gnosis, and the preposition epi (“upon”) is prefixed to it. Both parts of the compound need explanation.
The basic word used here (gnōsis) contains a slight contrast with its synonyms. Most often it is compared or contrasted with the common Greek term for “knowledge” (oida). This latter term generally signifies an intellectual knowledge (the product of the mind). It may convey the idea of a complete knowledge because the other terms are not well suited to the idea of completion. In contrast, gnōsis generally conveys the idea of an experiential knowledge (the product of experiencing by living). It easily lends itself to expressing relationships since they come from experiences. Further, since experiences provide the process of learning, gnōsis often stresses the process of knowing, rather than the outcome. Here Paul used the term in its full sense of real, personal knowing. It is not the product of deductive reasoning and, therefore, intellectual (oida). Nevertheless, it is not fully relational, indicating only relationships with persons. Paul wanted them to have a personal knowledge which, as he stated later in this prayer, would surface in practical ways as well.
The compound form heightens the definition. In Greek, prefixed prepositions may be either directive, pointing to a specific knowledge, or perfective, emphasizing an accurate knowledge. Since this context does not provide a direction, clearly Paul used the word in the perfective sense. This first aspect of love, therefore, is a complete knowledge. Part of the completeness is its ability to apply what is known to the practical aspects of life.40
Paul added judgment, the moral environment, to knowledge. The term “depth of insight” occurs only here in the New Testament, although a form of the root word occurs in Heb 5:14. It conveys the sense of moral discretion. Thus morality affects the growth of love.
Although the terms knowledge and judgment have no specific modifiers, two matters are clear. First, Paul wrote in Christian terms. The love and judgment he espoused were those seen in Christ and consistent with Scripture. While the words sometimes occur in secular contexts discussing general morality, Paul certainly rooted his prayers in Christ and the resources which come from the Holy Spirit. The Philippians would realize, therefore, that in disclosing his prayer for them, Paul called them to the highest and best of Christian qualities and growth. Second, these two terms provide a collective environment which fosters growth. If either is lacking, love will not grow. In this, Paul’s expression is consistent with his Jewish-Christian ethical background. Knowing and living go hand in hand. Failure to grow in the knowledge God expects of Christians hinders love. Similarly, failure to discipline the moral life hinders love. Attention to both of these realms promotes a healthy and positive Christian life.
Like “love,” the terms “knowledge” and “insight” have no expressed objects. They speak to broad, general concerns. The comprehensive knowledge includes an accurate understanding of God and the world, as well as the “lover” himself. Similarly, the moral insight comes from various sources and is comprehensive in nature. It exposes the rightness and wrongness of all thoughts and actions.
The Result of a Growing Love (1:10a)
1:10a Paul envisioned mature Christians who had the ability to distinguish right from wrong. He directed his prayer toward that end. The NIV correctly translates what may be taken in several ways. The word “discern” has the meaning of test by trial, and the term “best” emphasizes the result of that testing. The phrase need not stress the fact that some things are harmful and, therefore, should be avoided. It has equal application to affirming and embracing the best of good choices, and that reading fits this text better. Since this context calls for a wisdom related to life, the words suggest the ability to discern moral conduct and values so that life and energy are not misdirected. A growing love, fed by proper knowledge and moral insight, enables one to see the best way to live in light of the day of Christ.
PRAYER FOR COMPLETE CHARACTER (1:10b–11)
Discerning what is best develops character. A growing love provides for character development and completion. As Paul prayed, his thoughts moved to the day of accountability. He prayed that the Philippians would live in such a way that they would be without blame at that time. In this second petition, therefore, Paul saw the end of life on earth. As always, the return of the Lord and Christians’ preparation for it occupied his thoughts. Paul identified through prayer the nature of complete character, the means to it, and the purpose of it.
The Nature of Complete Character (1:10b)
1:10b Two words describe Paul’s concern for the Philippians: “pure and blameless.” Strictly defined these words convey two slightly different ideas. “Pure” (eilikrinēs) occurs only one other time in the New Testament (2 Pet 3:1), although other words with the same root occur (i.e., 1 Cor 5:8). The most common etymology of the term suggests that it comes from the two words “sun” (helios) and “to judge” (krinō) and that the word meant to hold up to sunlight for inspection. “Blameless” (aproskopoi) also occurs rarely in the New Testament. The term may have an active meaning (to cause blame) or a passive one (to be free from blame). The decision is a difficult one since both have a precedent (cf. Acts 24:16; 1 Cor 10:32). The text, however, follows with a reference to the “fruit of righteousness,” a term which implies character, and thus it favors the passive sense. Paul hoped they would have a blameless life.
The Means to Complete Character (1:11a)
1:11a Similar to the first petition, Paul provided a context out of which such character could come. In the first, the environment of knowledge and morality produced a discriminating love. In this petition the fruit of righteousness produces complete character. The phrase “fruit of righteousness” also demands interpretation. The primary concern is the use of the term “righteousness.” Some interpret it to mean the fruit produced by their imputed righteousness.48 Most, however, understand the phrase to mean the result of righteous activity as Christians. It refers to an ethical righteousness. The Old Testament supports this conclusion (Hos 10:12), and it fits Paul’s attitude expressed in Philippians.
Here Paul used an agricultural metaphor which included the word “fruit.” Some translate the word as “harvest,” a translation which no doubt captures Paul’s thought well. The fruit was that which Jesus Christ produced in them. It parallels Gal 5:22. For that reason, the participle is best understood as a passive idea, “having been filled” (e.g., by Christ). The prayer was for them to live in such a way that Christ could work in them the harvest of morality and righteousness which would be acceptable at the day of Christ.
Righteous living would protect the church; it would be blameless. As Paul would clarify later (see 3:4–6), his concern was that blamelessness be because of Christ and his righteousness, not one’s own. The passage teaches that if those who are righteous by God’s grace through faith live as they should, the fruit of their lives will be true blamelessness. No one will condemn them, and they will stand the test of judgment day.
The Purpose of Complete Character (1:11b)
1:11b Paul concluded this prayer with a reference to God’s glory. The day of Christ characterized Paul’s thoughts; the glory of God motivated Paul’s actions. He saw the entire scope of salvation as an outworking of God’s grace and as a contribution to God’s glory. The chief end of persons was the glory of God. He reminded the Philippians of their ultimate calling, to reflect God’s character in their lives. He explained the reason for their careful living: the glory of God in their lives.
With this prayer for God’s glory, Paul ended the first section of the epistle. The epistle began with appreciation for their relationship to Paul from the beginning. It called them to realize that God began a work in them and it must continue, and it reminded them of the need to prepare for the day of Christ’s appearing. Paul masterfully revealed his concerns for them, introducing each of the major themes of the epistle. In a manner appropriate to friends, Paul spoke first in appreciation for who they were, then urged them to continue in Christian growth. Even his prayer provided a positive approach to them. His was no disinterested concern. He prayed that they would achieve the character prized so highly for them and himself (3:8–11). The concern did not bypass the present life, however. Love was to characterize all Christians. It uniquely expressed their relationship to Christ and prepared them for meeting him at the end of life.
Verses 3–11 of the opening chapter of Philippians form a single paragraph that functions as an introduction to the whole of the book and as such introduces many of the themes and motifs of the letter. Although this is a cohesive unit, I have chosen to divide verses 3–11 into three studies because they are so theologically packed.
“Paul’s Joyous Thanksgiving” is the title I gave to the study on verses 3–6 because as Paul’s thoughts from his prison cell drifted across the Adriatic into northern Macedonia and Philippi he wrote, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy.” Paul’s deep thanksgiving for the Philippian church then evoked “Paul’s Joyful Affection,” the title of our study on verses 7, 8. Though the apostle was in chains in Rome his heart wasn’t chained, and it was in his unfettered heart that Paul held every last one of the Philippians—at the very center of his being. This was not hyperbole but spiritual reality. Paul’s oath, “For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus” (v. 8) was a declaration that the very affection of Christ himself was controlling him. This affection would effervesce again later in 4:1 when he called them “my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown.”
Now, having the breadth of Paul’s thanksgiving for the Philippians before us, along with the depth of Paul’s astonishing affection, we come to Paul’s prayer for the Philippian believers in verses 9–11. Here Paul builds on the mention of his joyful prayer in verse 4 and makes prayer the rising emotional climax to his introduction. Paul’s opening words—“And it is my prayer”—informed the Philippians, and us, that this is how and what Paul prayed when he prayed for them. This brief text is both humbling and elevating. That is what it has been for me. Do we pray like this? Have we ever prayed like this? Paul tells us that there are things more important than our day-to-day needs.
PRAYER FOR ABOUNDING LOVE (v. 9A)
Paul opens with a statement that is stunning in itself: “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more” (v. 9a)—stunning because “love” here has no object. He doesn’t say “that your love for God may abound more and more,” nor does he say “that your love for one another may abound more and more.” This is because Paul prayed that love would overflow up to God and out to each other in limitless abundance. Paul, always rooted in the Old Testament, knew that the two tables of the Ten Commandments were structured in just this way. The first four command love for God, and the second six command love for others. Vertical love first, horizontal love second. Thus Paul prayed that the Philippians’ love would overflow all dimensions in a lavish, ongoing, limitless love—an unremitting geyser of love up to God and a flood of love out to others. The old Latin commentator Bengel says, “The fire in the apostle never says, It is enough.”2 Paul is passionate here—more love, more love!
PRAYER FOR KNOWLEDGE AND INSIGHT (v. 9B)
At the same time, we know that Paul was not praying for a shapeless, uninformed overflow of love because the whole of verse 9 reads, “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment.”
Knowledge. Our existential, postmodern culture is very sentimental about love. We have heard from the sixties on, “All you need is love,” as if other-directed goodwill is the answer to life. A modern proverb says, “Love is blind,” suggesting that blissful ignorance is part and parcel of love. Frank Sheed gave us a prophetic word for such foolishness:
A virtuous man may be ignorant, but ignorance is not a virtue. It would be a strange God Who could be loved better by being known less. Love of God is not the same thing as knowledge of God; love of God is immeasurably more important than knowledge of God; but if a man loves God knowing a little about Him, he should love God more from knowing more about Him: for every new thing known about God is a new reason for loving Him.
The more we know of God, the more reason we will have to love him.
The word that Paul uses here to urge that our overflow of love be “with knowledge” (epignosis) is used by Paul in all fifteen occurrences in his letters to mean the knowledge of God and of Christ. It is a personal knowledge. It is “profoundly existential, relational and responsive” (Bockmuehl).5 And Paul was super-passionate that his converts increase in this knowledge. In fact all four of the “prison epistles” pray for this at the end of his introductions.
• Ephesians 1:17: “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him.”
• Philippians 1:9: “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment.”
• Colossians 1:9, 10: “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
• Philemon 6: “[A]nd I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.”
We must understand that Christian love is never a matter of sentimentality. Christian love comes from a work of the Holy Spirit bringing the revelation of Christ through the Word of God. And the more you are in the Word, the more your knowledge of God and Christ will increase, and the more your love will overflow. All the Scriptures speak of Christ (cf. John 5:46)! And each new thing you learn of him will become a fresh reason for loving him.
Remember this: a superficial love for God is a sure sign of a superficial knowledge of God. This is why we must give priority to gathered worship with our Bibles and hearts open to God. This is why we must daily open the Scriptures for ourselves and teach them to our children. This is why we must read both the Old and New Testaments with our eyes wide open to Christ, whom God has made known (cf. John 1:18). This is why the Gospels and epistles must be in our souls. The more you know of him, the more your love will rush up to him and out to the world! This is why Paul prayed that their “love [would] abound more and more, with knowledge.”
Insight. There is, of course, another important word here because “knowledge” is coupled with “all discernment” or more precisely, “all insight.” This Greek word appears only here in the New Testament, but it is used twenty-two times in the Greek translation of the Old Testament book of Proverbs where it means practical insight, the insight that informs conduct—practical conduct.
What remarkable movement we have in Paul’s prayer for his beloved church—a limitless overflow of love to God and others, coupled with a growing knowledge of Christ and God (both reciprocally increasing the other), and all of this producing practical insight for living. Several years ago Dr. Kyung Chik Han, pastor of the Young Nak Presbyterian Church in Seoul, Korea, was honored at a fifty-year class reunion at Princeton Theological Seminary. He answered several questions at that banquet. Dr. Earl Palmer was there and remembers:
At one point he explained the theological examination process for elders in the Young Nak Church, which with a membership of 50,000 communicants is the largest Presbyterian church in the world. He said that each prospective elder was examined in ‘Bible, Theology, Church History and Common Sense.’ Yes, of course, I thought to myself when I heard his remarks—common sense should be added to Theology, Church History and Bible!
Indeed. We see that right here in Paul’s prayer invoking practical insight for day-to-day living for his dearest friends. Who says theology is irrelevant? Again, overflowing love coupled to a growing personal knowledge of God leads to practical insight for common everyday living—the kind of quality essential for eldership in that vast Korean church and for any success in Christian living. This is what we all so desperately long for as we seek to lead our families and the church.
PRAYER FOR ASSESSING WHAT IS BEST (v. 10A)
What benefits! But there is more as Paul’s line of prayer thought extends to a further result—“so that you may approve what is excellent” (v. 10a).
The idea here is intensely practical: it is to examine or test what is before us so as to determine what is excellent or the best. Originally this was applied to determining the best, for example, among metals or livestock. Here it has to do with our lives as Christians. Markus Bockmuehl describes this as “the Spirit-bred ability to discern that which God has already marked off as essential or ‘superlative’ regarding life in Christ.” This ability includes not only distinguishing right from wrong but also the best from second best.9
Life for everyone, and especially believers, is a series of choices. What we choose day to day will shape the course of our lives. Foolish choices will leave us unprepared for the coming King. It is the little choices that determine our spiritual vitality because they in turn govern bigger choices. Most of us have little trouble distinguishing the big issues. We know that theft and murder are wrong and that generosity and justice are right. But in the gray area, choices involve a range of options that are not so clearly moral or clear-cut. It is here that we find difficulty in discerning the best. What confused lives so many Christians lead because they do not have the wherewithal to discern what is best.
To see falsely is worse than blindness. A man who is so blind that he cannot distinguish the ditch from the road still may be able to feel which is which. But if he sees the ditch as the road and the road as the ditch, he is in big trouble. And many today are in big trouble.
However, if God’s children overflow with love to God and others, along with a growing personal knowledge of God and Christ and practical insight, they will be able to discern and choose what is superlative—the best over the second best—the best over the good—the best in knowledge of God—the best in priorities—the best in habits—the best in pleasures—the best in pursuits—the best course of action for themselves and for their families.
What a beautiful prayer Paul prays for his beloved! May our prayers for one another be that we will be able to discern what God has marked off as best. That’s what you need, fathers. That’s what you need, mothers. That’s what you need, leaders. And that is what Paul prays for.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY OF CHRIST (vv. 10B, 11)
Paul’s brief account of how he prays concludes with his ultimate purpose for the Philippians, which is readiness for the coming of Christ: “and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (vv. 10b, 11). This is the second mention of “the day of Christ,” as Paul already referred to it in the famous words of verse 6. Paul wanted the Philippians to be prepared. You can sense the urgency in the Greek, which literally reads “against the day of Christ”—Paul wants them to stand well under the divine scrutiny. “Preparation for the day of the Lord was for Paul neither a pious platitude nor a millenarian obsession, but a way of life” (Bockmuehl).11 Christian growth was not an end in itself but had an eye to the grand goal of standing before Christ. Paul was sublimely obsessed with the coming of that day, and this graced obsession controlled his prayer for his beloved Philippians.
Pure and blameless. His prayer was that they would be “pure and blameless” against that great day (cf. v. 10b). “Pure” means “unmixed,” as in unmixed substances. It denotes transparency of heart, a heart with pure and unmixed desires. Paul prays for their moral transparency—that “what you see is what you get” with the Philippians, and it is good.
“Blameless” is literally “without stumbling,” “not stumbling.” And this metaphorical sense enhances the picture. Paul’s prayer is that the Philippians will live pure, morally transparent lives, free from stumbling—and thus stand upright and pure on that day in the dazzling presence of Christ who knows all. Oh, to pray like this for each other!
Filled with the fruit of righteousness. But Paul wants more than that the Philippians stand pure and tall and acquitted before Christ, because he further prays that they may be filled with the fruit of godly deeds—“filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ”—that the righteousness of Christ would be evident in righteous, fruitful living. This means first that the heart qualities Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit—“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22, 23)—would work themselves out in the substantive fruit of godly deeds.
A tree that bears fruit is alive. But a tree that is filled with fruit glorifies the gardener’s care! “ ‘Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit” (John 15:5). “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit’ ” (John 15:8). When Christ returns, Paul wants the Philippians to be like fruit trees at harvest, their branches hung low, laden with the good deeds that Christ has worked in and through them.
For the praise and glory of God. Predictably, Paul concludes with a doxology. All this is for “the glory and praise of God” (v. 11b). This is a fitting conclusion not only to the prayer but to the whole paragraph. The truth is, as John Piper says, “All who cast themselves on God find that they are carried into endless joy by God’s omnipotent commitment to his own glory.”
Paul reveled in the thought of God’s glory. At the climax of the Christ hymn later in Philippians we read, “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (2:10). And then there will be the climactic doxology at the letter’s end: “To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen” (4:20). Such elation! Such joy!
This magnificent introductory paragraph that began with Paul’s thanksgiving for the Philippians and then moved to his affection for them has now concluded with Paul’s description of how he prayed for them. This is the substance of real prayers, repeatedly offered in real time and space and history by a real man. This is not pious spiritual musing. This is how and what Paul prayed.
What the apostle has outlined has relevance for those of us who care at all for our families and the body of Christ. Certainly we must pray for our jobs and our finances and our health and our children’s grades and friendships. But if that is it, we have missed it. We need love to overflow in a limitless geyser up to God and out to others. We need to have our love ride and expand upon an increasing knowledge of God as revealed in Christ Jesus—because the more we know of him, the more we will love him.
We need to grow in all discernment—practiced insight and common sense for living. We need to be able to weigh the choices before us and choose what is excellent, the best. We need to be ready for the day of Christ. We need to be transparently pure and stand upright before Christ in that day. And as we stand tall, our lives need to be hung heavy with the fruit of the righteousness that comes through Jesus. We need our lives to be a doxology to the glory and praise of God as part of the endless, joyous commitment to God’s glory.
And more, this is what we need to pray for each other. Parents, this is what we must pray for our children and grandchildren. This is a call for real prayers for real people in real space and real time.