Phil. 1:27 Only, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, that whether coming and seeing you or being absent I may hear the things concerning you, that you stand firm in one spirit, with one soul striving together along with the faith of the gospel.
Actually, according to the grammatical construction of verse 27, standing firm in one spirit and striving together with one soul are not two separate things. Paul does not charge the Philippians to stand firm in one spirit and then to strive together with one soul. Rather, he charges them to "stand firm in one spirit, with one soul striving together." Paul's way of writing indicates that in order to stand firm, we need to strive. Striving is in fact part of standing. We stand firm in one spirit by striving together with one soul. Let me use a simple illustration. Suppose a father says to his son, "Eat quickly, using your fork properly." This is different from saying, "Eat quickly and use your fork properly." In the first command, using the fork properly is the way to eat quickly. In the second, eating quickly and using the fork properly are two distinct matters. Because of the background, Paul did not tell the Philippians to stand firm and strive, but to stand firm, striving together with one soul. Such a firm standing was especially necessary during Paul's absence. Paul, the one who could establish the believers, was away from them, but the Judaistic teachers, those who were preaching contrary to God's economy, were at hand. This was the reason that toward the end of chapter one Paul charged the believers to stand firm. However, if they were to stand firm, they would have to strive together with one soul. Apart from striving, they would not be able to stand. If we today only stand but do not strive, eventually we shall be shaken by the opposition or moved by it. It is not adequate simply to encourage others to stand firm. I repeat, in order to stand firm, we must strive and fight. Striving is the way to stand. Actually, to strive is to stand. Another way of putting it is to say that in order to have a defense, we need to be on the offensive. If we do not know how to go on the offensive, we shall not have an adequate defense. If we would defend ourselves, we must take the offensive against Satan. The point here is that defense requires offense. This is the reason that in 1:27 Paul does not make standing firm a separate matter from striving together. Instead, he indicates that these two matters are one.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Philippians, pp. 66-67. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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