Chapter 2
Verse 1 “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,”
My wife and I used to discuss the use of ‘if’ in this sense. I would make a proposition based on the certain ‘if’ and she would counter that there was no ‘if.’ Paul is using the same idea in this verse as I was in my argument. ‘If’ in this sense is not a question but a statement of fact. It is used as ‘since.’ We know from all of Paul’s writings that his faith was way too strong to be based on an ‘if’ in the questionable sense.
Of course, the Philippians knew the encouragement of Christ. Their very survival as individual Christians and as a collective body of believers depended on it. The persecution from non-Christians and the government was brutal. They clung to the cross and the Christ of the cross.
Think of the love they were receiving. Paul loved them as did his fellow prisoners. They loved each other as a brotherhood of believers and they knew the love of brethren from other places was true. Lastly, but most importantly, they knew the love of God as expressed through the loving act of Jesus.
The Spirit of God was with them. First, as individuals and then also as a body of Spirit filled believers. Paul desires that all of these things promote a feeling of affection and sympathy which will cause them to care for each other in the most positive way.
Task for Today: Think about your Christian walk in the body of Christ; your relationship with congregational members and the church worldwide. Does that relationship bring you encouragement and comfort? Does that fellowship feel like family to you? Maybe someone else needs that affection or sympathy today. You should give it because you have received it. Do you love the church where you dwell in the Spirit? Make it a place of brotherly love.
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