Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.
Summary: Comparing ourselves to Paul puts our own experiences in an interesting light.
Most of us have had a bad day now and then, but very few of us have ever had bad days like Paul’s bad days.
Imagine going to work and ending up in prison — for years! Or, you are just minding your own business, trying to do your job, and somebody stirs up a riot against you. Before you get to your first coffee break, soldiers grab you and drag you off to be flogged or beaten with rods. Then, just before you clock out for the day, an angry crowd gathers around you, physically carrying you outside the city limits while simultaneously beating you up on the way. Once outside the city, they all pick up rocks and throw them at you until, bruised and bleeding, you black out from the pain (2 Corinthians 11:21-27).
[… filled with the fruit of righteousness] that comes through Jesus Christ…
Summary: Righteousness that comes through Jesus is different than human righteousness.
As we continue through this passage, we discover that Paul is referring to a specific kind of righteousness, the kind that comes through Jesus Christ.
The word Paul uses for “righteousness” is “dikaiosýnē,” in Greek, which Strong’s Concordance defines as “equity (of character or act)” (Strong’s G1343).
Summary: In this passage, Paul answers the question, “Are we righteous because of what we do or because of who we know?”
As we near the end of Paul’s prayer, it is good to step back and look at the whole thought before diving into our passage for this meditation. Paul writes:
“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may 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.” (Philippians 1:9-11)
Paul is asking God that the Philippians — and by extension, all Christians — love as God loves (agápē), and that that love opens the door to knowledge and insight that causes them to rely on Jesus for righteousness before God.
In this last part of his prayer, he asks that our reliance on Jesus fills us with the “fruit of righteousness” that comes through Jesus and glorifies God.
Paul’s prayer encapsulates the Gospel in a profoundly powerful way.
Much of Paul’s writings have to do with what the “fruit of righteousness” looks like. In short, Paul’s writings describe how a Christian should act.
This can feel a bit legalistic at times. Yet, consider Paul’s position. He knows the power of the Gospel to save people from eternal hell. He also knows the power of the Gospel to change lives. In addition, because he was a Pharisee, he knew what righteousness before God looked like, especially when seen through the eyes of Jesus Christ. So what is Paul to do?
On the one hand, Paul points people to the simple message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. On the other hand, Paul is trying to corral believers into acting like God’s people should act. It must have felt a bit like herding cats!
The “fruit of righteousness” differs from Old Testament righteousness in one important way. In the Old Testament covenant with Moses, God starts with the Law that defines what righteousness is: Obedience to the Law is righteousness. In the New Testament covenant through the sacrificial blood of Jesus on the cross, we begin not with the Law, but with a reliance on Jesus for our righteousness. The “fruit of righteousness,” instead of evidence that we are complying with the Law, is evidence of our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Application: Allow Jesus to plant righteousness in your heart!
Food for Thought: What kinds of fruit come to mind when Paul uses the phrase, “fruit of righteousness?”
Summary: Knowledge and insight are related but different. Understanding why we need both can greatly enhance our relationship with God.
Before we move on, we need to spend a few more minutes exploring what “knowledge and depth of insight” mean. To review, Paul starts this passage with these words:
“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight …”
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight …
Summary: Paul’s prayer is an interesting one. We don’t normally associate love with knowledge and insight.
Have you ever wondered what Paul prayed about? Today’s passage gives us the answer.
Paul isn’t asking for the Philippians to have love or to be able to love; they already have that. He is specifically asking that the love they already have multiplies and grows “more and more” in two specific ways: in knowledge and “depth of insight.”
God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
Summary: Paul’s claim about God testifying for him sounds a bit crazy at first, but the more we think about it and study what God is able to do, the more sense it makes.
If you needed someone to testify about what you were thinking at a certain place and time, who would you go to?
Sometimes we say things like, “I know what you’re thinking!” but we don’t. Nobody knows what you are thinking except you and God.
… whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.
Summary: Paul, writing from prison, talks about sharing in the grace of God. This leads us to wonder about what “grace” is and what it means.
Have you ever noticed that whatever you are looking for, you always find it in the last place you look? It’s funny because it is true! It is also “funny” (odd) because sometimes the last place we look is the last place we would ever think to look.
For example, whoever thought the world would be saved by someone crucified by the Romans two thousand years ago?
