Philippians 2:14,15To: Philippians Main MenuTo: Grace Notes Home Page Philippians 2:14Do all things without complaining and disputing.Verse 14 substantiates the interpretation that "salvation" in verse 13 is talking about the salvation of the local church at Philippi from splitting. "Complaining and disputing" are sins generally accepted in evangelical circles. do all thingsThe Greek places emphasis upon the word "all." Every thing a believer does should be done without complaining and disputing. No exceptions. without complainingGrumbling is a bad attitude. Grumbling was a favorite indoor sport of the nation Israel, "nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer" (I Co. 10:10). They loved to murmur against their leadership. They muttered, complained, criticized, griped and harped against Moses. Parents know what this means. You ask your children to do something and they give a little lip. Yet believers sometimes "sass" God with their discontent about their lot in life. Some Christians are perpetually unhappy; nothing pleases some folk. Everything is wrong; nothing is right. All their fingers are thumbs. They are on the negative side of very positive question and on the positive side of every negative question. They are born inside out. They love misery. This attitude is also contagious. They make everyone else miserable. If we are feeling "dog tired" it may be that we growled and grumbled all day! arguingThis term has legal connotations of disputing. Some folk love to debate; they love to argue. They just love to hear themselves talk. Some people develop a vacuum when someone is not acting upon them so that they are stimulated. In that vacuum they murmur and argue. They love to kick their bean bags. If they cannot kick their dog they will argue with their mate. Self-pity is behind all complaining and argumentative attitudes. This is usually a self-pity that is based on an exaggerated opinion of oneself. The rest of the world does not know what our ego knows about ourselves! The trouble is that our ego has been hurt by lack of recognition and appreciation for the "real us." Yet the real us is a complainer which everyone avoids if at all possible! PRINCIPLE: Murmuring, complaining and arguing are manifestations of discontent. Discontent is a rejection of God's providential working in our lives. APPLICATION: Have we considered the possibility of praying over what we do not like? There are some things we learn to leave in the hands of God. We learned that when faced surgery or some other emergency. Why fuss and stew? Just leave it with God. Philippians 2:15That you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.This religious feud whereby the Philippian church was complaining to God and to each other and arguing with each other (v.14) made a negative statement to the world. People will write them off; they will get their number; they will make allowances for them. This dispute hurt their testimony. THAT YOU MAY BECOME BLAMELESS "Blameless" is the first of four standards which will contravene strife among Christians. This word means "above reproach." It does not mean sinless perfection. It connotes free from censure. This means freedom from criticism from others. One day we shall be spotless, faultless and flawless. That day we will be perfect and flawless, "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 24) Now we can be blameless. The corporate testimony of the Philippian church was at stake. They were called upon to live in such a way that those outside Christ could not rightfully point an accusing finger at them. PRINCIPLE: The church (as individuals) should take care of their image (reputation). APPLICATION: Before our testimony can be effective in our community we need to set straight any broken relationships. This is especially true if we are contributing to a church at war. When non-Christians censure us, the gospel is at stake. We should give as little ground as possible for them to pick flaws in our character. The second standard which will contravene a poor testimony is a believer should become "harmless." The Philippian church was not a "shining light" (v.15) in the world. Therefore, non-Christians were not attracted to the Lord. THAT YOU MAY BECOME...HARMLESS "Harmless" means pure or unadulterated. This word was used in the first century for a wine that had not been diluted. Often an ancient tavern keeper, after his customer would become inebriated, would dilute his drinks with water. His taste buds were not as keen. Such a person was called a huckster. The opposite of a huckster is a person who is genuine. The believer should not water his life down with the energy of the flesh. This same word was used in Matthew 10:16, "Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves." This does not mean that the believer is to be naive but authentic or bona fide in their Christian walk. PRINCIPLE: A believer should live an unadulterated life, a genuine life unmixed with signals which go in opposite directions at once. APPLICATION: It is a great mistake for a person to believe that he must experience evil to know it. God's value is genuineness, freedom from the mixture of the flesh. This will send a consistent signal to those without Christ. The third standard for overcoming schism among believers is becoming children of God in character. Before our testimony can be effective we must behave like "children of God." THAT YOU MAY BECOME...CHILDREN OF GOD The word "become" means to become something that we were not before. This passage says that we are to become children of God. He is speaking here to the Philippian church. How can children of God become children of God? The point is that the child of God should act like a child of God. He should be conscious of who he is. He should be conscious of his image. "I am a child of the King! I do not have to fuse and fume with other Christians." Royalty does not put their feet upon the dinner table. A child of God does not do battle with other children of God. "I have no time for petty things." Life is too short to engage in a running battle with another Christian. PRINCIPLE: To overcome hostility among Christians, we must understand and act upon our identity as a child of God. APPLICATION: This is an identity issue. We usually act in accordance with how we deem ourselves. If we think of ourselves as a child of God then we can anticipate how our identity reflects on our actions. Every thing I do reflects on King Jesus the Lord of glory. "I must comport myself as a child of the King. There is work to be done; there are souls to be saved." Everything we do as a child of God we do without murmuring, disputing, griping; we do it brightly, wholeheartedly, enthusiastically. The fourth standard to keep in mind if one is tempted with schism is "without fault" mentality. Do we have something in our lives by which nonchristians use to not believe the claims of Christ? THAT YOU MAY BECOME...WITHOUT FAULT "Without fault" means without blemish and therefore not open to censure. It is one in whom there is nothing reprehensible or shameful. This person has no stain or disgrace upon their life. Again, this is not teaching sinless perfection. It means that the believer should not live his life in a way that opens it to criticism from the world. This is the forth area the church needed to "become" what they were not before. Paul obviously felt that the Philippians had a stain upon the life of the congregation. By allowing the schism to continue that left disgrace upon them and upon the Lord. People outside Christ wrote them off. If Jesus Christ made such an impact on them why were they so divided? They lived in the midst of a "crooked and perverse generation." That generation will look on them with twisted eyes. They did not expect to hear anything good from the Philippian church. They viewed Christianity with skepticism and cynicism. PRINCIPLE: Schism among Christians will reinforce skepticism cynicism among nonchristians. APPLICATION: If our nonchristian neighbors were to examine our lives would we be open to censure from them? Is there a stain or something reprehensible in our testimony where they can use as an excuse not to receive Christ? Having set forth four standards for Christians to overcome schism, Paul presents the reason why these criteria are necessary. IN THE MIDST OF A CROOKED AND PERVERSE GENERATION "Crooked" means that the nonchristian world does not hue to a straight line. They have no absolutes. They themselves do not have standards. "Perverse" means twisted and distorted. Not only do they not have standards but they have perverted principles. They are unscrupulous. The phrase "in the midst" indicates the believer's relationship to the world is insolation, not isolation. God does not want us isolated from the world but insolated from its influence. We are in the world but we are not of the world. AMONG WHOM YOU SHINE AS LIGHTS IN THE WORLD In a "crooked" and "perverse" world Christians should shine as lights. Darkness is where the light is needed. Therefore, Christians should not be religious recluses. God's sovereign plan is to use his people to reach distorted people. An attitude which militates against sharing our faith is that people with twisted thinking will never be open to receive Christ. However, these are the very people, God's says, to whom we are to witness. The only light this world has is the believer. That is why it is so dark. "We are the best Christian some people know." PRINCIPLE: The place for light is darkness where it is needed. APPLICATION: Christians are called upon by God to shed luminosity as widely as possible. Are we daunted by darkness or are we challenged by it? The challenge of this passage is that we are to go into the teeth of a "crooked and perverse" generation with a transparent testimony. ---------- Copyright © 1995, Dr. Grant Richison. 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