Philippians 1:9-11 NLT
[9] “I pray that your LOVE will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on GROWING in knowledge and understanding. [10] For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. [11] May you always be filled with the FRUIT of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.”
Paul’s recorded prayers are sublime and rich with purpose.
Love is always prominent, together with knowledge, understanding, and righteous living which is the fruit of our relationship with God. .
Why is love so important to Paul?
First, he commends the love already evident in the lives of the believers and prays for their love to increase and grow in their church fellowship and in the wider body of Christ. This love they show to one another is proof positive that they are new people in Christ.
1 John 3:11, 14 NLT
[11] “This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another…
[14] If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead.”
- Love is the nature of God.
Together with holiness, God’s hatred for and separation from sin and His faithfulness to His nature, is His love. He is holy love. His goal is to recreate in us the image of His Son who is the perfect replica of the Father…holy love.
1 John 4:16 NLT
[16] “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.”
- Loving one another is the evidence that God’s love is in us, His children. The presence of the Holy Spirit in us pours God’s love into our lives to be lived out in daily life.
Romans 5:5 NLT
[5]”And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”
Colossians 3:10,14 NLT
[10] “Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him….
[14] Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.”
- Loving one another is one of only two New Covenant commandments.
1 John 3:23 NLT
[23] “And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.”
- Love fulfills all 613 Old Covenant commandments.
1 John 2:7 NLT
[7] “Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before.”
Romans 13:8, 10 NLT
[8] “Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law…
[10] Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.”
- Love demonstrates to the world that we are Jesus’ disciples.
John 13:34-35 NLT
[34]” So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. [35] Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
Is it any wonder that Paul should put love as the first of his prayers for his fellow believers!
Second, Paul was passionate about the growth of his fellow believers in knowledge and understanding.
Knowledge provides the basis of our faith in Christ. God’s Word is the source of our knowledge about who God is, who we are, and what He has done to restore us to fellowship with Him. Knowledge is imperative for faith that is grounded in the truth. Hence it is important that we continually increase in our knowledge of Scripture.
Understanding is the work of God’s Spirit, providing meaning to the truths of God’s Word. The Spirit is the interpreter of the Word, opening our minds to recognise and apply the truth in our daily circumstances. This partnership between the Holy Spirit and us, based on our knowledge of God through His Word, is the foundation of spiritual growth.
John 16:13 NLT
[13] “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.”
Spiritual growth, in turn, is imperative for spiritual maturity.
Paul gives us a picture of maturity and the path to maturity in his letter to the Ephesians.
Ephesians 4:11-16 NLT
[11]”Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. [12] Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. [13] This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. [14] Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. [15] Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. [16] He makes the whole body fit together perfectly.
As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”
How important it is, then, in our partnership with God’s Spirit and with one another, that we pray for the knowledge and understanding that move us towards maturity.
Third, fruit…! What does Paul mean by “fruit”?
Fruit is the purpose and outcome of a fruit tree. If a fruit tree fails to bear fruit and, since it grows for no other purpose, it must be cut down and destroyed.
Luke 13:6-7 NLT
[6] “Then Jesus told this story: “A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. [7] Finally, he said to his gardener, ‘I’ve waited three years, and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it down. It’s just taking up space in the garden.’ “
What, then, constitutes “fruit” in the life of a believer? Although leadimg others to Christ may be regarded as fruit, the Bible classifies fruit as the work of the Holy Spirit in us that reveals the nature of the tree, the character of Jesus being formed in us.
Matthew 7:17-20 NLT
[17] “A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. [18] A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. [19] So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. [20] Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.”
Jesus said that the branches must remain connected to the vine to produce the fruit of the vine.
John 15:4 NLT
[4]”Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.”
So, first, to bear the fruit that identifies its source, the branch…that’s us, must remain in vital union with the Vine…that’s Jesus.
Second, the fruit that the branch in the vine produces will be grapes, not anything else. The fruit of the believer’s life will reveal the nature of the tree from which it grows. This fruit will reveal one of only two natures, Adam’s nature if we are not in the vine, called “the works of the flesh” or the nature of Jesus, called “the fruit of the Spirit”.
Galatians 5:22-23 NLT
[22] “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”
This nine-fold fruit is a package of characteristics that grows from our union with Jesus. These characteristics are the attitudes and responses the Holy Spirit produces in us towards God, others, and ourselves in the circumstances of our lives.
First…love, joy, peace…Jesus’ legacy to all believers. Before He died, He gave His disciples His own disposition, “my love… my joy… my peace…” as a bulwark against the onslaught of hatred and opposition from a hostile world. Encased in His love, joy, and peace, nothing would deter them from loyalty and faithfulness to Him.
When we trace the story of the apostles after the resurrection, we recognise that the Holy Spirit in them was the key to their faithfulness to Jesus in the face of opposition, persecution, torture, and death itself. Despite all odds, they persevered because they were encased in the love, joy, and peace that Jesus had given them.
Second…patience, kindness, goodness…the disposition of Jesus in us towards all people, believers and “outsiders”. God’s grace through the Holy Spirit, produces in us the opposite responses to the way people in the world react…aggression, retaliation, revenge.
Ephesians 4:1-4 NLT
[1] “Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. [2] Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. [3] Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. [4] For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.”
Within the body of Christ and to people outside His body, patience, kindness, and goodness replace the ungodly responses of our old nature as we rely on the Holy Spirit for His grace.
Third…faithfulness, gentleness(meekness), self control…the ways in which we rein ourselves in and replace the old demands of “me first” with “God and others”. What is our attitude to ourselves in our interactions with God and people?
Faithfulness…setting ourselves aside for the sake of our duty and calling, the one requirement of a servant and the standard by which our work will be measured.
“In the Bible, faithfulness is a key characteristic of a servant, and is described as loyalty, trustworthiness, and dedication to one’s duties…” (quoted from Google…article, “a servant must be faithful”).
1 Corinthians 4:2 NLT
[2] “Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful.”
Matthew 24:45-47 NIV
[45]“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? [46] It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. [47] Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.”
Faithfulness implies setting aside one’s own concerns for the sake of one’s duty to others.
Gentleness…a better translation is meekness, not weakness but “inner strength, emotional intelligence, and moral character”, (according to Meta).
Meekness is the ability to control one’s self, to submit to another, like a horse that submits to the rider’s bit and bridle.
Ephesians 5:21 NLT
[21] “And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
Self control…the overall quality of self-discipline, which Paul calls “putting to death the deeds of the flesh”.
For harmonious relations in the church family and in the world, the believer must set aside self for the good of others. This cannot happen without the power of the Holy Spirit.
How important, then, as partners with Holy Spirit in prayer, we participate in the process of maturing, both in ourselves and in other believers in their progress towards becoming like Christ, the goal of the Father for us.