Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Philippians 2:1-5.
“Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be
likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” (Philippians 2:2).
Philippians
is Paul’s thank you note and his love letter to the saints at Philippi. He does
not take on the harsh tone he uses in letters like 1 Corinthians and Galatians,
where he is correcting gross errors.
This
does not mean, however, that Paul is not using all his gifts of rhetoric and
leveraging all his apostolic authority to exhort the church at Philippi and
especially to urge them to avoid divisions and schisms by being “likeminded”
and having “one mind” in the Lord.
The
Italian Reformer Zanchi said this concerning our passage:
“…we
are of one mind if we hold fast to the one Christ (and not to many), to the one
Head of the church (not to many), to the one Supper of the Lord that He
celebrated and instituted (not to many), and finally to that single doctrine
that He gave us through the apostles, and if we embrace no others” (Commentary
on Philippians, 222-223).
Some
have fouled things up by suggesting that clarity of doctrine divides. If we
take too clear a stand on doctrine, we’ll drive people away. It is actually
just the opposite. Clarity of doctrine unites. This is why we are glad to use a
classic confession of faith (the Second London Baptist Confession) that offers
specific details and not general notions about what we believe. This allows us
to enjoy unity of faith and avoid unnecessary division.
We
seek not only unity of faith but also of practice. This is the beauty of the regulative
principle of worship. Following the simple Biblical guidelines for worship (singing
Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; prayer; the public reading of Scripture;
preaching; baptism and the Lord’s Supper) unites Christians around the world. As
some pastor friends reminded me in a podcast once, even using the same
translation of the Bible in the church, based on the traditional text, unites
us. “Uniformity” of practice, leads to unity in the body.
May
the Lord make us “likeminded” and give us “one mind” as we know and serve Him
and His people.
Grace
and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
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