“Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you
are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel and not frightened in anything by your opponents” Philippians 1:27-28
Paul continues with His counsel on how to stand firm against the challenges of Satan and the world system in which we live. The first step is to be guided by the truth the Holy Spirit teaches us and to rely
on the Holy Spirit for God’s power to do what pleases Him in the the way he desires.
With one mind Paul continues with the second step necessary to stand firm. The church is not to be double minded but is to have one mind. Mind refers to the essence of a person, his emotions, desires, and will. Paul says their desire must be single-minded – focused not on the cares of this world nor gaining their own ease but on pleasing God by doing His will. Why is this important?
James 1 tells us a doubleminded man is unstable in all his ways.
Double mindedness always vacillates on standing firm. Like Daniel, the should purpose in their heart to stand for God.
Striving side by side for the faith of the gospel Third, Paul tells the Philippians they are to work together towards a common goal. This word is used in the context of teamwork or partnership, particularly in the pursuit of a shared mission or objective. They need each other as they are guided by the Holy Spirit to glorify Christ.
And not frightened in anything by your opponents Paul ends the list of standing firm characteristics with an interesting statement. He starts by saying this applies to every situation. Then he us es a word for frightened only found here in the New Testament. Strong’s Concordance says the word, “pturó” refers to the agricultural process of winnowing, grain. “It involves separating the grain from the chaff using a fan or by tossing it into the air. This term is used metaphorically in the Bible to describe the process of separating the righteous from the wicked and of purifying one’s life from sin.” Paul uses the term to tell the Philippians not to allow any situation to separate them from their complete trust and faith in God. He goes on to indicate that this is the send their opponent desires. The word opponent means those who resist or withstand. It implies hostility and
antagonism. The word is used on the Antichrist in I Thessalonians 2:4 as one who “opposes and exalts himself against God”. Paul makes the point that our enemies want to make us fear (doubt) serving God. We can’t stand firm when we are afraid.
What can we learn? As Paul sits in prison he wants the believers in Philippi to be prepared to stand as they face testing. We are not told what the Holy Spirit uses to guide him to draw out these principles. Perhaps it is the first temptation of Eve in the Garden of Eden. Paul would see how the adversary, Satan, exalted himself against God and resisted His word. He challenged Eve’s faith in God – “Has God said” followed by ”you shall not surely die.” We see Adam and Eve acting doubleminded, They did not stand together or encourage each other to have faith in God. Finally, we see the, on the fruit and saw that it was good and began to desire what God had prohibited.
So Paul teaches the church at Philippi these principles to successfully stand firm. If they were good for the church at Philippi,
they are surely God’s guidance for us today as well.