Standing by Striving

 Bible Verses

Phil. 1:27 Only, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the 

gospel of Christ, that whether coming and seeing you or being 

absent I may hear the things concerning you, that you stand 

firm in one spirit, with one soul striving together along 

with the faith of the gospel.

         Words of Ministry  


Actually, according to the grammatical construction of verse
27, standing firm in one spirit and striving together with
one soul are not two separate things. Paul does not charge
the Philippians to stand firm in one spirit and then to
strive together with one soul. Rather, he charges them to
"stand firm in one spirit, with one soul striving together."
Paul's way of writing indicates that in order to stand firm,
we need to strive. Striving is in fact part of standing. We
stand firm in one spirit by striving together with one soul.

Let me use a simple illustration. Suppose a father says to
his son, "Eat quickly, using your fork properly." This is
different from saying, "Eat quickly and use your fork
properly." In the first command, using the fork properly is
the way to eat quickly. In the second, eating quickly and
using the fork properly are two distinct matters. Because of
the background, Paul did not tell the Philippians to stand
firm and strive, but to stand firm, striving together with
one soul. Such a firm standing was especially necessary
during Paul's absence. Paul, the one who could establish the
believers, was away from them, but the Judaistic teachers,
those who were preaching contrary to God's economy, were at
hand. This was the reason that toward the end of chapter one
Paul charged the believers to stand firm. However, if they
were to stand firm, they would have to strive together with
one soul. Apart from striving, they would not be able to
stand.

If we today only stand but do not strive, eventually we shall 

be shaken by the opposition or moved by it. It is not
adequate simply to encourage others to stand firm. I repeat,
in order to stand firm, we must strive and fight. Striving is
the way to stand. Actually, to strive is to stand. Another 
way of putting it is to say that in order to have a defense,
we need to be on the offensive. If we do not know how to go
on the offensive, we shall not have an adequate defense. If
we would defend ourselves, we must take the offensive against
Satan. The point here is that defense requires offense. This
is the reason that in 1:27 Paul does not make standing firm a
separate matter from striving together. Instead, he indicates
that these two matters are one.