Stand Fast

"Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, ²⁸and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God." —Philippians 1:27-28

As Apostle Paul Addressed the Church at Philippi, he was not sure whether he would see them again. He certainly hoped and expected that he would, but none of us can be sure of such things. While we might or might not see one another again, there is One constant witness of our life and that is God. It is Him that sees and it is Him that we serve.

The text begins with the word "only." This emphasizes the force and focus of the great objective of the Christian life. It doesn't matter whether we see one another in the future or are absent. Our call is to live a life worthy of the Gospel, to adorn the message of the Gospel, to make it lovely and attractive; to enable people to see what it does to a person, and how it changes who and what we are. We are part the Body of Christ and as such, we should be the Gospel incarnate. Paul will write in the next chapter: "Do all things without complaining and disputing, that 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, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain." (Phil. 2:14-16)