One Man

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE PHILIPPIANS

ONE MAN

Phil 1:27-30

27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved — and that by God. 29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

NIV

We have to remember from the account in Acts 16 when Paul and Silas were in Philippi they had some trouble because of casting a demon from a slave girl. In short, they were beaten, flogged and thrown in jail. Of course, as a result, the jailer was saved, but the point is they had received persecution at the hands of the pagan people of Philippi. Now Paul encourages them to stand firm against those who would oppose them, who are the pagans, or non-believers in Philippi. They are not willing to accept Jesus. Here we also learn that no matter what situation we find ourselves in we should conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. We, the church, should be standing firm in one spirit, contending or striving together, as one man for the faith of the gospel. That ought to cause us to think. If we are to contend as one man, that is we are not a group of individuals, but we are as one man, one person, singular in mind, then there would be nothing like jealousy, envy, bitterness, judgment, unwillingness to forgive, or anything other than total all-out love for each other, as if we were one person, loving themselves. Paul encourages them to stick it out, being of one mind, holding fast, standing firm, for undoubtingly they are under some form of persecution from the same type people who beat and flogged Paul and Silas. This standing firm brings to mind Paul’s letter to the Ephesians where he tells them to put on the full armor of God. He exhorts them to stand firm, to stand their ground, to take their stand, and then after they have done everything, to stand. It might be doubtful that we, here in this country, would receive that type of persecution. However, we are still under some small form of attack as Christians, from those who would oppose Christianity in general, especially being expressed in the public forum. Still, we do have an enemy who would flog us in a sense and wants to throw us into hell. He tempts us to lose our ground, to slip and slide, instead of standing firm. It is a struggle to fight off his attempts, but that is the beauty of the shield of faith. As we stand firm side by side, as one man, of one mindset, together with each other, we form a complete wall of faith against the flaming arrows of the evil one. But that requires we are as one man.