Paul’s Prayer
And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;
That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ;
Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.(Php 1:9-11)
The prayer life of Paul is a fascinating subject. It seems from the introductions to his epistles, that he was in the habit of praying for almost every church that he visited. I find it fitting that Paul’s prayer for the Philippians follows after his great declaration of love for them in verse 8, “How greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ!” After all, we only truly pray for those that we love. One of the quickest ways to discern whether I really love another is to seek to pray for them in private. Since Paul dearly loves these saints, he prays for them often. I have wondered why I so often pray for myself. Is it because I love myself more than others? How sad if true! The objects of our prayers reveal the condition of our hearts.
Similarly, the contents of our prayers also reveal the condition of our hearts. Taking a look at the structure of Paul’s prayer, I notice several specific prayer requests that Paul has for the Philippian saints. “This I pray…”
* “that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment” (1:9);
* “that ye may approve things that are excellent;” (1:10);
* “that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ;” (1:10);
* “being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God” (1:11).
This is a wonderful series of requests that we can pray for in regards to one another: that we may have abounding love, true knowledge, spiritual discernment, sincere hearts, fruitful lives, and that these all would be brought together, not for our glory, but for the glory and praise of God. Again, notice that such a fruitful life is only “by Jesus Christ” – in his power, not ours.
But notice further the scope of his prayer. He prays for them in view of the day of Christ. So often we pray in view of “man’s small day” (as Hamilton Smith called it). We ask for things that pertain to this present age, but Paul prays for them with a view to that future day of Christ.
Now, with that summary in view, let’s look at the details of these requests.
“that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment” (1:9);
We don’t often associate love, knowledge and judgment with each other because we view each of these traits through the imbalance in men rather than through the perfect balance in which God displays them. We see love and knowledge as incompatible because the more we know about a person and their unlovely characteristics, the less likely we are to love them. Likewise, we see love and judgment as incompatible because the more that we love a person the harder we find it to judge righteously in regard to them. Our courts would never allow a judge to try a case involving his wife, because “love is blind” and the result would be unjust. But not so with God! His love neither changes in itself, nor does it change Him. It is not altered by His knowledge, nor does it alter His judgment, and this is the love that Paul prays for them to have.
The word for knowledge is epiginosko. I understand that the prefix epi intensifies the word for knowledge (ginosko), giving the meaning “full knowledge” or “true knowledge”. It indicates a knowledge based on experience rather than mere intellectual facts. Apparently this word is only used in the New Testament for the knowledge of spiritual things (the knowledge of sin, of God, of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the mystery, of the truth, etc) and is never used of the knowledge of physical things. 1 Corinthians 13:12 may illustrate the difference in the meanings, “now I know (ginosko) in part, but then shall I know (epiginosko) even as I am known (epiginosko) .”
At the time of writing Paul only knew facts about the wonderful things that await the believer when “that which is perfect is come”, so he used the word ginosko (knowledge of facts). However in a future day, Paul would know these wonders experientially. Then he will have epiginosko (full knowledge) and will know these wonders to the same extent that he is known. Now he only knows by “the hearing of ear” but in that day he will know by “the seeing of the eye” (Job 42:5).
I understand that this word for judgement only occurs here in the NT and carries the thought of moral discernment.
Paul’s desire is that these godly characteristics would all abound more and more in them. Ethough there was much to appreciate in the lives of the believers, still His desire for them is “yet more and more.”
His prayer for them is that their “love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment.” Our measure of this love can never be too great; and as we progress in the Christian path the love ought to deepen and become more full in every way. Alas, that too often when knowledge increases, love begins to grow cool! This must be watched against with utmost care and godly exercise. Knowledge is badly abused if it decreases love in any measure. Yet also, if love is to be exercised in proper moral balance, this requires “knowledge and all judgment.” Love must not remain ignorant of the true needs of its objects; and it must also have discernment as to the godly means of meeting those needs. Thus it has far greater scope than the mere feeling of affection. 1 Cor.13:4-7 lists some of the solid characteristics of love: it is well worth our quiet meditation. (L.M. Grant) (1)
“that ye may approve things that are excellent;”
I understand that this expression “the things that are most excellent” is made up of two words phero (to bear, to carry) and dia (in this case, indicating apart). The thought may be ’to carry two things differently’ or ‘to distinguish between them’. You wouldn’t carry a crystal vase in the same way you carry a rusty hammer. Although a monkey sees no difference in their values and would therefore carry them the same way, a person recognizes their differing values and carries them differently. Paul’s prayer that they will “bring forth the precious from the vile” (Jeremiah 15:19) – that they will learn to discern the value of that which is excellent and demonstrate this discernment by their lives.
“that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ;”
Apparently this word “sincere” comes from two words heile (the sun’s ray) and krino (to distinguish or to try). The thought may be that of being judged by sunlight. Peter uses the word in 2 Peter 3:1 regarding his desire to stir up the saints “pure minds” by way of remembrance. Apparently the meaning behind this word goes back to the art of pottery. When fine pottery was fired in the oven, it would often crack, but rather than throwing it away, some dishonest potters would fill the cracks with a wax that blended into the colour of the pottery. These wax-filled cracks would be well-hidden after the bowl was painted and glazed. However, if you held the piece up to the sunlight, you could see the dark lines where the wax was and you would know that the dealer was a dishonest man. Interestingly enough, this same meaning comes through in the English word “sincere” which comes from two Latin words, ’sine cera’, meaning “without wax.”
I think the words in this passage are fascinating. Consider this phrase “without offense”. Apparently the word is formed from a (not) and proskopos (to strike against or to stumble against). Paul is praying that these believers will not be a stumbling block for other believers. I believe this word is only found in two other verses: Acts 20:16 (a conscience that is “void of offense”) and 1 Corinthians 10:32, (“give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God”).
The believer must be utterly blameless in his life. Every human being falls into one of the three categories in 1 Corinthians 10:32 and the believer himself is viewed in Acts 20:16. We ought to be blameless both before others and our own conscience.
When it comes to this final phrase, I think other translations (ESV, JND) are preferable in rendering “for the day of Christ.” It is not so much the thought that the believer is to be blameless until the day of Christ, but rather that he is to live blameless for the day of Christ – or with that day in view. Setting our eyes on this will encourage us much.
What termini are these to the trials of the wilderness! Christ’s day and God’s praise and glory! (R. Evans) (2)
“being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God”
Just as in Galatians 5, I believe that the word “fruit” here is singular and I think we would not likely go wrong with linking this fruit with that wonderful fruit of the Spirit mentioned in both Galatians 5 and Ephesians 5. Notice that it is a righteous fruit (Amos 6:12; Hebrews 12:11; James 3:18). It brings to mind the True Vine passage in John 15. I notice that we are to be “filled” with this righteous fruit. God doesn’t just desire us to bear fruit. He wants us to be fruitful – that is, full of fruit.
I am reminded of an almost parallel passage in Isaiah 61:3. You will recall that it was from this wonderful chapter that the Lord read at the beginning of his public ministry – “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…” It speaks prophetically of the Lord Jesus coming “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness…”
In the latter part of the verse it pairs so nicely with Philippians 1:11 – “that they might be called trees of righteousness (being filled with the fruits of righteousness), the planting of the LORD (which are by Jesus Christ), that he might be glorified (to the glory and praise of God).”
It is easy to get all taken with our fruit (the outward signs), but we would do better to concentrate on our root (our union with Christ), since all of these things are “by Jesus Christ.” Just as a branch severed from the vine will never bring forth fruit, so a believer who is not abiding in Christ will be powerless to produce anything that glorifies God. The Lord Himself said, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; nor more can ye, except ye abide in me.”
As we wrote in our last study in Philippians, any work of God in my life must be commenced, continued, and completed by God himself. Self-based efforts will be barren. Human energy will be expended in vain. We would do well to take our minds off of the outward signs of our faith and rather fill our souls with thoughts of Christ. Cultivate your spiritual root and God will bring forth spiritual fruit!
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This article is part of the “Fridays in Philippians” series of synchroblogs.
References: (1) L.M. Grant, Comments on Philippians; (2) R. Evans, Philippians, pg. 98
