HOW TO LIVE IN TRUE UNITY

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Philippians 2:1-5 ESV

2 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [a]

Questions to answer:

• What is UNITY?

• What is UNITY not?

• How do we know if we’ve accomplished UNITY?

• What are the characteristics of a life lived in UNITY?

• What does it look like to live in UNITY?

• Chapter 2 begins with Paul appealing to the Philippians for UNITY.

• Jesus loves His church.

• Therefore, Paul loved the local church.

• Paul especially loved the churches that he started, such as the church in Philippi.

• Paul’s joy is directly connected to the UNITY and spiritual health of this church.

1 Corinthians 1:10 ESV

10 I appeal to you, brothers [and sisters], by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

• If Paul finds out that the churches that he started are living in unity…

• It makes his heart glad.

• It makes his joy complete.

• So Paul begins a very personal, emotional appeal.

• Paul is pleading with the Philippians to complete his joy while he is in prison.

Philippians 2:1-2 ESV

1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

• Complete my joy

• NOTICE:

• There are 4 ideas before the phrase: “Complete my joy”

• And there are 4 ideas after the phrase

• The first 4 are relational dynamics necessary for UNITY:

  • Encouragement

  • Comfort

  • Participation

  • Affection & sympathy

• The last 4 are behaviors necessary UNITY:

  • Be like-minded

  • Have the same love

  • Be in full accord

  • Be of one mind

Philippians 2:1 ESV

1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,

• So if…

• Paul is presupposing that these dynamics exist

• He knows that they do indeed exist

• Or at least once did

• He knows these people

• He has witnessed these relational dynamics

• In his experience with them

• He is reminding them

• He is intentionally stirring them up in them

• Stoking the spiritual fire

• So if…

Four RELATIONAL DYNAMICS necessary for unity →

• Encouragement in Christ

  • Emboldening

  • Comes from common connection with Jesus

  • Union with Christ

• Comfort from love

  • ‘Comfort’ = “cheering up”

  • Activating strength for overcoming difficulties

• Participation in the Spirit

  • “Participation” → ‘koinōnia’ (fellowship)

• Affection and sympathy

  • God wants to build a community that expresses His affection & sympathy

2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 

• Complete my joy in this way…

• Make my joy complete by…

Four BEHAVIORS necessary for unity →

• Being of the same MIND (being like-minded)

  • Not uniformity

  • UNITY within our COMMUNITY that should be filled with DIVERSITY

  • Shared values, vision, mission, purpose

• Having the same LOVE (embracing a common love)

  • God’s love that is the foundation of this love.

• Being in full accord (having solidarity)

  • A rare Greek word that means ‘harmonious’

• and of one MIND (sharing a common perspective)

  • Of one mind → sharing a common perspective

• Biblical UNITY

  • Being like-minded

  • Embracing a common love

  • Having solidarity (living harmoniously)

  • Sharing a common perspective

What is Biblical UNITY not?

• Biblical UNITY is not tolerance.

• Biblical UNITY is not this coexistence.

• If everything is true, then nothing is true

• Jesus is the way…the truth…the life.

• No one comes to God the Father except through Him

1 Timothy 2:5-6 ESV

5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man[a] Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

How are we to accomplish this biblical UNITY in community?

Philippians 2:3-4 ESV

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 

• Notice the A-B-A-B pattern

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit…

• Selfish ambition

• What about what I want?

• What about what I need?

• What’s in it for me?

• Conceit is always present with selfishness

• Selfishness and conceit are like: OREOs and milk

• Conceit → An ‘elevated opinion’ of oneself

• Exaggerated self

• Not real

• Delusion

• Selfish ambition & conceit are naturally divisive

• Others are viewed as a HELP or a HINDRANCE.

• UNITY killers

• HUMILITY and CONCERN FOR OTHERS are the cure.

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

• Humility has to do with ‘knowing your place’

• Knowing who I am and who I am not…before God

• God’s view of me is the only truly accurate view of me.

• Knowing our place (true humility) gives us the freedom to turn outward and orient our lives away from ourselves…and toward God and others.

• This is what Jesus did for us.

4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 

• Each and every one of you

• Focused

• Not on your own concerns [only]

• But [also] on

• The concerns of others

• We must give attention to our own needs & concerns

• Personal responsibility must be present.

• We must give attention to our own needs & concerns so that we can live out true humility, while considering others as more significant than ourselves.

What might it look like to live in UNITY within our community?

• NO GOSSIP

• NO roots of bitterness

• No unforgiveness

• No slander

Colossians 3:2-3 ESV

2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Colossians 3:5 ESV

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:[b] sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Colossians 3:12-17 ESV

12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

How do we do this?

Where do we get the ability and power?

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus [which was also in Christ Jesus],

This is Life with Jesus