And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
I. Love’s All-Encompassing Nature (9a): The Greek word that Paul uses here for love is one that many of us are familiar with- agape. This word is the most commonly used word in scripture for love. It is sometimes hard to distinguish the difference between the word agape and another Greek word for love- philos. Nevertheless, philos does imply a sense of mutual feelings from each party, where agape does not. For Paul, agape emphasized the self-giving love of Christ; a selfless action that benefits someone else.
What is interesting here is that the word “love” in this sentence, does not have an object, nor does not modify anything. Why is this important? It implies that Paul is not limiting this love. He is not saying love your neighbor or love God. He is praying that they love. In other words, he is using the word in an all-encompassing way- your love for your neighbor, your love for you brothers and sisters, your love for your wife, your love for your husband, your love for your children, your love for your church, your love for God. It includes all. Love is to permeate all of their relationships and all of their lives.
Let's move on to the next phrase. Here, he wants this all-encompassing love to abound still more and more. The verb used here to describe the increase of this love (abound) was a favorite one of Paul’s. It used four times in this particular letter (1:9, 26; 4:12, 18) and elsewhere in other of Paul’s letters and the NT. The verb gives the idea of excess and fullness that overflows the set bounds.With the addition of the phrase “still more and more,” Paul is saying he wants their love to burst forth in so much over flow and abundance, it cannot be contained. There is always room for growth in love.
True genuine love is one of the distinguishing marks of Christianity. This type of all encompassing love is what separates the mature from the immature, and the true convert from the false convert. But what is love? How would you define biblical love? I describe biblical love in one word- incarnational. John 3:16 is the the standard, or better yet, the definition of love. God so loved that He sent the incarnate Son of God to die for sinners. The incarnation required Christ to deny His rights, get out side of Himself, obey His Father, and enter totally into our circumstances to do the will of God. That is love. It is getting outside of ourselves. It is denying our rights. It is becoming Christ conscious over self conscious. It is entering into the lives, situations, and circumstances of others, and being the manifestation of God's will. Therefore, it is not that love causes a person to think little of himself, but rather it causes them not to think of themselves at all. It is wrong for us to say that we love if this is not the aim of our lives.
How do we develop this type of love? This type of love can only be developed in a certain environment. Next, we see how Paul prayed for this type of love to be implemented.
II. Love’s Blossoming Environment (9b): “Knowledge and discernment” give us the two-fold environment in which love may blossom. The first aspect of this environment is knowledge. The Greek word translated “knowledge” here is hard to translate in acceptable English, and it is to be distinguished from the two other common Greek words that are used for knowledge. To spare you all of the technical debate, the term emphasizes three things about knowledge: First, it emphasizes the personal, experiential knowledge, which does not exclude but is not limited to reason and the intellect. It emphasizes the mental grasp of spiritual truth with the understanding that this knowledge carries with it a corresponding manner of life. Second, it emphasizes that this type of knowledge is gained in a process. Third, it is the type of knowledge that is accurate and comprehensive.
We must note that Paul’s view of knowledge here is determined by the OT concept of knowledge. In the OT, to know God meant to be in a close, personal relationship with Him because He had revealed Himself. There is an element of obedience and thankfulness to God because of His greatness as well. This knowledge of God began with the fear of the Lord, was linked to His commands, and was expressed in knowing His will. So, to sum it up, the type of knowledge that is needed for love to develop is a progressing intimate, accurate, and comprehensive knowledge of God that affects the outcome of one’s life.
The second aspect of the environment that is needed for love to develop is “discernment”. This is the only time that this particular term is used in the NT, and it conveys a sense of moral discretion and depth of insight. It too is being used in a general, all-encompassing, comprehensive sense. Thus, morality affects the blossoming of love, and the morality mentioned here is not in reference to specific things, but to everything. So here it is: for love to develop, it must have knowledge and insight. There must be real knowledge of God and real holiness of life. No pretenders. Without these things, love will not germinate and grow.
Is this a surprise to you? It shouldn’t be. God has given us this example in nature. Certain plants and animals can only grow in certain environments. Change the environment and the creature will die out. Furthermore, in nature, environment determines how life adapts and certain species develop. Environment is important in God's book of nature, and in His book of special revelation.
How is knowledge of God and holiness of life attained? Let me first say that holiness of life is an outflow of knowledge of God. It is an outflow of an intimate connection with Him that is founded on, carried by, and summed up in the atonement. It is an absolute abandonment to what has been done for us in Christ. It is a flinging oneself upon Christ, for Him to live His life through us. It is a dependence upon Him and His high priestly work, to bring us into the intimate, triune relationship that God has with Himself. Through Christ, we get to enter into the joy, and know God as Father.
We also come to know God intimately through fearing Him. If we fear God, we will meditate on His word, seek Him in prayer, and obey what we know is His will. As we abide in Christ and stay hidden in Him, He lives His life through us, and thus holiness of life is birthed. When we know God and do His will and live His will, the outflow of that is what Paul sees as the expression of love- a passion for God, concern for others, and a denial of self. Thus, if we want to be a people that is characterized by love, we have to have these two foundational things: an intimate knowledge of God and holiness of life. If we do not have these two things, no matter what we may think, our love is superficial.
Therefore, we must ask ourselves: How perfected is our love? Now, we will always be increasing, but part of increasing involves evaluation. So, let’s evaluate: Where is my passion for God? Do I hunger for His word? Do I persevere and carve out time for serious prayer? Am I willfully rejecting and denying any act of obedience that God has spoken to me about? Do I have a passion to see God glorified or can I only think about myself and my rights? Do I have a desire to evangelize and do I share my faith? Do I desire to do things God’s way instead of my own? Do I have a genuine concern to help others and see them grow and mature in their faith? Do I understand the gospel? Do I trust Christ to put sin to death in me? Do I trust Christ to live His life through me? Am I loyal to my friends? These are just a few questions we can ask to evaluate ourselves. After the evaluation, we must then seek change.
The purpose of this love increasing in knowledge and insight was so that they would be able to distinguish the really important issues of life, and then act on the basis of such distinctions. Now we turn to the results of a blossoming love.
III. Result of a Blossoming Love (10): One way to translate this phrase would be “In order that you may choose what is vital.” The verb translated “approve” in the text before us has the meaning of “to put to the test, examine, or to test by trial”. It was used in the context of testing metal and money, and thus came to mean “accepted as proved, or approved.” Thus, on the basis of knowledge and insight, they were able to discern and approve the best of the best; that which was truly vital and important to life. Paul does not want them wasting their time on things that are not of the highest quality.
If we are going to choose what is vital and important, it takes real knowledge of God and His will to do so. The reason we fall flat on our faces so many times or choose the wrong way is because a lack of knowledge of God and discernment of his will. For example, we used to live in a house in Durham that was part of a new development. For a while, it wasn't updated in the GPS programs. When we moved in, we were not aware of this. One day, we invited some friends over. They plugged our address in and ended up in Chapel Hill! The GPS did not have the right information, so it was leading people the wrong way. The same with us. If we do not have the right knowledge of God, we will end up in the wrong place spiritually.
Knowing God’s will and living a holy life will result in choosing that which is best. We have all made decisions that we regret, but as we grow, those type of decisions will become less and less. Look at your own life; what type of decisions have you made over the past 6 months? With your time? With your relationships? With you money? With your God? .
What we see next is that this type of discernment is also necessary to develop character.
IV. The Development of Godly Character (11): Paul’s concern for his readers is that they would be prepared for the Day of the Lord, so that they would bring Him praise and glory. Two words here describe his concern for them. The first is "sincere" or "pure". It means to hold up to the sunlight for inspection. Paul wanted them to pass the inspection and have no spot or blemish about them. The second is "blameless," and indicates Paul’s desire for them to reach their spiritual goal without stumbling. Paul also wants them to be filled with the fruit of godly character or righteousness. As we have noted earlier, this moral uprightness is produced by Christ himself. The righteous living that is produced by and through Christ would protect the church and keep them pure and blameless. Therefore, we can sum up Paul’s though in these last verses like this: Paul wanted them to be able to discern what was best and to be filled with the fruits of righteousness so that they would be sincere and blameless on the day of Christ.
Think of it this way: In life, if we know that something is coming, we make preparations for it. If we fail to prepare, there is usually failure. The same is true spiritually. The day of the Lord is coming, and if we are not prepared, then great failure awaits.
If we want to be ready for the day of the Lord, it comes through abiding in Christ and Having Him produce His life through us. As Christ begins to have His way through us more and more, He begins to erase the blemishes in our life and replace it with his character. Therefore, if we want to be prepared for the day of the Lord and for Christ return, abiding in Christ and becoming one with Him must be our utmost concern.
The way in which Christ produces His life through us is twofold. There is a passive and active part. In the passive, we live in His realm of existence by an unhindered gaze and reflection upon Him. As we meditate upon Him and become more conscious of Him and less conscious of ourselves, we begin to decrease, and Christ begins to increases. In the active, we let His word dominate our world. We feast on it and let it consume our lives and make every effort to put His word into practice.
What we see from Paul is that he was a man of prayer, who interceded for the churches that he ministered to. We should all be challenged by this passion and commitment. He is a model for us in not only how we should pray, but what we should pray. Thus, my final challenge to you has to do with how you pray and what you pray. I challenge you this week to spend 7 extra minutes in prayer each day, praying this pray earnestly for yourself, your spouse, those you disciple, and those in your church..
What we have discussed is very vital; pray for it like you cannot live without it.