As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:
10You
and God [are] our witnesses how to the believers we became devoutly and
righteously and blamelessly, 11just as you know, as each one of you,
as a father his own children, 12encouraging and comforting and
charging you that you walk worthily of God who calls you into His own kingdom
and glory.
This passage is so like the rest of the Bible – a few words
on a page that, when slowly, patiently pondered, explode into a universe of
truth to feed me for a lifetime. What simple words at first glance – the apostle
Paul recounting his faithful ministry to these people. As usual (and sadly), for
most commentators since the mid-19th century, that is about all they
get out of it; but that is because “the well is deep, and we have nothing to
draw with.” If we would really understand the Bible, we have to pause and
study, to think and pray and ask the Lord to show us the significant truth
being communicated to us. Jesus asked the blind man, “What do you want Me to do
for you?” and the man replied, “Rabbi, I want to see!” So, today, we need the
Lord to open our eyes. He calls each of us saying, “Call unto Me and I will
answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.”
First of all, I would note that these are not casual
words from the apostle: “You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy,
righteous, and blameless we were …” He really
was. Paul really lived a life of
integrity. Paul really did “live by
the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” He really did “press for the mark of the
prize of the high calling of God.” David said, “I will walk in my house with a
blameless heart.” In my house – at home
… away from the limelight … out of the view of people who might be impressed.
What Paul and David are both saying is that they genuinely strove to live lives
of integrity, they genuinely sought to live out their faith, to live out the
truths they claimed to believe.
I point this out because it seems to me such resolve is a
very rare thing today. I believe it is true (at least in American Christianity –
which is the only one I know), that we are so infatuated with results and
appearances our hearts are quite satisfied to maintain a very shallow and anemic
faith – as long as all our friends at church congratulate us how spiritual we
are. I remember as a young man how “pleased” the church people were to see me
cut my hair shorter and start wearing a suit and tie to church. That showed how
much I was “growing!”
God help us. Is that really "growing?" It may have pleased people, but it had nothing to do with what the Lord wanted for my life. It now makes me sad that I thought it did.
I remember the man who years ago lost his seminary position
for not “playing by the rules.” When someone asked him if that bothered him, he
replied, “No, not really, for I have known God and they haven’t.” “I have known God.” My faith was real. He obviously felt he lived in a
world of people who talked about faith but never really lived it.
To this day, I sadly watch the same dynamic at work. People
come to know the Lord and then get applauded because they volunteer for every
ministry program at church. I’m sorry but a person can be stone dead lost and
still “work” at ministries. What about your heart? Do you know God? Do you
really want Him to search you and know you and see if there be any wicked way
in you and lead you in the way everlasting?
Paul did.
Really.
It wasn’t enough for him to say the right things, volunteer
for the right ministries, etc. so that everyone “at church” applauded. It wasn’t
peoples’ applause he lived for. It was God’s.
And so his faith had to be real. It had to be first of all
heart-business, then, in his life, he lived out that faith. That gave him
integrity. Really.
And as he lived his own faith and taught others, what did he
urge them to do? “…live lives worthy of God, who calls you into His kingdom and
glory.” What is he doing? He’s calling us to do what he did – to actually live
our faith – and that means to live lives of integrity – really. Paul could say the work he had done he did “devoutly,
righteously, and blamelessly.” As many commentators point out, “devoutly”
basically speaks of being right before God, “righteously” of doing right in the
eyes of other people, while “blamelessly” is, in a sense, the sum of it all.
Paul’s calling was to be a minister. Why should we Christians be any different
just because we’re butchers and bakers and candlestick-makers? God calls us all
to be people of integrity – to live our lives all day every day worthy of Him,
of being called by His name, as people called into His kingdom and His glory.
I find it wonderfully liberating to know that every minute
of every day of my life matters to God. He tells us “And whatever you do, do it
with your whole heart, as to the Lord and not unto men.” He wants me to be a
good worker, to be conscientious, to work hard at what I do, to try to meet
deadlines. While I’m doing it all, He wants me to be kind to people, to be
encouraging. He wants me to work honestly, to be fair with people. And when I’m
home, it is no different. “And whatever you do …,” He said. That is what it
means to live lives “worthy of God, who calls you into His kingdom and glory.”
I like what B.C. Caffin, commenting on this passage, said of
us believers:
“Their
walk in life must show the reality of their hope. Walk implies movement, change
of place and scene. As they move hither and thither in the course of their
daily lives, in their business, in their amusements, they must ever think of
that high calling, and live according to their hopes. Their religion was not to
be confined to the Sabbath, to the synagogue, to the hours spent on their knees
in private prayer; they must carry it everywhere with them; it must guide,
stimulate, comfort, encourage in all the varying circumstances of daily life.
Their life must be worthy of their calling. They must show its influence; they
must adorn the doctrine of God their Savior in all things.”
Paul really did
live his faith.
And so should we.
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