Phil. #5

V. 27. Paul is saying that we are to conduct ourselves in such a way as to be worthy of the name CHRIST-ians, to call ourselves adopted sons & daughters of the Creator God. Also, we are to conduct ourselves with one mind, and one spirit in unity-so that when our peers in the faith hear of our affairs, they know that we are donducting oursleves as we ought.

Note: Unity with no agreement on specific terms, doctrines, and theology is NOT Christian faith. It is unity for the sake of unity with no substance at all.

V. 28-30. Being Christians, we see our suffering as proof of our salvation, for it has been granted to us to believe, and also to suffer. Not many people seem to get it, but suffering is a big part of being a Christian. We are supposed to live like Christ, and yet, when push comes to shove, most people feel that whatever hardships come to them are unfair and God should remove them imediently. Bluntly put- this is a bunch of hooey. God does send troubles our way for many different reasons. I wont elaborate on them here. Suffering is similar to pain, it is a mechanism that lets us know we are under affliction, whether from outside sources or from inner struggles. It lets us know something is wrong. Without it, we could go blissfully through life not knowing that something is the matter. This is not to say that praying for God to remove suffering is wrong- Paul, Jesus and many others did- but they left it up to God to remove the sufferings. Unless it is obviously within our power to remove them, their is most likely a pretty good reason for God letting us continue on in our situation.

This does NOT mean that we should sit around moaning that we can't do anything about our situation, therefore we should capitulate to the circumstances. We should always be striving to do God's work and to be excellent people. Moaning and groaning doesn't help.