| The Christian Life | May 1947 |
Blameless and Harmless
“That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the Word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain.”—Philippians 2:15,16
IN VERSES 12 and 13 of this chapter the apostle urges the Philippians to work out their own salvation, and assures the brethren that God was co-operating—working in them to will and to do of his good pleasure. To Paul, who wasp blessed with such a deep insight into all that is required in the Christian life, “holding forth the Word of life” for the blessing of others was a part of the divinely provided means of working out one’s own salvation.
The apostle’s sequence of thought is enlightening. First, “Work out your own salvation” (verse 12), then, “Do all things without murmurings and disputings” (verse 14), in order “that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke” (verse 15), “holding forth the Word of life” (verse 16). To be “blameless,” “harmless,” and “without rebuke” as we hold forth the Word of life is of vital importance if our efforts are to contribute to the working out of our own salvation.
To be blameless is to be devoid of any disposition to do evil. We are not to be controlled by anger, malice, hatred or strife; and are not to seek vainglory. We should be harmless, not merely from God’s standpoint, or so far as the brethren would see, but so far as possible, harmless the sight of the world before whom we are to reflect the Gospel light.
We should not compromise the truth in order to please the world, nor should there be anything in our conduct or character to which the world can point as being evil. Our position should be like that of Daniel, of whom it was said by his enemies, “We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”—Daniel 6:5
To be blameless in the sight of God is to have our hearts’ intentions always pure, just, loving, and kind. But this doesn’t mean that the world will approve our course in life. Indeed, we should expect to have opposition from the world. If we have the friendship and approval of the world, then we should seriously question bur standing before the Lord. Jesus did not please the world, but those of the world who were not prejudiced against him on account of his teaching found no fault with him. Pilate said, “I find no cause of death in this man,”—Luke 23:22
So our concern should be that no just cause for blame be given through our wrongdoing. II Corinthians 8:3 speaks of “giving no offense in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed.” Paul then outlines the manner in which this can be done, saying:
“But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, … in labors, in watchings, in fastings; by pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by love unfeigned, by the Word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet. Possessing all things,”—II Corinthians 6:4-10
In our text Paul indicates that the are to hold forth the Word of life amidst a crooked and perverse people. This means that we should not refrain from bearing witness to the truth simply because the majority of those with whom we come in contact are not Christians. It will not injure us nor mar the purity of the truth to let it shine in a wicked world. It has been well said that a ship is safe in the ocean as long as the ocean is not in the ship. So it is in our ministry of the truth. We should keep ourselves unspotted from the world, and guard well the purity of the message we proclaim, risking sure that it is not mixed with worldly philosophy. Each Christian who does this will be as a beacon light in a dark world of sin and sorrow.
We are not to expect that the world will be converted. It was not in Paul’s day, and will, not be until the kingdom is fully established. It was a perverse and crooked generation to which he preached, and every generation since that time has been the same. Perverseness implies unwillingness to be guided by the Lord. Crookedness is not always a way of open wickedness, but, like a crooked line which goes in various directions, it implies a doing of both right and wrong. Amidst these conditions we are to let our light shine, “showing forth the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
In our text Paul tells the Philippian brethren that if they would continue doing this he would be able to look back upon his own ministry and feel that he had not labored in vain. This is a strong statement.
If the love of God fills our hearts we can’t help telling others about the Gospel. Those who erroneously suppose that all who are not now converted must suffer an eternity of torture are often zealous in proclaiming error. We who know the plan and love of God should not be less zealous simply because we know that the world will not be converted until the next age. We are to let our light shine just the same, for out in the darkness there is one here and there whom the Lord will reach with the message which we proclaim; and rich will be our blessing.