«　WEEK 1　DAY 4　»

　　Phil. 1:27 Only, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, that whether coming and seeing you or being absent, I may hear of the things concerning you, that you stand firm in one spirit, with one soul striving together along with the faith of the gospel.

　　2:20-21 …I have no one like-souled who will genuinely care for what concerns you; for all seek their own things, not the things of Christ Jesus.

　　How can we have one spirit and one soul? This is not possible by our spirit, for our spirit is a spirit of envy. When we see others taking the lead, we are envious. Then we begin to strive in the spirit of rivalry. Although our spirit is like this, the Spirit of Jesus is not. Consider the life of Jesus as presented in the Gospels. His life was a life without envy, strife, or rivalry. To be one in spirit and in soul is possible only in the Spirit of Jesus.

　　To be one soul mainly means to be one mind. The reason Christians cannot be one soul is that each desires to be first and that no one is willing to be last…. If we say, “I want to be in the Spirit of Jesus,” we will immediately have the experience of Christ and be one spirit and one soul with others. Then we will strive together for the gospel. The word together in Philippians 1:27 means that we are coordinated and that we are not individualistic but corporate. (CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “The Experience of Christ,” p. 333)

　　[Philippians 2:2] speaks of being one in soul. To be one in soul means to be one in our affection, love, thought, and decisions. Such oneness is very practical. If we want to experience Christ, we need to be one in soul. If we are not one in our affections, thoughts, and decisions, we are not one in soul. As long as we are not one in soul, we are not in the fellowship unto the gospel.

　　The last part of Philippians 1 and the first part of Philippians 2 are actually one portion and should not be separated. One thought flows from 1:27 through 2:8. In 1:27 Paul says, “Only, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” When I read this verse years ago, I thought that conduct worthy of the gospel was behavior that was perfect before those to whom we preach the gospel. But this is not Paul's meaning here. The remainder of verse 27 says, “That whether coming and seeing you or being absent, I may hear of the things concerning you, that you stand firm in one spirit, with one soul striving together along with the faith of the gospel.” Paul does not speak here of loving our wives, submitting to our husbands, honoring our parents, or behaving in a kind, lovable manner. Rather, he tells us to stand firm in one spirit with one soul. If we are not in one spirit with one soul, then our conduct is not worthy of the gospel. No matter how many of us there may be in a locality or on a campus, in our preaching of the gospel everyone must be fully impressed that we are in one spirit and with one soul. Nothing is more convincing than this. When all the members in the church are in one spirit with one soul, this oneness will be convincing, subduing, and attractive. When we have such a subduing and convincing oneness, we will experience Christ and enjoy Him. We will enjoy Christ by being in one spirit with one soul. By preaching the gospel we express our oneness in spirit and in soul. When we preach the gospel in this way, we have the enjoyment of Christ. The more we preach like this, the more we enjoy Christ. We will be able to say, “We don't care mainly for how many souls are saved or for how many people are brought to the Lord. We are enjoying the Lord.” We will be full of enjoyment, and the preaching of the gospel will be a feast. If we do not sense that we are feasting on Christ as we preach the gospel, something is wrong. We lack the oneness in spirit and in soul. But if we are in one spirit with one soul, the number of people saved through our preaching of the gospel will be secondary. The primary thing is that in the course of our preaching, we will be feasting on Christ and enjoying Him. We will have not only experience but also enjoyment. (CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “The Experience of Christ,” pp. 334, 342-343)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “The Experience of Christ,” ch. 3