that ye may be harmless and simple, irreproachable children of God in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation; among whom ye appear as lights in [the] world,
The call to shine follows a warning against grumbling and arguing, and it puts everyday conduct on the widest stage: a dark world watching. What does it mean to be blameless in practice, why call the surrounding society crooked, and how does a Christian give light?
The verse does not start a new subject. It gives the aim of the command just before it.
Our effect upon others is no light matter, and nothing becomes more harmful than "murmurings and reasonings." They may appear in a very plausible light, and for this reason are more dangerous. "Blameless and harmless" is put in contrast to "murmurings and reasonings." Galatians 4:4-7 shows that all believers are sons of God in actual fact, by faith in Christ Jesus. The passage now before us urges us to be this in actual practice — "sons of God without rebuke." We are to rightly represent the character of Him Whose sons we are.
Older translations read "harmless" and "without rebuke" where the ESV has "innocent" and "without blemish". Both words need unpacking, and so does "children".
Then we are to be blameless and harmless, or simple. This does not suggest that we are subnormal. The word means unmixed: we simply want to go on with the things we know to be right according to the will of God. "Harmless" means we take care not to be blameworthy for wrongdoing. When both of these features show in us, we come out in the true character of children of God. The word is "children", not sons, and it conveys our character rather than our standing.
The words for the surrounding society come from Deuteronomy, where they first described Israel.
Most of this verse draws on Deut. 32:5 in the Greek Old Testament, though it does not quote it. In Deut. 14:1, looking at Israel as God's chosen and separated people, we read: "You are the children of the LORD your God." But in Deut. 32:5, looking at their rebellious walk and ways, the Spirit of God says: "They have sinned, they are not children to Him, they are blemished, a crooked and distorted race." … God is now working in the saints at Philippi. Once poor sinners of the Gentiles, they have become "children of God", and they are to be unblemished children, amid the blemished, crooked, and distorted race. That description fitted not only Israel, but the Gentiles also.
Clause by clause, the verse reads almost like a description of the Lord Himself. One commentator marks both the likeness and its limit.
The standard for those who belong to Christ is so high that the description might almost fit Christ Himself. Christ was blameless in the highest sense, and His ways were harmless — "holy, harmless, undefiled," as another Scripture says. Christ was Son of God in a sole and supreme sense. Christ was "without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation." Christ shone as the true light in the world… For what believer would deny this? However close the likeness, there is always that dignity and perfection which belongs to Christ alone.
The Greek word behind "lights" is the word for stars, and the verb used with it matches.
The verb "appear" is in the middle voice, and Greek uses it for the rising, or appearing, of heavenly bodies… The word translated "lights" (phoster) is the word for heavenly luminaries, and it appears only once more in the New Testament: Rev. 21:11 … The picture is of the Christian as a heavenly light, a new and beautiful star, perhaps, appearing amid a crooked and distorted race… In the Greek there is no article — no "the" — with the word "world". That gives the sense in the whole world, and it stresses how great the sphere is in which the Christian is to shine.
A star needs night to be seen. The next question is where its light comes from.
Stars are best seen in the night, though they may shine at all times; and the world, such as it is, is the best possible place for testimony of this kind. As lights in it, they would not shine by their own light. Christians are planets and not suns. The word of life they hold out declares that the light is reflected light. It comes from Him who is absent (for it is night time now), yet who in this sense is still the true light of the world. Without the testimony to Christ, the best life may appear only to testify of what is natural in man.
- Cause. Grumbling and arguing put out the light. Blameless and harmless stand against them.
- Character. You are a child of God already by faith. The verse asks you to look like one, since the word here speaks of character, not standing.
- Contrast. "A crooked and twisted generation" first described Israel in Deuteronomy 32. Grace now makes unblemished children out of people that description once covered.
- Reach. "Lights" is the word for stars, and "world" without "the" stretches the stage to all mankind.
- Source. Christians are planets, not suns. The word of life held out shows the light is borrowed from Christ.
holding forth [the] word of life, so as to be a boast for me in Christ's day, that I have not run in vain nor laboured in vain.
Paul closes his call to a blameless walk with a picture of believers as lights in a dark world. He then ties that walk to a future date: the day of Christ. Two questions follow. What does it mean to hold out the word of life? And why should a servant's joy on that day depend on how other people live?
Older translations read "holding forth" here. The word carries the sense of offering something to someone else. One writer draws the picture from a feast:
The Christian is to hold out — to offer — the Word of Life. The word translated "hold out" describes holding out, or presenting, a cup of wine to a person at a feast. It is as though he holds out a cup of the water of life. He offers it to all in the world, crying, "Whoever desires, let him take the Water of Life freely!"
The offer takes more than words. Another writer sets it against street-corner preaching:
Dear brother, you have a blessed, wonderful opportunity. We hear of preachers "holding forth" at the street corner. But "holding forth the word of life" is living, not mere talking. It is translating the living word of life into deeds, and behaviour, and ways.
People can explain away a good life on its own. The word spoken with it settles where the credit belongs:
Stars are best seen at night, though they may shine at all times. The world, such as it is, is the best possible place for testimony of this kind. As lights in it, they would not shine by their own light. Christians are planets and not suns... Without the testimony to Christ, the best life may appear only to testify of what is natural in man... The "word of life" held forth gives God the glory that is His due. It shows that the power is outside ourselves, while the effect on us is clear.
Read the description back against the life of Jesus:
Look at Philippians 2:14, 16. Take this sentence, and word by word it is a statement of what Christ was. We are in a wicked generation — exactly what Christ was. Sons — what He was. Light in the world — He was the Light of the world. Holding forth the word of life — He was the Word. Take it word by word, and we are in it all! He puts us into His place before the Father, and gives us His place of testimony before the world.
Paul had a date in view that outweighed every human verdict:
Man's day gave no measure for Paul's searching of heart or conscience. For me, he told the Corinthians, it is the smallest thing of all if you or man's day examine me. No. Only Jesus Christ's day would reveal the true character of Paul's running, labouring and thinking. Blessed and solemn thought! It was the judgment of Jesus Christ's day that lifted him above the judgment of man's day.
Another writer marks off that day from the Lord's coming:
It is a question of faithful service. The day, we see, goes with the display of how far an apostle or anyone else has served the Lord faithfully. The coming of the Lord will not do this. Its effect is not to display us before the world, but to take us clean out to be with Christ.
Paul's labour had a proof outside itself — the steady living of those he taught:
The steady, practical effect of their faith would prove that the apostle had not run or laboured in vain. They would themselves be his glory in the day of Christ... The apostle unites his work and the reward in the day of Christ with the blessing of the assembly.
The same holds for anyone who has tried to serve:
In that coming day of review and rewards, the Philippian saints would be Paul's boast "that not in vain I ran, neither in vain I toiled"... And the Scripture says that "then each one will receive his commendation from God." So be of good cheer, dear brother, dear sister, you who have sought to serve the Lord down here. You will find that not in vain you ran, neither in vain you toiled.
The word ran tells us that Paul is looking at himself as a runner in the Marathon foot race. He ran not in vain: literally, he "ran not to emptiness." Many who run in a race come back with empty hands and no crown: they run in vain.
- Offer — the word pictures a cup held out to someone at a feast. The message is for handing over, not just for having.
- Live — holding forth the word of life is living, not mere talking. It turns the message into deeds and ways.
- Reflect — Christians are planets, not suns. The word held forth shows that the light is borrowed and the power comes from outside us.
- Christ's place — clause by clause, the description fits Jesus first. He gives His own place of testimony before the world to His people.
- The day — Christ's day, not man's day, displays faithful service. There the servant learns his running and toil were not in vain.