be such that their "public behaviour is above criticism" (Rom. 12: 17, J. B. Philips) and

no foreign element must intrude to undermine their witness.

We must not understand verse 15 to teach that such conduct is the means of salvation.

"That ye may be . . . . . the children of God", means manifestly so, very much like the

Sermon on the Mount, ". . . . . love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to

them that hate you . . . . . that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven"

(Matt. 5: 44, 45). Likewise the Philippians must "shine as lights in the world".

The imperative seems required here rather than the indicative and the Greek can read

either way. Paul calls upon the Philippian church not to obscure the light of testimony by

wrong doing, but rather to shine brightly in the surrounding darkness of a world that

knows not God and is at enmity with Him. It may be that the Apostle has the Song of

Moses in mind in connection with apostate Israel (Deut. 32: 5), and is concerned lest

his converts at Philippi should backslide in this way.

We do well to remember that we are surrounded by a world that is hostile and critical;

one that is in gross spiritual darkness. The only real light that can pierce such darkness is

that of One Who said "I am the light of the world", and strictly speaking, the believer in

Christ is a light reflector or light bearer. True lights does not originate from us; it comes

solely from Him Who is Life and Light. What we are required to be is the bearer of His

light, giving an unobscured daily testimony, His light thus shining through us. We

should beware of the things that can obscure this light. In His earthly ministry the Lord

The "bushel", a measure of commerce, can stand for business and all its commitments,

and the "bed", the love of ease, two things that can easily quench the light of faithful

witness. These two things and anything else that hinders, must be avoided at all costs.

Paul then urges the Philippian believers to remember the duty and the privilege of

light-bearing, just as he wrote to the Thessalonians and reminded them that they should

all be "children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of

darkness" (I Thess. 5: 5). Epechein can mean to "hold fast" or "hold out, offer" and both

shades of meaning are true in Phil. 2: 16.

If his friends at Philippi faithfully adhere to the Word of life and hold it forth, the

Apostle is assured in his mind, that at the great day of Divine testing of Christian witness

and service, the Day of Christ, he will not have laboured in vain, for they will be concrete

evidence of the fruit of his labours. The Apostle, while he delighted to call himself the

"slave of Christ", working tirelessly for Him, yet had a dread of labour in vain, the

expenditure of strength to no purpose. To the Galatians he wrote:

To be of any worth, Christian service must accomplish something for the Lord, and

while we may not always see the fruit of our labours in this life, yet there are occasions