Paul's Prison Epistles: Paul And The PhilippiansSample

Nature of Perseverance: Philippians 1:27

Paul conceived of perseverance in terms of the twin ideas of true faith and righteous living. On the one hand, perseverance is maintaining our faith in the gospel of Christ, relying on his merit alone for our righteous standing before God. Paul wrote of this in Philippians 1:27, where he expressed his hope for the Philippians with these words:

Stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel (Philippians 1:27).

As believers, we must remain steadfast in our commitment to the gospel, never giving up our beliefs. This is what we mean when we speak of persevering in faith.

True faith in the gospel of Christ can be described in many ways, but consider one central focus of Christian faith as Paul described it in Philippians 3:8-9:

I consider [everything] rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith (Philippians 3:8-9).

In this passage, Paul indicated that all his human status and good works were useless for obtaining true righteousness and salvation. The only thing that could gain salvation for him was the righteousness of Christ, applied to Paul by means of faith.

So long as we continue to rely solely on Christ’s merit for our righteousness, we are persevering — standing firm in our faith. Now, this is not to say that perseverance never admits to doubts. Rather, the point is that persevering faith never utterly and finally denies the truth of the gospel. Moreover, having true Christian faith does not mean that we have perfect theology. We may have many, many errors in our theology and still be faithful to the fundamental tenets of the gospel. But once we no longer believe the central truth that we are saved by Christ and Christ alone, then we truly fail to persevere.

In addition to defining perseverance in terms of true faith, Paul also spoke of perseverance as righteous living, as persistence in doing good and praiseworthy works. For instance, in Philippians 2:12-13, he spoke this way:

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed … continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose (Philippians 2:12-13).

Here Paul talked about continuing in good works, acting in ways that accord with salvation. Now, perseverance in good works does not mean that we live perfectly. We will never reach perfection in this life, and sometimes we stumble in serious ways. Rather, we persevere in good works when we strive to obey Christ faithfully.

Click here to  watch Paul's Prison Epistles: Paul and the Philippians , lesson five in the series Paul's Prison Epistles. thirdmill.org