Confirming the Gospel

This morning I was reading from Paul's letter to the Philippians 1:3-11 NIV:

[3] "I thank my God every time I remember you. [4] In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy [5] because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, [6] being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

[7] It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. [8] God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

[9] And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, [10] so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, [11] filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ---to the glory and praise of God."

I love how Paul was so encouraging in his prayers.  I would love someone to say to me they were praying for me with joy and thankfulness. :-)

The verse that grabbed my attention this morning was verse 7, specifically when Paul talks about defending and confirming the gospel.  I understand the idea behind defending the gospel, that there was a constant pressure to try and distort the gospel, many heresies that Paul and the other Apostles were confronting.  The strove to defend the pure essence of the gospel in spite of immense pressure and persecution.

The part that I think is so important is that Paul also worked to confirm the Gospel, not just defend it.  In other words, he worked to prove that what he said was true.  When I think about how one would do that, the first things that pop into my mind are miracles and healing.  These were what Jesus did to confirm that what He said was true, that He really did come from the Father.  Jesus said it this way in John 14:10-14 NIV:

[10} "Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. [11] Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. [12] Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. [13] And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. [14] You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."

The empowerment to do miracles, signs and wonders, and healing was a core part of proving the good news of the establishment of the Kingdom of God.  Jesus understood that, and the people believed because of His ability to demonstrate things like the healing of the man born blind (John 9), the raising of Lazarus from the dead (John 11), raising the widows son (Luke 7), feeding thousands through the multiplication of food (Mark 6 & 8), and on and on. These healings and miracles proved that He came from the Father.  As the formerly blind man said when questioned about his healing, “Now that is remarkable! You don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes.  We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” (John 9:30-33 NIV).

So my prayer today is that the Lord would enable me and empower me to not only defend the Gospel, but to confirm the Gospel.  I pray that people would come to know the good news, and enter into relationship with the Lord, coming to understand how much He loves them and is for them.  I pray that their love may abound and be filled with knowledge and insight into how good God is!

Amen!