Paul says in verse 1 that he never gets tired of telling the church “these things” because he never tires of building up safeguards for our faith. So, what are “these things” what are these “safeguards” that he keeps blessing us with? Well, naturally, we would look at the previous chapters in this letter to know. Take a quick review of chapters 1 and 2. In them, you’ll see Paul telling us of his love for people in the church. And because of this love, he prays for them constantly. He gives us the reassurance of God’s promises and expresses his certainty that God who began the good work in us will continue his work until it is finished.
To continue in safeguarding our faith, he instructs us to live as citizens of heaven - right now - and going forward. What he means is that our eternal membership in the kingdom has already begun and he reminds us of God’s assurance that we are now true royalty – sons and daughters of the Highest King. As such, he urges us to display behavior consistent with our high and incredibly responsible positions. Praying constantly for each other, as Paul does, is one of the best ways of conducting “routine maintenance” on the safeguards of our royal attitudes.
We get derailed when our safeguards are not maintained well or missing altogether. Safeguards for our faith include loving other Christians and living in agreement with them. Because, as he goes on, if we’re not phony, if we truly are Christians, we necessarily possess the same attitude that Christ had. After all, Jesus is love. Living an agreeable life with our brothers and sisters in Christ not only brings peace and joy to us, but it is a formidable safeguard against the powers that would derail our faith in Jesus. “These things” will surely keep us from getting derailed by forever abiding in the amazing love of Christ.
I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. Philippians 1:9-10 NLT
