From Partakers to Partners: Loving Toward Maturity

Partnership in the gospel begins with grace. Philippians 1 shows Paul thanking God with joy because the Philippians have shared with him from the first day until now. Paul calls them partners in the gospel and partakers of grace, because the same cross that rescued them has joined them to one another in a mission bigger than themselves.

Grace is not just avoiding the bad things sinners deserve. Grace is Jesus dying in the place of sinners, bringing them near to God, and making them sharers in a new life. The picture of a lonely kid sitting in the back row of a huge church shows that new birth changes more than private beliefs. The kid who walked up those stairs alone and seeking died, and someone new came back down, someone who knew he was with God’s people and on a mission.

Partnership is different from a country-club kind of membership. Partnership does not pay dues so somebody else can do the work while everybody else gets the benefits. Partnership joins hands in the work, expects faithfulness from one another, and refuses to walk away when conflict, slowness, or inconvenience shows up. The language of a partner is not, “I’ve done mine,” or, “That’s not my thing.” The language of a partner says, “We’re on the same side, and there’s too much at stake.”

Christ gives the pattern for this kind of partnership. Christ did not hold onto His rights, but came down into the mess and made that mess His mission. The church therefore gives itself to each other, not because every task is easy or personally enjoyable, but because Christ has made a people and given that people His work.

Love gives itself toward maturity. Paul prays that love would abound with knowledge and discernment, not with vague warm feelings or acceptance that never challenges anybody. Knowledge knows who God is and what God wants; discernment knows how to apply it. This love sees more than problems, unmet expectations, or somebody failing to keep up. Christ sees a person made in God’s image, a tiny sprout of grace that needs to be guarded and nurtured.

God finishes the work He starts. Paul’s confidence is not in better tools, faster growth, or people getting everything right. God’s faithfulness frees partners to keep loving, investing, helping, and waiting without becoming controlling or discouraged. Jesus closes the chasm sin created, makes sinners partakers of grace, and then sends them into partnership in the gospel for the glory and praise of God.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Grace makes gospel partners [01:56:37] Grace brings sinners into the same family through the death of Jesus Christ. Partnership grows out of shared rescue, not shared preferences or personalities. The cross removes the right to stand at a distance from God’s people while still expecting the benefits of belonging. [116:37]
• 2. Stop saying they, start saying we [02:03:31] Partnership begins when distance gives way to ownership. The shift from “they” to “we” means that the church’s needs, struggles, and mission become personal concerns. Christ calls His people down from the balcony and into close-up faithfulness with one another. [123:31]
• 3. Love people toward maturity [02:05:29] Love guided by knowledge and discernment does not leave people hidden, unchallenged, or stuck. Christ-like love cares enough to help others become more like Christ. God’s work in another person may look like a tiny sprout, but that sprout deserves patience, protection, and investment. [125:29]
• 4. Trust God to finish His work [02:13:41] God alone brings His good work to completion. Confidence in God keeps partnership from becoming controlling when growth is slow or discouraging when progress is hard to see. Faithful love continues because God is at work in the difficult person too.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [105:17] - Partners on a Mission
• [105:31] - Searching for Something More
• [109:15] - Born Again and Sent to God’s People
• [111:52] - Paul’s Joy in Gospel Partnership
• [114:03] - Partners and Partakers of Grace
• [118:43] - Partnership Through Conflict and Weariness
• [123:31] - Stop Saying They, Start Saying We
• [124:48] - Love Each Other Toward Maturity
• [129:45] - Seeing God’s Work in Others
• [133:02] - Trust God to Finish His Work
• [135:47] - Become a Partaker Before a Partner
• [138:40] - Taking the Next Step in Partnership

Bible Reading

Philippians 1:3-11
“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 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. 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. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” [56:59] [01:51:52]

Philippians 2:5-8
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” [01:07:47]

Ephesians 5:25-27
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” [01:13:25]

John 3:3
“Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.’” [54:57]

Observation questions

1. In Philippians 1:3-11, what words and actions show that Paul’s relationship with the Philippians is more than a casual friendship?
2. What does Paul say God has begun in the Philippians, and when does he say that work will be complete? [02:13:17]
3. According to Philippians 1:9-11, what is meant to grow in believers, and what results does Paul connect to that growth? [02:06:11]
4. In Philippians 2:5-8, what did Christ choose to do instead of using His equality with God for His own advantage? [02:02:44]

Interpretation questions

1. Paul calls the Philippians both “partners in the gospel” and people who share in God’s grace. How does shared grace give believers a reason to stay committed to one another even when there is conflict, inconvenience, or slow growth? [01:58:53]
2. Paul’s prayer is not simply that love would increase, but that love would grow with knowledge and discernment. What might loving correction, encouragement, or guidance look like when it is shaped by God’s truth rather than by personal frustration? [02:06:20]
3. Christ gave Himself up for the church in order to make her holy and radiant. How does Christ’s purpose for His people change the way believers should view someone who is immature, struggling, or difficult to serve alongside? [02:08:47]
4. Philippians 1:6 says God will finish the good work He began. How can confidence in God’s work keep a person from becoming either controlling or hopeless when someone else does not change as quickly as expected? [02:13:45]

Application questions

1. Is there an area of church life where you have been thinking mainly in terms of “they” rather than “we”? What would it look like to take one closer step into shared responsibility and relationship? [02:03:31]
2. Have you ever found yourself saying, “I’ve done mine,” or, “That’s not really my thing,” when a need came up? What might be behind that response—weariness, fear, lack of confidence, disappointment, or something else? [02:00:42]
3. Where might Christ be inviting you to serve, give, encourage, or help in a way that is not especially comfortable or convenient? How does Christ’s willingness to enter our mess and make it His mission shape that choice? [02:03:15]
4. Think of a person you have been tempted to see mainly as a problem, a disappointment, or someone who is slowing things down. What small “sprout” of God’s grace can you see in that person, and how could you help guard and nurture it this week? [02:12:05]
5. Who has helped you grow in Christ by taking time to teach, correct, provide for, or simply walk with you? Is there a practical way you could thank that person or offer that same kind of investment to someone else? [02:11:09]
6. Where are you tempted to control another person’s spiritual growth, or where are you tempted to give up on them? What would it look like this week to keep loving faithfully while trusting God to complete His work? [02:14:16]
7. If you are still searching or unsure about following Christ, what keeps you from bringing your need honestly to Him? Jesus has made a way across the gap sin created; what would it mean to trust Him as Lord and receive His grace? [02:16:46]