The point of Paul’s opening prayer is that the congregation’s love would “abound more and more.” Similar to Paul’s prayer in 1 Thess 3:12, he wants his readers to “abounding in love” more than they already do. Perhaps this is an allusion to God’s character, in Exod 34:6 he is “abounding in love,” a verse that resonates in many other texts in the Hebrew Bible (Num 14:8, Neh 9:17, Ps 86:5). To “abound” is fairly simple, it means to have enough to go around and then some. It is used for the food Jesus provides in the wilderness (Matt 14:20). If you have an abundance of something, you are “rich,” so this word (περισσεύω) can be translated in that way, “be rich in love.”
Someone might ask, how do I “abound in love”? First, study the character of God, who is the one who ultimately “abounds in love.” Second, observe how Jesus reveals the character of God’s love in his ministry. Third, love is not a commodity that can be hoarded; it does not bear interest when it is not used. You know someone is a loving person because they are acting in some sort of a loving way!
Since love is the first of the fruit of the Spirit, it is possible that Paul uses love as a kind of shorthand for all the things that characterize the person who is “in Christ” and bearing fruit. Knowledge (ἐπίγνωσις) refers to intellect, knowing “facts.” In the New Testament it is often “knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4, for example). It is very common in Paul’s letters to find this kind of balance between the practical (love) and doctrinal (know). The more you know God and his story (the Bible), the better you can demonstrate love (peace, patience, etc). The more you bear the fruit of the Spirit, the more you understand God. There is a balance between the two.
“All discernment” refers to the capacity to understand something. Rather than facts, Paul has in mind here the wisdom to understand and apply those facts. This particular word for knowledge (αἴσθησις) is rare in the New Testament (only here). In the LXX it is almost exclusively found in Wisdom literature (only once in Exod 28:3). “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov 1:7), and that knowledge is better than choice gold (Prov 8:10).
If the church is abounding in love, they will be able to “approve” of what is excellent. This does not mean the church serves as a “board of approval” for what is excellent in a culture (and disapproving of what is not). The verb (δοκιμάζω) refers to a critical examination of something to determine genuineness (BDAG). I think of the people on the Antiques Roadshow who examine a Civil War sword in order to determine if it is real (and very valuable) or fake (and worthless).
The subjects of this test are “different things.” The ESV translates “what is excellent,” and this is not bad. The verb (διαφέρω) refers to two different things and in the context of a test between them: which is better? Paul used the same phrase in Rom 2:18: the believer will be able to weigh various options in order to discover the best course of action. This follows Paul’s use of wisdom language in his prayer since wisdom is often described as the ability to choose the better of several options. What he likely has in mind here is living life as a believer in a Roman city like Philippi. Every day the believers were confronted with a bewildering array of cultural options. How does an individual believer decide how they should eat and drink, whether they can go to the theaters or participate in civic events? Some of these should be obvious (no, worshiping a false god is not an “excellent thing”), but others were more difficult. Should a slave follow his master’s orders even if they conflicted with his Christian convictions? Could a businessman work in the marketplace if it was dedicated to several gods?
This kind of discernment is still necessary for believers today. Many readers of this blog are living in countries where Christianity is not the majority religion. Most Christians in the world have to daily make these kind of discerning decisions – how does my faith as a Christian change the way I think about some culturally accepted practice? But this discernment is important for Western Christians as well. American culture has become post-Christian. Behaviors once not even considered by the culture are now common Christians have forgotten to even think about them.
The Christian person must develop this discerning heart so their “love may abound.” In what ways might this be applied in your cultural context?
When I first think about love abounding, I think “does not love always abound?”, but I guess it must depend on what the love is for. I have a deep and passionate love for KitKats. I do not know what it is about KitKats compared to other candies and sweets that make them so much better than the rest, but they are top notch for me. True story, I once eat an entire bag of KitKat singles in 10 minutes. So, I probably ate around the equivalent to about 10 regular sized KitKat bars, and I definitely could have eaten more. I tell this story to say that our love may abound, but wrong love does not fulfill. After I had eaten that entire bag of KitKats, sure I was satisfied, but only for a little while until my stomach realized what I had done to it and my stomach did not like that. I was not fulfilled by my love of KitKats. In Phil 1:9-11, Paul writes to say that the Philippian’s love may abound in their knowledge (v. 9) to discern what is good in preparation for the day of Christ (v. 10). Paul finishes in verse 11 with the fruit of righteousness that comes from Jesus. I personally think that an important distinction that people tend to miss out on is that everything good comes from God. God cannot do evil for evil is outside of his will, which is perfect and good. only that to which is inside of God’s will can he do and bestow upon us. In the same way, everything that God created is good, with the creation of mankind being very good. Unfortunately for us, we are able to go outside of God’s will and choose to do evil because God loves us. You may not at first think that God loves us if he lets us do evil, but it is because God loves us that he gives us a choice. If we were created physically and mentally unable to choose to love God back, but instead were forced to love God back, it would not be real love. Our relationship with God is a two-way relationship, meaning that God will always be in pursuit of us and wanting that relationship, always loving us, but it is our choice in whether we choose to love him back. The more we choose to love God back, the more we are able to understand the good and perfect example of Christ.
In Philippians 1:9-11, Paul prayers that the Philippian congregation’s love for one another abound. It can be confusing to know what it means to abound in love. However, the character of God is a great place to start. God is the definition of abounding in love. For example, God sending his one and only son to die for the sins of mankind is an example of abounding in love. The main point Paul seems to stress is that Christians must have a clear understanding of God’s character in order to abound in love. Essentially, the more familiar you become with the fruits of the Spirit and the Bible, the better you can demonstrate love to others.
A perfect example of abounding in love today is by showing love to those who do not hold the same views as you. Christians are called to love everyone, not just other Christians (1 John 4:11). Abounding in love today looks like loving your enemies and local community, taking time to spend with God, and loving those who persecute you. Above all, loving others is an essential part of life. God set the example for us to follow. Now, it is up to Christians to continue His legacy and to love others according to His Word.
In our cultural context today, in 2023, I would say that knowing and understanding how our, “Love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight” (Phil. 1:9, ESV). The more we read the Bible, the more we understand what the Lord is pulling and calling us to do, the more we can find our insight and different knowledge of how to get to that position. Or, by coming together in love and unity, the Philippian Church better understand how to live as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven (Longenecker & Still, p. 203). So, if we are going by this aspect, then by showing our community love in a Christian sense, this could bring others to Jesus.
However, while abounding love should be the main goal here, it is also personal for Christians as well. I would say there are two sides here, the main organizational, where the church comes together to show abounding love and insight, but also personal, in our personal walk with God as Christians. I would not say that there are two bad answers here, but ideally, it comes down to doing as Jesus Christ did when He was on Earth, and to pursue and show others of Him.