Philippians 2:15 That you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the middle of a crooked and perverse nation… 1. There was nothing strange to the ear of a heathen in this title. The gods of the Gentiles were fabled to be the parents of earthy heroes, the fathers of races. One belief of man stands out in all ages, that man and God are related as no creature is related to either God or man. 2. Communion on some level man would have, and so the gods of the Gentiles played the part of the murderer, the adulterer, etc. "Sons of God blameless and harmless" was quite a new collocation of ideas. The sons of God up to that time had been too largely the tyrants, deceivers, roysterers of the world. 3. The atheism of the times was largely a reaction against these degrading conceptions. The mind of all thoughtful men was thoroughly unsettled when Christ appeared, and by living as the Son of God effected a revolution. The seed of this revolution is in vers. 5-11. God dwelt among men at last not corrupting, thieving, or destroying, but healing, purifying, blessing. The end of God is to surround Himself with sons after this pattern. I. SONS OF GOD: THE NATURE OF THIS RELATIONSHIP. 1. The sons of God are clearly distinguished from the world. It is a title which man as man has no right to share. 2. But how does this square with the doctrine of universal Fatherhood taught, e.g., in Hebrews ii? Children and sons are not coordinate there. The latter is higher than the former, although the former is the base out of which the latter is evolved. In the home the natural relation is one thing, and confers certain rights and claims. The spiritual relationship is another, that is the condition of the child as a being of will, thought, and affection with regard to the parent. And so man may be a child of the Great Parent, but sensual, rebellious. To such God fulfils a Father's duties and feels a Father's sorrows; but sons they are not until the spirit of sonship be in them. 3. This is what regeneration means. It is the carrying up the child's relation through all the higher powers and faculties, and yielding to God the child complete (1 Peter 2:1-11; 1 John 3:1-4). It is in view of this that our Saviour delivers to Nicodemus the deepest doctrine of His kingdom. The new birth is the only way by which the unfilial child can pass into the freedom, joy, and spiritual life of the son. II. THE MANIFESTATION OF SONSHIP AND ITS FRUITS. 1. Blameless and harmless (1 Peter 2:18-25; 1 Peter 3:8-18; 1 Peter 4:12-19). Goodness is the most powerful appeal to man. Revenge may terrify, but forgiveness will awe and control. In the multitude there is a hidden sense of the beauty of goodness that only wants appealing to by some act of goodness. Bold men stood and trembled before an agonized child as they never trembled before the foe. Why? Because goodness, patience, faith, are heavenly. 2. There is nothing exclusive in this sonship — "Holding forth the word of life," that men may live also. The sons are to be magnets to draw the children to the Father, that they may be received as sons. (Baldwin Brown, B. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; |
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