HOLD FAST THE WORD OF LIFE (1)

"HOLDING FAST the WORD of LIFE, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ” – Philippians 2:16a

The first month of our Year of Living by God’s Word saw us BEGIN with the WORD! In February, we shall HOLD FAST the WORD of LIFE: “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, HOLDING FAST the WORD of LIFE, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain” (Phi.2:14-16). Paul was commanding Believers in Christ to live blameless and faultless lives right in the middle of a crooked and twisted world! How could this be? God has the Answer – The Word of Life!

Philippians 2: 5-11 teaches how Jesus perfectly demonstrated humility and seeking to serve others. He is our Pattern and Model for Humility. Believers are therefore enjoined to imbibe Christ’s Mindset, Attitude and Mentality of radical humility ad radical obedience. Even though He was with God and was God, He lowered Himself not only to becoming a man, but by dying on the cross. Therefore, God the Father rewarded Jesus with rulership over the earth. We also can live like Christ, “without complaining and disputing,” “become blameless and harmless,” and “shine as lights” in a crooked, sick, perverted, and darkened world, by holding fast the Word of Life – the Word that gives and guarantees Life! Jesus says: “It is the Spirit who give life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are LIFE” (Jh.6:63).

The key is in understanding the meaning of the phrase translated “holding fast.” It can mean to “hold fast” in the sense of guard and protect. It also means to “HOLD FORTH” in the sense of proclaiming and making known. There is also the idea of “giving heed to” or “fixing one’s attention upon.” In this wise, Paul admonished Timothy: “TAKE HEED to yourself and to the doctrine. CONTINUE in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1Tim.4:16). Therefore, Believers in Christ are meant to explore, explain, and embrace the Word of Life. We are to keep and guard the Word; offer it to others by making it known, and focus upon it with dedication and devotion.

The “WORD of LIFE” is both the good news or the Gospel of what God has done for sinners in Jesus Christ as well as the Word of Revelation found in Scripture that expounds what the Gospel is in terms of the New Life in Christ. God’s Word is the Word of “Life” because it’s in it that we discover Truth regarding where Life may be found, namely, in Christ: “In Him was LIFE, and the Life was the Light of men” (Jh.1:4). The Lord Jesus introduced Himself as follows: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the LIFE. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (Jh.14:6). God’s Word is the Word of “Life” because it is used of the Spirit to impart new life: “Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the WORD of GOD which LIVES and abides forever” (1Pet.1:23).

Holding fast the Word of Life is the Key to preventing our light from being snuffed out by the darkness of this world.

Holding fast the Word of Life will protect us from becoming crooked and twisted like the wobbling world around us.

Holding fast the Word of Life will guard our hearts and ward off the perverse influence of a polluted and sin-soaked society.

In this new month of our Year of Living by God’s Word, we shall learn how to Hold Fast to His Word and be rewarded in time and eternity.