“Find a piece of paper and something to write with.” With a smirk, my wife complied and braced herself for what might follow.

The task was simple: Take ten minutes and write down as many names or descriptors of Christ as we could each recall. After ten minutes, we returned together with our lists. As we shared together, we began to worship as the Jewel of unending generations turned and turned and turned before our eyes of faith. Each name, worth a lifetime’s reflection.

Messiah. Master. Teacher. Creator. Friend.

Bridegroom. Savior. Lord. Mediator. Redeemer.

Beloved. Worthy. Our blessed hope. Our propitiation. The Good Shepherd.

Wonderful Counselor. Prince of peace. Image of the invisible God. Ruler of the kings on earth. The Door. The True Vine. The Bread of Life. The Lamb of God. The Way, the Truth, the Life. The rock of offense. The Morning Star. The Holy One. The Beginning.

The King of glory. Lord of the Sabbath. The faithful witness. The Head of the Church. The Lion of Judah. The Suffering Servant. The Prophet greater than Moses. The One who loves us.

The Light of the World. The Author and Perfecter of our faith. The Great High Priest. The Son of David. Son of Man. Son of God. Our Wisdom. Our sanctification. Something greater than Solomon. The firstborn from the dead. The Resurrection and the Life.

The Alpha and Omega. Almighty God. Man of Sorrows. The radiance of the glory of God.

To give just a few.

The One Above His Names

The exercise revealed one simple thing: Jesus Christ lives beyond each sacred name. The Spirit inspires so many names because the reality of Christ towers above each descriptor individually (and as I am hinting, collectively as well). Though Jesus is known truly through human language, he transcends human language.

Take the ancient poets, take the epic storytellers of our time — spare no crafters of language — employ them all, young and old alike, in the singular task of telling the full value and merit of Christ to us, and they shall fail — as children fingerpainting stars fall far below the glory of the galaxies.

“The most excellent language we have cannot capture his excellencies.”

He is he of whom there can be no exaggeration: His worth, his significance, his relevance, his power, his kindness, his command, his faithfulness, his beauty soars above human language as the seraphim above the ladybug. The most excellent language we have cannot capture his excellencies.

And that is no slight to the words God himself has given to us.

Christ Beyond Vocabulary

The excellency of language can take us many places: from the frontlines of World War II, to a hobbit hole in the Shire, from plantations in the antebellum South, to a cave in the mountains overlooking Whoville, into the very throne room with John and Isaiah. Language can cause us to feel deeply: from compassion to bravery, from disgust to horror, from love to hatred. Language is a tool, a divine brush that can color transcendent realities within our imaginations and conceptions. God wrote a book.

But with regards to Christ, we fumble with candles in the dark — he is like this, like this, like this. He stands outside the full reach of the vocabulary of this world, dazzling with the strength of ten suns. He is more holy than we can conceive the word “holy” imparts. More lovely than the scent “lovely” can give. Our language, too enfeebled to capture his might, is too hushed to convey his full glory. We truly gaze through faith and the Spirit to see and love him (1 Peter 1:8–9) — yet dimly.

“Our language, too enfeebled to capture his might, is too hushed to convey his glory.”

Although the Spirit employs the highest human colors our language affords — analogies, metaphors, titles, types, parables, poetry, and more — the painting is of him whose riches the Spirit himself calls “unsearchable,” him whose love surpasses knowledge (and therefore language), him of whom the world itself is too small a library to contain all the books documenting his wondrous deeds (Ephesians 3:8, 19; John 21:25).

The Stage for Self-Revelation

Now, although Christ, the Transcendent, cannot be finally portrayed or singularly named, we should marvel that God planned to reveal the marvelous names of the Son we have in Scripture.

Although God gives us some names in a moment while others took centuries to unfold in redemptive history, God held all these names in mind before he architected the world — crafting reality and human experience to give context to his Son’s glorious revelation, not vice versa.

In other words, God didn’t work with the props that already existed and do the best he could. From the beginning, God created the stage of human experience to communicate his Son to us. Marriage, as one example, exists to communicate what his Son is for the Church; who he is as “Groom” (Ephesians 5:32).

Or consider that before he created the world, John tells us, God wrote a hardcover entitled, “The Book of Life of the Lamb Who Was Slain” (Revelation 13:8). God did not fumble about and think of books and lambs and blood and sacrifice after the world and sin already existed. These entered the world because, before the world existed, God freely chose to reveal his Son as the Slain Lamb.

The point is that God created the world in order for the eye of faith to behold the Lamb. This is his story, his world — the props on stage were constructed to testify to Jesus.

What’s in a Name?

Is this good news for you? You may wonder with the love-stricken Juliet, what’s in a name?

We could speak of God’s concern for his own name — which communicates his character, his reputation, his praise, his renown — which is at the heart of our salvation:

Thus says the Lord God: “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them.” (Ezekiel 36:22–23)

Yet Christ’s names, on the ground level, provide anchors to our souls, don’t they?

How many sheep have been comforted through the valley of the shadow of death by his name “the Good Shepherd”?

How many have had a cold breeze still their mad lusts at his title “Lord”?

How many in despair have revived from the one who is “our blessed hope” (Titus 2:13), or endured persecution with eyes fixed on “the Suffering Servant”?

How many deaths has pride died before “the True Vine”? Or how many times have our heads been lifted from the dust by our “Great High Priest”? Or our fears of falling away been quieted by considering “the Author and Perfector of our faith”? How many tempests has this “Prince of Peace” calmed? How many questions does “the Ruler of the Kings on earth” solve? How many regrets and dead hopes rouse at his name “the Beginning”?

The woman with the naked finger can cling to the Bridegroom. The unloved child can grip to “the One who loves us.” The mother who visits the grave of her child, to “the Resurrection and the Life.” The pastor tempted with envy, to “the Head of the Church.” The man or woman dissatisfied with living, to “the Bread of Life.” The one feeling all alone in the world, to the great “Friend.”

His names, above all other names, are dear to us, because he is dear to us. Each provides a different angle, a different snapshot of what we can’t yet behold face-to-face. None overstate Christ. None alone capture him. When we sit on the eternal shore and drink deeply of one, the ocean is never emptied. More always to see. More always to drink. More always to know and enjoy.

The tide ever rises. Our Savior will always remain better than our best thoughts of him.

Philippians 1:6 might not be the first verse that comes to mind when we think about marriage, but perhaps we should remember it more often. From his prison cell, Paul wrote to his gospel partners in Philippi, reminding them of God’s ongoing work in their lives: “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

Perhaps you’ve seen this verse plastered on coffee mugs or heard it frequently quoted. It’s one of the Bible’s most beloved verses, and rightly so. We’re encouraged by the promise that God is not finished with us yet and won’t leave his work unfinished. But our familiarity with this verse might cause us to skim past it, feeling unaffected by the light it shines on our everyday lives, especially marriage.

Philippians 1:6 guarantees us that God saves, transforms, and completes genuine believers. While this verse is not explicitly about marriage, we can draw parallels between God’s work in us as individuals and his work in our believing spouses.

When conflict arises in marriage, or we’re dissatisfied with our husband’s spiritual growth, our default setting is not to trust that God will use even this to fulfill the good work he began in his life. Instead, we might offer not-so-subtle suggestions for ways our husband could improve his spiritual practices. For starters, he could wake up earlier to be in the word, lead the family in more regular devotions, or get involved in a men’s Bible study. Secretly, we might compare him to other, more godly husbands, wallow in discontent, and let it deepen.

But this is where Philippians 1:6 can give us renewed hope and confidence, assuring us that God is indeed at work in our spouse’s life.

Sure Confidence

Paul asserts in verse 6 that he is “sure of this.” Some translations say he is “confident of this very thing.” Paul rooted his confidence in God, resulting in a fixed expectation that God would finish what he had begun in the Philippians’ lives. Sure of this.

“A gentle and quiet spirit often speaks loudest to both believing and unbelieving husbands.”

However, as Christian wives, “confidence” might not be the first word we’d choose to describe our longing for our husband’s spiritual growth and maturity. We might choose less solid-sounding words, like “dream” or “wish,” preferring not to set ourselves up for disappointment. When he zones out on his phone more than he engages with God’s word, “concern” more accurately reflects our heart than “confidence.” When negative patterns seem to be setting in, our response might be, What can I do to fix this?

Philippians 1:6 helps us zoom out and see the bigger picture. In this short verse, Paul gives us an overview of salvation. Even though the Philippians were faithful gospel partners, he based his confidence not on their ability to complete the good work of their salvation, but on God’s. Paul saw God in their conversion (beginning the good work in their lives), then in their sanctification, (where the ongoing work of growth was taking place), and finally in their glorification (where one day the work would be complete). This is the past, present, and future progression of the Christian faith. Paul’s confidence that no Christian would be left incomplete should be ours too.

When we find ourselves being quick to criticize our husbands, we can remember this bigger picture: if he’s a true believer, God is at work in his life. So often, we try to draw conclusions based on the evidence we see right now. Yet Paul found confidence in the God who knows the beginning from the end. The one who directs all human history sovereignly orchestrates both current circumstances and future events. He is the author and finisher of our faith, so you can trust that when God truly starts his work on a man, he will bring him through all the uncomfortable middle parts to completion.

Not My DIY Project

There aren’t many things in life we’re guaranteed will get done to perfection. You might hope that your husband will finish all his projects around the house, but you might not be confident he will. However, the project of his faith, which is yet unfinished, will one day be completed because God is doing it.

How does this practically take place? Paul writes in Philippians 2:12–13, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” There’s a mysterious cooperation between us and God as we grow in Christlikeness: by faith, we work out what God works in. But we can only work out our salvation, not our husband’s. We can encourage him and pray for him, but this truth frees us from seeing our husbands as our own DIY projects.

We know the Holy Spirit often uses wives to convict a husband of sin and lead him to salvation and greater holiness (1 Peter 3:1). But Peter encourages wives that it is their conduct, more than their comments, that wins over a man. A gentle and quiet spirit often speaks loudest to both believing and unbelieving husbands. A wife with this spirit knows she doesn’t have to voice all her concerns about her husband to her husband. Instead, she can turn to God in prayer, casting her cares on him, and patiently await the opportune time to speak an upbuilding word.

Philippians 1:6 reminds us that salvation is all a work of grace. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have honest conversations with our spouse about spiritual growth and how we can encourage one another to pursue Christlikeness. But the heart of our calling is not to fix him or point out all that’s lacking in him or carry the burden for his sanctification, but rather conduct ourselves with a quiet confidence that God will.

This Day and That Day

When can we expect this work to be done in his life? Paul says it will be complete “at the day of Jesus Christ.” The phrase “the day of Jesus Christ” refers to the final day of judgment and reward. Believers eagerly await this day when Christ will return and bring his reward with him (Revelation 22:12). Martin Luther reportedly said, “There are only two days in my calendar: this day and that Day.”

This might feel like the good news, bad news aspect of this verse. While we’re encouraged that God will complete what he started in our husbands on that day, we’d like those changes to take place as soon as possible, please. Meanwhile, however, a wonderful thing happens as we wait for that day: we’re becoming sanctified too.

As we meditate on this verse and the rest of God’s word, Paul’s settled confidence in God’s saving, sanctifying, and completing power becomes our own. Over time, we see evidence of growth in our lives as we become more dependent on God and less on ourselves. Where we were prone to criticize or worry, we learn there’s great freedom and peace in casting those cares on God. In all the uncomfortable middle parts of our lives, we see God has been at work all along, completing his good work in us.

We don’t know when that day will come, but it’s closer now than when you started reading this article. While we long for sanctification to have its full and perfect work in our husband’s life, we learn to trust God, pray faithfully, and wait confidently. We know God will bring about his perfect results in his perfect time.

Audio Transcript

Welcome back to the podcast. On Monday we looked at what distinguishes our lives from the lives of non-Christians around us. There, in APJ 1858, we touched on spiritual gifts. And then in the episode before that, we asked, “What are my skills worth?” That was APJ 1857, and it was a fascinating discussion because in many churches you have a doctor, a lawyer, a plumber, a carpenter, an auto mechanic — someone who makes money from their skills. And sometimes those skills can be exploited by people in the local church for free. Maybe you have experienced that very thing yourself. Piper’s conclusion in that episode was, “Be willing to pay for the service. If the skilled person wants to make a special gift to you, that’s his or hers to decide, not yours to expect.”

So if skilled Christians in the church share the same skills you will find among non-Christians outside the church, what makes a spiritual gift spiritual? As we will hear today, “many unbelievers have great abilities” — abilities to lead and administrate and teach — but those gifts are not automatically spiritual gifts. What makes a spiritual gift spiritual?

In a sermon, Pastor John turned to Paul’s testimony in Romans 1 for the answer. There Paul writes, “I long to see you [the church in Rome], that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you — that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine” (Romans 1:11–12). Here’s Pastor John to unpack and apply it.

The basic problem is becoming the kind of person who wakes up in the morning and thanks God for life and for salvation and then says, “Lord, oh how I want to strengthen people’s faith today at work. Lord, let me come to the end of this day and be able to look back and say, ‘Somebody has more confidence in your promises today because I crossed their path. Somebody is more happy in your grace because I crossed their path.’” That’s the main problem, waking up and being that kind of person.

“Let’s apply ourselves to becoming the kind of people who more and more long to build up each other’s faith.”

The reason I say that’s the basic problem and not the discovery of spiritual gifts is because, if there were 550 people in this church waking up and saying that and praying that and meaning that, the Holy Spirit would not leave you frustrated in finding ways to do that. He will not let a person whose heart is earnestly desirous of building other people up go without building them up. He will help you find those ways, and the finding of those ways will be the discovering of your gifts. It doesn’t matter whether you can find a name for it or not. Let’s apply ourselves to becoming the kind of people who more and more long to build up each other’s faith, to make each other happier in the Lord, and to make each other more confident in his promises.

Mutual Strengthening

Now there are really interesting insights that come from comparing Romans 1:11 with 1:12. Paul restates Romans 1:11 in different words; that’s what you do when you start a sentence with “That is.” You’re restating what you just said. “I [want to] impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you — that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine” (Romans 1:11–12).

Now, Paul does two things here. The first thing he does is the old “it’s my pleasure” tactic. You remember that sermon back in the fall that I preached called “It’s My Pleasure: Christian Hedonism and Humility”? Paul is doing that right here. Notice that when we say, “Oh, it’s my pleasure” after we do a benefit for somebody, a favor, what we’re doing is trying to be humble. We’re saying, “Well, don’t get too worked up about my self-sacrifice because I just did what I wanted to do.” You cut off too much praise. You try to humble yourself after having done a good deed.

Now that’s what Paul is doing here, I think. Paul rereads verse 11, and he says, “Hmm, I sure don’t want to give the impression that I’m coming on strong there as the great benefactor who’s going to do them all this good and get no benefit.” See? So he backs off and he restates his goal to say, “It’s going to be a two-way street in Rome. I am going to get encouraged, and you’re going to get encouraged. It’s my pleasure. Don’t give me too much praise. I’m just doing what I like to do when I go around preaching and getting encouraged by other people’s faith, as well as encouraging them.” That’s the first thing he does in this text.

Now the second thing he does is to show that the way he’s going to strengthen their faith by using his spiritual gift is by encouraging them with his faith. Now notice the parallel between the two verses. In verse 11, he aims to strengthen them. In verse 12, he aims to encourage them. So those two words are parallel. In verse 11, he aims to strengthen them by his spiritual gift. In verse 12, he aims to encourage them by his faith.

Of Faith, for Faith

Now I think you can draw as the conclusion, therefore, this definition of spiritual gifts: a spiritual gift is an expression of faith that aims to strengthen faith. Wouldn’t that be a fair definition, having put those two verses together and seeing that verse 12 is an explanation of verse 11? A spiritual gift is activated by faith and aims to produce more faith in another person. Or another way to put it would be this: a spiritual gift is an ability given by the Holy Spirit to express our faith effectively for the upbuilding of another’s faith. That’s what a spiritual gift is, I think, from these two verses.

“A spiritual gift is an expression of faith that aims to strengthen faith.”

Now that to me is very helpful because it helps me distinguish and keep separate natural abilities and spiritual gifts. They aren’t the same. Many, many unbelievers have great abilities — administration and teaching, for example — and these are given by God. Everybody has what he has from God, whether they acknowledge it or not, but they’re not spiritual gifts in the New Testament sense, are they? Why? Because they do not come from faith, they’re not expressions of faith, and they’re not aiming to strengthen faith.

Our faith is the channel through which the Holy Spirit flows on his way to building up another person’s faith. Therefore, for any ability that we have to be a channel for the Spirit and therefore spiritual, it has to flow from faith in him and aim toward faith in another person. No matter what abilities we have, if we’re not relying on God (having faith) and we’re not aiming to help others rely on God (produce faith), our ability is not spiritual. It’s not a spiritual gift because the Holy Spirit is not flowing through it from faith to faith.

Now that has tremendous implications for a church in the selection of its staff, the choice of its officers, and its board members. The implication is this: It means that we will never simply say, “Who has the ability to efficiently do this job?” Never. That’s a wholly inadequate criterion for determining a person’s suitability for staff or for office in the church. We will go on and ask, “Does this person use his skill or her ability to express their lively and hearty dependence on the Lord?” And we will ask, “Does the exercise of that skill aim always to be helping other people believe more, or does the way they go about doing their work always manage to put people down or make people feel unbelieving rather than believing?”

A church where the Holy Spirit is alive and powerful will always be sensitive to the difference between natural abilities and spiritual gifts.