In verses 15 and 16 Paul continues, “That you may become blameless and guileless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life.” To shine as luminaries is to magnify Christ. This indicates that the salvation in chapter two equals the salvation in chapter one. The operating God equals the Spirit with the bountiful supply, and shining as luminaries is equal to magnifying Christ.
According to verse 16, the way we shine as luminaries is to hold forth the word of life. It is rather difficult to understand adequately the meaning of the phrase holding forth. It means “to present something to people, to offer them something, and even to apply something to them.” To hold forth the word of life is to offer such a word to others, to present it to them, and even to apply it to them. This is to minister Christ to others, to offer Christ to them. What do you offer to your family, relatives, neighbors, colleagues, friends, or classmates? What do you present to them? Your answer should be that you offer Christ to them, present Christ to them, and apply Christ to them in their situation. This is to hold forth the word of life. The word of life is actually the living expression of Christ. To shine as luminaries is to magnify Christ, and to hold forth the word of life is to live Christ.
Both 1:19-21 and 2:12-16 refer to the same thing. In chapter one Paul says that his circumstances will turn out to his salvation. Then instead of being put to shame, he will magnify Christ. This is to live Christ. In chapter two Paul charges us to work out our salvation according to God’s operation within us. Then instead of murmuring and reasoning, we shall shine as luminaries, holding forth the word of life. Philippians 2:12-16 is thus a definition of 1:19-21. In 1:19 we have the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. This Spirit is the very God who operates in us. Furthermore, to magnify Christ is to shine as luminaries without murmuring or reasoning, and to live Christ is to hold forth the word of life.
This brings us to a crucial matter: to live Christ we must first receive the word of life and be constituted of it. From the time we were born, we were gradually constituted of culture. Culture was infused into us by our family and our society. Eventually, the culture infused into us became our constitution. Automatically we lived according to the culture which had been constituted into us. We also live what has been infused into us. Children live according to what has been infused into them by their parents. Now that we have been saved, we should no longer live culture. For example, a believer from China should no longer live Chinese culture, philosophy, or ethics. Instead, he should live Christ. But how can we live Christ? If we would live Christ, we need to receive the Word into our being and allow it to saturate us. The Word which is saturating us will gradually replace the culture which has been infused into us. The more we are infused with the Word, the more we shall be transformed. Spontaneously our thought, love, aspiration, and conversation will become Christ. Then instead of living culture, we shall live Christ. The only way to live Christ is to be saturated with His word of life. The word of life infused into us will wash away the elements of culture and become the new constituent in our inner being. Then we shall live Christ.