“This is my constant prayer that your love would keep growing so that you would increase in insight and in every conceivable perception so that you can discriminate wisely and truly, that you, people that are filled with the fruit of righteousness that Jesus Christ gives, may be of unmixed purity and blameless until the day of Christ to the praise and glory of God.” (Philippians 1:9-11)
In this series we are reprinting Spokesman articles by voices from the past in the CLC. Pastor Emeritus James Albrecht is the curator of the series. Professor Robert Dommer (1925-2026) began his career as a pastor in the Spokane Washington area and was involved in the early formation of the CLC. He was one of the original faculty when ILC was founded in 1959, and served faithfully until his retirement in 1988. Professor Dommer died this past June at the age of 101. This article is from the Lutheran Spokesman of October, 1980, and reproduces a devotion presented by Professor Dommer at the 1980 CLC Convention. Scripture quotations are from the author’s own translation.
“The text for today’s devotion describes a beautiful thing—the love of God. The love of God that has made us members of His fellowship, and the abounding of which love has given us the perception to test and approve that which we believe; this same love also works morality or Christian behavior within us.
At first reading the text is awesome! “That you may be of unmixed purity,” Paul says, “and blameless until the day of Christ.” Who is up to this? Who is so honest and so pure as this? When can our behavior ever rightly be described as blameless, or the thoughts of our hearts as of unmixed purity?
If this were a requirement that the apostle is laying upon us, we would be terrified. But, you see, Paul is not demanding this behavior as a condition of our fellowship. If that were the case, no one here today could claim membership. Our membership in God’s fellowship is totally a work of His grace without any strings or conditions attached. What Paul is here describing is that ultimate kind of behavior that God’s love can work in the life of a believer.
A Powerful Force for Good
The love of God is not a neutral quality. It is a living power, a dynamic force in our lives. The love of God moves men to action and is more powerful and effective than any threat or punishment could ever be, for love elicits willing doers. If our hearts could be perfectly absorbed with the love of God, our behavior would be of the highest order. It could be no other way, and that is what Paul is saying. The Christian is like a fruit tree loaded with fruit, with cherries or apples or peaches. You have seen it. And the fruit is good fruit, not wormy or scabby or rotten, but “fruit of righteousness.” This is how Paul characterizes you and me. We are overflowing with the fruit of works, and we are that way because we are overflowing with His love. That relationship must stand and it must stand in that order. The fruit does not produce the tree; the tree produces the fruit.
Christ once atoned for all sins for all time, thus making us perfect. Whatever feeble attempts we make at Christian life are but faltering demonstrations of our appreciation of the gifts of God’s love.
1925-2026