Approve

“so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ” Philippians 1:10

Approve – All that glitters is not gold.  In fact, even gold comes in various denominations.  Ten carat, fourteen, eighteen, twenty-four and pure.  You need to know the difference when you want to buy jewelry or make an investment.  So, how can you tell?  They all look the same on the outside.

Gold is measured according to established standards.  Investment gold is “hallmarked” to show its quality.  Tiny stamps are hammered into the surface, warranting the quality.  Of course, counterfeiters can also add the tiny stamps.  So, if you don’t trust the source, the only way to know for sure is to examine the inside.

That’s the idea behind this word.  Dokimazo is the Greek verb for “testing”.  It is an assayer’s word.  It means to prove the inner value of something.  But Paul has a bit more in mind here.  He draws on an Old Testament concept found in Jeremiah 11:20.  His view of testing is really related to God’s examination, a thorough inside analysis.  In that Old Testament context, the idea of testing takes on the nuance of examining the essential spiritual qualities of a person.  In almost all of the occurrences of this Old Testament word, God is the examiner and man is the one examined.

Now look again at this verse in Philippians.  Who does the examining?  You do!  You are to take God’s perspective and God’s role in “testing” quality.  You are to look deeply within and see if what you find fits God’s standard.  What makes it possible for you to take on a role that only God played in the Old Testament?  The answer is simple:  you are His temple, the place of His residence.  If God dwells within you, you see the world with His eyes and according to His standards.  That’s why you can do the testing.  That’s the only reason why.

This raises an important question.  Do you really see the world differently?  Do you really evaluate the things of this world with a different standard?  Are you really testing as God would test?  If you aren’t aware of a different perspective, maybe you don’t see with God’s eyes.  Maybe you need to re-evaluate who’s doing the looking.  You can’t tell the difference between false and pure unless you know what to look for.