‘Therefore if there is any exhortation (encouragement, advocacy) in Christ, if any consolation (encouragement) of love, if any sharing in common in and with the Spirit (koinonia of the Spirit, participation in the Spirit), if any tender mercies and compassions,'
The initial ‘therefore' here looks back to Philippians 1:27-30. It is because they have been called on to live lives worthy of citizens of Heaven and lives worthy of the Gospel; because they have been called on to stand firm in one Spirit and strive together for the faith of the Gospel; and because they have been called on to suffer for the sake of Christ, that they are now to consider what resources and spur they have in Christ and the Holy Spirit in order to ensure that they live in full oneness and love together. Note the emphasis on ‘the Gospel', which is of course the Good News of salvation through Christ crucified and risen. The ‘if' is not an expression of doubt, but rather one of certainty. It assumes the addition of the words ‘as is the case'. What then are those resources?
We note first that there are three grounds of comfort and strengthening mentioned. These are ‘in Christ', ‘of love' and ‘of the Spirit'. Some therefore see ‘of love' as referring to the love of the Father, thus indicating reference here to the triune God (compare 2 Corinthians 12:14 where similar ideas are also in mind). But while that could be so it is not necessarily so here. The love could equally be the love of Christ (compare Ephesians 3:19). Others have seen ‘of love' as having in mind the love that was being experienced among them because of their love for Christ, which itself was an encouragement to oneness, as pointing to the spur of Paul's love for them, but its placement between Christ and the Spirit suggests the love of God and of Christ is primarily in mind.
The fourth phrase, which mentions no grounds, may then be seen as incorporating the other three, summing up the whole. Thus we have four incentives to unity described:
1) ‘If there is any paraklesis (comfort, exhortation, encouragement, advocacy on the basis of the cross) in Christ'.
2) ‘If there is any paramuthion (encouragement, exhortation, comfort) of love'.
3) ‘If there is any sharing in common (koinonia) of the Spirit'.
4) ‘If there are any tender mercies or compassions'.
Different interpreters have connected these four statements in different ways. Some connect the first two together (pointing out that the meanings of paraklesis and paramuthion tend to overlap), although it could be argued that they are then almost simply saying the same thing. They then also take the last two together. Some connect 1). with 3). as both mentioning a member of the Godhead, and 2). with 4). as centring on love and compassion. Still others see the first three as referring to different aspects of the Godhead, with the overall impression being summed up more generally in 4).
With this in mind we will first consider the three incentives described (Christ, love and the Spirit), as connected with the three ‘grounds for action', separately.
1). The first incentive or spur is the ‘paraklesis in Christ'. The idea behind the verb parakaleo is of someone ‘coming alongside to help'. Thus in general Greek paraklesis regularly indicates ‘exhortation' by someone who is seeking to help, as it sometimes also does in the New Testament. On the other hand in Paul's more common usage (and in the translation of the Hebrew for ‘comfort' in LXX) the word indicates ‘comfort' or ‘consolation' or ‘strengthening' resulting from something or someone that comes alongside to comfort or strengthen. However there is a third emphasis in 1 John 2:1 which should not be overlooked. There the noun parakletos refers to ‘Jesus Christ the righteous' seen as acting as a mediator and ‘advocate' (parakletos) in becoming ‘the propitiation for our sins', and this idea may well have already been known to Paul. It would certainly fit the context here, for not only would Christ's encouragement necessarily include thoughts of the cross (John 17:20-21 was itself in the context of the cross), but the very idea is present in Philippians 2:6-8. Furthermore we should note that the idea of sacrifice and offering certainly underlies Paul's thinking in Philippians (Philippians 2:17; Philippians 4:18).
So the thought may be:
a). That the basis of their action should be Christ's exhortation as found for example in John 17:20-21 where He prays for His people to be one.
b). That the basis of their action should be Christ's comforting and strengthening of them (‘that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith' - Ephesians 3:17) along with the Holy Spirit ‘the Comforter' (John 14:16, note that He is ‘another Comforter' acting on behalf of Jesus the Comforter).
c). That the basis of their action should be their response when considering His intervention on their behalf through the cross (Philippians 2:5-7; compare 1 John 2:1). A similar idea of incentive is reflected in the words of the hymn, ‘when I survey the wondrous cross, on which the Prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride'. There too we see the paraklesis of Christ.
These interpretations are, of course, not necessarily exclusive of each other. The word paraklesis may well have been intended to have a number of nuances, and the cross was so central to the Gospel that the cost paid in order to make His actions possible would hardly at any stage be overlooked, especially as it was clearly in Paul's mind in what follows.
Whichever way we interpret it the impact is ‘in Christ (‘en Christow'). This well known phrase regularly indicates Christ as the sphere in which they operate, as though they were surrounded and made one by the security and power of His presence, and were made one with Him (united with His resurrection body). But here it may well further indicate ‘by Christ', seeing Him as the One Who Himself gives such exhortation, encouragement, and strengthening and makes such a sacrificial offering. In other words, because they are ‘in Christ' their encouragement, etc. comes from Christ, and is therefore ‘by Christ'. What greater spur to unity could there be than this, to know that we are made one ‘in Christ', and to know that He is acting to make us one through the cross, and through the price that He paid in order that it might be so (Ephesians 2:14)?
2). The second incentive or spur is ‘the encouragement of love'. This raises the question as to whose love is meant. Some see it as simply advancing a little on the first statement and as drawing specific attention to ‘the love' of Christ. In other words it is not only to be seen as a reminder that Christ dwells in their hearts by faith (Ephesians 3:17) but also as a reminder to them of the vastness of ‘the love of Christ which passes knowledge' (Ephesians 3:19). Others see it as referring specifically to the love of the Father (‘see what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us' - 1 John 3:1). This would bring together in the verse the whole triunity of God (in Christ, the Father's love, of the Spirit) as found also in 2 Corinthians 12:14; Matthew 28:19. Still others see it as referring to the love that is jointly experienced among them because they together loved God (‘we love, because He first loved us' - 1 John 4:19-20). While others see it as referring to Paul's own love for the Philippians.
Again we need not necessarily totally distinguish. The love of Christ is one with the love of the Father, and both are freely bestowed upon us if we are His. Paul may thus have had both in mind. Further, the consciousness of Their love then brings us within the sphere of absolute love with the consequence that we love one another (‘we love because He first loved us' - 1 John 4:19-20). It may then be this overall love that is being seen as the encouragement towards oneness of heart, and oneness of spirit and action, among His people. However, the placement of this phrase between reference to Christ and reference to the Spirit does suggest that we are to see the love of God and of Christ as paramount in his thinking. After all Paul was hardly likely to have seen his own love, or even the love of God's people, as fittingly coming between ‘paraklesis in Christ' and ‘participation of the Spirit'.
3). The third incentive or spur is ‘if there be any koinonia of the Spirit.' The word koinonia has primarily within it the thought of ‘sharing in common'. This being so the idea here is of the sharing in common which results from the sharing of the experience and activity of the one Spirit. Thus God's people are seen as one because they have all been ‘drenched in/by one Spirit ' (1 Corinthians 12:13) thereby becoming united with and in Christ's own body. Some thus translate as ‘if there be any joint participation in the Spirit'. In this case their oneness results from their joint participation in the Spirit.
The emphasis, however, is not to be seen as on the koinonia but on the activity of the one Spirit Who causes it to occur. It is not their ‘fellowship with one another' that is primarily in mind, but their joint ‘participation with the Spirit'. In other words we are made one because we have all experienced the one Spirit. And Paul's point is therefore that this should be a further spur to practical, outworked unity.
4). The fourth incentive or spur is ‘If there are any tender mercies (literally ‘bowels') or compassions'. Here the use of the plural without reference to any particular source may well signify that it is intended to encompass all that has been in mind in the first three, the love and activity of Christ, the love and activity of the Father, and the love and activity of the Holy Spirit, and all other loves besides. In other words it is intended to encompasses every aspect of God's unmerited favour revealed in so many ways towards us.
The basic meaning of the word translated ‘tender mercies' is ‘bowels'. This was because emotions such as love and compassion were seen by the ancients as coming from the bowels. Here therefore the word ‘bowels' indicates such tender mercies as springing forth from the very ‘heart' of God. We may therefore sum up the totality of the incentives mentioned in this verse in terms of the all-inclusive love of God revealed in the redeeming activity and love of the Saviour, the all-embracing love of the Father, and the active and uniting love of the Holy Spirit. These are to be our spurs to unity and oneness of heart and mind.