es, not stumbling-blocks.

(3) Character; "being filled with the fruits of righteousness." This has
to do with our permanent life both within and without, though the emphasis
is on being rather than on doing. Character is the highest point and peak
of the Christian life, for just as fruit is the outcome of the life of a
tree, so character is the fruit of Christian living, and is the best proof
of its existence. The Apostle's word suggests that we are to be
"permanently filled" (Greek) with the fruits of righteousness, those
things that are right, straight, true, correct, upright, without any
deflection on either side. The Lord Who is our Righteousness works in us
the fruits of righteousness by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

4. THE ULTIMATE OBJECT.

The Apostle looks forward "unto the day of Christ" (ver. 10, R.V.), and
then speaks of the Christian life being lived "unto the glory and praise
of God" (ver. 11). Everything is to tend towards the manifestation of the
splendour of God in human life whereby others will be led to acknowledge
and praise Him (Matt. v. 16). And this will reach its culminating point in
the "day of Christ," that time when Christian people will stand before
their Master and receive the reward of their life and service rendered to
Him (ch. i. 6, ii. 16). This was the Apostle's constant thought, and
towards this he strained every nerve (ch. iii. 11-21). It expresses the
highest ideal of Christian living, for day by day we are to live with this
wonderful thought of "the glory and praise of God," and day by day we are
to look forward to the coming of Christ as that day in which our life will
find its fullest realisation, its complete satisfaction, and its unending
joy. And all this reminds us of the essential simplicity of life, for
there is nothing complex, or involved, or mysterious, or difficult in a
life lived day by day to the praise of God and in the light of the coming
of our Master.

As we review this prayer we may feel perfectly sure that the Apostle meant
it to be answered, and indeed, he himself gives us the hint of how this
may come to pass when he tells us that the fruits of righteousness are
"through Jesus Christ." This is only another way of expressing what he has
already shown, his confidence that the possession of the Christian life is
the guarantee of its complete realisation and full perfection by the
indwelling presence and work of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself (ch. i. 6).