Philippians 1
CHAPTER 1
Paul updates the Philippians on his situation in Rome
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus that are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 I thank my God upon all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine with joy making requests for you all, 5 giving thanks for your fellowship in furtherance of the gospel from the first day until now. 6 Being confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will keep working at perfecting it, until the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart, both in my imprisonment and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. 8 For God is my witness, how I long after you all in the tender mercies of Christ Jesus. 9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve the things that are excellent, so that you may be sincere and void of offence until the day of Christ; 11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. 12 Now I would have you know, brothers, that the things which happened to me have turned out for the progress of the gospel; 13 so that my bonds made Christ manifest throughout the whole Praetorian guard, and to all the rest; 14 and further, most of the believers in the Lord, being made confident through my bonds, are more abundantly bold to speak the word of God without fear.
15 Some indeed preach Christ out of envy and strife, and some of good will. 16 The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; 17 but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defence of the gospel. 18 What then? In every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed and therein I rejoice, yes and will rejoice.
Paul speaks of his future
19 For I know that this shall result in my salvation, through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 according to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing shall I be put to shame; but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death. 21 For to me to live, is Christ, and to die- is gain. 22 But if by living in the flesh, this shall bring fruit from my work, then what I shall choose I do not know. 23 I am torn between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 Yet to abide in the flesh is more needful for your sake. 25 And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and stay with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith; 26 that your boasting may abound in Christ Jesus in me through my presence with you again.
27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ. That, whether I come and see you or be absent, I may hear of your state- you standing fast in one spirit, with one mind together striving for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, and of your salvation- and that from God. 29 Because to you it has been granted in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer in his behalf; 30 having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.
Commentary
1:6 God will never stop working with us once He has started; there will be times when His apparent silence may lead us to question this, but the fact is, even those apparent silences are part of His working with us.
1:12 Even imprisonment for false reasons can be used by God to lead us to meet people to whom we can witness the Gospel; and far lesser traumas and misjudgements will be used by Him likewise.
1:18 We should genuinely rejoice that the real Christ is preached, even if we doubt the credentials and behaviour of those who preach. The progress of Christ’s Name and work is far more important than our personal disagreements with other preachers.
1:23 Paul would “be with Christ” in the Kingdom, thanks to the resurrection at the return of Christ to earth. Death is no more than an unconscious sleep for the believer; the next waking moment, we will be with Christ.
1:27 The basic teachings of the Gospel are designed to elicit a practical life in response to them.
