Philippians 1
Paul writes to the Philippians from a Roman prison, awaiting trial. The charge is uncertain. Death is possible. Yet he opens not with fear but with joy: "I rejoice, yea, and will rejoice." This is what happens when a human being discovers that Christ is more real than circumstance.
Philippians 1 reveals that Paul's chief concern is not his own safety or comfort. It is the advance of the gospel. Whether he lives or dies, whether he is released or condemned, the gospel moves forward. And for a believer who grasps this truth - that Christ is greater than circumstance - indestructible joy becomes possible.
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Philippians 1:1-2Grace and Peace from Christ
1Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: 2Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul calls himself and Timothy "servants of Jesus Christ." The Greek word is doulos, a slave - the strongest possible word for submission. Paul does not apologize for this. To be enslaved to Christ is freedom itself. The Praetorian guard were the imperial troops to whom Paul's bonds made Christ visible (1:13). And the Philippian church itself was rooted in a Roman colony.
Philippians 1:3-8Rejoicing with Thanksgiving
3I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, 5For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; 6Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: 7Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. 8For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.
Paul does not merely think of the Philippians in passing. He remembers them before God in prayer. Their faithfulness is not lost on him. This is what leadership looks like: noticing, thanking, praying.
Paul is "confident" (pepeithenai) that God who began the good work will "perform" (epitelei) it. The Greek verb suggests completion, perfection, bringing something to fulfillment. This is deep confidence in God's faithfulness.
"I have you in my heart." Paul does not see the Philippians as distant, abstract recipients of his ministry. They are in his heart - a phrase that speaks of deep affection and intimate connection, even across the barrier of a prison wall.
Philippians 1:9-11Growing in Knowledge and Judgment
9And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; 10That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; 11Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
"Your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment." Paul does not ask for mere emotional effusiveness or blind sentiment. He asks that love grow - overflow - and be paired with knowledge and discernment. Growing love requires growing understanding. A love without knowledge becomes naive. Knowledge without love becomes cold.
The Greek word eilikrines originally meant "tested in sunlight" - pure, unmixed. To be sincere is to be without mixture, without hidden agendas, without the tendency to compromise truth for comfort. The believer is called to be pure light.
Philippians 1:12-14Bonds That Serve the Gospel
12But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; 13So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; 14And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
This is the radical reframe. Paul has been arrested, tried, imprisoned - but he understands his own suffering as an instrument for the gospel's advance. His bonds have made Christ visible "in all the palace" (likely the royal guards themselves), and his faithfulness has emboldened other believers. What the empire intended as oppression has become proclamation.
Philippians 1:15-18Christ Preached in Truth and Pretense
15Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: 16The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: 17But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. 18What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.
Even within the church, preachers are divided. Some preach Christ from "goodwill" - genuine love for Christ and concern for the gospel. Others preach from ambition, hoping to increase their own standing or diminish Paul's. The church has never been a place of perfect motives.
Philippians 1:19-26Life Centered on Christ
19For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. 21For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
Paul writes of his own imprisonment and yet his joy in Christ; the gospel advances through his chains. From captivity comes freedom; from suffering comes song.
23For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: 24Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. 25And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith; 26That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.
"Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death." Paul's body - his visible, mortal, vulnerable body - is the arena where Christ will be made great. Living faithfully magnifies Him. Dying faithfully magnifies Him. The particular manner of life or death is secondary to the central question: Does this magnify Christ?
This is the sentence that sums up the entire letter: "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." For Paul, living and dying have been collapsed into a single frame of reference: Christ. To live is to pursue Christ above all else. And if living means Christ, then dying - the end of that pursuit on earth - is a transition into unmediated presence with the one he has pursued.
"I have a desire to depart, and to be with Christ." The Greek word analusai suggests a dissolving, a breaking camp, a journey onward. Paul does not fear death. He understands it as a transition from one form of service to another - from serving Christ in the flesh to being in His presence.
Philippians 1:27-30Worthy Conduct and Fearless Suffering
27Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; 28And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. 29For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake; 30Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.
"Let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ." The Greek word politeuesthai does not mean merely speech. It means to live as a citizen, to conduct oneself in a manner befitting one's citizenship. The Philippians were proud of their Roman citizenship; Paul calls them to an even deeper citizenship - in the kingdom of Christ. Their manner of life should reflect that higher allegiance.
"In nothing terrified by your adversaries." The word pturo means to be frightened, to cower, to lose heart. Paul is not saying suffering won't come. He is saying fear should not be the believer's ruling emotion. To stand unafraid before adversaries is itself a sign of salvation - evidence to the watching world that the believer trusts in something deeper than survival.