1Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
7It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. 8God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
12Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. 13As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.
15It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. 20I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.
27Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel 28without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. 29For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, 30since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
Interesting points of Discussion:
- Paul is writing a letter from prison (location is uncertain) into which he was thrown into because he casted out a demon in a girl
- The letter is written to the Philippians, who reside in Philippi, a Roman colony in Greece; thus they had all the privileges and rights of Roman citizens
- Paul had found some Gentiles (non-Jews) and begun a church in Philippi with no synagogue to worship in
- 'Christ' in Greek means anointed, commissioned, king, holy, etc.
- Gopi: Theme of encouragement and praise about suffering is prevalent throughout passage.
- Robert: Rejoicing in suffering becomes motivation to spreading the gospel. It is ironic that someone being arrested gives confidence to the believers.
- Douglas: [See verse 2] Seems to be a revelation of God's word from the Holy Spirit.
- Danny: [See verses 9-11] Somehow ties the idea of love with righteousness, with love growing into the fruit of righteousness.
- Suffering for the 'day of Christ Jesus'-Paul could either be talking about a universal day or the day of his own death- is stressed and prioritized
- This day is coming soon to the Philippians
- Paul shows lots of affection with words like 'share' and 'partnership'
- The spirit and tone of Paul's letter is one of encouragement, exhortation, unity, perseverance and reassurance
- Paul's upbeat, free-spirited mood while in prison is a bit striking
- [See verse 19] The 'deliverance' Paul is referring to is not physical but spiritual
- Robert: Paul admits he'd rather be dead and be with Jesus- there seems to be an underlying hardship involved with living.
- [See verses 24-26] Paul displays selflessness, sense of duty and recognition of his calling- all Christ-like characteristics that he calls to be alive for the Philippians
- Paul doesn't seem to care about whether the Philippians preach the gospel out of envy or for Christ because he is more concerned about the "bigger picture" which is the gospel being preached
- [See verse 15] The Philippians' 'envy' is geared towards trying to compete with Paul; the 'rivalry' is between the preachers who are envious of Paul and Paul himself
- These preachers think they can get ahead of Paul because he is in prison but Paul is not bothered by it at all because he is actually winning due to the spreading of the gospel and the new auidience (Roman prison guards) he has gathered
- Paul encourages the Philippians that they will win because their enemies don't even know the rules of the game- winning actually doesn't mean winning in the end
- The Philippians are getting the idea that believing in Jesus may involve going to prison
- Paul trys to explain why he is in prison, that being the message of Jesus
- Paul never whines or becomes bitter about the situation but is focused squarely on accomplishing the mission
- [See verses 27-30] Paul says that as citizens heaven we will run this place (Earth) on the day of Christ as opposed to being destroyed; it's like he is saying, "If we stay together, what they don't know will come true"- he is encouraging them to be stronger witnesses
- Paul has a coaching mentality e.g. "You're doing well", "Keep on going", "I believe in you", etc.
- [See verses 9-11] The Philippians' 'love' is there but is uninformed; it's like Paul is saying, "It's good that you care about me but you'd be happy that I was in prison if you had the discernment to see things through to the end"
- 'Depth of insight' means the ability to see beyond the immediate situation or circumstances
