#2 How To Increase Your Joy Philippians 1:1-11

(1:1-2) Introduction: this is a most unusual greeting to a church from Paul. He does not refer to himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ. Why? There was no need for him to defend his call from God. His relationship with the church at Philippi was just what it should be: a relationship founded and rooted in Jesus Christ and in the love and respect for each other. The church held its minister, Paul, ever so closely to its heart; they loved and cared for him as few churches love and care for their ministers. This greeting gives some outstanding distinctives of Christian believers.

We live in a generally sad world, a fallen world well acquainted with despair, depression, disappointment, dissatisfaction, and a longing for lasting happiness that often never comes to pass. Moments of pleasure and satisfaction are scattered through the general pain and sorrow of life. Many people have little hope that their situation in life will ever change much, if any, for the better.

Hopelessness tends to increase with age. Long years of life often become long years of sorrow, unfulfillment, loss of loved ones and friends, and often physical limitations and pain. Such decreasing times of happiness tend to produce a morbid sadness and lessening satisfaction with life.

Most people define happiness as an attitude of satisfaction or delight based on positive circumstances largely beyond their control. Happiness, therefore, cannot be planned or programmed, much less guaranteed. It is experienced only if and when circumstances are favorable. It is therefore elusive and uncertain.

Spiritual joy, on the other hand, is not an attitude dependent on chance or circumstances. It is the deep and abiding confidence that, regardless of one’s circumstances in life, all is well between the believer and the Lord. No matter what difficulty, pain, disappointment, failure, rejection, or other challenge one is facing, genuine joy remains because of that eternal well-being established by God’s grace in salvation. Thus, Scripture makes it clear that the fullest, most lasting and satisfying joy is derived from a true relationship with God. It is not based on circumstances or chance, but is the gracious and permanent possession of every child of God. Therefore it is not surprising that joy is an important New Testament theme. The verb rejoice (chairoô) appears ninety-six times in the New Testament (including those times when it is used as a greeting) and the noun joy (chara) another fifty-nine times. The two words appear thirteen times in Philippians.

A biblical theology of joy includes many features. First, joy is a gift from God. David declared, “You have put gladness in my heart, more than when their grain and new wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety” (Ps. 4:7–8); “You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever” (Ps. 16:11).

Second, God grants joy to those who believe the gospel. Announcing Christ’s birth to the shepherds, the angel said, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10–11). Jesus told His disciples, “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full” (John 15:11). Christ came to proclaim a gospel that would give true supernatural joy to those who receive Him as Savior and Lord.

Third, joy is produced by God the Holy Spirit. “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking,” Paul said, “but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17). In his letter to the Galatian churches, the apostle wrote, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22–23).

Fourth, joy is experienced most fully as believers receive and obey God’s Word. The prophet Jeremiah exulted, “Your words were found and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts” (Jer. 15:16). The apostle John wrote his first letter so that, among other things, his and his readers’ “joy may be made complete” (1 John 1:4).

Fifth, believers’ joy is deepened through trials. The full reality of joy is experienced when it is contrasted with sadness, sorrow, and difficulties. “You also became imitators of us and of the Lord,” Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit” (1 Thess. 1:6). In his second letter to the believers at Corinth, Paul spoke of being “sorrowful yet always rejoicing” (2 Cor. 6:10). James counseled believers to “consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials” (James 1:2), and Peter encouraged them with these words: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials. (1 Peter 1:3–6)

Sixth, believers’ joy is made complete when they set their hope on the glory of heaven. They are always to be “rejoicing in hope” (Rom. 12:12). Peter reminded them that, “though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8). Later in that letter he exhorted, “To the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation” (1 Peter 4:13).

Jude concluded his brief letter with the beautiful benediction: “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen” (Jude 24–25).

The love bond between Paul and the Philippian believers may have been stronger than the one he had with any other church. It was in large measure because of the joy that their love brought to him that the theme of Paul’s letter to the Philippians is joy. The depth of their relationship with him encouraged the apostle during his imprisonment and added to his joy. He was concerned about their unity, their faithfulness, and many other important spiritual and practical matters. But his overriding concern was that their sorrow over his afflictions would be tempered by their joy over his faithfulness to the Lord and the great reward that awaited him in heaven. Paul wanted them not to be sad, but to share in the fullest measure his deep, abiding joy in Jesus Christ. It is a noteworthy testimony to the maturity of the Philippian believers that, although Paul warned and encouraged them, he made no mention of any theological or moral problem in the church at Philippi. That also brought the apostle joy.

(1:1) Discipleship—Young People: a healthy church disciples young people. In the words “Paul and Timothy” we see a father and son in the faith—the adult and the young person together. There was deep affection that bound Paul and Timothy together. That affection found its root and purpose in the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul contributed the wisdom of experience, and Timothy the hope and vibrant energy of youth. It should be noted that the adult, Paul, is mentioned first. The adult always holds the primary responsibility and privilege for taking hold of young people and making disciples of them. This was the command of the Lord’s great commission; therefore, the believer must always keep his focus upon finding young people and making disciples of them.

(1:1) Servants—Slaves (doulos): a healthy church serves Jesus Christ, really serves Him. The word “servant” (doulos) is the word bond-slave in Greek. There is a distinct difference between a servant and a slave. A servant is free to work for whomever he wishes; a slave is bought and purchased—completely and totally owned by a master. A slave is bound by law to his master.

Paul calls himself and Timothy the slaves of Jesus Christ. A look at the slave market of Paul’s day shows more clearly what Paul meant when he said he was a “slave of Jesus Christ.”

1. The slave was owned by his master; he was totally possessed by his master. This is what Paul meant. Paul was purchased and possessed by Christ. Christ had looked upon him and had seen his degraded and needful condition. And when Christ looked, the most wonderful thing happened: Christ loved him and bought him. Therefore, he was now the possession of Christ.

2. The slave existed for his master and he had no other reason for existence. He had no personal rights whatsoever. The same was true with Paul: he existed only for Christ. His rights were the rights of Christ only.

3. The slave served his master and he existed only for the purpose of service. He was at the master’s disposal any hour of the day. So it was with Paul: he lived only to serve Christ—hour by hour and day by day.

4. The slave’s will belonged to his master. He was allowed no will and no ambition other than the will and ambition of the master. He was completely subservient to the master and owed total obedience to the will of the master. Paul belonged to Christ. In fact, he even said that he fought and struggled to bring every thought into captivity “to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:3-5, esp. 2 Cor. 10:5).

5. There is a fifth and most precious thing that Paul meant by his being “a slave of Jesus Christ.” He meant that he had the highest and most honored and kingly profession in all the world. Men of God, the greatest men of history, have always been called “the servants of God.” It was the highest title of honor. The believer’s slavery to Jesus Christ is no cringing, cowardly, or shameful subjection. It is the position of honor—the honor that bestows upon a man the privileges and responsibilities of serving the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Þ Christian believers are said to be the slaves of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:18; 1 Cor. 7:22; Ephes. 6:6; Col. 4:12; 2 Tim. 2:24).

The great need today is for men and women to become slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ. We must become His slaves and do what He says. Then and only then will the world be reached with the glorious news of eternal life. Then and only then will the desperate needs of the world be met.

(1:1) Saints—Sanctified—Holy: a healthy church is full of true saints. The Bible never uses the word saint to refer to a few people in the church who have achieved unusual spiritual maturity. The word saints refers to the sanctified or holy ones. It simply means to be set apart and to be separated. Therefore, every believer who has truly trusted Jesus Christ as his Savior is separated from the world and set apart to live for God. Every true believer is a “saint,” a person set apart unto God.

1. There is initial or positional sanctification. When a person believes in Christ, he is immediately set apart for God—once and for all—permanently.

2. There is progressive sanctification. The true believer makes a determined and disciplined effort to allow the Spirit of God to set him apart day by day. The Spirit of God takes him and conforms him into the image of Christ more and more—for as long as he walks upon this earth.

3. There is eternal sanctification. The day is coming when the believer will be perfectly set apart unto God and His service—without any sin or failure whatsoever. That day will be the great and glorious day of the believer’s eternal redemption.

In light of all that God has done for us, how can we do anything less than to live a sanctified, holy life before God? How can we be lethargic and complacent, sleepy-eyed, and unmotivated? How can we allow ourselves to live lives of routine and unconcern? How can we live lives of indulgence, license, selfishness, immorality, perversion, wickedness, and evil?

(1:1) Bishops—Deacons: a healthy church organizes for ministry and has leaders who lead by example. Note that both bishops and deacons are mentioned as being in the Philippian church. What Paul is doing is addressing the leaders of the church and setting them apart from the membership whom he addressed as “saints.” This is significant, for it means that the leadership or officers of the early church are here named: they were bishops and deacons.. The point to see in this passage is that believers organize for ministry.

1. The bishops (episkopois) were apparently the same as the elders (presbuteros) of a church. The two words are used interchangeably to refer to the same men (Acts 20:17, 28; Titus 1:5, 7). The word “bishop” means to oversee, look after, manage.

2. The deacons (diakonois) were spiritually minded men who had dedicated their lives to the Lord to minister to the saints of God. They were persons who were chosen to minister to the widows and widowers and to the poor and sick of a church in order to free the minister to concentrate on prayer and preaching. But note a significant fact:

1) The church must organize for ministry and must always be careful to ordain only persons who have proven to be spiritually mature in the Lord.

2) The two ordained officers of the church must be diligent in both their duty and in sharing the Word of the Lord. Every believer is needed to bear witness for the Lord Jesus and the leadership must take the lead. How can we expect others to be witnessing and ministering if we, the leadership, are not witnessing and ministering?

While the text mentions both Paul and Timothy as the senders of the letter to the Philippians, the authorship is undoubtedly reserved specifically for Paul.[1] Paul was born in Tarsus in Cilicia into a family which apparently maintained a large measure of their Jewish faith and way of life despite the Gentile environment. Thus Paul was thoroughly Jewish and a “citizen of no mean (i.e., important) city” as he refers to it (Acts 21:39), possessing on top of that Roman citizenship (Acts 22:25).

Though he left Tarsus for Jerusalem where he was brought up, he probably also maintained substantial family contacts with Tarsus and was not unfamiliar with the ways and practices of Gentile people in that town (cf. Acts 9:30). In Jerusalem he received his formal education in Judaism under the famous teacher Gamaliel (Acts 22:3) who himself was the grandson of one named Hillel. Hillel was significant in that he had developed many interpretive rules to govern the Jews’ reading and application of Scripture. Jesus may have been referring to some of these interpretations and rules in the sermon on the Mount when he commented, “You have heard that it was said….”

When God called Paul to be a primary spokesman for Christianity in a Gentile context, his background and connections to a pagan city (Tarsus) and his Jewish training all came into play. He undoubtedly understood Gentile thinking and had recourse, in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, to use the interpretive skills he had honed during those long and arduous hours with his mentor—when he was not a Christian. God wastes nothing. He uses it all for his purposes. Remember that God refers to Paul as his “chosen” instrument indicating in the least that He had uniquely qualified him for his apostolic role of preaching to Jews and Gentiles. For those of you who feel that you are required, for whatever reason, to do things that just don’t seem to be of any value, just remember that God will use it all to his glory.

In summary, then, Paul was brought up in a religiously observant Jewish home and trained with strictness in the Pharisaic sect (Acts 22:3). When we get to chapter 3 we will see more about his Jewish heritage, commitment to certain traditions, and zeal for God. By the time he was imprisoned in Rome in 60-62 AD and wrote this letter to the Philippians he was about 60 years old—and still going strong!!!

Paul also mentions Timothy in the address of this letter. Timothy had ministered with Paul in Macedonia and helped establish the churches there and in Achaia as well (cf. Acts 16:3; 17:15; 18:5; 20:4). Timothy stuck with Paul through his rocky relationship with the Corinthians and in the mind of the apostle was a good representative of the latter’s way of life and teaching. During a difficult period, Paul sent him to work with the Corinthians, referring to him as his son whom he loved (1 Cor 4:17). Indeed, he was side by side Paul in the ministry in Corinth (cf. 2 Cor 1:19) and also in the ministry to the Philippians (Phil 2:22). It is fairly rare in life that one can have such a good friend and trusted confidant, but Paul had it in Timothy.

In keeping with Paul’s relationship with Timothy and indeed the entire spirit of the letter to the Philippians, we ought also to lift up our heads and look around at the people God has placed beside us in the ministry. Let us not take them for granted or despise the work they do. We ought to seek first to uphold them in their burdens as Christ upholds us in ours (Gal 6:2). I once heard a story of a young man who was working with an older man in the ministry. The young man, who incidentally is now fairly old, commented that the only time the older man had anything to say to him was when he had made a mistake—then, and only then, would the old man speak, and then only to criticize! That’s a shame and totally unnecessary (that’s not to say, though, that the younger man didn’t learn anything or grow in Christ during that period).

We must remember that Paul was a driven person and focused on a goal, while Timothy appears to have been somewhat more cautious and timid (cf. 2 Tim 1:7).[2] The fact that Paul eventually gave Timothy charge over Ephesus, a major centre for Gentile outreach and mission, indicates that Paul did not defeat his young disciple, but developed him (1 Tim 1:3). The letters to Timothy are proof of this! Timothy must have “caught on” to ministry because he appears to have acquired the same selfless love for the Philippians that Paul also had (cf. Phil 1:7-8 with 2:20-21). More is caught than taught! So when we are working with others in ministry, let us purposely and regularly set aside 15 minutes to a half hour and think about how we can intentionally help them in their walk with Christ. If we did that, we’d have a much lower attrition rate in leadership as well as more of the joy and unity that Paul longed for us to experience (Phil 2:2).

Paul refers to both himself and Timothy as servants (douloi) of Christ Jesus. While he calls himself a “servant” in the introduction to two of his other letters, namely, in Romans 1:1 and Titus 1:1 (though in the latter case he calls himself the “servant of God”), his general practice is to refer to himself as an “apostle.” This is true in 1 Cor 1:1; 2 Cor 1:1; Gal 1:1; Eph 1:1; Col 1:1; 1 Tim 1:1; 2 Tim 1:1. We note also that even in Rom 1:1 and Titus 1:1, where he calls himself a “servant” or “slave,” he nonetheless refers to himself as an apostle in those introductions as well.[3] The idea of a “servant” is a broader category than “apostle,” that is, all apostles were servants of Christ, but not all servants of Christ were apostles (at least in the technical sense of “apostle”; cf. 1 Cor 9:1-2; see also 2 Tim 2:24). A more significant observation, however, is that the term “servant” connotes humility, while the term “apostle” generally connotes authority and “the right to speak and act” on behalf of another. In the case of Paul it often expresses his derived authority from Christ and his right to speak and act as one so commissioned by the Lord. What is striking in this context is that in contrast to any other occasion Paul includes his coworker, i.e., Timothy in this case, in the designation “servant.” The answer as to why this is so is in part dependent on the background of the term “servant.” Is it to be found in the OT concept of the “servant of Yahweh” or in the Greco-Roman idea of “servants” or “slaves”?

The word “servant” (doulos) in the Greek OT[4] often times speaks of the “servant” of Yahweh in terms of men appointed by Yahweh for certain special tasks: (1) Moses is referred to as the servant of the Lord (Num 12:7; Joshua 14:7); (2) Joshua (24:29; Judges 2:8); (3) Abraham (Psalm 104:42); (4) David (Ps 88:3) and (5) all the prophets are regarded as Yahweh’s servants (Jer 25:4; Ezek 38:17). Thus there is a sense that the word “servant,” especially in terms of Moses and the prophets, refers to one who speaks on behalf of God and is invested, therefore, with his authority. There is also, then, a sense of dignity and authority associated with the expression “servant of the Lord.” This may have been Paul’s meaning here in Phil 1:1, but this is unlikely. While there are struggles in the church (2:3-4; 4:2), the church on the whole seems receptive to Paul and his coworkers, so that a reference to his “authority from the Lord” seems somewhat out of place. Also, had this been the case, we would have expected Paul to also refer to himself as an “apostle” and to separate himself from Timothy in the introduction.

There is another context for the term other than the Greek OT. It is the culture in which Paul lived. The term “servants” (doulos) in Paul’s Greco-Roman context referred to a class of people who were at the bottom of the social order. They became slaves, for example, through war, debt, capital convictions, and simply being born from a slave mother. In any case there were slave dealers who acquired them and sold them as property. Slaves had no rights, privileges, or freedoms in any sphere of society outside the family to which they belonged, though some of them, including doctors and accountants, were more educated than their owners. With this background in mind, Paul’s use of the term in Phil 1:1 could indicate that he and Timothy are servants of Christ Jesus in the sense that both he and Timothy are owned by Christ and have been bound over to him to do his will—and his will only. It could be a comment about their humble service to Christ.

In speaking about a Christian’s salvation, Paul says a similar thing in 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20:

6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 6:20 For you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.

We originally asked the question of why Paul included Timothy with himself under the title “servants of Christ Jesus.” This seems evident now. The term “servant” conveys not the sense found in its Jewish background concerning one’s authority and special place in a task commanded by God, but its Greco-Roman sense of humble servitude. The latter is much more in keeping with the letter’s theme of humility (cf. 2:1-11). Paul’s inclusion of Timothy beside himself in the introduction, then, is to provide a model for the Philippians of true Christian humility, that even though he was a great apostle and invested with authority directly from the Lord, he was first and foremost a servant of Christ Jesus, just like any other Christian, including Timothy (Phil 4:9). Both of them worked shoulder-to-shoulder together for the Philippians and Paul regarded his relationship to Timothy as equal under the Lord.[5] Many ministers and Christian leaders intent on building their own kingdom could take a lesson from Paul and Timothy here. So also the rest of us. As someone once said, “We’re just a bunch of nobody’s running around trying to exalt a somebody!” We would do well to balance our agendas with such a thought.

Paul’s service to the Lord was expressed in terms of helping others come to know Christ and grow in that faith. Specifically in the book of Philippians his service included praying for the church (1:3-11), providing a model for them (1:20-21; 3:1-21; 4:9), teaching them, providing people to help and instruct them (2:19-30), etc. Paul also provides an excellent model for us today regarding the training and encouragement of young believers.

B. The Recipients (1:1b)

Having introduced both himself and Timothy together as servants of Christ Jesus, Paul now addresses the recipients of the letter. The letter is addressed not to a select few brilliant people in the church, but to all the saints (hagiois) in Philippi[6] and Paul intentionally includes with them those who are leaders in the church, i.e., the overseers (episkopois) and deacons (diakonois).

The reference to the Christians in Philippi as saints is not a reference to their conduct or way of life per se (though conduct is often logically associated with such a term), but rather to their definitive salvation accomplished by Christ Jesus (cf. Rom 8:30). They are saints by virtue of being in Christ Jesus. What is important to note in this introduction is that when Paul refers to the church, he refers to all of them, not some or most, but all. Since such a focus on all the believers is rare in other Pauline introductions (cf. the only other place is in Rom 1:7), yet occurs here in Philippians 1:1 and throughout the letter, it is perhaps significant and ought to be explored momentarily. Let’s look at some of those passages in Philippians:

1:7 For it is right for me to think this about all of you, because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel all of you became partners together with me in the grace of God.

1:8 For God is my witness that I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

1:25 And since I am sure of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for the sake of your progress and joy in the faith,

2:17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink-offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I have joy and rejoice together with all of you.

2:26 Indeed, he greatly missed all of you and was distressed because you heard that he had been ill.

Paul affirms that he prays for all of them and that all of them share in the gospel. He considers his life and ministry to be directed toward all of them and their progress in the faith. He rejoices with all of them, even with the ones who had caused some of the strife. Thus we can now see that the inclusion of the words “all of you” in the introduction are significant and reflect Paul’s attempt to unite the church together around Christ and their common bond in him. So concerned is he about this issue of unity in the church at Philippi that he opens the letter with an anticipation of dealing with it. This kind of preliminary glance at a theme to come later in the letter is not at all uncommon in Paul (e.g., 1 Cor 1:6-9 with chapters 12-14; Col 1:3-14 and the rest of the letter).

Paul also refers to the leaders in the church as overseers (episkopois) and deacons (diakonois). These terms need some explaining though it is difficult to be certain about their precise origin and meaning. Basically the plural noun overseers refers to a group of individuals who were given the responsibility to care for the people, perhaps as Gordon Fee suggests, through “administration, hospitality, and ministeral care.“[7] In this case it carries the same basic function as its use in Acts 20:28 where Paul exhorted the Ephesian elders to tend to the flock among whom God had made them episkopoi. People in these positions (probably official offices of the church in Philippi) were expected to maintain a certain kind of lifestyle outlined in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9. This included the ability to teach and refute false doctrine. On the other hand, the plural noun deacons refers to another accompanying group of leaders in the church at Philippi (1 Tim 3:8-13). The specifics of their functions are very difficult to say with any degree of certainty but the term generally has a background referring to more menial tasks done in service to others (cf. Mark 10:43-45; Acts 6:2).[8]

Thus it is reasonably clear that there was an established, visible leadership in Philippi and according to the ministeral letters (1 Tim 3:1-13; Tit 1:5-9), such was to be the case in other Pauline churches as well. The question is asked, then, since this leadership was established in other Pauline churches, why is this the only time in which Paul explicitly mentions them in a letter to a church? Some commentators argue that these leaders were responsible for organizing the gifts sent to Paul and he thus wished to give attention to them for their fine work in the Lord (cf. 4:14-18). But they are not mentioned in 4:10-20, though the congregation may have understood them to be those primarily responsible for sending aid to Paul.

Other scholars, in light of the probability that there was some measure of disunity in the church, have argued that Paul mentions these leaders so as to remind them of their duty to carry out his injunctions to promote unity and peace among the members of the church. Certainly this would have been a responsibility of theirs, but Paul gives his injunctions directly to the church (e.g., 3:1ff). Others have argued that the reason Paul mentions these leaders is to endorse their authority to deal with those whom the apostle refers to as “dogs,” “mutilators of the flesh” and “enemies of the cross of Christ” (3:2-3, 18). This too lacks for any positive proof since the warning is given to the members as a whole (3:1).

Finally, some suggest that there was friction among the leaders themselves, of which Euodia and Syntyche were a part (4:2-3), and the mention of the leaders in a greeting which focuses on servanthood and humility (see comments above) suggests that Paul wants to remind them of their need to be unified. All these suggestions have at least some merit in the text of the epistle, but the last is more in keeping with the overall focus in the letter on humility and unity among the Christians in Philippi.

C. The Greeting (1:2)

The greeting itself is identical to that found in 1 and 2 Corinthians, Romans, Ephesians and Philemon and has thus become a standard for Paul. The interesting point in the salutation is to see how Paul has transformed Greek and Hebrew traditions according to the work of Christ and God’s attitude toward his church. Paul always expressed a Christo-centric attitude and perspective on life.

grace

The common salutation in Greek letter writing was “Greetings” but they tended to use the Greek verb chairein not the noun grace (charis) as Paul does. An example of contemporary Greek usage can be found in the NT in Acts 15:23 and James 1:1. In both of these cases the writers have used chairein. But Paul uses the noun charis. This was a favorite word of Paul’s which he uses approximately 100 times most of which express the unmerited favor of God toward undeserving sinners like the Philippians, and by extension you and me. It is the term he uses in Ephesians 2:8-9 to express that salvation is totally the work of God on behalf of the believer and comes not through any human effort (i.e., “not by works”). Grace was at the heart of Paul’s gospel and the truth that he believed taught people to say “no” to ungodliness and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age (Titus 2:11-12). It was the grace of God that turned Paul—the greatest legalist of his day—into the greatest exponent of the love and mercy of God (cf. 1 Cor 15:10). Paul was confident that all the Philippians shared in the saving grace of God (1:7) and as a result he prayed in 4:23 that the grace of Christ might rest on them.

peace

Though most translations render this verse as “Grace and peace to you…” in all the salutations of the apostle except 1 Timothy-Titus, the Greek text invariably reads “grace to you, and peace…” which indicates that the peace that follows is as a result of the grace just mentioned. That is, for Paul, there is no peace in the heart, no sense of well-being and wholeness, no tranquillity in the heart before God and in the storms of life, until a person has entered into the grace of God by faith. Then, and only then, can he have the peace of God in his/her heart. A person enters that peace by trusting in Christ as their savior.

God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ

Paul astonishingly writes that the grace and peace are not from him but from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It would have been pleasantly startling for Paul’s readers to have received a greeting from God. It is even more startling for us today, in light of what we know about Paul’s monotheistic Jewish heritage, to see Jesus functioning in the same capacity as the father. Both of them, according to Paul here, are the authors of the grace and peace for the Christian. Thus there is at least the implication, concerning the ease with which Paul allows the statement to flow from his monotheistic pen—unencumbered—that he regarded Christ as deity as well. In this interpretation the term our is not to be taken with anything other than father (cf. Matt 6:9) and Christ is seen as another agent in the giving of grace and peace.[9] Thus Paul is not saying, as he has done on other occasions: “the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 15:6; 2 Cor 1:3; 11:31 Eph 1:3; Col 1:3), but implying that Christ is equal to the Father in the dispensing of salvation benefits. Further, the issue of the deity (and humanity) of Christ will come up again in the letter in 2:6ff. Thus once again the apostle has anticipated another important theme in the introduction to his letter.

V. Applicational Ideas

1. Recognize and appreciate that in the church we are all servants no matter what how “high” or “low” our profile in the body of Christ may be.

2. Learn to appreciate other Christians by thanking God for their ministries and contribution to the body.

4. Meditate (as you look up other passages in your Bible) on the person of God the father in terms of his relationship to you and the person of Christ as Lord (cf. John 14:23). Remember we have One God who has revealed himself in three persons. There are three distinct persons, yet all equally partake of deity.

A popular test for depression rates people on a scale of one to ten. The higher the score, the more severe the depression. If the apostle Paul had taken such a test, he doubtless would have scored a zero, because his joy was complete and irrepressible. Like the writer of Psalms 42 and 43, he knew how to overcome depression, anxiety, and worry (cf. Pss. 42:5, 11; 43:5).

Yet Paul’s circumstances at the time he wrote this letter were dire. He was imprisoned in Rome, possibly facing execution. As it turned out, he was released from this imprisonment, but he was not certain that would be the case when he wrote Philippians. He was under house arrest (Acts 28:23, 30), chained to a Roman soldier (Acts 28:16) to prevent any possibility of escape. Paul languished there, unable to do the work he loved, while others, taking advantage of his situation, preached the gospel out of contention and strife (1:15–17). Nevertheless, his heart overflowed with joy (1:18). If anything, those horrendous circumstances made Paul’s joy all the greater, because he trusted the sovereign purpose of his Lord and turned even more to Him for strength and comfort.

True joy is an unwavering constant in a Spirit-filled life (cf. Rom. 14:17), not a transient emotional feeling that comes and goes depending on circumstances. Because Paul was constantly near to God, he was constantly joyful. He experienced the inexpressible peace (4:7) and contentment (4:11) provided by the Holy Spirit deep within his heart and soul because he had a conscience that was clear of offense against God (Acts 23:1; 24:16; 2 Cor. 1:12; 2 Tim. 1:3).

The Philippian church was not perfect. But in contrast to most of the other churches with which Paul was associated, they had no major moral or spiritual problems. He urged them, “Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (1:27). A few verses later he exhorted the Philippians, “Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others” (2:2–4).

Later he commanded them to “do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world” (2:14–15). In chapter 4 he urged Euodia and Syntyche, who obviously had an unresolved point of contention, “to live in harmony in the Lord” (v. 2), and he encouraged the entire church to “be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (v. 6). But those admonitions are more a form of encouragement than a rebuke.

As Paul thought about this beloved congregation to whom he was writing, his joy overflowed. He was not thinking so much about his own circumstances as about their faithfulness (1:3–5), not so much about his own afflictions as about their love (2:1–2), not so much about his own physical suffering as about their spiritual steadfastness (2:12–16). He was thinking about their selfless generosity in sending him financial support (4:14–16). He was thinking about their “progress and joy in the faith” (1:25), about his “beloved brethren whom [he longed] to see, [his] joy and crown” (4:1). He could therefore say with utter sincerity, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you” (1:3).

That word fellowship seems to mean many things to many different people. Perhaps, like a worn coin, it may be losing its true impression. If so, we had better take some steps to rescue it. After all, a good Bible word like fellowship needs to stay in circulation as long as possible.

In spite of his difficult circumstances as a prisoner in Rome, Paul is rejoicing. The secret of his joy is the single mind; he lives for Christ and the Gospel. (Christ is named eighteen times in Philippians 1, and the Gospel is mentioned six times.) "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Phil. 1:21).

But what really is "the single mind"? It is the attitude that says, "It makes no difference what happens to me, just as long as Christ is glorified and the Gospel shared with others." Paul rejoiced in spite of his circumstances, because his circumstances strengthened the fellowship of the Gospel (Phil. 1:1-11), promoted the furtherance of the Gospel (Phil. 1:12-26), and guarded the faith of the Gospel (Phil. 1:27-30).

The word fellowship simply means "to have in common." But true Christian fellowship is really much deeper than sharing coffee and pie, or even enjoying a golf game together. Too often what we think is "fellowship" is really only acquaintanceship or friendship. You cannot have fellowship with someone unless you have something in common; and for Christian fellowship, this means the possessing of eternal life within the heart.

Unless a person has been baptized into Christ, he knows nothing of "the fellowship of the Gospel." In Philippians 2:1, Paul writes about "the fellowship of the Spirit," because when a person is born again he receives the gift of the Spirit (Rom. 8:9).

There is also "the fellowship of His sufferings" (Phil. 3:10). When we share what we have with others, this is also fellowship (Phil. 4:15, translated "communicate" in kjv).

So, true Christian fellowship is much more than having a name on a church roll or being present at a meeting. It is possible to be close to people physically and miles away from them spiritually.

One of the sources of Christian joy is this fellowship that believers have in Jesus Christ. Paul was in Rome, his friends were miles away in Philippi, but their spiritual fellowship was real and satisfying. When you have the single mind, you will not complain about circumstances because you know that difficult circumstances will result in the strengthening of the fellowship of the Gospel.

Paul uses three thoughts in Philippians 1:1-11 that describe true Christian fellowship: I have you in my mind (Phil. 1:3-6), I have you in my heart (Phil. 1:7-8), I have you in my prayers (Phil. 1:9-11).

Philippians 1:3-6: "I thank my God every time I remember you. {4} In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy {5} because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, {6} being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

It is a lovely thing when, as Ellicott puts it, remembrance and gratitude are bound up together. In our personal relationships it is a great thing to have nothing but happy memories; and that was how Paul was with the Christians at Philippi. To remember brought no regrets, only happiness.

Isn’t it remarkable that Paul is thinking of others and not of himself? As he awaits his trial in Rome, Paul’s mind goes back to the believers in Philippi, and every recollection he has brings him joy.

Read Acts 16; you may discover that some things happened to Paul at Philippi, the memory of which could produce sorrow. He was illegally arrested and beaten, was placed in the stocks, and was humiliated before the people.

But even those memories brought joy to Paul, because it was through this suffering that the jailer found Christ! Paul recalled Lydia and her household, the poor slave girl who had been demon-possessed, and the other dear Christians at Philippi; and each recollection was a source of joy.

It is possible that Philippians 1:5 is talking about their financial fellowship with Paul, a topic he picks up again in Philippians 4:14-19. The church at Philippi was the only church that entered into fellowship with Paul to help support his ministry. The "good work" of Philippians 1:6 may refer to the sharing of their means; it was started by the Lord and Paul was sure the Lord would continue it and complete it.

But we will not go astray if we apply these verses to the work of salvation and Christian living. We are not saved by our good works (Eph. 2:8-9). Salvation is the good work God does in us when we trust His Son. In Philippians 2:12-13 we are told that God continues to work in us through His Spirit. In other words, salvation includes a threefold work:

This work will continue until we see Christ, and then the work will be fulfilled. "We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2).

It was a source of joy to Paul to know that God was still working in the lives of his fellow-believers at Philippi. After all, this is the real basis for joyful Christian fellowship, to have God at work in our lives day by day.

"There seems to be friction in our home," a concerned wife said to a marriage counselor. "I really don’t know what the trouble is."

"Friction is caused by one of two things," said the counselor, and to illustrate he picked up two blocks of wood from his desk. "If one block is moving and one is standing still, there’s friction. Or, if both are moving but in opposite directions, there’s friction. Now, which is it?"

"I’ll have to admit that I’ve been going backward in my Christian life, and Joe has really been growing," the wife admitted. "What I need is to get back to fellowship with the Lord."

1. The Frequency of Paul’s Thanksgiving for the Philippians (1:3)

Thank is from eucharisteoô, from which the English word “Eucharist,” a name often used of the Lord’s Supper, derives. In that ordinance believers give thanks to God in remembrance of Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice on the cross. In this instance Paul gives thanks for his spiritual brothers and sisters in Philippi who, over the years, had brought him such abundant blessing and joy.

The phrase my God reflects Paul’s deep intimacy and communion with the Lord, to whom he belonged and whom he served (Acts 27:23). His thankfulness for the Philippians was to God, emphasizing both that the Lord is the ultimate source of all joy and that it was the Philippians’ relationship to Him through Christ that caused Paul to thank … God. Paul expressed similar thanksgivings for the believers in Corinth (1 Cor. 1:4), in Colossae (Col. 1:3), and in Thessalonica (1 Thess. 1:2; cf. 2:13), and for his beloved coworkers Timothy (2 Tim. 1:3) and Philemon (Philem. 4).

Paul’s remembrance of the Philippians began with his second missionary journey, when the apostle first came to Philippi. He was specifically directed by the Holy Spirit to go to Macedonia (the province in which Philippi was located) rather than Bithynia, as he and Silas had intended (Acts 16:7–10). On the Sabbath they went outside the city to the riverside, where they expected to find Jewish worshipers. (Evidently there were not enough Jewish men in Philippi to form a synagogue.) The only ones present were a group of women at prayer. One of the women, Lydia, was “a worshiper of God,” that is, a Gentile proselyte to Judaism. The Lord opened her heart to Christ. When she heard the gospel, she was baptized with her newly believing household, and she prevailed on Paul and those with him to be her guests (Acts 16:13–15). Lydia and her household were the first Christian converts in Europe and became the nucleus of that continent’s first church. The generosity and hospitality they exhibited characterized that congregation for years to come.

Surely in Paul’s remembrance was the young demon-possessed slave girl in Philippi who brought her owners considerable wealth from her fortune-telling. She dogged the apostle and his companions for many days and “kept crying out, saying, ‘These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.’” Becoming “greatly annoyed, [Paul] turned and said to the spirit, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!’ And it came out at that very moment” (Acts 16:16–18). Although Luke does not report it specifically, it seems probable that, like Lydia, she was born again and became a sister in Christ whom Paul now fondly remembered.

Paul also would have remembered the time he spent in jail in Philippi because of the slave girl’s owners, who lost a great source of income and incited the townspeople against him and Silas (Acts 16:19–23). Not only did the Lord give Paul and Silas peace and joy despite their chains and literally put songs in their hearts (Acts 16:25), but He also used their imprisonment to bring the jailer and his household to salvation (Acts 16:26–34). On the way out of the city after being released from prison, Paul and Silas went to Lydia’s house for a last time and were encouraged by the many believers there who came to see them off (Acts 16:40).

Paul must have often remembered that, after he left Macedonia, the Philippian church was the only one that helped him financially (Phil. 4:15–16). Those devoted believers continued their generosity by contributing toward the collection Paul made for the needy believers in Jerusalem (2 Cor. 8:1–5).

Having a genuine desire to remember and focus on the goodness, kindness, and successes of others does not involve denying their weaknesses and shortcomings but rather looking past them. The Holy Spirit prompts believers to appreciate others’ love, generosity, and compassion and to forget the rest (cf. 4:8; 1 Cor. 13:4–7). On the other hand, a person who constantly focuses on the negatives, faults, shortcomings, and slights of others is a person not controlled by the Holy Spirit, and is perhaps an unbeliever. Bitterness, resentment, a critical spirit, holding grudges, and the like are works of the flesh, not of the Spirit.

Much of Paul’s joy was based on the pleasant, loving recollections of believers who, like those in Philippi, were consistently faithful to the Lord, to their fellow believers, and to him.

Paul did not stand alone in the world. He was not the only person living for God and sharing Christ. He belonged to a great family, a family of believers who constituted the family of God. They, too, were living for God and sharing Christ with a lost and needful world. Remember that Paul was in prison in Rome and that he was a great distance from the Philippian believers. He did not have their presence; all he had was the memory of their time together. And sitting there in prison, remembering their love and care and support, his heart swelled up with thanksgiving for them, and he thanked God for them.

What a lesson for us! If Paul thanked God for believers who were so far away from him, how much more should we thank God for each other. We have the love and care and support of each other week by week and day by day, and we can call upon each other for help any hour of any day. Yet how often do we thank God for each other?

Another point is this: we should be following Paul’s example and thanking God for all believers every day. We are not alone in the world. God is building a body of people world-wide—a body of people who are just like us—committed to live for the Lord Jesus Christ and to carry His gospel of salvation and love and care to a world that reels under the weight of desperate need.

Paul gives thanks (eucharisteo„) every time he remembers them. It was common in the secular world of letter writing to open a new letter with thanksgiving to God.[10] So Paul emulates here what is found in the culture at the time. But there are some important differences including his personal reference to God as my God. There are only two other instances for sure where Paul refers in his introductory prayer to God as my God, namely, in Romans 1:8 and Philemon 4. This may also be the case in 1 Cor 1:4 though the text is in some doubt. The simple formula: “we thank God” is also found in 1 Thess 1:2 and Col 1:3.

In any case, Paul refers to God as my God[11] which reflects the deep intimacy he shared with the Lord and the expression itself may well come from the Psalter. When the psalmist cries out for God’s help against his enemies he petitions the Lord: “Arise O Lord, Deliver me, O my God…” (Ps 3:7). David cried out to God for help, entreating him saying, “Listen to my cry for help, my king and my God, for to you I pray.” And, when David was running from Saul he prayed to the Lord: “I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock in whom I take refuge.” What incredible closeness to the Lord these passages speak of. Though it may not have been the reason in every instance for Paul’s use of my God in his prayers, it may in this case, like David before him, have been spawned as a result of the difficult circumstances he was facing in prison.

There are several indicators in the letter itself that point us to Paul’s close personal relationship with the Lord in spite of his circumstances.

1. First, as a result of his intimacy to the Lord Paul could eagerly expect and confidently hope that in whatever circumstances he found himself he would not be ashamed but would have sufficient courage so that Christ would always be exalted through him, whether in life or death (1:20). This can only come as a result of spiritually abiding in Christ (John 15:7-8).

2. Second, the apostle goes so far as to say that “for him to live is Christ and to die is gain” and that he would much rather “depart and be with Christ” (1:21-23).

3. Third, he rejoices in his ministry to the Philippians even though the cost to him was great with no choice results guaranteed (2:16-18).[12]

4. Fourth, his sufferings in life have brought him to the place where he wants to know Christ more than anything else he can think of, including knowing the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of sharing in Christ’s sufferings, being conformed to the likeness of his death, and rising from the dead (3:10-11). There is much more in the letter that we could talk about as well. Paul was a man who knew his God and referred to him as my God. He understood the suffering and humiliation that Christ underwent for him (2:6-11) and now it was his turn to follow suit.

2. The Manner of Paul’s Thanksgiving for the Philippians (1:4)

Another indispensable element of joy for believers is interceding before God on behalf of others. Those who are obedient to the Holy Spirit will delight in the privilege of intercessory prayer. Faithful and sincere intercession is much more than an obligation; it is a joy. Faithful intercessors are more preoccupied with the needs and welfare of others than their own and ask God to pour out His divine blessing on them. An infallible test of godly joy is the degree to which a believer prays more earnestly for the benefit and blessing of others than for his own.

The noun deeôsis (prayer), used twice in this verse, has the basic meaning of a request, entreaty, or supplication and, in the New Testament, is always addressed to God (cf. Luke 1:13; 5:33; Rom. 10:1; 2 Cor. 1:11; Heb. 5:7; James 5:16; 1 Peter 3:12).

As the apostle explains later in this chapter (vv. 12–21), he was at this time experiencing some of the most difficult and painful times of his ministry. Not only was he in prison, but, even more painful to him, he also was being maligned by fellow teachers and preachers who intended “to cause [him] distress in [his] imprisonment”(v. 17). Although he obviously was not unaware of or unconcerned about that unjust and hateful behavior, he was determined not to allow it to diminish his joy. Instead, Paul was grateful “that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice” (v. 18).

Intercessory prayer sometimes involves disappointment and pain. Later in this letter he counseled the Philippians, “Join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things” (3:17–19). Those false believers not only were uncharitable in the extreme but also were shamelessly worldly. They were “enemies of the cross of Christ.” Their false teaching and immoral living seriously threatened the church, and that tragic state of affairs brought pain to the apostle. Paul reminded the church at Corinth that “out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears; not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have especially for you” (2 Cor. 2:4; cf. 11:29).

But Paul’s prayers for the Philippians were offered with great appreciation, thankfulness, and joy. Neither the unbelieving false teachers, such as those just mentioned, nor squabbling believers, such as Euodia and Syntyche (4:2), could rob Paul of his joyful remembrance of this cherished congregation. After beseeching Clement and an unnamed elder at Philippi to help reconcile those two women, he exults, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” (4:3–4).

Like Paul, believers who possess God-given joy do not focus on themselves, even in the midst of pain or difficult circumstances. They are rather concerned about their fellow believers’ pain, difficult circumstances, hardships, failures, and sorrows, and they earnestly intercede for them. They joyfully pray for God to bless their fellow believers in every way, above all for their spiritual welfare. Later in this letter Paul expresses this personal trait in an admonition: “Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others” (2:4).

It seems that throughout most of the history of the church only a minority of Christians have known the true, full joy that God gives to His obedient children. Lack of joy reveals itself in three ways: in negative thoughts and talk about others, in a lack of concern for their welfare, and in the failure to intercede on their behalf. Joyless believers are self-centered, selfish, proud, and often vengeful, and their self-centeredness inevitably manifests itself in prayerlessness.

Paul’s prayers for the Philippians grew out of his intense, deep, personal love for the Lord and for them (1:7-8). He wants the Philippians to know that he prays for them often and that on each occasion that he does pray, he does so with thanksgiving and joy.

Paul says that he always prayed for the church. The idea is that he prayed all throughout the day for them. They were constantly on his mind and in his prayers. As Matthew Henry says, Paul prayed by name for all the churches he knew, and he had seasons of prayer for each church (Matthew Henry’s Commentary, Vol.6. Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, no date listed, p.724.

Hawthorne has suggested that “every time I remember you” (back in v. 3) indicates that Paul was not thinking about praying at random times per se, though he undoubtedly did that, but that he was thinking about praying at set times, much according to his Jewish heritage (Ps 5:3; Ezra 9:5; Ps 55:17; Dan 6:10; 1 Chron 23:30).[13] Luke records for us the practice of Peter and John going up to the temple at the hour of prayer (i.e., 3pm; Acts 3:1). The Jews of Paul’s day regularly prayed: (1) early in the morning, in connection with the morning sacrifice; (2) at the ninth hour in connection with the evening sacrifice (3 pm); (3) at sunset.[14] Thus there is evidence that prayer at set times was actually done by Christian Jews—and it is probably quite safe to say that Paul himself followed this tradition—but it is by no means certain that his comment in v. 3 can be limited to that. The language is just not specific enough to warrant such a narrow referent. He probably means that he prays all the time for the Philippians, not just at set times. In any case, he was in prison, and undoubtedly had much opportunity to pray for his beloved friends.

Let’s begin our discussion of this verse with a closer look at the word prayer (dee„sei). The word is used 18 times in the NT, 12 of which are in Paul (Rom 10:1; 2 Cor 1:11; 9:14; Eph 6:18 [2x]; Phil 1:4 [2x]; 1:19; 4:6; 1 Tim 2:1; 5:5; 2 Tim 1:3). The term can be used in a narrower way than the general term for prayer found in Phil 1:9 (proseuchomai) and may relate better to known, specific needs.[15] Thus, for example, in Romans 10:1 Paul prays specifically for the salvation of his Jewish brethern. In 2 Corinthians 1:11 Paul asks for specific prayer concerning deliverance from trouble. In Philippians the word occurs twice in 1:4, and in two other verses, namely, 1:19 and 4:6. In 1:19 Paul regards his imprisonment as coming to an end soon because the Philippians have prayed specifically for his release. In 4:6 the term probably refers to prayer for unity in the Philippians church. Thus in the book of Philippians the word carries a narrower sense than just a general reference to prayer.

The question arises, then, as to what specific needs are in mind in the use of the term in 1:4. This can be understood by looking at the letter as a whole and the problems within the church at Philippi. First, because of certain factions developing in the church, Paul’s immediate concern is with unity (4:2-3). Second, he denounces the false teachers in his letter and shows the Philippians a better way toward spirituality (3:1-21). Thus it seems that Paul’s prayers to make up what is lacking in the Philippians faith, that is, his prayer that God will bring them to maturity, includes prayers for their humility and unity, as well as prayers for their protection from false teachers.

It must be said, however, that while Paul makes these prayers for specific needs in the church, and even though these needs are connected to sin on the part of some members (e.g., 2:3-4; 4:2-3), he nonetheless, prays for all of them (huper panto„n humo„n) and he does so with joy (charas). The focus on all of them as we stated in the first lesson (Philippians 1:1-2), not only ensures the Philippians that Paul prays for all of them and not just a select group, but also anticipates the discussion of unity to come in the bulk of the letter and lets the Philippians know that in Paul’s mind, they are all valuable and equal members of the church.

Paul says that he always prays for the Philippians with joy. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:23) and refers to the experience of a fullness of life because of the presence of the Spirit in a person’s heart—regardless what the circumstances are. It is closely connected to feelings of well being and a deep and lasting peace grounded in the personal knowledge of God’s presence and sovereignty over all peoples and events.[16] It is in this experience joy that the apostle prays for the church. But he does so according to the following reasons outlined in vv. 5 and 6.

Joy: there is the mark of joy. Remember that Paul is in prison, yet his heart is filled with joy. Joy (chara) means an inner gladness; a deep seated pleasure. It is a depth of assurance and confidence that ignites a cheerful and rejoicing heart. It is a cheerful heart that leads to cheerful and rejoicing behavior.

The joy of the Lord is not the same as the joy of the world. The joy of the world is more of a temporary pleasure than joy. The world’s joy is always nagged by some incompleteness, some lack, some unfulfilling thing, some missing ingredient, some need still existing. There is not a completeness—not a complete sense of assurance, confidence, and satisfaction. There is the knowledge, the haunting awareness, that something can go wrong: circumstances can change or some situation can arise to disturb the joy (sickness, death, financial loss, war). The haunting awareness always keeps the world’s joy from being full and complete, assuring and satisfying.

1. Joy is divine. It is possessed and given only by God. Its roots are not in earthly or material things or cheap triumphs. It is the joy of the Holy Spirit, a joy based in the Lord. It is His very own joy (John 15:11; Acts 13:52; Romans 14:17; Galatians 5:22; 1 Thes. 1:6).

2. Joy does not depend on circumstances or happiness. Happiness depends upon happenings, but the joy that God implants in the believer’s heart overrides all, even the matters of life and death (Psalm 5:11; 2 Cor. 6:10; 2 Cor. 7:4).

3. Joy springs from faith (Romans 15:13; Phil. 1:25; 2 Tim. 1:4; cp. Matthew 2:10).

4. Joy of future reward makes and keeps the believer faithful (Matthew 25:21, 23; Acts 20:24; Hebrews 12:2).

5. The Lord’s Word—the revelations, commandments, and promises which He made—brings joy (John 15:11).

6. The commandments of Christ and the will of God bring joy. Obeying and doing a good job stirs joy within the believer’s heart (John 15:11; John 17:13; Acts 13:52).

3. The Reasons for Paul’s Joyful Thanksgiving for the Philippians (1:5-6)

in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. (1:5)

A third element of God-given joy is participation. Koinoônia (participation) is commonly rendered “fellowship,” or “communion,” and has the root meaning of sharing something in common. It is used in several places of sharing possessions or money. Using the verb form, Paul declares that faithful believers should practice “contributing to the needs of the saints” (Rom. 12:13); and later in the letter he uses the noun form in speaking of “a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem” (Rom. 15:26; cf. 2 Cor. 8:4, where koinoônia is rendered “participation”; 9:13). In 1 Timothy 6:18 the adjectival form is rendered “ready to share,” and in Hebrews 13:16 the noun is translated “sharing.”

In the broadest sense, Paul rejoiced that the Philippians were saved and thus partners with him in the spread of the gospel. That participation included their generous financial support of him. Later in this letter he reminded them: “You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone; for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs” (4:15–16).

By far the most important thing all believers share is their spiritual oneness, their participation in the gospel of Jesus Christ. “God is faithful,” Paul explained, “through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Cor. 1:9). Fellowship includes cooperation in the preaching of the good news of salvation to those who have never heard it, so that the spiritual fellowship might be enlarged and bring still greater glory to God (cf. 2 Cor. 4:15). In this context the phrase in the gospel refers to the whole enterprise of gospel ministry, especially that of evangelism. So Paul here commends the Philippians for their faithful and enduring partnership with him in this supreme endeavor.

Paul’s beautiful benediction in 2 Corinthians perhaps best summarizes the full depth and breadth of Christian koinoônia: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship [koinoônia] of the Holy Spirit, be with you all” (2 Cor. 13:14). The justifying grace of the Son, the electing love of the Father, and the sanctifying fellowship of the Holy Spirit are inextricably coalesced in the partnership of the saints, a vast spiritual brotherhood that includes every person who has saving faith in Jesus Christ. Such fellowship was a great source of joy for Paul, as it is for all Christians who find strength, encouragement, support, comfort, and help through their fellowship with other believers.

In his commentary on Philippians, the noted commentator William Hendriksen lists eight aspects, or types, of Christian koinoônia (see New Testament Commentary: Exposition of Philippians [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1962], 51–53). His list is not meant to be comprehensive, and the eight aspects are not necessarily in order of importance. They are grace, faith, prayer and thanksgiving, love, service, contributing to the needs of others, separation from the world, and spiritual warfare. It is obvious that they overlap in varying degrees.

First and foremost is the fellowship of grace. This is not a natural, man-made fellowship but one sovereignly designed and effected by God through His Holy Spirit. “For by grace you have been saved through faith,” Paul declared; “and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8; cf. Acts 15:11; Rom. 4:5). All believers have been graciously chosen by God for salvation. Apart from His having chosen them, they could not have chosen Him. In John 6:44 Jesus declared, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” To the Romans Paul wrote, “For those whom [God] foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified” (Rom. 8:29–30; cf. John 15:16).

Those whom God chooses for salvation are made one with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as well as each other. Speaking of Himself, Jesus prayed to the Father, “Even as You gave Him [the Son] authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:2–3). Paul summarized that truth in these words: “The one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Cor. 6:17).

Second is the fellowship of faith. On the human level, it is faith alone that brings sinners to salvation. Paul and Silas told the jailer in Philippi, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31; cf. Rom. 10:9–10). Yet, as noted above, even human faith has a divine origin: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8).

Third is the fellowship of prayer and thanksgiving. Nothing binds believers more closely together than worshiping God in corporate praise and thanksgiving. Christians are “always [to be] giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father” (Eph. 5:20); and “whatever [they] do in word or deed, [they should] do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father” (Col. 3:17). They are to “rejoice always; pray without ceasing; [and] in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for [them] in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess. 5:16–18).

Fourth is the fellowship of love, the supreme virtue that encompasses all other virtues. It is more important than speaking in tongues, prophecy, theological knowledge, faith, sacrificial generosity, and even martyrdom (1 Cor. 13:1–3). Paul went on to declare that “love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails …. The greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:4–8, 13). The apostle John taught that love is the definitive mark of Christian fellowship: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7–8).

Fifth is the fellowship of contributing to the needs of others. “While we have opportunity,” Paul admonished, “let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith” (Gal. 6:10). Even under the old covenant, believers were commanded: “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it” (Prov. 3:27).

Sixth is the fellowship of promoting the gospel, already mentioned above. That is done through preaching, teaching, witnessing, and supporting those whom the Lord has specially called to those ministries. This fellowship is clearly a fulfillment of Jesus’ Great Commission: “Make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matt. 28:19–20).

Seventh is the fellowship of separation from the world. In His discourse in the Upper Room shortly before His arrest, Jesus told the remaining eleven disciples, “You are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world” (John 15:19). A negative but extremely important part of fellowship is keeping “oneself unstained by the world” (James 1:27), which has never been more difficult than in our own age. John exhorts believers, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. [And] if anyone [does love] the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world” (1 John 2:15–16).

Eighth is the fellowship of spiritual warfare. In many ways this is an extension of the previous aspect. When a believer is truly separated from the world, he will come under attack from the world. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own,” Jesus explained; “but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:19–20). In this great spiritual struggle “the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh,” because the conflict is not of the flesh, “but [they are] divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses” (2 Cor. 10:4). In that warfare, believers are fellow soldiers (2 Tim. 2:3).

A Christian who willingly forsakes fellowship with other believers will inevitably be without genuine, Spirit-given joy. It is impossible to live faithfully or happily apart from fellow believers in Christ. But the believer who regularly is in the company of fellow saints, fulfilling the responsibilities that such fellowship requires and provides, will just as inevitably be filled with divine joy. To be in the company of those who are joint heirs with Christ, people who love, care for, understand, pray for and with each other, who minister and fight the good fight together, is to be assured of abundant and abiding joy. That is the joy Paul expressed here in regard to the Philippian believers. They had faithfully served with him in their church, proclaimed the gospel with him,
worshiped and prayed with him, and defended the faith with him. They had abundantly shared their material resources with him over and over again. They had tirelessly and selflessly been in partnership with him from the first day until now, over a period of several years.

Paul gave thanks for the Philippians, and prayed for them with joy because of their participation in the gospel. The Greek word translated participation (koino„nia) can be understood in at least a couple of ways. First, it might refer to the Philippians’ experience in salvation. In this case Paul is thanking God because he shares with the Philippians in the salvation offered in the gospel. A second way to understand it is as a reference to the Philippians’ participation in the furtherance of the gospel, namely, by helping Paul in his missionary work. This latter way is preferable here.

First, koino„nia in 1:5 must be understood in light of the term with which it is connected, namely, gospel (euanggelion). The term gospel occurs nine times in Philippians. For Paul the gospel was good news about Christ (1:27). But it was good news that must be “defended and confirmed” (1:7, 16), “furthered” (1:12; 2:22), “lived out in the face of opposition” (1:27); “contended for” (4:3), and “contributed (ekoino„se„sen) toward” (4:15). While Paul obviously had a deep personal fellowship with the Lord (cf. 3:10-11), the focus on the term gospel in the book of Philippians is on outward realities and one’s tangible commitment to the good news.

Second, in 4:15-16 Paul talks about how in the first days of their acquaintance with the gospel, nobody shared (ekoino„se„sen) with him in the matter of giving and receiving except the Philippians alone. These two verses have much in common with 1:5. Both 4:15-16 and 1:5 point back to the Philippians’ first acquaintance with the gospel. They both use the word fellowship (1:5 has the noun and 4:15 the verbal form of the same word). The latter refers to the Philippians’ gift for Paul in order to advance the gospel in the midst of his trials in prison. It seems likely, then, given both the consistent use of the term gospel in Philippians as good news to be advanced in one way or another, and the connections in 4:15-16 to 1:5, that what Paul has in mind in 1:5 is the Philippians’ participation in furthering the gospel by their financial gifts. This is not the only time where Paul joins the idea of the gospel and fellowship with the idea of giving—the latter as a tangible expression of participation in the gospel.

9:11 You will be enriched in every way so that you may be generous on every occasion, which is producing through us thanksgiving to God, 9:12 because the service of this ministry is not only providing for the needs of the saints but is also overflowing with many thanks to God. 9:13 Through the evidence of this service they will glorify God because of your obedience to your confession in the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your sharing with them and with everyone. 9:14 And in their prayers on your behalf they long for you because of the extraordinary grace God has shown to you. 9:15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.

But Paul may also mean more by participation in the gospel than just the gifts sent to him by the Philippians. They had furthered the gospel in their own context as well. He encourages them to stand firm against those who oppose them and to thus contend as one man for the faith of the gospel (1:27). In 2:16, if they do everything without complaining or arguing, they will shine like stars in the universe (world) as they hold out the word of God to a world in darkness. The reference, then, to their participation in the gospel from the first day until now refers not solely to their original support, nor their continued financial support of the apostle. While it includes these things, it is much broader and refers to any and every way in which they had advanced the gospel of Christ since the time of their conversion.[17]

While verse 5 looks at the faithfulness of the Philippians from the beginning of their conversion until the writing of the Philippian letter, verse 6 looks to the future and their continued faithfulness in Christian living and witness. Paul is confident that the Philippians will continue to live out the Christian life, including making specific contributions to the furtherance of the gospel because God is the ultimate author of their faithfulness. He espouses a similar theology in 2:12-13 where he encourages them to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling because the One who is working in them, both the willing and the doing, is God.

Paul refers to the effect of the gospel in their lives as a good work. The expression good work cannot refer primarily to “the progress of the gospel,” by human means (i.e., the Philippians), as Hawthorne argues.[18] Several reasons argue against such a narrow referent: (1) the “thanksgiving section” in 1:3-8 is for the Philippians’ participation in the progress of the gospel, not the progress of the gospel, per se; (2) the temporal indicators, “first day,” “until now,” and “Day of Christ Jesus” in vv. 5-6 indicate that a chronology is involved with the Philippians themselves as the subjects operating in the time frames laid out. This is true in v. 5 and therefore in v.6; (3) in v. 7 Paul says he thinks “this” (i.e., the contents of v. 6) about all of you (i.e., the Philippians). The “this” refers back what he said in v. 6 and the all of you indicates that verse 6 refers to the Philippians and not just the progress of the gospel; (4) if the progress of the gospel were the good work to which Paul refers, then we would expect “through you” (dia humo„n) instead of “in you” (en humo„n)[19]; (5) it is superfluous for the apostle to say that the gospel will go forth until the day of Christ. The point is that God will continue his good work in the Philippians, as he will again discuss in 2:12-13, until the Day of Christ Jesus.

The idea of a good work, then, is broader than a reference to the progress of the gospel. It refers to God’s saving activity in their hearts and its expression in their lives. The specific focus in v. 6 because of the in you phrase is God’s work in their hearts. Their contribution to the furtherance of the gospel, as important as that is, is only an outward manifestation due the inward reality of the creative work of God. Because the Philippians had given themselves to the service of the gospel, Paul was confident that God had begun, was carrying on, and would complete, his good work in them (cf. 2 Cor 5:17).

The apostle says that God will perfect that good work in them until the day of Christ Jesus. Thus Paul responds to the Philippians, who are facing troubles on the inside (4:2-3) and troubles on the outside (1:26-31), by encouraging them with the truth about the certainty of their ultimate salvation. Such a salvation, the perfection of that which God had begun in them, will be complete at the day of Christ Jesus, that is, at the second coming of Christ (2 Thess 1:10). The expression the day of Christ Jesus is sometimes referred to by Paul as (1) the day (1 Thess 5:4; 1 Cor 3:13; Rom 13:12); (2) that day (2 Thess1:10); (3) the day of Christ (Phil 1:10; 2:16); (4) the day of the Lord (1 Cor 5:5; 1 Thess 5:2; 2 Thess 2:12); (5) the day of our Lord Jesus [Christ] (1 Cor 1:8; 2 Cor 1:14). We notice that only in Philippians is the term Christ associated with the day of the Lord.[20]

While it is difficult to say why this is, the expression itself—day of the Lord—is an expression drawn from the OT and carries with it both negative and positive aspects. In Joel 2:1-2 the prophet refers to the day of the Lord as a day of judgment and wrath (cf. Amos 5:20), as well as blessing and salvation (Joel 3:14-16). Both of these senses are present in the writings of Paul. He uses it both in its negative sense involving judgment and God’s anger, as well as to indicate blessing and the vindication of God’s saints. This latter sense is the meaning here since Paul is referring to the salvation of the Philippians. The mention of the day of the Lord in 1:6 and 1:10, like so many other comments in his introductory thanksgiving in Philippians, anticipates the mention of the judgment of the Philippians’ enemies (1:28) and the return of Christ for his people (3:20). Finally, we might also add that Paul’s reference to the day of the Lord as the day of Christ may imply his conscious conviction regarding the deity of Christ.

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in
you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. (1:6)

A fourth element of joy is anticipation. Nothing can encourage a Christian so much as the knowledge that,

despite life’s uncertainties and difficulties, and no matter how many spiritual defeats there may be long the way, one day he will be made perfect.

Confident translates peithoô, which here means to be persuaded of and have confidence in. Paul’s confidence was much more than human hope; it was the absolute confidence that comes from knowing and believing God’s promise that He [God] who began a good work in him will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Salvation is wholly God’s work, and for that reason its completion is as certain as if it were already accomplished.

Began is from enarchomai, a compound verb meaning “to begin in.” It is used only twice in the New Testament, both times in reference to salvation. Paul rebuked certain believers in the Galatian churches who believed that they could finish in their own power what God had divinely begun in their lives solely by the power of His Holy Spirit. “Are you so foolish?” he asked rhetorically. “Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:3). In the present text the apostle, in effect, responds to that same question, assuring the Philippians that their salvation is solely a gracious work of God. God requires faith for salvation, but faith is not a meritorious work. Salvation is by the power of God in response to faith; and, as already noted, faith itself is God’s work, divinely initiated and divinely accomplished (Eph. 2:8–9). Although Lydia, the first convert in what would become the church at Philippi, believed the gospel of Christ, Luke made it clear that “the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul” (Acts 16:14).

Later in the present epistle, Paul emphasized that “to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,” and “it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil. 1:29; 2:13). “As many as received Him [Christ],” John declared, “to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12). When “the apostles and the brethren who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God” through the witness of Peter, “those who were circumcised took issue with him,” believing that the gospel was only for Jews or Jewish converts. But after they heard Peter’s report, “they quieted down and glorified God, saying, ‘Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life’” (Acts 11:1–2, 18). “In the exercise of His will,” James wrote, “He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures” (James 1:18).

As noted earlier, salvation is solely by God’s grace. God “chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him” (Eph. 1:4). God chose all believers before time, long before they could possibly choose Him; and apart from His choice of them, they could not choose Him (John 6:44). It has always been true, in every age and circumstance, that only “as many as had been appointed to eternal life [have] believed” (Acts 13:48). Paul clearly expressed that truth in Romans 5:8–10: God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were
reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Later in that epistle Paul gave a parallel to Philippians 1:6, noting that “those
whom [God] foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified” (Rom. 8:29–30). All the chosen will be glorified. God will finish what He has begun. Every aspect of salvation is by God’s sovereign will and choice. Paul wrote to the Ephesians that:

God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. (Eph. 2:4–8; cf. Titus 3:4–6; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:2–3)

It is the Lord who begins the work of salvation, and it is the Lord, through His Holy Spirit, who will perfect it. To the Galatians Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Gal. 2:20). Epiteleoô (to perfect) is a compound, formed by the preposition epi and the verb teleoô (“to complete”) to give the intensified meaning of “fully completed.” Paul was absolutely certain that God will fully complete His work of salvation in the Philippians. There is no possibility of failure or of partial fulfillment.

The eschatological expression the day of Christ Jesus does not refer to what both the Old and New Testaments prophesy as the final Day of the Lord, the time of God’s judgment on the sinful world. The Day of the Lord is described by Paul in 1 Thessalonians:

For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief. (5:2–4; for more information on the Day of the Lord, see Isa. 13:6–22; Joel 1:15; 2:11; Acts 2:20; 2 Thess. 1:10, “that day”; 2 Peter 3:10, and Revelation 1–11, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary [Chicago: Moody, 1999], 199–201)

Also an eschatological expression, the day of Christ Jesus, on the other hand, clearly refers to the time when believers will be glorified, when their salvation will be completed and made perfect (1 Cor. 3:10–15; 2 Cor. 5:10). It is the same as “the day of Christ” that Paul mentions several times later in Philippians, the day for which Christians should be prepared by living sincerely and blamelessly (1:10) and by “holding fast the word of life” (2:16). In his first letter to the Corinthian church, the apostle called it “the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:8), and in his second letter to them he called it “the day of our Lord Jesus” (2 Cor. 1:14). In each instance, the personal names Jesus or Christ are given (rather than Lord), and in each instance the reference is to the time when believers will fully share the Lord’s perfect righteousness, when “Christ is formed in [them]” (Gal. 4:19), and “[they] also will be revealed with Him in glory” (Col. 3:4).

Believers are “predestined to become conformed to the image of [God’s] Son” (Rom. 8:29), because “just as [they] have borne the image of the earthy, [they] will also bear the image of the heavenly, … [and] in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, … [they] will be changed …. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:49, 52–53). “We know that when [Christ] appears,” John wrote, “we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is” (1 John 3:2). Peter wrote: “When the Chief Shepherd appears, [we] will receive the unfading crown of glory” (1 Peter 5:4). Although a believer living in unrepentant sin may be delivered temporarily to Satan for discipline, “his spirit [will] be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Cor. 5:5). The day of Christ Jesus is the time of perfection and glorification, when the glorious manifestation of the children of God will finally come (Rom. 8:18–19, 23).

When God saves, He saves completely and eternally. In promissory covenant terms, to be justified is to be sanctified and glorified. There is no such thing as experiencing one of those aspects of salvation without the other two. Each is an integral and necessary part of the whole continuum of salvation. For God to begin salvation in a person’s life is an irrevocable guarantee of His completing it. As William Hendriksen has observed, “God … is not like men. Men conduct experiments, but God carries out a plan. God never does anything by halves” (Philippians, 55).

The Lord said of David: “I will not break off My lovingkindness from him, nor deal falsely in My faithfulness” (Ps. 89:33; cf. v. 20). Jesus gives every believer the absolute promise that “all that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out …. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day” (John 6:37, 39). Later He reiterated that promise, saying, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:27–28). Paul declared, “I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38–39). The apostle wrote to Timothy that “the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, ‘The Lord knows those who are His’” (2 Tim. 2:19; cf. John 10:14). Peter exulted:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3–5; cf. Jude 24)

It is easy for believers to become discouraged when they focus on their problems and imperfections (and those of other believers). Those sins should not be ignored or minimized; but neither should they be allowed to overshadow the marvelous reality of the future perfection of the church and of every individual believer, as God’s Word guarantees so frequently and clearly. Remembering that glorious truth removes the debilitating pressure of doubt and fosters triumphant joy, gratitude, and anticipation. In so doing, it also frees God’s people to live more abundantly and fruitfully.

The nineteenth-century commentator F. B. Meyer wrote, We go into the artist’s studio and find there unfinished pictures covering large canvases, and suggesting great designs, but which have been left, either because the genius was not competent to complete the work, or because paralysis laid the hand low in death; but as we go into God’s great workshop we find nothing that bears the mark of haste or insufficiency of power to finish, and we are sure that the work which His grace has begun, the arm of His strength will complete. (The Epistle to the Philippians [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1952], 28)

God has no unfinished works. The God who saves is the God who justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies. The God who begins is the God who completes. During His incarnation, the Lord gave this absolute and unambiguous assurance, which is a source of joy to all those who will ever trust in Him: “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out” (John 6:37).

Power, God’s—Confidence—Assurance: there is the mark of confidence in God’s salvation. God will complete His good work in believers. Confidence and assurance are two of the striking traits of genuine believers. Believers know God, know Him personally. God’s Spirit actually lives within the heart and body of the believer (John 14:16-17; John 14:26; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; etc.). The Spirit of God actually bears witness with the spirit of the believer, that he is going to be redeemed someday—presented perfect before God. In fact, the presence of the Holy Spirit within the believer’s body is the very guarantee of the believer’s salvation (cp. 2 Cor. 1:22; 2 Cor. 5:5; Ephes. 1:14).

1. The believer has absolute confidence in the work of salvation or redemption which God has begun in his life. He has confidence through the presence of God’s Spirit who dwells within him.

2. The work begun by God is a good work; that is, it is a work that revolutionizes or radically changes the life of the believer. No matter what kind of life a person was living, once God converts him, the new believer begins to live a good life : a life of...

3. The good work is incomplete as long as the believer lives on this earth. He is never perfected, not while a man. There is always work for God to do; therefore, God is always working within the life of the believer to mature him more and more. God is always working to make the man more and more pure and more and more faithful in his service to the Lord Jesus.

4. The good work is to be completed when Jesus Christ returns to this earth. At that time, the believer will be transformed into a perfect man and given a perfect body. He will become a perfect man who will live in the new heavens and earth with Christ. And he will worship and serve the Lord Jesus in perfection throughout all eternity.

Philippians 1:7-8: "It 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. {8} God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus."

Now we move a bit deeper, for it is possible to have others in our minds without really having them in our hearts. (Someone has observed that many people today would have to confess, "I have you on my nerves!") Paul’s sincere love for his friends was something that could not be disguised or hidden.

Christian love is "the tie that binds." Love is the evidence of salvation: "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren" (1 John 3:14). It is the "spiritual lubrication" that keeps the machinery of life running smoothly. Have you noticed how often Paul uses the phrase "you all" as he writes?

There are at least nine instances in this letter. He does not want to leave anyone out! (Some translations read, "You have me in your heart" in Phil. 1:7, but the basic truth is the same.)

How did Paul evidence his love for them? For one thing, he was suffering on their behalf. His bonds were proof of his love. He was "the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles" (Eph. 3:1). Because of Paul’s trial, Christianity was going to get a fair hearing before the officials of Rome. Since Philippi was a Roman colony, the decision would affect the believers there. Paul’s love was not something he merely talked about; it was something he practiced.

He considered his difficult circumstances an opportunity for defending and confirming the Gospel, and this would help his brethren everywhere.

But how can Christians learn to practice this kind of love? "I get along better with my unsaved neighbors than I do my saved relatives!" a man confided to his minister. "Maybe it takes a diamond to cut a diamond, but I’ve just about had it!"

Christian love is not something we work up; it is something that God does in us and through us. Paul longed for his friends "in the bowels [love] of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:8). It was not Paul’s love channeled through Christ; it was Christ’s love channeled through Paul.

"God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us" (Rom. 5:5, niv). When we permit God to perform His "good work" in us, then we grow in our love for one another.

How can we tell that we are truly bound in love to other Christians? For one thing, we are concerned about them. The believers at Philippi were concerned about Paul and sent Epaphroditus to minister to him. Paul was also greatly concerned about his friends at Philippi, especially when Epaphroditus became ill and could not return right away (Phil. 2:25-28). "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth" (1 John 3:18).

Another evidence of Christian love is a willingness to forgive one another. "And above all things have fervent charity [love] among yourselves: for charity [love] shall cover the multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8).

"Tell us some of the blunders your wife has made," a radio quizmaster asked a contestant.

"No, I really can’t," said the contestant. "I love my wife very much, and I just don’t remember things like that."

First Corinthians 13:5 states that "love keeps no record of wrongs" (NIV). Christians who practice love always experience joy; both come as a result of the presence of the same Holy Spirit. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy" (Gal. 5:22).

For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me. For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. (1:7–8)

In these verses Paul’s rejoicing reaches a crescendo as he presents a fifth element of joy—affection. There can be no greater or more exhilarating joy than that produced by deep, abiding, and genuine affection for others. Dikaios (right) denotes more than mere appropriateness. It expresses moral and spiritual rightness; not merely that which is expected but that which is required. It was only right before men and before God for Paul to feel this way about the beloved saints in Philippi.

To feel translates a form of phroneoô, which has the basic meaning of having a particular mental disposition or attitude. It refers to an act of intellect and will and is sometimes translated “to think,” as it is in the King James Version rendering of this verse. Paul uses the verb numerous other times in this epistle: twice in 2:2 (“being of … mind,” lit., “be … minded”); in 2:5 and 3:15 (“have … attitude”); in 3:19 (“set … minds”) and 4:2 (“live in harmony,” lit., “think the same”); and twice in 4:10 (“[have] concern,” “were concerned”). In Romans, he uses a form of phroneoô three times in admonishing believers “not to think more highly of [themselves] than [they] ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith” (Rom. 12:3).

Obviously people love with their minds; love is first of all thought. But in the present passage Paul expands that concept by using the word heart, which includes the idea of feeling. The mind and heart are often synonymous in Scripture. Solomon warned, “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life” (Prov. 4:23). The heart is used to trust and believe in God (Prov. 3:5; Jer. 29:13; Luke 24:25; Acts 8:37); to serve, obey, and follow Him (Deut. 11:13; 26:16; 1 Kings 2:4); and to worship and praise Him (Heb. 10:22). It is also a repository for God’s Word (Ps. 119:11). Believers are commanded to have a clean heart (Ps. 51:10), a pure heart (Matt. 5:8), an obedient heart (Ps. 119:36), a worshiping heart (Ps. 57:7), a forgiving heart (Matt. 18:35), and a loving heart (Matt. 22:37; 2 Thess. 3:5).

Paul expressed his affection even for the immature, self-centered, and worldly believers at Corinth. “I do not speak to condemn you,” he told them in his second letter, “for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together” (2 Cor. 7:3). Paul’s affection for his fellow believers, even those who grievously disappointed him, brought him much joy. It was not hard for the apostle to cherish the beloved Philippian believers in his heart. Because of all they meant to him, he could hardly have thought of them in any other way. Thus, he reminds them that both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me. Both apologia (defense) and bebaioôsis (confirmation) are legal terms. Apologia, the source of the English words “apology” and “apologetics,” refers to a speech given in defense. bebaioôsis refers to the positive confirmation of the truth of the gospel. In the present text, these words allude either to the initial phase of the apostle’s imprisonment and trial in Rome, during which he defended the gospel, or in a broader sense to his defense of the faith throughout his ministry. In either case, Paul affirmed that the Philippian church selflessly and sacrificially stood by him to give encouragement, to help alleviate his suffering, and to meet his needs in every way they could. They were his spiritual partners, partakers of grace with him, in the fullest sense.

Paul called on God as his witness to attest to his heartfelt longing for the Philippians with the affection of Christ Jesus. He wanted them to have no reservations about how fully and genuinely he loved them. Affection translates splagchnon, which literally refers to internal organs, specifically the bowels, or intestines. It is used in that physical sense only once in the New Testament, in reference to Judas’s suicide (Acts 1:18). Elsewhere it is used figuratively to describe selfless, compassionate love. In Zacharias’s prophecy it is rendered “tender mercy” (Luke 1:78); and in Colossians 3:12; Philemon 7, 12, 20; and 1 John 3:17, it is translated “heart(s).” In 2 Corinthians 6:12 and 7:15 and in Philippians 2:1, as in the present text, it is rendered “affection(s).” The Hebrew equivalent is used in a similar way—to describe feelings of sympathy (Isa. 16:11;
63:15; Jer. 31:20), of deep anguish or despair (Lam. 1:20; 2:11), and of marital love (Song 5:4).

All of the believers at Philippi, with no exceptions, were the objects of Paul’s great affection, an affection so deep and pervasive as to reflect that of Christ Jesus Himself. It was enhanced and enriched by their warm and compassionate care for him that touched him so deeply. It was, in fact, a supernatural affection, instilled by the Lord both in his heart and theirs. It was no less than “the love of God [that had] been poured out within [their] hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 5:5). Paul wrote of this God-given love to the Thessalonians: “Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another” (1 Thess. 4:9).

What robs believers of biblical joy? First, and by far the most important, is false salvation. The church has always included those whose faith is not genuine (cf. Matt. 13:24–30, 36–43; James 2:14–26). Because they do not possess the indwelling Holy Spirit, such false professors cannot possess biblical joy (Gal. 5:22). They may attend churches where God’s Word is taught, and they may fellowship with genuine believers. Yet because they do not know the Lord, they cannot experience His joy. If they laugh, it is, sadly, “the laughter of the fool, [which] is futility” (Eccl. 7:6). For that reason Paul gives the somber warning: “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?” (2 Cor. 13:5).

A second factor that hinders joy is the influence of Satan and his demons. “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert,” Peter cautioned. “Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). In many ways, including false teachers, the devil attempts to deceive believers. Although he cannot rob them of salvation, he can, and often does, rob them of joy (as does their sin; cf. Ps. 51:12).

A third factor that robs believers of joy is an inadequate understanding of God’s sovereignty. For believers to fret and worry over their circumstances and to fear what the future may hold is tantamount to doubting God’s sovereignty, as well as His power and love. God has promised that He will cause “all things to work together for good to those who love [Him], to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). The incarnate Lord Jesus Christ promised, “I give eternal life to [My sheep], and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (John 10:28–29). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus commanded believers not to be anxious about anything (Matt. 6:25–34; cf. Phil. 4:6). And in perhaps the most beloved and cherished promise of all, He said, “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1–3). For believers, God’s sovereignty is the overarching and all-encompassing reality that keeps everything in perspective. It is because of His divine sovereignty that, with utter confidence, believers can “cast [their] burden upon the Lord and [know that] He will sustain [them, because] He will never allow the righteous to be shaken” (Ps. 55:22).

When that reality is ignored or forgotten, joy will be lost. For example, when the prophet Habakkuk forgot that great truth, he cried out in despair, How long, O Lord, will I call for help, and You will not hear? I cry out to You, “Violence!” Yet You do not save. Why do You make me see iniquity, and cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me; strife exists and contention arises. Therefore the law is ignored and justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice comes out perverted. (Hab. 1:2–4) But by the time he reached the end of his message, his perspective had radically changed. Having come to his spiritual senses, he declared that, “though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation” (Hab. 3:17–18).

A fourth negative element that steals joy is prayerlessness. Believers who fail to pray inevitably lose sight of God’s sovereignty and His love and care for us. Such believers either give up hope, as Habakkuk did for a while, or else seek help from other sources. There are times when it is appropriate to call on the leaders of the church for help (James 5:14–16). But that can never take the place of a believer’s own prayers, as Paul makes clear later in this letter: “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (4:6).

A fifth cause of joylessness is the emotional low that frequently follows a spiritual high. Elijah defeated and killed all the pagan prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:38–40) on Mount Carmel. But when Queen Jezebel threatened his life, Elijah became “afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and … came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers’” (1 Kings 19:3–4). Although neither their highs nor their lows have been that radical or dramatic, most believers have experienced similar kinds of spiritual success and letdown. Such times are surprising and bewildering, and can rob unwary believers of their joy.

A sixth way believers lose their joy is by focusing on circumstances. Despite the abundant blessings all believers have in the Lord, many become dissatisfied with their circumstances. They are unhappy with their physical or mental capacities, their appearance, the opportunities that come their way, or with the countless other things they do not have but think that they deserve. Jesus promised: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful” (John 14:27). Paul kept that promise constantly in mind, and his attitude toward ephemeral, non-eternal things was therefore unequivocal: “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need” (4:11–12).

A seventh negative element that robs believers of joy is ingratitude. Few things are more repugnant than ingratitude. Paul commanded that prayers and supplications to God be made with thanksgiving (4:6). In 1 Thessalonians he exhorted, “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess. 5:18). Rebellious sinners are indicted and sentenced to divine judgment because of their ingratitude (Rom. 1:18–21).

An eighth cause of lack of joy is forgetfulness. Forgetting the Lord is not a mark of innocence but of faithlessness and sin. David reminded himself and all believers: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits” (Ps. 103:2). The spiritual disharmony that causes division in churches is not incited by new converts but by those who have left their first love. The Lord warned the orthodox, hardworking, and persevering believers in Ephesus: “I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent” (Rev. 2:4–5).

A ninth factor in loss of joy is living by uncontrolled feelings, living by the flesh instead of by the Spirit. In his book Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes,

I suggest that the main trouble in this whole matter of spiritual depression is this, that we allow our self to talk to us instead of talking to our self …. Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to
yourself rather than talking to yourself? … The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself.” ([Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965], 20–21)

But proper talking to oneself does not include self-centeredness and morbid self-analysis, two of the worst plagues of much modern psychology. Contrary to what the world continually touts, self-centeredness is the surest source of dissatisfaction and discontentment. Neither does talking properly to one’s self involve some sort of “positive confession” that supposedly creates reality. That is foolish. Talking to oneself about God, His Word, and His will is the issue.

A tenth and final reason for lack of joy is unwillingness to accept forgiveness. On the surface, that attitude can appear to reflect humility, but it is the furthest thing from that. It is, in fact, an insult to God’s righteous character and the clear teaching of His Word. Our Lord made it plain that, “If [believers] forgive others for their transgressions, [their] heavenly Father will also forgive [them]. But if [they] do not forgive others, then [their] Father will not forgive [their] transgressions” (Matt. 6:14–15). David declared that, “as far as the east is from the west, so far has [the Lord] removed our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103:12), and John wrote that, “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9; cf. 2:12). That basic truth alone is abundant reason for the believer never to be joyless.

From a somewhat reverse perspective, Scripture also teaches the amazing and humbling truth that faithful and obedient believers not only receive joy from God but also have the ability to give joy to God. It is beyond comprehension that our infinite, holy, and almighty God should rejoice in His children; but His Word teaches that He does.

God rejoices when unbelievers repent and turn from their sin to Him. Jesus said, “I tell you that … there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7; cf. v. 10). “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God” (Heb. 11:5).

God rejoices in the prayers and worship of His children and in their righteous behavior. “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is His delight …. The perverse in heart are an abomination to the Lord, but the blameless in their walk are His delight” (Prov. 15:8; 11:20). Before “the entire assembly” of Israel, David confessed: “Since I know, O my God, that You try the heart and delight in uprightness, I, in the integrity of my heart, have willingly offered all these things; so now with joy I have seen Your people, who are present here, make their offerings willingly to You” (1 Chron. 29:1, 17). Despite his many sins and failures, because David’s heart was right, he brought joy to the Lord. In fact, God called him “a man after His own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14). In the parable of the talents, Christ promised that those who live faithfully for Him will one day share in His own divine joy: “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master’” (Matt. 25:21; cf. v. 23).

All of this leads to the inescapable conclusion that the fellowship of God’s people should be a fellowship of joy. The non-Christian’s joy must come from the outside; the Christian’s comes from within. Despite the inevitable sorrows, disappointments, and pain of life, believers can always be joyful. Biblical joy is not based on circumstances, because it is the gift of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22).

The Context of Paul’s Thanksgiving for the Philippians (1:7-8)

v. 7 The context for Paul’s thanksgiving and confidence in the Philippians is his deep personal love for them and their mutual relationship. Paul says that it is right for him to think this about them. The Greek term for think in this context is not so much a reference to thinking or reasoning per se, or analyzing something, as much as it is a reference to a settled mindset or disposition (cf. Rom 8:6-7).[21] Thus Paul has a settled attitude about the Philippians, including the joy he experiences when he prays for them because of their past participation in the gospel (v. 5), their future security with God (v.6) and their future faithfulness to Paul in prison (v.7). The emphasis on the right-ness of Paul thinking these thoughts about the eternal security of the Philippians may be a polemical comment about what certain false teachers thought about the security of the Philippians. Perhaps these teachers had criticized them for their failure to conform to certain external religious practices like circumcision and so on that basis called into question their salvation. Paul says “no way, you’re saved.” The evidence of the grace of God is apparent in your lives!

The terms defense and confirmation (in respect to the gospel) could be taken in a technical sense and as a reference to Paul’s trial before Caesar (Acts 26:16; 2 Tim 4:16). Many commentators understand them as such. But it may be better to see it not only as a narrow reference to the particular occasion of his trial, but also in the broader sense of his apostolic ministry over the years. This is more consistent with our argument for the broader meaning of the expression good work in v. 6—referring to both the experience of salvation as well as the expression of it in one’s life. Thus we would also understand the meaning of partners in the grace of God to refer to the Philippians’ sharing not only in God’s salvation, but also contributing to Paul’s ministry and themselves holding out the word of life to unsaved people around them (2:16; cf. 1:26-30).

v. 8 In order to express the genuineness and depth of his love for them Paul introduces his next statement in v. 8 with an oath—God is my witness. Paul call s God as his witness regarding the sincerity and depth of his love for the Philippians. While the apostle used oaths on other occasions in his writings, they were not common (Rom 1:9; 2 Cor 1:23; 1 Thess 2:5, 10). Here the message is clear: “God knows the reality in my heart; I love you.” Would that all Christian leaders had such a deep commitment to the people they led, and could thus invite God to test the sincerity of that love—confident that their words would be proven correct.

When Paul says he longs for all of them he is referring to his desire to be with them and see them again (cf. 2:26; see also 2:12, 23; Rom 1:11; 1 Thess 3:6; 2 Tim 1:4). In commenting on his plan after his release from prison he tells the Philippians that he wants to remain with them for their joy and progress in the faith (1:25). But his longings to be with them are not simply vague feelings, but indeed are the affection(s) of Christ Jesus. They are, as Martin has said, “nothing less than Christ’s love expressing itself through Paul.“[22] Once again Paul’s deep love for the Philippians bubbles to the surface. It is a love that Paul had first experienced from Christ and continually learned in his walk with the Lord. It was out of this context that he had grown to love his friends in Philippi so much. We too may ask ourselves why it is that we do not love as we ought. Are we as close to the Lord as Paul was (cf. 3:10-11)? If not, let us be on our knees about this so that God may have his way in us and his kingdom may be exalted in and through our lives.

(1:7-8) Sympathy—Service—Ministry: there is the mark of “Christian partnership” (Barclay, William. The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians. “The Daily Study Bible.” Philadelphia, PA: The Westminister Press, 1957, p.21.) Note how closely bound together Paul and the church were.

1. They were partners in heart. Paul loved them as he loved himself; he held them ever so dear to his heart and they constantly filled his thoughts.

· that they had or were themselves suffering because of the gospel just as Paul was.

The point is this: the affection between Paul and the Philippians was so tender that their hearts went out to each other. What one experienced, the other felt, even the sufferings of each other. What a striking picture of the kind of sympathy needed for those who suffer. We must learn to be partners in suffering. Then and only then can we bear each other’s burdens and truly minister to each other.

3. They were partners in the gospel. The Philippians had not given up the gospel, nor had they become silent or complacent in sharing the gospel. They were actively defending and proclaiming the truth of the gospel. The church and its members were busy for Christ—actively bearing witness to the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were taking the great commission of our Lord seriously.

4. They were partners in the grace of God. Paul was expressing the wonderful grace of God—the favor and blessings of God. And the Philippian church was expressing the same grace. God was pouring the richest blessings upon both Paul and the church. Why? What was it that was causing God to so richly bless these two? Their faithfulness: as this passage shows, they were bearing the marks of mature believers.

5. They were partners with Christ. The word “bowels” (splagchnois) means tender mercies, compassion, deep affection. And note: it is the tenderness of Jesus Christ that Paul says he has for the Philippians. He longs for them with the very affection and tenderness of Christ Himself.

How desperately the minister and church need such tenderness and affection for each other! What a tremendous difference would exist in churches if believers held each other ever so tenderly—held each other with the tenderness and affection of Christ Himself. The great need of the church today is for partnership—partnership among its members. Believers desperately need to become partners with each other and with the minister of God:

Philippians 1:9-11: "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, {10} so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, {11} filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God."

Paul found joy in his memories of the friends at Philippi and in his growing love for them. He also found joy in remembering them before the throne of grace in prayer. The high priest in the Old Testament wore a special garment, the ephod, over his heart. On it were twelve stones with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel engraved on them, a jewel for each tribe (Ex. 28:15-29).

He carried the people over his heart in love, and so did Paul. Perhaps the deepest Christian fellowship and joy we can experience in this life is at the throne of grace, praying with and for one another. This is a prayer for maturity, and Paul begins with love. After all, if our Christian love is what it ought to be, everything else should follow. He prays that they might experience abounding love and discerning love. Christian love is not blind! The heart and mind work together so that we have discerning love and loving discernment. Paul wants his friends to grow in discernment, in being able to "distinguish the things that differ."

The ability to distinguish is a mark of maturity. When a baby learns to speak, it may call every four-legged animal a "bow-wow." But then the child discovers that there are cats, white mice, cows, and other four-legged creatures.

To a little child, one automobile is just like another, but not to a car-crazy teenager! He can spot the differences between models faster than his parents can even name the cars! One of the sure marks of maturity is discerning love.

Paul also prays that they might have mature Christian character, "sincere and without offense." The Greek word translated "sincere" may have several meanings. Some translate it "tested by sunlight." The sincere Christian is not afraid to "stand in the light!"

Sincere may also mean "to whirl in a sieve," suggesting the idea of a winnowing process that removes chaff. In both cases the truth is the same: Paul prays that his friends will have the kind of character that can pass the test. (Our English word sincere comes from a Latin word that means "unadulterated, pure, unmixed.")

Paul prays for them to have mature Christian love and character, "without offense till the day of Christ" (Phil. 1:10). This means that our lives do not cause others to stumble, and that they are ready for the Judgment Seat of Christ when He returns (see 2 Cor. 5:10; 1 John 2:28).

Here are two good tests for us to follow as we exercise spiritual discernment: (1) Will it make others stumble? (2) Will I be ashamed if Jesus should return?

Paul also prays that they might have mature Christian service. He wants them filled and fruitful (Phil. 1:11). He is not interested simply in "church activities," but in the kind of spiritual fruit that is produced when we are in fellowship with Christ. "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me" (John 15:4). Too many Christians try to "produce results" in their own efforts instead of abiding in Christ and allowing His life to produce the fruit.

What is the "fruit" God wants to see from our lives? Certainly He wants the "fruit of the Spirit" (Gal. 5:22-23), Christian character that glorifies God. Paul compares winning lost souls to Christ to bearing fruit (Rom. 1:13), and he also names "holiness" as a spiritual fruit (Rom. 6:22). He exhorts us to be "fruitful in every good work" (Col. 1:10), and the writer to the Hebrews reminds us that our praise is the "fruit of the lips" (Heb. 13:15).

The fruit tree does not make a great deal of noise when it produces its crop; it merely allows the life within to work in a natural way, and fruit is the result. "He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5).

The difference between spiritual fruit and human "religious activity" is that the fruit brings glory to Jesus Christ. Whenever we do anything in our own strength, we have a tendency to boast about it. True spiritual fruit is so beautiful and wonderful that no man can claim credit for it; the glory must go to God alone.

This, then, is true Christian fellowship—a having-in-common that is much deeper than mere friendship. "I have you in my mind . . . I have you in my heart . . . I have you in my prayers." This is the kind of fellowship that produces joy, and it is the single mind that produces this kind of fellowship!

Paul’s passion for the spiritual development of the believers under his care was manifested not only in his preaching, teaching, and writing but also supremely in his prayer life. In Ephesians he assured his readers:

[I] do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. (Eph. 1:16–18)

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. (Eph. 3:14–19)

His deep desire and prayer for the Colossians was that they “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:10). He affirmed his love for the Thessalonians with the assurance that “we give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers” (1 Thess. 1:2). He remembered special individuals in the same way, assuring Timothy, “I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day” (2 Tim. 1:3), and Philemon, “I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, … and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ’s sake” (Philem. 4, 6).

In the present text, having greeted the Philippians (1:1–2) and mentioned his prayer on their behalf (1:3–8), Paul revealed the specific content of those prayers. As in all his recorded prayers, the apostle did not pray for physical needs or church growth. It was not that those things were unimportant to him, but that spiritual issues were of supreme importance. He performed miracles of physical healing (Acts 14:8–10; 19:11–12; 20:9–12) and advised Timothy to “no longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments” (1 Tim. 5:23). But the primary focus of his prayers was on the spiritual welfare of others.

There is no truer indicator of a Christian’s level of spiritual maturity than his prayer life. Paul’s prayer life reveals more of his true spirituality than all of his preaching, teaching, and miracles—marvelous and divinely blessed as those were. He was compelled to pray by the continual and powerful working of God’s Spirit in his heart.

Clearly, prayer is a spiritual duty for Christians. Jesus taught “that at all times [believers] ought to pray and not to lose heart” (Luke 18:1). Paul exhorted believers to be “devoted to prayer” (Rom. 12:12) and to “be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let [their] requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6). Peter commanded believers to “be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer” (1 Peter 4:7).

But prayer is much more than a duty; prayer is a compulsion for the spiritually mature Christian. Fervent prayer does not arise from a mere sense of duty but from a deep inner desire. It does not flow from external requirement but from internal passion. The deepest longings of the Spirit-filled heart for the honor of God and the blessing of men find their natural expression in prayer.

The measure of a person’s spiritual maturity is not how well he or she conforms externally to the command to pray. The issue is how internally constrained that person is to pray by a strong love for God and others. The truest longings of the heart will come out in prayer. A selfish and superficial heart, focused primarily on personal problems, struggles, and interests, will produce selfish and superficial prayers. A heart focused on the glory of the Lord and His people will produce prayers focused on God’s glory and others’ needs. A strong sense of duty cannot compensate for a cold heart or produce fervent prayer. Early in the life of the church, the apostles set the standard when they instructed the congregation to appoint men to take care of the practical needs of the church. The apostles were to “devote [themselves] to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4).

Paul was so committed to the Lord and to the souls of people that the Holy Spirit could easily generate within his heart a passion to pray. He prayed constantly, not because of a legalistic sense of duty but because of his genuine and deep love for the Lord and for people, especially the Lord’s people. He prayed for the unsaved, including the pagan and despotic rulers under whom he and other Christians suffered such great injustice and affliction, and he commanded all believers to do likewise (1 Tim. 2:1–2; cf. Rom. 13:1–7; 1 Peter 2:13–17). He prayed with special fervor for his unsaved fellow Jews, for whom his “heart’s desire and [his] prayer to God [was] for their salvation” (Rom. 10:1). That desire arose from such “great sorrow and unceasing grief in [his] heart” that he “could wish [himself] accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of [his] brethren, [his] kinsmen according to the flesh” (Rom. 9:2–3).

Paul prayed most often, however, for the church, for his spiritual kinsmen in Christ (Rom. 1:9; 2 Tim. 1:3). He exhorted other believers to pray fervently, just as he himself constantly made “petition for all the saints” (Eph. 6:18; cf. Col. 1:3; 1 Thess. 5:17). “To this end,” he reminded the Thessalonians, “we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 1:11–12).

The present text reveals five specific things for which Paul diligently prayed on behalf of the Philippians: their spiritual progress in love, excellence, integrity, good works, and in glorifying God. Those are the God-ordained spiritual essentials for which all Christians should pray on behalf of each other. Because of their indwelling sin and human frailty, believers cannot perfectly accomplish those spiritual objectives. But they are to be the unwavering goals of every child of God, especially those whom He has called into leadership in His church. “I have [not] already become perfect,” the apostle himself confessed later in this letter, “but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus” (3:12).

As in numerous other texts (cf. Rom. 5:3–4; 2 Peter 1:5–7), the things Paul mentions in Philippians 1:9–11 are sequential, each building on the foundation of the previous one. Abounding love produces spiritual excellence, which produces personal integrity, which produces genuine good works. Together they attain the supreme objective of God’s praise and glory.

1. The Content Proper: A Love Characterized by Increasing Knowledge and Insight (1:9)

Having implied that he prays for them regularly in vv. 3-4—and in keeping with his thoughts of love for the Philippians in vv. 7-8, Paul now moves on in vv. 9-11 to inform them of the content of things he prays for them: Out of love grows his prayer for love. He prays that their love may abound so that they may be able to discern what is best with the ultimate result of living lives to the glory and praise of God. The reason Paul tells them his prayers, indicating what he really desires for them, is that it gives his prayers an exhortational nature. That is, sharing his prayers in this manner may well be a form of implicit encouragement to act on what he is praying.[23]

There are several words in his prayer that need discussion and exposition in order to get the richness of what the apostle is asking God for. The first term is love. While Paul speaks only sparingly of love for God (Rom 8:28; 1 Cor 8:3), he nonetheless emphasizes love in relationships between Christians (1 Thess 4:9; Col 1:4; 3:19; Phlmn 5; Eph 4:2; 5:25; 6:23). Stauffer comments on Paul’s use of love (agape„) in his letters:

Paul takes up the command of Jesus that we should love our neighbors, and establishes it in the same way as the Lord. But his true interest is concentrated on brotherly love. The organic principle which is given once and for all with the orientation of love to the neighbour is here worked out in terms of organisation (sic). Neighbourly love, once a readiness to help compatriots in the covenant people of Israel, is now service rendered to fellow-citizens in the new people of God. It implies making the welfare of the brotherhood the guiding principle of conduct.[24]

Stauffer goes on to talk about the influence of eschatology[25] on Paul’s thinking about love:

Decisive definition is given to brotherly love, however, by the cosmic, historical kairov” [“time“] which demands it. Brotherly love is the only relevant and forward looking attitude in this time of decision between the cross and the tevlo” [“end“]. It stands under the sign of the cross. It is a readiness for service and sacrifice, for forgiveness and consideration, for help and sympathy, for lifting up the fallen and restoring the broken in a fellowship that owes its very existence to the mercy of God and the sacrificial death of Christ…With love the power of the future age already breaks into the present form of the world. As for Jesus, so for Paul agape„ is the only vital force which has a future in this aeon [i.e., now until Christ returns] of death.[26]

Thus love is the active pursuit of other people and those things which are beneficial for them. Paul wanted the Philippians to understand that this, not division (4:2-3) or selfish ambitions (2:3-4), should characterize their church. They ought to love one another, caring for the needs of others and humbly stand united in the defense of the gospel (1:26-30). There is an eschatology or future looking aspect to love in other letters of Paul and so also in Philippians. Paul says that it is his desire that their love abound…until the day of Christ.

But Paul wanted their love not only to be present in “dribs and drabs” until the day of Christ, but to abound (perisseue„) until the day of Christ. The term perisseue„ connotes the idea of “abundance,” “richness,” and “supply unlimited” and was a special word for Paul—used by him 26 of the 39 times in the NT—to refer to God’s gracious act on our behalf, and to the attendant blessing in our lives and our ensuing responsibility. First, it is an apt verb to refer to God’s amazing work in Christ for us. In Ephesians 1:8 Paul says that God has “lavished” (NIV) his grace upon us in salvation. In Romans 5:15 it characterizes the manner in which the blessing of Christ has been come to “the many.” In contrast to the sin of Adam, Jesus’ act of righteousness has caused grace to overflow (not trickle!) to the many. The ministry of the Spirit abounds in bringing about righteousness and life in comparison to the ministry of the Law which brought about sin and death (2 Cor 3:9).

Second, there is an intimacy that we as Christians experience which Paul loves to describe with the use of this verb. In the present age, with the giving of the Spirit and our participation in the kingdom, we receive overflowing comfort from Christ in our trials (2 Cor 1:5) and God himself fills us with all joy and peace as we trust in him so that by the power of the Holy Spirit we might overflow with hope (Romans 15:13).

Third, as a result of the overflowing grace of God expressed to us in the work of Christ and the sending of the Spirit, our lives are characterized by an abundance of provision for the performing of the will of God (2 Cor 9:8), and we ought to overflow in thankfulness to God (2 Cor 4:15; 9:12; Col 2:7), giving (2 Cor 8:2, 7), love for other Christians (1 Thess 3:12; 4:1, 10) and in our work for the resurrected Christ (1 Cor 15:58).

Paul wants their love to abound in the direction of knowledge (epigno„sis) and every kind of insight (pase„ aisthe„sei) so that they may be able to discern what is best and be filled with the fruit of righteousness. But what does he mean specifically by knowledge and every kind of insight. The first term knowledge is not what we generally think of when we speak about knowledge. We say that a person is “knowledgeable” or we refer to a particular discipline as a “field of knowledge.” In these cases we are basically referring to knowledge as factual information about this subject or that. But that is not what Paul has in mind here.

The term epigno„sis is used by Paul some 15 times in his letters[27] and refers to such things as one’s personal knowledge of sin through the explicit demands of the Law (Rom 3:20). In Ephesians 1:17 Paul prays for the Ephesians (and others to whom the letter was sent) that God might give them spiritual wisdom and understanding so that they might have a better knowledge of Christ (cf. Eph 4:13; Col. 1:9). Thus it is a personal kind of knowing that is in view, not just mental assent to certain facts, like the width and depth of the Grand Canyon. Further, it is the kind of knowledge that is also closely related to ethics and behavior. Paul prays that the Colossians will be filled with the knowledge of God’s will so that they might walk worthily of the Lord (Col. 1:9-10). There is a focus in the ministeral epistles on the kind of knowledge that is according to the truth and leads to godliness (see 1 Tim 2:4; 2 Tim 2:25; 3:7; Tit 1:1). Outside of Paul 2 Peter 1:3-4 suggests that God’s power in our lives is made operative through our knowledge of him who called us (cf. 2 Pet 1:2, 8; 2:20). The writer of Hebrews also held a logical connection between epigno„sis and moral behavior (Heb 10:26).

Thus for Paul, the term epigno„sis refers primarily to personal knowledge of God through Christ and the lifestyle that flows from that. This is the case in Philippians 1:9 and is confirmed by the reference to purity and a blameless lifestyle in 1:10. But the term is also closely connected to the second word, namely, insight (aisthe„sei). The term aisthe„sei only occurs here in the New Testament. It does, however, appear 27 times in the Greek Old Testament, 22 of which are in Proverbs. In Exodus 28:3 it refers to wisdom given to men by God for making garments for Aaron. In Prov 1:7 it is associated with the fear of the Lord and must be sought after from God (2:3). It is concerned with practical matters like speaking (10:14; 11:9; 12:23; 22:12) and general prudence and discernment concerning how to live rightly in relationships. It can be referred to as “tact” and the ability to understand relationships and situations with a view to practical action.[28] The reference to every kind of insight refers to the ability to make practical decisions in a wide range of situations.[29] Thus it leads in Philippians 1:10 to an ability to discern or decide what things are best in certain situations and how to live a pure life. The point of what the apostle is praying, then, is that the Philippian’s love—love being defined as that motivation which leads to acts done for the benefit of others—would develop more in terms of their personal relationship with Christ and that it be expressed concretely in the every day living among the Philippians. This prayer, while general enough to be prayed for every Christian community, may have had special significance for the Philippians because of the problem of selfishness (2:3-4) and division (4:2-3) that had crept in.

(1:9-10) Love: there is the mark of a growing and discerning love. Note this: love in the Bible never focuses upon good feelings. Feelings may and usually do come to the person who truly loves another person, but feelings are never the focus—not with true love. What then is the focus?

Þ The focus of love is knowledge. If we truly love someone, we want to know that person. In fact, we want to know all we can about the person.

Þ The force of love is judgment (aisthesei). The word means intelligence or discernment. If we truly love someone, we not only want to know a person but we want to learn all we can about the person. We want to gather all the intelligence and facts possible and discern them so that we can please the person.

Note that Paul wants the believer’s love to grow more and more. We need to know more and more about Christ and each other; we need to gather more and more understanding, more and more discernment, more and more intelligence about each other. The more we know about Christ and each other, the more our love for each other will grow.

1. A growing love is needed to approve things that are excellent. It is not enough just to know what is right and wrong. It is not enough just to do what is right. Sometimes the choice is between the good and the excellent, the acceptable and the best. Only a growing love will stir us to choose the excellent and the best.

Þ The more we love the Lord, the more we will choose the excellent and best for Him.

Þ The more we love each other, the more we will choose the excellent and best for each other. A growing love will not want to do anything that would even come close to causing a person to stumble.

2. A growing love is needed to be sincere and pure. The word sincere (eilikrineis) means to sift about through a sieve in order to make pure. Therefore, the word means pure, uncontaminated, not polluted, untainted. Note that we are to stay pure until the return of Christ. Only a growing love will keep our eyes focused upon Christ. If we do not love Him, we will not look to Him. If we love Him, we will keep our eyes fastened upon Him, longing to see and be with Him. Only love—true love—will keep us pure waiting for His return.

A good illustration of this point is found in the young lady who loves the soldier and is awaiting his return. If she truly loves him, she will keep her eyes fastened upon him and keep herself pure.

A growing love is needed to keep us from causing others to stumble. We must always guard against being an offense (aproskopoi) or a stumblingblock to others. Note: we must be willing to choose the best and the excellent for the sake of others.

The list could go on and on with almost everything we do. We must control everything we do, not slipping over into the questionable—sometimes not even doing the acceptable and good, but we must choose the best. Approve only the things that are excellent. Why?

Þ To offer up to the Lord the very best we can. This point should break our hearts. Just think how often we have chosen to do less than the best for our Lord. We have offered up to Him behavior, words, thoughts, deeds, works that were second best—and we knew it! How His heart must have been cut—especially when He went to the ultimate limit in loving and giving Himself for us.

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, (1:9)

Anyone who is in the least familiar with the New Testament knows that love—of God for men and of men for God and for each other—is at the very heart of biblical Christianity. The God of Scripture not only loves but is love (1 John 4:8, 16). “Love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God …. and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 John 4:7, 16). God loves fallen humanity so much that “He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Love is an absolute and pervasive attribute of God’s essential nature and a critical reality in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

No one understood the importance of love better than the apostle Paul. Because he loved the Philippian believers, he continually prayed for them. As with all those under his care, the apostle’s constant concern for these saints was for their spiritual growth, for which growth in love was essential. He expressed that same concern for growth to the Galatians: “My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you” (Gal. 4:19). The responsibility of apostles, prophets, evangelists, and minister-teachers is the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ …. [And] speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ” (Eph. 4:12–13, 15).

The Greek word agapeô (love) is used so uniquely in the New Testament that ancient Greek literature, even the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), sheds little light on its meaning in the New Testament. In both Testaments, however, love is the virtue that surpasses all others; indeed, it is the prerequisite for all the others. When a Pharisee asked Jesus, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” He replied by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 22:36–40).

Paul also speaks of love in the opening sections of several other letters. Writing to the churches at Ephesus, Colossae, and Thessalonica, he commends believers for their love for each other and for fellow believers everywhere (Eph. 1:15; Col. 1:4; 1 Thess. 1:3; 2 Thess. 1:3). Later in Colossians he speaks of love as “theperfect bond of unity” (3:14). In 1 Corinthians, he elevates love above hope and even faith (1 Cor. 13:13). A few verses earlier he declares that love actually encompasses the other two, because love “believes all things [and] hopes all things” (v. 7). In fact, apart from genuine godly love, every other virtue and activity, no matter how seemingly biblical and sincere, amounts to nothing (vv. 1–3).

In the present verse, Paul mentions or implies at least five distinct but interrelated characteristics of Christian agapeô love. This love is divine, de facto, decisive, dynamic, and discerning.

First, as the statement And this I pray implies, the love Paul wrote about is divine in its nature and in its origin. Paul petitioned God to provide the Philippians with more of the love that comes only from Him. He clearly agreed with his fellow apostle John that “love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love …. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins …. We love, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:7–8, 10, 19).

Godly love is produced only by the working of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of those who belong to Him. “The love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5). It is the first and foremost of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22–23). Believers are taught by God Himself to love. “Now as to the love of the brethren,” Paul explained, “you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more” (1 Thess. 4:9–10).

Like God’s general love for mankind (John 3:16–17) and His electing love for believers (John 17:23; 1 John 4:16), biblical love is a choice. It is based solely on the intent of the one who loves, not on any merit of those who receive it. The only exception, of course, is the believer’s love for God, who is uniquely and supremely deserving.

Illustrating biblical love in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus declared, You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and
pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? (Matt. 5:43–46) It is therefore clear that agapeô love is not based on emotional or entimental,
much less physical, attraction. That is not to say that Christian love is without feeling or sentiment. It is inevitable that believers’ love for others, even those who do not love in return, will produce an emotional attachment (cf. Rom. 9:1–4; 10:1). Paul’s love for fellow believers, especially those like the Philippians, who loved and cared for him so much, was profoundly emotional. But that emotional attraction was not the basis of his love for them. On a volitional level, he also loved the immature, bickering, and ungrateful believers in Corinth.

Second, this love is what might be called de facto. The Philippians were already showing love for Paul and each other. That is why the apostle could say he wanted their love to abound still more. Scripture reveals that all genuine Christians possess godly love, because the Holy Spirit places it in their hearts (cf. Rom. 5:5; Gal. 5:22; 1 Thess. 4:9–10; 1 John 4:7–8).

Love of fellow Christians is a sure mark of saving faith. “By this all men will know that you are My disciples,” Jesus said, “if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Expanding on that truth, John later wrote: “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death …. If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 3:14; 4:20).

Third, genuine love is decisive. As mentioned above, it is a love not based on feelings, but is rather a conscious, intentional choice to show kindness and generosity. In obedience to the Lord’s command, believers willingly choose to express the love He has placed within them. They do so whether others are lovable or not, and whether they respond or not. Believers unselfishly love others because that is the way God loves and because that is how He commands them to love. By obeying the Lord’s command to “love one another, even as I have loved you” (John 13:34), believers become “imitators of God, as beloved children” (Eph. 5:1).

Jesus gave that command in the Upper Room, not long after He had washed the disciples’ feet, a menial and unpleasant task normally performed only by servants. The Lord went on to explain:

You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. (John 13:13–16)

Jesus also illustrated this volitional, decisive, and sacrificial love in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30–35). The Samaritan helped the stranger who was beaten and robbed because the man needed help, not for his own self-satisfaction, self-fulfillment, or feeling of enhanced self-worth. To love our neighbor as ourselves is to do all we can to meet our neighbor’s needs in the same way and to the same extent that we would want our own needs to be met under similar circumstances. It is to apply the Golden Rule: “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 7:12).

Again Jesus is the supreme example of sacrificial love. In John 15:12–13 He declared: “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children,” Paul wrote; “and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma” (Eph. 5:1–2). Husbands are specifically commanded to “love [their] wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (v. 25).

Paul gives perhaps the richest summary of godly love later in Philippians: Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (2:1–8) That kind of willful, humble, self-giving love is much needed in the church today, which is all too often influenced by the world’s corrupted concept of love.

People care little about beneficent, selfless love (not to mention godly love); the world’s concept of love is one that plays on self-interest, even when promoting causes that are meant to help others. Tragically, even in the church people are sometimes asked to give to the Lord’s work because doing so will make them feel good about themselves.

Fourth, godly love is dynamic. It has the capability to abound. Love is not mere emotion or feeling, and as it grows it always finds increasing expression in a righteous character and humble service. Abound is from perisseuoô, which has the basic idea of overflowing in great abundance. In this verse, the present tense indicates a continual progress. Love is to grow and abound throughout the life of a believer. Jesus used the verb in the parable of the sower, explaining that “to you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him” (Matt. 13:11–12).

Because of its divine nature, this dynamic love energizes the fulfilling of divine law. Jesus declared that fulfilling the two supreme commandments to love God and men is the foundation of the whole Law and the Prophets (Matt. 22:37–40). In similar words, Paul said, “He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet,’ and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom. 13:8–10).

The second law of thermodynamics states that all matter and energy in the universe are in a constant state of entropy, a process of continual degradation and deterioration. That law of physics has a counterpart in the Christian life. There is a residual and destructive principle of spiritual entropy that pressures God’s people to slip backwards. To avoid doing so, believers must diligently study and obey His Word, come before Him in prayer, and trust in His continuing grace and power to make them grow and abound in love.

Paul described his own struggle with that residual principle in Romans 7:21–25: I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. In Ephesians he called this continuing propensity to sin “the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit” (Eph. 4:22; cf. Col. 3:9). For that reason the apostle reminded the church at Corinth that only “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed” (2 Cor. 9:8). It is also for that reason that he prayed for the Thessalonians that “the Lord [may] cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you” (1 Thess. 3:12; cf. 1 John 3:11).

The dynamic of godly love also abounds in real knowledge, namely, the true and infallible knowledge expressed in God’s Word. Any love that is not grounded and growing in the truth and standards of Scripture falls short of genuine biblical love. Real knowledge is much more than mere factual information about God’s Word, or even the acknowledgment of it as true and infallible. Real knowledge produces holiness through sincere devotion and obedience to the infallible Scriptures. It was because the faithful believers in Rome lived righteously that Paul could say to them: “And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another” (Rom. 15:14). Virtue is inseparably linked to the real (true) knowledge of God’s truth. “For the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth [knowledge]” (Eph. 5:9). Likewise, Peter declares: “Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart” (1 Peter 1:22). “Fervently” is from ektenoôs, which carries the basic idea of stretching, straining, or going to the limit, and figuratively speaks of great sincerity, earnestness, and fervor. Obedience to God’s Word, the only source of real knowledge, purifies the soul and enables one to love to the limit.

Biblical love involves obedience to the Word. “If you love Me,” Jesus said, “you will keep My commandments …. He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me …. If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him …. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love” (John 14:15, 21, 23; 15:10; cf. 1 John 3:24).

No impulse or feeling that leads one to disobey Scripture can be approved and blessed by God. Such “love” not only does not reflect godly love but also is the antithesis and enemy of it. For example, people who try to justify an immoral affair by claiming the Lord led them to fall in love with the other person repudiate God’s Word. Scripture clearly condemns all sexual immorality without exception, including that of romantic attraction.

Fifth, godly love is discerning. It not only abounds in the life of one who has a true and accurate knowledge of God’s Word but also does so in all discernment. Aistheôsis (discernment) is the source of the English word “aesthetic.” But the meaning of aistheôsis is almost the opposite of “aesthetic,” which largely has to do with personal taste and preference. Paul calls believers to put aside personal tastes and preferences and to focus rather on achieving mature insight and understanding. Aistheôsis appears only here in the New Testament and refers to a high level of biblical, theological, moral, and spiritual perception. It also implies the right application of that knowledge. In other words, discernment is the understanding and appreciation of the real
knowledge of God’s revelation that produces holy living. Unlike the way that worldly love is often characterized, biblical love is far from blind. On the contrary, it is wise and judicious. It understands “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16), has knowledge, and makes wise assessments, which provide clear directives for holy living. It is a biblically knowledgeable and discriminating love that is under the control of a Spirit-controlled mind and heart. It is the kind of love that can fulfill Paul’s admonition to the Thessalonians: “Examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thess. 5:21–22).

2. The Goal: The Glory and Praise of God (1:10-11)

Paul really has two overarching and related goals in mind when he prays for the Philippians. The first concerns their holiness and the second concerns the glory of God. He prays that they might abound in love and then demonstrate that love in their relationships with one another so that they might be pure and blameless which itself will result in the praise of the glory of God. Thus there is an immediate goal as well as an ultimate goal.

a. The Immediate Goal (1:10-11a)

The immediate goal that Paul has in mind actually has two purposes within it. Paul prays for their love to abound more and more in knowledge and every kind of insight so that they may be able to approve or decide what things are best. This, then, further achieves the purpose or goal of the development of sincere and blameless lives among the Philippians. The phrase decide what is best (dokimazein ta diapheronta) is important to Paul’s meaning. The verb dokimazein (“decide”) carries the idea of “to prove something as credible, worthy, or true by testing it.” It was used to refer to the testing of metals and coins to appraise their worth. It is used in Luke 14:19 when a man who was invited to the great banquet said that he could not come because he had just bought five yoke of oxen and he needed to go and test them out, to see if they were any good. The identical expression dokimazein ta diapheronta appears in Romans 2:18 where it refers to a Jew approving a higher moral standard according to the Law and the revealed will of God. 2 Corinthians 8:8 is another good example:

8:8 I am not saying this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love by comparison with the eagerness of others.

Thus the process of approving something is a process that involves testing with a view to a choice about the value of the thing in question. Here Paul says that he wants the Philippians to learn to approve ta diapheronta. The term ta diapheronta refers to that which is excellent, surpassing in value, or really matters and is critical. It is easy to see how things that surpass other things in moral and spiritual value are also more important.[30] Paul wants the Philippians’ love to abound in practical discernment so that they can approve the best course of action in each specific situation in which they find themselves. The purpose of approving the things which are critical is to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ. Once again, in the introductory prayer, the apostle anticipates subjects to be taken up in the rest of the letter. The idea of approving the things which are excellent and, therefore, critical and more important, is taken up again by way of application in 2:14-15 and 4:9. He also gives them his own example in 3:1-21. He was one who possessed the kind of love and discernment for which he prayed for the Philippians.

The term sincere (eilikrineis) can be translated as “without spot” and refers to moral purity. Originally, the term was derived from two words: (1) “sun”; (2) “judge.” Together the sense was “tested against the light of the sun,” “completely pure,” and “spotless.” The picture may be, as Hawthorne has suggested, of someone bringing a garment or the like out into the sun to see if there be any stain or spot on it.[31] From the time of Plato on it has been used in a moral sense, as is the case here in Phil 1:10 and in the rest of the NT (see 1 Cor 5:8; 2 Cor 1:12; 2:17; 2 Peter 3:1).[32]

The other term, namely, blameless (aproskopoi) could refer to either putting a stumbling block in someone’s path or to stumbling oneself. In light of the only other usage in Paul in 1 Cor 10:32 (cf. Acts 24:16), it seems best to take it as a reference to causing someone else to stumble. This is also more likely in light of the focus on love in v. 9 and practical decision making in relationships entailed in that idea.

In summary, then, Paul wants the Philippians’ love to abound more and more in personal knowledge about God and spiritual relationships and insight concerning how to act in specific situations. The reason he prayed for this was so that the Philippians might learn to judge for themselves as to what was most important and valuable and live pure lives without offending others. This, then, is the way he wants them to live in light of the day of Christ (i.e., his coming) where they will experience the consummation of their salvation (cf. discussion of 1:6) as well as testing (cf. 1 Cor 3:10-15).

b. The Ultimate Goal (1:11b)

Paul wants the Philippians to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ and to be filled with the fruit of righteousness (peple„ro„menoi karpon dikaiosune„s). There are some who argue that by “fruit of righteousness” (dikaiosune„s) Paul here is referring to fruit that comes from a right standing with God (i.e., fruit that arises from our justification) as its source. Others argue that what Paul is referring to is fruit that is righteous in character without any explicit reference to God, Christ, or the Spirit as its source. While all commentators realize that Paul is talking about a lifestyle honoring to God and ultimately characterized by the fruit of the Spirit, the latter option is preferable since it is in keeping with the OT background (Amos 6:12; Prov 3:9; 11:30)[33] of the phrase and recognizes the parallel between this phrase, “filled with the fruit of righteousness” and the other modifiers in v. 10, namely, “sincere” and “blameless.” In any case, what Paul undoubtedly has in mind here is the fruit produced by the Spirit as we walk with him (Gal 5:16-24). His own life emotionally expressed in 3:1-14 is a testimony to the Philippians of the “pattern” (3:17) he wants them to follow. He wants the lives of the Philippians to be marked by a crop of righteous fruit to the glory and praise of God. Now that’s a goal worth shooting for!

IV. Principles for Application

2. We need to ask ourselves how we pray for other Christians. Is it with joy? If so, why?

3. Do we share with other Christians in need? Is it time to review this area in your life?

4. Are there any Christians in our lives that we love as much as Paul loved the Philippians?

5. What is one specific thing you could do to help another Christian(s) with their growth?

There is Christian joy. It is with joy that Paul prays for his friends. The Letter to the Philippians has been called The Epistle of Joy. Bengel in his terse Latin commented: "Summa epistolae gaudeo-gaudete." "The whole point of the letter is I do rejoice; do you rejoice." Let us look at the picture of Christian joy which this letter paints.

(i) In 1:4 there is the joy of Christian prayer, the joy of bringing those we love to the mercy seat of God.

George Reindrop in his book No Common Task tells how a nurse once taught a man to pray and in doing so changed his whole life, until a dull, disgruntled and dispirited creature became a man of joy. Much of the nurse's work was done with her hands, and she used her hands as a scheme of prayer. Each finger stood for someone. Her thumb was nearest to her, and it reminded her to pray for those who were closest to her. The second finger was used for pointing and it stood for all her teachers in school and in the hospital. The third finger was the tallest and it stood for the V.I.P.s, the leaders in every sphere of life. The fourth finger was the weakest, as every pianist knows, and it stood for those who were in trouble and in pain. The little finger was the smallest and the least important and to the nurse it stood for herself.

There must always be a deep joy and peace in bringing our loved ones and others to God in prayer.

(ii) There is the joy that Jesus Christ is preached (1:18). When a man enjoys a great blessing surely his first instinct must be to share it; and there is joy in thinking of the gospel being preached all over the world, so that another and another and another is brought within the love of Christ.

(iii) There is the joy of faith (1:25). If Christianity does not make a man happy, it will not make him anything at all. There is a certain type of Christianity which is a tortured affair. The Psalmist said, "They looked to him and were radiant." When Moses came down from the mountain top his face shone. Christianity is the faith of the happy heart and the shining face.

(iv) There is the joy of seeing Christians in fellowship together (2:2). As the Psalmist sang (Psalm 133:1):

Behold how good a thing it is, And how becoming well, Together such as brethren are In unity to dwell!

There is peace for no one where there are broken human relationships and strife between man and man. There is no lovelier sight than a family linked in love to each other or a Church whose members are one with each other because they are one in Christ Jesus their Lord.

(v) There is the joy of suffering for Christ (2:17). In the hour of his martyrdom in the flames Polycarp prayed, "I thank thee, O Father, that thou hast judged me worthy of this hour." To suffer for Christ is a privilege, for it is an opportunity to demonstrate beyond mistake where our loyalty lies and to share in the upbuilding of the Kingdom of God.

(vi) There is the joy of news of the loved one (2:28). Life is full of separations, and there is always joy when news comes to us of those loved ones from whom we are temporarily separated. A great Scottish preacher once spoke of the joy that man can give with a postage stamp. It is worth remembering how easily we can bring joy to those who love us and how easily we can bring anxiety, by keeping in touch or failing to keep in touch with them.

(vii) There is the joy of Christian hospitality (2:29). There is the home of the shut door and there is the home of the open door. The shut door is the door of selfishness; the open door is the door of Christian welcome and Christian love. It is a great thing to have a door from which the stranger and the one in trouble know that they will never be turned away.

(viii) There is the joy of the man in Christ (3:1; 4:1). We have already seen that to be in Christ to live in his presence as the bird lives in the air, the fish in the sea, and the roots of the trees in the soil. It is human nature to be happy when we are with the person whom we love; and Christ is the lover from whom nothing in time or eternity can ever separate us.

(ix) There is the joy of the man who has won one soul for Christ (4:1). The Philippians are Paul's joy and crown, for he was the means of bringing them to Jesus Christ. It is the joy of the parent, the teacher, the preacher to bring others, especially the child, into the love of Jesus Christ. Surely he who enjoys a great privilege cannot rest content until he shares it with his family and his friends. For the Christian evangelism is not a duty; it is a joy.

(x) There is the joy in a gift (4:10). This joy does not lie so much in the gift itself, as in being remembered and realizing that some one cares. This is a joy that we could bring to others far oftener than we do.

[1] The letter describes Paul’s imprisonment (1:12-26), his being with the Philippians (2:12), his plans for Timothy and Epaphroditus (2:19-30) and the values and goals of his own life (3:1-21). He also uses the first person on several occasion referring to himself. This would indicate that Timothy was not involved in the authorship of the work.

[2] It seems that Timothy avoided the conflict in Philippi since only Paul and Silas are mentioned as those thrown into prison (Acts 16:19, 25, 29). This may have been due to his unobtruvsiveness. The fact that Paul has to reaffirm his qualifications in Phil 2:19-22 also suggests that he was perceived as somewhat unimpressive. So Gerald P. Hawthorne, Philippians, Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 43, ed. Ralph P. Martin (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1983), 4.

[3] The fact that he most often refers to himself as an apostle when his authority is or could be an issue, and the fact that he does not refer to himself as such in 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and Philemon, may be due to their strong bond of friendship he had with the former (see 1 Thess 2:7-8, 17-20; 3:1-10) and the delicate situation of the latter. See Moisés Silva, Philippians, Baker Exegetical Commentary, ed. Moisés Silva (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992), 39-40.

[4] You may remember that many Jews lived outside Palestine because of the deportations by Assyria and Babylon in the 8^th and 6^th centuries before Christ. Many of them were still there centuries later. In the fourth century the Greeks, led by Alexander the Great conquered much of the territory in which the Jews found themselves and the latter were soon obliged to learn the Greek language. There arose, then, the need to translate the Hebrew Bible into Greek. This was begun sometime in the third century BC and completed sometime around the end of the second century BC. For certain rather unlikely reasons it became known as the Septuagint. It had a profound effect on the writers of the NT as they quote from it extensively, including the apostle Paul.

[5] Though the term indicates Paul’s humble service (and Timothy’s) it is not the denigrating sense often seen in Greco-Roman culture. This is so since, while outsiders to the Christian faith may have found it quite repugnant, Paul undoubtedly regarded it as a privilege to be a servant of Christ Jesus.

[6] For a discussion of the city and background information see the introductory lesson.

[7] Gordon D. Fee, Philippians, NICNT, ed. Gordon D. Fee (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995), 68-69.

[8] Hawthorne, Philippians, 9.

[9] Cf. Hawthorne, Philippians, 11-12; Fee, Philippians, 70-71; Peter T. O’Brien, Philippians, NIGTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991), 50-52.

[10] So Gerald F. Hawthorne, Philippians, WBC, ed. Ralph P. Martin, vol. 43 (Waco: Word Books, 1983), 15, who cites Adolf Deissman, Light from the Ancient Near East (New York: George H. Doran, 1927; reprint Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995), 168, n. 3.

[11] There is no indication here that Paul’s intends to say that his God is just one of many gods, i.e., my God as opposed to your God. What he is referring to is the close personal relationship he enjoys with the one God of the universe who has made himself known particularly in Christ Jesus the Lord

[12] Philippians 2:1 is notoriously difficult to interpret. We will discuss the imagery in some detail when we come to the verse in our exposition, but suffice it to say here that Paul rejoices in his ministry to them even though it comes with a price tag attached.

[13] Hawthorne, Philippians, 16-17.

[14] See Richard N. Longenecker, “Acts,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 9 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981), 293; SBK 2:696-98.

[15] See BAGD, s.v. dehvsi".

[16] Cf. TDNT, 9: 369-70.

[17] See Gordon D. Fee, Philippians, NICNT, ed. Gordon D. Fee (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995), 84-85.

[18] Hawthorne, Philippians, 21.

[19] P. T. O’Brien, Philippians, NIGTC, ed. I. Howard Marshall and W. Ward Gasque (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991), 64.

[20] O’Brien, Philippians, 65.

[21] Fee, Philippians, 89; O’Brien, Philippians, 66-67.

[22] Ralph P. Martin, Philippians, NCB, ed. Matthew Black (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976), 67.

[23] So Martin, Philippians, 68.

[24] Ethelbert Stauffer, TDNT, 1:50-51.

[25] “Eschatology” is a fancy word which generally refers to the study of doctrines and ideas related to the end-times.

[26] Stauffer, TDNT, 1:51.

[27] He uses the verbal form only on one occasion (2 Cor 1:13).

[28] Cf. O’Brien, Philippians, 77.

[29] Cf. O’Brien, Philippians, 76-77.

[30] See BAGD, s. v. diafevrw 2.

[31] Hawthorne, Philippians, 28.

[32] Friedrich Büchsel, TDNT, 2:397-98.

[33] See Fee, Philippians, 103-04.