Philippians 1:1-1:26

Updated
2001-05-26; 14:32:42utc

I. Introduction. 1:1-2

"Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

There is little we can say about these verses. Paul calls himself and Timothy "servants." The title Paul uses in some of the other epistles is omitted. The Greek word for "servant" is "doulos," which means slave. It implies right of ownership. The fact that Jesus Christ bought us and paid for us with His own blood means that He has rights on our body, our spirit, our time. Paul's use of the word "doulos" implies a complete surrender of himself to the will of God.[ 1 ]

Paul writes this to a church which consists mainly of Roman citizens. He underlines what he wrote before in I Corinthians: "For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord's freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ's slave."[ 2 ] Both the sender and the receiver of this letter belong to the category of "free men, called to be Christ's slave."

The church is called "saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi." The Wycliffe Bible Commentary says about this: "The term saints does not designate a level of ethical achievement." If had been Paul's intention to refer to their lifestyle, the mention of the overseers and deacons separately would point to a difference of sanctity in those people. It could also be an indication of apostolic irony. The original meaning of the word "holy" is "to be set apart (for God)." That "ethical achievement" should eventually flow out from this condition is a different matter. The Hebrew word for "holy" that is used in the Old Testament is qadash, which means "to consecrate, or dedicate" and also "to pronounce clean." It is true that the word "saint" points here primarily to our position in Christ, but it implies also a lifestyle that is in accordance with this position. In Leviticus God says: "Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: 'Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.' "[ 3 ] How this works in practice, we learn elsewhere in Leviticus, that God adds: "I am the LORD, who makes you holy."[ 4 ]

The Greek word episkopois is translated "overseers." The KJV and RSV say "bishops." The word had originally a secular meaning of "inspector," and it was used for the Roman magistrates. We should not exclude the possibility that Paul uses the term ironically in his letter to these retired colonials. This is the only epistle in which Paul mentions the overseers and deacons separately. The word "deacon" (diakonos) means "servant" in the general sense of the word. The term was used both for slaves as well as for hired helpers. Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament says: "It represents a servant, not in his relationship, but in his activity."

We see in Acts, where we meet the deacons for the first time, that their service had a social connotation.[ 5 ] We also understand that the church in Philippi was moved by social issues. One of the reasons for the writing of this letter was the fact that they had sent material help to Paul.[ 6 ] Paul uses them, with other churches in Macedonia, as an example to the church in Corinth because of their generosity toward the needy brothers in Jerusalem.[ 7 ] So we can say that the deacons in the church in Philippi fulfilled their task, as they should. Surely, giving and joy are complementary. The joy of the church in Philippi was, undoubtedly, related to their generosity.

"Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." - vs.2 Paul combines East and West in this greeting. Charis ("grace") is a Greek salutation and "peace" is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Shalom. Vincent says that "grace" expresses God's love for man and "peace" the condition which is the result of that love. It is a beautiful thing that polite greetings can have such a rich spiritual significance. Actually, what Paul did was change the customary word charein (greetings) with the shorter form charis (grace.) Charis is a loaded word in the New Testament. Both grace and peace are gifts of God to man. It seems strange that Paul mentions the Father and the Son but not the Holy Spirit. We could say that the remainder of the epistle deals with the Holy Spirit.

II. Phil. 1:3-11

"I thank my God every time I remember you.

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy

Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,

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 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.

God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,

So that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ,

Filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ; to the glory and praise of God."

Paul relives over and over again in his heart the events that led to the birth of the church in Philippi. He never lost his amazement about the supernatural character of what happened. He had never really worked hard to bring about the birth of the church. God just gave it to him. The daily life of the church is a testimony to the supernatural element that brought it into existence. That is why Paul's intercession for the church in Philippi is mingled with praise. How good it is when we can thank God for each other! There are people in my life who cause gratitude to well up in me when I remember them. This is one way by which God brings joy into our lives.

If we analyze what Paul says in these verses, we realize that one way in which joy comes to us is by thinking of others. This delivers us from an excessive concentration upon ourselves and our circumstances. Then there is intercession; that is the bringing of others and their needs before God. Intercession elevates our human relationships to the highest level. This kind of intercessory prayer was symbolized by Aaron, the High Priest when he entered the Holy Place. Part of the High Priest's clothing consisted of two shoulder pieces containing two onyx stones engraved with the names of the tribes of Israel.[ 8 ] He also wore a breastplate with twelve precious stones, each bearing the name of one of the tribes. Aaron carried names of the people on his shoulders when he appeared before God. Paul makes allusion to this Old Testament picture when he says in vs. 7: "It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart."

Intercession made by people on earth is an image of Jesus' intercession for us as our High Priest in Heaven. Our relationship with Christ is based on His intercession for us. We can intercede for others because He prays for us.

Not every man who accepts the Gospel becomes immediately an evangelist himself. In Jesus' parable of the sower we find a category of people who spontaneously accept the Word, but they never bear fruit because of the hard layer of rock under the surface of their lives, which is never broken. In Matthew Jesus says about such people: "But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the Word, he quickly falls away."[ 9 ] Trouble and persecution give proof of what is inside. The Philippians participated in the propagation of the Gospel from the very first day, and they also received their share of persecution. Paul says later on in this chapter: "For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, Since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have" (ch. 1:29,30). They had been eye witnesses of the scourging and imprisonment of Paul and Silas, and they knew from the very beginning what price they would have to pay. But they also understood that if the Gospel of Jesus Christ was worth dying for, it was good enough to live for. People who have suffered for the Gospel and have faced death because of it understand this better than anyone else.

It was not easy for Paul to say these things; he wrote this letter from prison. The Gospel grows nowhere so well as under persecution. The Negro slaves in America and the Christians in communist China are witnesses to this fact. It is difficult for us to understand this mystery that the Holy Spirit works in the heart of man. We would expect man to give up under pressure, but this is usually not the case.

Paul gives the glory to God for the fact that the converts in Philippi became evangelists from the first day. This is God's work; it has nothing to do with their background or circumstances. That is why he expresses, in faith upon God, the confidence that these saints will persevere. It sounds Calvinistic, doesn't it?

Vs. 6 also emphasizes the fact that being a saint in Christ, as vs. 1 puts it, is not the same thing as being sanctified by God. From the day of our conversion we are saints in Christ. On that very day the Holy Spirit starts a good work in us that will ultimately result in perfect holiness. God wants us to be holy, as He is holy. In Jude vs.24 we read: "To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy...." God is not only able to keep us from stumbling; He can also make us perfect.

In other epistles Paul also expresses this truth, which was precious to him. In Colossians we read: "But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation."[ 10 ] In Ephesians: "And to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless."[ 11 ] John sees the church as a bride adorned to meet her bridegroom. In Revelations he says: "I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal."[ 12 ] God is serious when He says: "Be holy!"

Several times in this epistle Paul returns to the mystery of the work of the Holy Spirit in us and how this fits in with human initiative. The fact that our sanctification is God's work does not mean that we are passive onlookers. Otherwise, our receiving a crown at the day of Jesus' return would be an empty ritual.

The reason Paul gives for his assurance regarding the Philippians' spiritual condition is a strange one. In vs. 7 he states two proofs: First the fact that he has them in his heart and secondly that they share in the grace God has given to Paul. We read: "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." We mentioned already that having other people on our heart is part of our priesthood. For Paul this image has a strong emotional content. He loves these people deeply. God uses our love for others to reach them and to build them up. Rarely does God reveal Himself to others outside those bonds of human love. Direct revelations are, of course, not excluded, but usually these are indications that the normal channels are plugged up. Carrying others upon our heart is both part of our official priestly office. Part of Aaron's priesthood consisted in the fact that he wore the names of the tribes of Israel on his heart; it was part of his clothing. So for us too it is a part of our priesthood to intercede, but it is also the emotional experience of the streaming out of warm personal feelings toward our neighbor via the throne of God. It is good and healthy, not only to tell God that we love certain people, but also to tell one another. Paul does say to the Philippians that he carries them on his heart, doesn't he?

This verse is refreshingly positive. Paul is very much aware of the fact that everything that has been accomplished is the work of the Holy Spirit. The participation in the preaching of the Gospel, the way in which suffering is accepted, and the pouring out of love for one another, all are matters in which man is involved one hundred percent; and all this would be impossible without the presence and operation of the Spirit of God.

It has been said that a counselor should always keep a professional distance between himself and the people who put their trust in him. He has to guard himself against getting too much involved emotionally. This is what the text book says. Paul does not follow this advice. In vs. 8 he says: "God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus." He is homesick for the church in Philippi. Jesus Himself never kept His distance professionally. We have to be careful that our emotions are kept healthy. We are sinful people and the devil is unscrupulous if he can bend our feelings and desires. Dangers are never absent in the realm of counseling. We always must open ourselves to the searching eye of the Holy Spirit in our relationships with one another. Our feelings have to be kept within the framework of Christ's compassion for others. There is a very subtle danger in that the priority shifts in our love for other people. Every human relationship that would diminish in any way our love for God with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind and all our will, is being manipulated by the evil one. The relationship between Paul and the Philippians is best described in II Corinthians: "They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will."[ 13 ] All relationships that are channeled via God will be healthy ones.

Important factors in a relationship of mutual love are mentioned in vs. 9 where Paul speaks of "knowledge and depth of insight," or as the RSV puts it, "knowledge and all discernment." The love of Christ is not blind. When Paul says in I Corinthians that "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things,"[ 14 ] he doesn't mean that he closes his eyes to the shortcomings of his brethren in Christ. One knows what he "bears" and "believes." Bearing and believing are acts of the will, not a covering up of sins. Jesus says clearly that we must tell our brother his faults. Jesus says: "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over."[ 15 ] Love distinguishes between that which belongs to the domain of human frailty, which has to be touched by the Holy Spirit in the heart of our brother and that which can cause serious damage in the relationship with God and with one another. Tact and sensitivity are necessary in dealing with inter-personal relationships because we are complicated beings who seldom see things as they really are. If we have this tact we are following Christ example in dealing with one another. The Holy Spirit deals with us with sensitivity; therefore, we should love our neighbor as ourself. We must always ask ourselves the question of how we would react to a particular situation; and then we should approach our neighbor accordingly.

God does not demand of us that we evaluate one another. As Paul says in Romans: "Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand."[ 16 ] We should accept one another as we are because God has accepted us and our neighbor as we are. This does not mean that there would be no place for evaluation at all. There are certain situations in which we must do evaluation, especially in those situations, love and discernment are required. If we have to evaluate fellow Christians, we should do it within the framework of their gifts and the task that is given them. From what Paul says in I Corinthians, we understand that evaluation is required only under specific circumstances; it is not a general rule. We read: "I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me."[ 17 ] We are to be judged by the Lord, but that is different from self-evaluation.

The questions we should not ask ourselves are: How successful am I, or how much self-fulfillment do I experience? Rather we should ask ourselves: is what I do in accordance with the Word of God? And secondly: Is what I do and the way in which I do it glorifying to God? Purity and blamelessness are the fruits of obedience to the Word of Christ. Jesus says in John's Gospel, "You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you."[ 18 ] The only way that the fruit of righteousness will grow in us is when the Holy Spirit plants the seed in our lives and we help it grow in living a life of obedience and fellowship with the Lord.

We should reach for God's glory. Moses prayed: "Now show me your glory."[ 19 ] The most decisive factor in the growing process is that the Lord Jesus stands between us and the Father. The fruit of righteousness is to the honor of the Father through Him. His righteousness is projected on us because our sins were projected on Him.

III. Phil. 1:12-26

"Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.

As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.

Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.

It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.

The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.

The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.

But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!

I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;

But it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me."

In Matthew, the Lord Jesus predicts what will await His disciples. The Gospel will have to be preached to governors and kings, and the way this is done is by having accusations brought against the evangelist and having him taken to court.[ 20 ] Toward the end of the book of Acts, we read about some of the testimonies that Paul was able to give in such a situation. In Acts 23 Paul stands before the Sanhedrin. In Acts 24 Felix hears the Gospel from Paul, and in chapter 25, Festus and Agrippa are faced with the truth.

We cannot determine with certainty where the advancement of the Gospel, as Paul mentions in vs. 12, took place. As we said before, most commentators tend to place Paul's imprisonment in Rome, some in Ceasarea and others in Ephesus. This last place is favored because of recent archeological finds by which a "preatorium" in Ephesus was unearthed. In any case, Paul talks about Roman officials who, were it not for Paul's testimony, would normally not have been confronted with the Gospel. Needless to say, the experience was not an unadulterated joy for Paul; imprisonment was invariably accompanied by physical pain, and shackles and often floggings that were common.

In my own experience, I know of cases in which the Lord used physical suffering to lead to the salvation of others. Mijo van der Bijl, the wife of one of my colleagues, underwent a cancer operation in the Netherlands. She led a woman to the Lord who was in the same ward with her. A boy who was the cause of a motorcycle accident involving some of our colleagues on the mission field, was converted because of the accident.

For Paul, however, the important thing was not only that "as a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that [he was] in chains for Christ," but "because of [his] chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly." It is not only the blood of the martyrs which is the seed of the church, but also their lives and testimony which create a fertile soil for the seed. Nothing is so encouraging as witnessing an anointed, courageous Christian. Paul's heroic conduct was the work of the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ promises His assistance to us. We read: "But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, For it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you."[ 21 ] When we are taken to court, Christ is taken to court. And the Parakletos has never been surpassed by any lawyer.

We do not read here that anyone received new life in Christ through Paul's imprisonment; however, in Philemon vs. 10 we encounter Onesimus, whom Paul had fathered in prison, though this could have been during a different imprisonment.

Paul's thoughts in vs. 15-18 are hard to follow. The translation of "envy and rivalry" does not sound right. We have to keep in mind that the "preaching of Christ," as Paul calls it, is not a subjective matter, but an objective announcement of the truth. The way Paul puts it, it sounds as if the Gospel is about Paul instead of Jesus. Of course this cannot be the true intention of the passage. From Paul's experience in Philippi we learn that Paul himself did not accept with joy the announcing of the Gospel from just any source. He cast out the evil spirit of the fortune-telling slave girl.[ 22 ] The fact that in this epistle Paul says he rejoices in the preaching proves that the source of it is not satanic. Also, if it were a matter of the Jews preaching circumcision, the apostle would not have expressed himself so kindly. In chapter 3:2 he utters sharp warnings against this kind of preaching. And the epistle to the Galatians is proof that Paul did not act kindly toward those who tried to rob the Gospel of its power. So, it is hard to determine whom Paul has in mind here. We will have to interpret these verses in the light of what is said in ch. 3:17-19, where Paul sets himself as an example of a genuine Christian for others to follow. There he speaks about people, who profess to be Christians but who live as enemies of the cross of Christ.

The message of the Gospel which we proclaim should be demonstrated by the way in which we live. The message that was preached was good, but the lifestyle of those who preached it was not. It is possible that Paul suffered from the fact that in the eye of the public he was thrown on the same heap as those who clearly profited from their preaching and that by doing so gave the Gospel a bad name. It seems doubtful that some had adopted a lifestyle of affluence with the express purpose to make Paul suffer. They may never have given Paul a thought. Perhaps they were too egocentric for that. In the same way would those who preached the Gospel "out of goodwill" have done this with the purpose of lightening Paul's suffering. It may be true that those who "preached Christ out of envy and rivalry" were more concerned about themselves than about Christ, but Paul would never have entered their picture. I cannot help thinking that Paul treats the matter too subjectively. He says to himself that these people preach on purpose to bother him, and this supposition is probably without ground. This doesn't mean that the lesson we draw from it is not valuable. Not only the message we but also the way in which we bring it is important . We can make life easier or harder for other people depending on whether our way of living corresponds with the Gospel or not.

The word "deliverance" in vs. 19 has multiple meanings. The KJV calls it "salvation." Obviously Paul does not speak about his conversion and regeneration. It is beyond doubt that those things were in the past for Paul. In ch. 3:10-14 Paul speaks about things that are still lacking in his salvation. We should understand "deliverance" or "salvation" in that light. Paul is convinced that not he, but Christ, is the accused in the Roman court; and he wants to be sure that his attitude or his speaking will in no way be a hindrance in the glorification of his Lord. Whether this means acquittal for him or condemnation is of no importance. But he knows that in the natural he is not indifferent. His human nature does not accept either with equal tranquillity. The desire for self-preservation was as strong in Paul as in anybody else. Without the intercession of other Christians and without the help of the Holy Spirit his defense would turn out to be a complete disaster. Paul did not have the inherent abilities that would assure victory in himself. Only by trusting in Jesus' promise in Matthew, that the Holy Spirit would give him the words to speak, would the Gospel come through clearly.

There is always the danger that we put our trust in our reputation. Only if we follow the advice in Proverbs: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight,"[ 23 ] will our way before God indeed be straight. That is the "salvation" Paul speaks about. It is important to realize that the intercession of others and the help of the Holy Spirit are indispensable. I presume the Holy Spirit can work directly in the heart of a person if the church doesn't function as it should, but that is not God's method. The Spirit works in and through the body of Christ.

Often I am reminded of my experience when my wife and I were in Sentani and a thief tried to kill the night watchman and me with a dagger. The thief was the one who lost his life because the night watchman killed him with an arrow. I was amazed to discover my feelings toward the guy who had stabbed me and almost made me lose my life. In the natural I should have hated him, but the Lord gave me feelings of love and compassion for him. Had my natural feelings come to the surface, I would have felt ashamed, but the Lord gave me feelings for which I did not have to be ashamed. I was utterly amazed at my own reaction. Paul did not only want the Gospel to be heard clearly when he stood before his judges, but also that the love of Christ would be visible in him, even if he was going to be mistreated or even executed.

This brings us to one of the great verses in the Bible: vs. 21 - "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." We will never live a life of reality if we have never settled the matter of death first. Actually, the problem of death is that we have to let go. The tendency we have to keep ourselves from dying shows that deep down in our hearts we do not want to be dependent upon God. We act as if the source of life is in ourselves, when actually, the problem of death is that we must yield.

Death came about when the life-line with God was severed in Paradise. The first step toward life is in the recognition of these facts. If I confess before God that I am dead outside of Him and that He alone is the source of my life, I let go of myself. We can only say that Christ is our life if we have surrendered our life to Him. Paul describes this process clearly in where he says: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."[ 24 ] This is the fundamental acknowledgment that Christ died on the cross in my stead. This means that when He died, I died. The result of this is that I lost all claims I had upon myself and upon all that belongs to me. The basis for His victory is my absolute defeat. Without this total bankruptcy no new life is possible. Without my death there will be no resurrection for me either.

Ravi Zacharias tells the story of how afraid he was when he visited Phnom Penh at the time it was bombarded by the Khmer Rouge. A missionary who was with him showed no sign of fear whatsoever. When asked "How come you are not afraid?" he said: "I died years ago." Another missionary in Cambodia, Mary Lou Rorebaugh, conquered her fear of bombs by accepting the fact that she could be hit by one. We can only live if we have already died. These basic facts are explained in II Corinthians: "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again."[ 25 ]

Paul's words "For me, to live is Christ" indicate also what the content and the quality of his life is. It means, literally, that we live for Him and not for ourselves. We exist for Him and our acts should please Him. In everything we do He should occupy the central place; otherwise Christ would not be exalted in our body.

It is also true that, if Christ is our life, we live as people who are resurrected from the dead. Ruth Paxon calls this Life on the Highest Plane. Identification with Christ's death results in identification with His resurrection. Paul elaborates this truth in Romans.[ 26 ]

This identification consists both of a position and a growing process. Elsewhere in Romans he says: "If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection."[ 27 ] Or, as the KJV puts it: "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection." That is why in ch. 3:10-14 Paul indicates that he had not experienced yet to the full all that was due him in the resurrection of Christ. He says: "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, And so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Obviously, we cannot demonstrate the fullness of God's glory in our mortal bodies. But our position in Christ is enough to give a glow to our lives. In II Corinthians Paul says: "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."[ 28 ]

The fact that "to die is gain" does not deny the hostile character of death. Death will always be "the last enemy," which will be conquered finally at the end of time. Revelation says: "Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire."[ 29 ] It is clear, however, from the paradox of Paul's words that this enemy of ours will not be able to incur any lasting damage to us as God's children in Jesus Christ. Death means the end of our life on earth and the decomposition of our body; but it is also the perfection of the glory of Jesus which was planted in us and for which God has predestined us. God leaves it to the enemy to do the dirty work; after all, the devil is our greatest enemy, the author of death.

So the gates of Heaven are opened for us through death. "To be with Christ," as Paul puts it in vs. 23, is the goal of our existence and the fulfillment of our being. I remember having an attack of malaria in Brussels during our first furlough from the mission field. I didn't know it was malaria, and when the fever soared, I thought I was dying. The thought that I would soon see Jesus, who had died for my sins, filled me with a deep joy. A verse from Peter's epistle kept coming to me: "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy."[ 30 ]

In vs. 22-26 Paul speaks about a dilemma most people in this world have never faced. For the average person the greatest priority is to stay alive. The Germans call it "the struggle for existence;"[ 31 ] and Hamlet's most famous words are: "To be, or not to be that is the question." One chooses, if there is a choice, "to be." We live in a world in which death has the final say, and efforts to stretch life are pushed to an extent that becomes ridiculous. People who lose consciousness are hooked up to a life support machine. Many people are ready to compromise morally if that stretches their life. In Communist Russia the KGB was able to force many people to sign confessions simply by threatening them with a gun. The only reason that the choice between life and death is a dilemma for Paul is because staying alive would be more advantageous for the kingdom of Heaven. He knew the Lord had used him to bring others to Christ Jesus. What a life-goal! At the same time it is clear that our lives can only be useful to the Lord if for us to die is gain.

Of course in reality Paul had no choice. It was not up to him to decide whether he would live or die. That which he calls a choice, when he says, "I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far," is actually an evaluation of his life on earth. That is important. We will never be able to draw lines from particular situations on earth to Heaven, as Christ often did. Jesus was able to stop at certain moments in His life and evaluate what happened in an instant from God's perspective. We cannot judge that clearly, but we can determine the value of our life as a whole in the light of eternity. The only way to stand before death and not fear and to work with fruit is if we are convinced that "to depart and be with Christ ... is better by far." We should not confuse this longing with being weary of life. Paul's attitude is a healthy one. The dilemma is not to die or to live but to be with Christ or to be with people on earth. The only reason that we should not choose death over life is that there are people on earth who need us: our spouse and our children, our neighbor, believers and unbelievers. It is Paul's love for the Philippians that makes the scale tip toward them.

Whether Paul was actually released or not, we don't know. He says he knows that he would be released, but he could have been wrong. This is not important; the important lesson in these verses is that Paul is willing to sacrifice, at least temporarily, his Heavenly glory because of his love for these people. In Romans he says he would be willing to give up his salvation for good, if this would save his kinsmen. We read: "For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race."[ 32 ] This kind of attitude can be formed in us only by the Spirit of Christ, who Himself chose to be forsaken by God in order to save us.

Paul wants his children to rejoice in their faith. According to vs. 25 this is a process of spiritual growth. Our joy will increase as much as our fellowship with Christ becomes stronger and more intimate. We will detach ourselves more and more from the influence that circumstances have upon our emotional well-being. The source of our joy will be the Lord. As Nehemiah said: "The joy of the LORD is your strength."[ 33 ] This kind of joy is an indication of spiritual maturity.

At the end of this section it sounds as if Paul shows a lack of humility. That is, if we take humility as a denial of facts. Jesus Himself stated publicly that He was humble. In Matthew we read: "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."[ 34 ] There is a lot of misunderstanding about what humility is. Only a person of high status can be humble. We should not confuse humility with baseness. Paul boasts about the Philippians and calls them "my joy and crown" (ch. 4:1). He thinks it to be quite normal if the Philippians would boast about him in the same way that he does about them. We should be proud of or rejoice in one another because of the work the Holy Spirit does.

Paul would have had a sparkle in his eyes when he dictated the sentence to Timothy in vs. 26: "So that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me." There may also be a touch of humor and even irony in this phrase. The literal translation as given in The Greek Interlinear Bible is: "That the boast of you may abound in Christ Jesus in me through my presence with you again."

[ 1 ] See also I Cor. 6:19,20

[ 2 ] I Cor. 7:22

[ 3 ] Lev. 19:2

[ 4 ] Lev. 20:8

[ 5 ] Acts 6:1-16

[ 6 ] See ch. 4:10-19

[ 7 ] II Cor. 8:1-7

[ 8 ] Ex. 28:9-12

[ 9 ] Matt. 13:21

[ 10 ] Col.1:22

[ 11 ] Eph. 5:27

[ 12 ] Rev. 21:2,11

[ 13 ] II Cor. 8:5

[ 14 ] I Cor. 13:7 (RSV).

[ 15 ] Matt. 18:15

[ 16 ] Rom. 14:4

[ 17 ] I Cor. 4:3,4

[ 18 ] John 15:3

[ 19 ] Ex. 33:18

[ 20 ] Matt.10:17-20

[ 21 ] Matt.10:19,20

[ 22 ] Acts 16:16-18

[ 23 ] Prov. 3:5,6

[ 24 ] Gal. 2:20

[ 25 ] II Cor. 5:14,15

[ 26 ] Rom. 6:1-14

[ 27 ] Rom 6:5

[ 28 ] II Cor. 3:18

[ 29 ] Rev. 20:14

[ 30 ] I Peter 1:8

[ 31 ] Der Kampf ums Dasein

[ 32 ] Rom. 9:3

[ 33 ] Neh. 8:10[ b ]

[ 34 ] Matt. 11:29