Philippians: Christ is Proclaimed
Philippians 1:15-20, 2 John 1:7-11: Envy and strife have led many to proclaim Christ, but it is better if He is proclaimed from a posture of love and good will.
“Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will; the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.”
Philippians 1:15-20 NASB1995
I decided to add verses 19-20 to this passage for this devotional, as there was an awkward break in verse 18, so I am looking at Philippians 1:15-20. Be forewarned - I ran down a very interesting bunny trail in this devotional when doing research.
Our Praetorian Guard is back in the AI image that Steve created for today’s devotional. He is now off-duty and is explaining the Gospel to other guards as he heard it from Paul during one of his shifts at Paul’s abode. He is preaching from pure motives, out of love and good will. His audience looks receptive!
Paul realizes that the Gospel is being preached from different perspectives. Some do it out of envy for the way Paul has reached so many and for his leadership. They want to be seen as better preachers than him, so they preach with selfish motives. Others, like our Praetorian Guard, know that Paul is appointed to defend the Gospel. If the true Gospel is being proclaimed by either group (in pretense or in truth), then in Paul’s mind, this is good as Christ is the centerpiece of the preaching and Paul can rejoice. Here’s commentary from Ron Daniel, a teacher of Bible studies who goes through the Bible regularly verse by verse in his sermons (from Precept Austin):
People were preaching the Gospel as a result of Paul's imprisonment. But those people fell into two different categories. The first group were sharing Christ with others out of good will and love. But the second group were doing it out of envy, strife, selfish ambition, and impure motives. These people were in it for what they could get: things like fame and notoriety, respect and honor, authority and control, money and favors. They envied Paul's popularity, the apostle's ministry. They wanted to prove that they were just as - or even more - effective a minister than he. The amazing thing to me is that Paul rejoiced at both situations. Why? Because although he knew that God would judge their motives, he knew that the Gospel was being proclaimed.
I know people that have been saved through the ministries of men that were later exposed to be false. But their impurity and insincerity did not invalidate the true message of the gospel. It did not negate the conversion that many people experienced when they heard of the grace of God and believed it for salvation. That's because...Heb. 4:12 "the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." The Word is alive, and when it is quoted, it accomplishes its work - to bring faith to the hearer. Rom. 10:17 So faith {comes} from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
There are evangelists who are dead or in jail from sin, those who have walked away from the faith, but when they preached Christ, people believed. There is at least one Christian comedian who was exposed as a fraud, but I know several who were saved because he preached the gospel. I have seen that ministry becoming contagious among the believers in this church as well. There has been such a neat work happening in so many people over the last year. Folks who were once shy and timid are stepping out and witnessing to their friends, their neighbors, their coworkers. Others are getting bold enough to invite unsaved people to church. And what is happening is that these people are getting saved. And that breeds the excitement to share with even more people. And just like what was happening in the early church, Acts 2:47 "the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved." (Sermon).
I also like this commentary from Bob Deffinbaugh (quoted on Precept Austin) examining the possible motives of some of the church leaders in Rome:
Surely some of those who had established themselves as leaders in the church at Rome were threatened by Paul’s announcement that he was planning on coming to Rome. If these men were those who first preached the gospel in Rome, and also the ones who founded the church in Rome, then they would have been tempted to feel that they “owned” this church. They would have been tempted to look on Paul as an intruder. They knew that when he came, many of the Roman saints would seek his counsel and would ask his opinion on matters of importance. These were some of the very ones who used to rely heavily on the advice and counsel of the church’s founding fathers. It would take great humility for them to welcome Paul and to be willing to step aside from their dominant role, at least for the time that Paul was in Rome. And now, to add insult to injury, Paul was a “jail bird.” .... He could not attend their church services nor fellowship with them in their homes. Can’t you see how those who were jealous of Paul and threatened by him could put a “spin” on Paul’s circumstances to make Paul look bad and to make themselves look good? “Well,” they might say with a pained expression, “I wanted to believe the best about Paul, but now that it has come out that he is a trouble-maker, I think it is probably best for the church here to keep its distance from him. We don’t want our testimony to be tainted by such a fellow.” (Paul's Perspective on Pain and Pettiness - Phil 1:12-18)
The church in Rome had been the recipient of the Epistle to the Romans from Paul a few years before Paul arrived there for the first time (he wrote that on his third missionary journey when he revisited Corinth). They knew what he thought and preached, with vivid details of a Christ-centered life explored in that great epistle. But we all know how envy and strife can develop and fester between denominations, between groups that are separated by distance, or even between people working on the same thing in the same location. Those church leaders who were envious in Rome who sounded like they were proclaiming Christ may have put a spin on things (just slightly) so that they sounded a bit more erudite and up-to-date than “jailbird” Paul.
This envy and strife (often driven by that worst of sins, pride) would lead to differences in doctrine, often at a microscopic level at first, then culminating in the Great Schism of 1054 AD between Orthodoxy and Catholicism. Less than 500 years later, the rumblings of reform started and then Luther wrote his 95 theses while Calvin and Zwingli were almost simultaneously organizing and preaching and Protestantism was born; that branch would soon become as diverse as the types of plants in the Amazon basin (and this doesn’t necessarily take into account some of the off-brand cults and sects). Paul saw some of this subdivision happening early on in the church and strived to correct things that were not from Jesus, as we learned from Galatians.
If we could develop a flowchart of the church’s development starting in Acts 2 to the present day, it would be almost more complex than trying to analyze genetic code. Interestingly, the internet can answer that question! Here is a flowchart I found doing searches on possible flowcharts showing the types of Christian denominations that have formed (this is from truthforsaints.com); if you go to the original link, there are information tabs for almost every part of the tree.
This is insane! No wonder people struggle to find a church home or go from church type to church type, sampling the wares like a weekend at Costco, when all of the food vendors are there. Even worse, many non-believers would point at this and accuse Christianity of not knowing what it stands for or against. And as our last church experience demonstrated, internal strife leads to the creation of yet another box on the flowchart, because “we” want to be different again.
This chart also labels some offshoots as non-Christian cults over on the left (black squares). One thing that’s missing is where offshoots like Messianic Judaism would fit into the puzzle. There are also some of these denominations that are barely in the Christian camp these days, including the ELCA, United Church of Christ and various Methodist, Presbyterian and Episcopalian types. It would take a lifetime of research to read through all of the “what we believe” statements, wouldn’t it? I find it fascinating that there were some divisions even before the Great Schism, and not long after the founding of the church. I have also learned from some of my readings that there are denominations that consider Paul heretical and avoid his teachings.
Well, enough of the bunny trail. I’ll just say this: As Steve and I have matured in our faith, we have developed a mental checklist of those things that are essential to our belief based on our understanding of scripture (and scripture is a collection of 66 God-inspired books of the Bible). The (mega) church we currently attend has its roots somewhere in the tan boxes to the right. We carefully read their statements of faith and found them acceptable and their preaching has followed suit. The apostle John gives us a warning on when things have gone too far astray that we should heed:
“For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.”
2 John 1:7-11 NASB1995
The last part of this passage from Paul is repeated here so you don’t have to scroll up: Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.”
Paul rejoices in the spread of the Gospel and knows that this will turn out for his deliverance. What deliverance is he talking about? Is he referring to his release from house arrest in his trial or for his final deliverance when he goes before Christ? The commentators are all over the map for this one. John MacArthur thinks it could go in several different directions, as noted in this commentary from one of his sermons excerpted on Precept Austin:
Now what does he mean by “deliverance”? The word here is sōtēria, which is the word for salvation. And some of your Bibles may say "for my salvation." Well, what do you mean by that? Well, that word can be translated “salvation”; it can be translated “deliverance”; it can be translated “well-being”; it can be translated “escape.” What does it mean? Some say it means ultimate salvation. Some say he is simply saying, "I know that this present trouble is going to turn out for my eternal salvation, ultimately to be in the presence of the Lord, my soul salvation." He is confident that he will endure to the end and be fully, finally saved and glorified in the day of Christ, the day he sees Christ.
Some say, “No, it means his health, his well- being, his welfare, his benefit - that I'm going to benefit from this, that my well-being will be secured.” Some say “vindication.” Some say it means “vindication.” Some commentators think he's saying that, “I'll be vindicated in court and that my trial, when it reaches its second phase” - the first phase had already been held when no one defended him, and he's waiting for the second phase, namely the sentence - that he's saying, “It’ll all work out for my vindication at my sentencing.” Others say it means his release from prison. Since the primary meaning is deliverance from death, that he's saying, “All of this that's going on is going to ultimately end up in my being released from prison.”
Well, which of those is right? I would say that the truth is in all of those, and let me show you what I mean. It is in my judgment fair to include in one way or another the whole of all of those things which I mentioned to you in this sense. Paul believes - and here's the key thought; you need to get it - Paul believes that his current distress is only temporary. That's really what he's saying. It's temporary; that's the point. It isn't going to last. “I will be delivered from it. Maybe I'll be vindicated at my second phase of the trial. Maybe I will be released from prison. Maybe I will go to heaven to be with Jesus Christ, and therefore be delivered in the sense of ultimate salvation. Maybe my well-being will be at last the issue.” I don't think he knows. But what he is saying is, "I do know this that what I'm going through now is temporary, and the future holds my deliverance, whether it's vindication in court, release from prison, well-being, or eternal heaven - I'll be delivered out of this."(Sermon)
I think this makes sense. Every circumstance that we go through in this mortal life is temporary. We may get well, we may leave a bad relationship (I’m in a good one, by the way), we may change jobs or lose a job or we may move. OR, we may die from an ailment, we may stay in a relationship for better or for worse, we stay at the same job or we take a different direction in our lives. Paul had a series of events that were in front of him: The second part of his current trial before Caesar, his possible release (scholars speculate that he actually went to Spain for a short time), his re-arrest and his execution.
Paul knows that whether he lives or dies, that Christ will be exalted by him in all boldness, because of the prayers of those at Philippi and the provision of Jesus. He understands the great power of intercessory prayer driven by the Holy Spirit. This commentary from Enduring Word is good:
I know that this will turn out for my deliverance: Paul knew that the Lord was in control of all events, even though his imprisonment and impending trial before Caesar Nero made the situation look pretty dark.
Through your prayer: Paul was so confident because he knew that the Philippians prayed for him. His deliverance in the present situation was connected to the prayer of the Philippians.
We can hypothetically say that if the Philippians didn’t pray for Paul, then God’s deliverance for Paul would be hindered. It certainly seems that Paul thought this way, and it shows what a serious matter prayer is.
Through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ: However, it was not the prayer of the Philippians in and of itself that would meet Paul’s need. It was the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ that came to Paul through the prayer of the Philippians. Paul’s needs were met by the Spirit of God, but this provision to Paul was brought about by the prayers of the Philippians.
My earnest expectation and hope: These are words of faith. Paul mightily trusted God here, and Paul first trusted God that in nothing I shall be ashamed. He believed that God would not cause him to be ashamed or that God would not turn against him in the matter.
Though he was in prison and awaiting trial before Caesar, Paul had the confidence that he was in the center of God’s will. He knew God was not punishing him through the adversity he experienced at the time.
Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death: Paul also had this trust, and admitted to the Philippians that he might not be released from this present imprisonment, but it might instead result in his martyrdom.
Paul lived his life not to preserve and promote himself, but to glorify Jesus Christ. If Jesus should one day decide that Paul could best glorify Him through laying down his life, then Paul would be well pleased by the opportunity.
Even so, this must have hit hard on the Philippians who saw God do so many remarkable miracles of deliverance in Paul’s life among them in Philippi (Acts 16:11-40). It would have been easy for the Philippians to associate God’s glory only with being delivered from one’s problems, not in being delivered in the midst of one’s problems.
It is easy for us to dictate to God how He can and cannot glorify Himself in our lives. Paul wisely left all that up to God.
That last bullet is so profound. As I’ve noted before, the intercessory prayers that we do sometimes have the flavor of ordering God to obey the penitent and relieve their circumstances without leaving it to God. Occasionally, someone will submit a prayer, then do a follow-on prayer that notes that they have not received an answer (that they like) to the first prayer so they are unsure that God is hearing them or even cares. God answers prayer, one way or another! Sometimes we don’t get the answer we want, but in any case, all of these circumstances are temporary. To God be the Glory!
My next devotional examines Philippians 1:21-26 - Paul says to live in Christ and die is gain, but he is torn between continuing his fruitful labors or seeing his Lord in glory.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Wherever two more are gathered, Lord, You are in their midst. But those gatherers also frequently submit to the sins of envy and strife (rather than the virtues of love and good will), leading to the spaghetti chart I shared in this devotional. You left the development and growth of the church to the apostles, guided by the Holy Spirit and left many things unsaid. But John said it well in his second epistle - We must always be on the alert for those who distort or deny the teachings of Christ. This is our lamp stand against the darkness. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org.
Precept Austin was accessed on 7/02/2025 to review commentary for Philippians 1:15-20.
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission.