Click here for the Philippians 1:25-30 PODCAST
25 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, 26 so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me. 27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. 29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have. ~ Philippians 1:25-30
As we have mentioned before, in every chapter in Philippians, there is a built in prevention of joy in our lives. Joy stealers, if you will. In addition, as mentioned before, in each chapter of Philippians, there is a unique feature of the Lord Jesus that enables us to see the joy preventer as a means to growing in His joy.
The joy stealer in Philippians 1 is our prisons. Most of our prisons are the result of any form of rejection from others particularly during our first six years of lives. There are prisons which come into our lives after age six, however since we have no filters during our first six years of our life, these tend to be the most debilitating.
The unique feature of the Lord Jesus in Philippians 1is the life of Christ. Christianity is an exchanged life experience with the Lord Jesus. Christianity happens in our lives when we give to Him our existence, prisons and all, and He gradually gives us His way of thinking and living. With His new view on life which He calls eternal life, we are granted the ability to see how our prisons serve us in living this new life that He is giving us. And, as a result, we are positioned to help others do the same. The result is that we begin seeing how our prisons are stepping stones to the type of life the Lord Jesus died to give us.
The Apostle Paul begins our text for today with the reason why we experience our prisons. Paul writes that he continued through his hardships so that his hearers will progress in the faith and that faith will produce a greater degree of joy in their progression. Joy is essential for our advancement in the faith. And, it is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that grants us the inertia to progress. In fact, the gospel is the power of God to save us in every possible way.
In v.27, the Apostle writes, "Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ." Living in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ presupposes that we have found worth in the gospel. Our capacity to live worthy of the gospel of Christ is commensurate to the worth we ourselves have found in it.
In v.27-28, the Apostle Paul proceeds to describe what it means to live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ: 1) Standing firm in one Spirit, 2) Contending as one man for the faith of the gospel, 3) Not being frightened in any way by those who oppose us.
The word translated “stand firm” in v.27, was used of solders who stood their ground no matter how severe the battle. The battle is for the gospel. "To stand firm in one Spirit" is to depend on the power of the Holy Spirit to make us one as we fight for the gospel.
The word translated “striving together” means to contend with others, side by side, as athletes do on a team. In v.17, Paul uses the word “one,” calling for unity. The image is that of a team that works so well together that it appears to function as one man. The team goal is the “faith of the gospel.” The goal is the advancement of the gospel.
Beginning with the word translated “for” in v.29, Paul gives further incentive for living in a manner worthy of the gospel. When we continue to advance the gospel, we will suffer. Paul reminds us that such suffering is a gift. It has been “granted” to us. We can only appreciate suffering this way if we see it as a gift “on behalf of Christ” and “for him.”
Our willingness to suffer demonstrates the worth of the gospel and our love for others. When others see that we’re willing to suffer for them to give them something we think is priceless, they’ll be more likely to see it as priceless as well.
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