Citizens of God's Kingdom: Paul's Dedication
Verse 12 is both the transition and the key verse in this passage. "But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel." As I said, Paul is telling the Philippians about his own state but also about his attitude towards it.
Paul was in prison. And he was in prison for sharing the gospel. He may have had some fear that this would fact would bring discouragement to the Philippians. For Paul to be in prison seemed to them a tragedy both because of their personal connection to Paul and also because he was a minister of the gospel and his imprisonment seemed to represent a defeat for the Gospel. In this way, this passage seems to a parallel to Ephesians 3 in which Paul encouraged the Ephesians in the face of his imprisonment. Paul was in prison which is, objectively considered a bad thing, yet God had brought something good out of it. “I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel.”
In the days of ancient Greece, there was a king named Pyrrhus who waged a war. He won nearly every battle--and in the end, he lost the war. His name has passed down to us as a term for a victory which ends up leading to defeat--a Pyrrhic Victory. The thing happened during America's war for independence--the British forces won several important battles which directly led to them losing the war. This is what Paul is saying here: the Devil had won a battle by getting him put in prison, but that was actually working out for the cause of the gospel.
How could that be? Verses 13-14 explain how: “So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; and many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”
Everyone knew that Paul was in prison and why. That news had spread throughout the city. Paul mentions specifically the “palace” or, in the Greek, the Praetorium--either the Emperor's palace or some kind of military center associated with it. Since Paul was under constant guard by a soldier, it makes sense that the soldiers would have known about Paul. In Philippians 4:22, Paul mentions that there were Christians even inside the household of Caesar, and many think that they had been converted by the witness and example of Paul.
The point is that Paul's imprisonment had actually given him a witness he could not have had otherwise. And that witness had led others to witness, to preach the gospel. The fact that Paul was in prison and yet still holding true to the gospel and still being a witness gave others the courage to preach the gospel. They realized that God had kept Paul, even though he had been imprisoned for preaching--and that God would be able to keep them if they experienced persecution for preaching. Verse 17 adds that they were preaching for love for Paul who had been imprisoned for the sake of the Gospel.
But there was another class of people who were also preaching the gospel because of Paul's imprisonment---but for very different reasons. These preached for out of “envy”, “strife”, [“rivalry”--Robertson] and “contention.” According to Barclay, the literal meaning of the Greek word translated “contention” was simply to work for pay but came in Greek to mean “self-seeking and selfish ambition, which was out to advance itself and did not care what methods it stooped to attain its ends.” (23)
The truth is that some things do not change very much over the course of time. Even in the early church, there were factions within the church, and some of them based around personality. We see this in Corinth, in which parties had formed around Paul, Peter, and Apollos--parties which were at disunity with one another. And it seems that there were in Rome, factions of Christians who felt jealous of Paul.
Remember that there had been Christians in Rome before Paul. Paul wrote his letter to the Romans prior to his imprisonment and there was already an established church at that time. When Paul arrived in Rome, there were already Christians there, perhaps some that had been ministering there since even before Paul's conversion. And it seems that they had not met with much success--there was a church in Rome, but it doesn't seem to have been a large one, because when Paul meets with the Jewish leaders in Rome at the end of Acts, they speak as if they were unfamiliar with Christianity and only knew of it by hearsay--implying that the church in Rome was comparatively small. Human nature being what it is, it is not hard to imagine that even in the early church there were leaders who, in their heart, were working for themselves and their own glory, not for God--and it must have been exceptionally gulling for them to hear of Paul, having such a ministry over all of Europe and even in Rome, when they had a comparatively small and unknown ministry. And so with Paul in prison, they set about preaching the Gospel--the Gospel was already being talked about because of Paul's notoriety, so they just hitched onto the bandwagon--and many suggest these preachers may even have tried to exalt themselves over Paul by implying that his imprisonment was God's judgment. Though they probably never would have honestly admitted it to themselves, their real motive for preaching was to exalt themselves, to steal Paul's reputation and in so doing to rub salt in the wounds of his imprisonment--so that he would learn that other preachers were growing their churches while he sat in prison.
And how did Paul respond to such a thing? He rejoiced. Those who had, subconsciously perhaps, been trying to make Paul miserable had made him happy. And the reason was that Christ was being preached. Some of the preachers were not working from the right motives; they may not have been good men; they may even have had some error in their teaching, and yet they were preaching Christ, they were preaching the Gospel. Paul was a citizen of God's kingdom, bound in fellowship to the Gospel, and so he was glad for every time someone heard the Gospel no matter from whom or why. The fact that the gospel was being preached was, objectively, a good thing, regardless of other circumstances. That was what brought him joy--that was something he rejoiced in. This is a point we will come back to much later, but it is worth mentioning in passing that for Paul joy was something intentional. It was not merely an observation about himself: “I feel rather cheerful today.” It was something he deliberately and consciously chose.
But the point to notice here is that Paul was so dedicated to God and his work that he was happy to see God's work go forward, even when it was being done by those he disagreed with, even when it was being done by his enemies.
During Ronald Reagan's presidency he was shot by a would-be assassin and very seriously wounded. For him to survive, they had to perform an emergency surgery. As they were wheeling him into the surgery room, Reagan commented to the doctors: “I hope you're good Republicans.” One of the doctors, who was known a staunch Democrat, responded: “Today, we're all Republicans.” When the life of the president and the fate of the country was at stake, he was willing to set aside his own feelings and work for the sake of the man who was politically his enemy. That was Paul's attitude. As a citizen of God's kingdom, he was glad to see God's work going forward, even if it was being done by his enemies.
But there was more to it than that. In verse 19 he says: “For I know that this shall turn to my salvation.” There is a fairly wide range of ideas about what Paul means by 'salvation' but the basic idea that Paul knew that God was working to bring good out of the situation in which he was in. Barclay paraphrases Paul's thought in these words: “God put me in this situation; and God means it, with all its problems and its difficulties, to make for my happiness and usefulness in time, and for my joy and peace in eternity.” (25) Paul was not in ideal circumstances--in prison, awaiting a trial which might easily result in further imprisonment or in death, and he even had those around him who were seeking to cause him further problems. Yet he was certain that God could bring something good out of that situation. There were two things which made that possible.
It would happen “through your prayer.” Paul was never afraid to ask for prayer; he realized that he needed the prayers of others to help him in his ministry. (See 1 Thessalonians 5:25, Romans 15:30, Ephesians 6:18-19) He knew that he was not beyond the need of prayer and that prayer was something very important. As Tennyson put it: “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” Perhaps this is reading too much into it, but notice how Paul mentions the prayers of the Philippians. Paul didn't ask for their prayers--because he knew they were praying for him.
It would also happen “through... the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” According to Clarke, this word supply means “furnishing whatever is necessary.” As a Christian, Paul had access, through the Spirit, to all the riches of Jesus. Whatever Paul needed, he had. That was the secret by which Paul could meet difficult circumstances with joy, why he could, as he says later, be content in whatever state he was--because he knew that through the Spirit he had access to the infinite resources to allow him to meet any trial.
Notice the paring of these two things--the Philippians' prayer to God and the Spirit of God in Paul--together, these would bring about something good out of Paul's situation. And the reason Paul could put his trust in them, the thing which gave him a right to access this hope was the fact that he was living for God. It was not just a blind faith impersonal fate; it was not just an affirmation that 'everything works out for the best.' Paul knew he was a servant of God, a citizen of His kingdom, and so God would take care of him.
Paul attitude on this point is very clear in verse 20: “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.” Paul was dedicated to God which is to say, his life belonged to God. When we dedicate a building as a church, that means that building is a place given over to God, a place where God can be glorified. Paul had dedicated his life so that his life was given over to God; it was a place where God would be glorified. Paul's earnest, eager expectation was not necessarily for deliverance, though surely he wanted that--it was that Christ would be magnified. He didn't care so much whether he lived or died, so long as it would result in glory to God and the advancement of God's cause.
This is a point we have to understand. Paul lived for Jesus. His life did not belong to himself but to God. Since that moment in Damascus, he had given over his life to the cause of Christ. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) He was not living for himself, but for Christ. And that was why he says here that it doesn't matter to him all that much whether he lived or died because in either case, he would be with Christ. That's why he says in verse 22 that, if the choice were up to him, he would have a hard time choosing between life and death. In life, he could have fruitful labor and advance the kingdom of God. In death, he would be more directly and fully in the presence of Christ. Paul was fine with either outcome because in either case, he would be Christ, would be living as a citizen of God's kingdom. He realized that to leave this world would be “far better” or, as the Bible in Basic English puts it, “very much better.” Paul wasn't a morbid man, desiring death as an escape from life, but he did realize that to leave this world would be to enter into something very, very much better than this life. And yet, he was equally willing to stay here and continue to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune if that was God wanted.
He did not live for himself and he would not die for himself. He lived for Christ and so he was willing to die for Christ--or to go on living for Christ. That's why he says he was honestly unsure which seemed better. He did not selfishly cling to life nor morbidly long for death--His one desire was for Christ and for His kingdom. That's why verses 24 and 25 are so interesting. He did realize that it would be very, very much better to depart and be with Christ. But he also saw that the church still needed him. His work wasn't done yet. The Christians at Philippi and the rest of the Mediterranean could use the further ministry of Paul. And for that reason, he was convinced that he would be delivered from this trial and continue to live. He had confidence that he would “abide and continue.” These words are very similar in Greek. The first means simply “to remain” but the second, according to Barclay, has the idea of staying beside someone, always ready to help. Paul believed he would live on, not simply to occupy space on the earth, but to do good for the Philippians and the rest of the church. He was willing to die, but he did not want to die so long as God still required His service on Earth. As a citizen of God's kingdom, he was willing to go or stay, whichever would best serve the interests of God.
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