Read Philippians 1

Philippians1

Greetings from Paul and Timothy

¹Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the holy ones in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:

²Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

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

⁷It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart. For in my chains and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel, you are all partners in grace with me.⁸God is my witness how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

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

Paul’s Trials Advance the Gospel

¹²Now I want you to know, brothers, that my circumstances have actually served to advance the gospel.¹³As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.¹⁴And most of the brothers, confident in the Lord by my chains, now dare more greatly to speak the word without fear.

¹⁵It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.¹⁶The latter do so in love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. ¹⁷The former, however, preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can add to the distress of my chains.

¹⁸What then is the issue? Just this: that in every way, whether by false motives or true, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,¹⁹because I know that through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, my distress will turn out for my deliverance.²⁰I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have complete boldness so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

To Live Is Christ

²¹For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.²²But if I go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. So what shall I choose? I do not know.²³I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better indeed.²⁴But it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

²⁵Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith,²⁶so that through my coming to you again your exultation in Christ Jesus will resound on account of me.

Worthy of the Gospel

²⁷Nevertheless, 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 one spirit, contending together as one for the faith of the gospel,²⁸without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a clear sign of their destruction but of your salvation, and it is from God.²⁹For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him,³⁰since you are encountering the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.