PHILIPPIANS 1:12-18

BAD CIRCUMSTANCES AND THE GOSPEL 1:12-18

In praying for the Philippians, Paul now turns to inform them of his own circumstances in the light of the gospel.  Paul is ministering under the most limited of circumstances. He opens the body of the letter with a “Closure form” informing them not only of the fact, but the effects of imprisonment.[1]  His freedom is limited, yet the gospel is unlimited.

There are two important principles in these verses:

The Gospel will Progress in Spite of Bad Circumstances (1:12-14).

Bad circumstances befall us all at one time or another. Paul’s current circumstances were not ideal by any means. As he opens the body of this letter, Paul leads off with and centers upon his own circumstances. He wants the Philippians to know certain things and calls attention to them right at the beginning. Why? First, to inform the readers of what is happening during this time of imprisonment. Second, to encourage them that those circumstances do not to hinder one with purpose. “Paul wishes in this section to reassure the Philippians that his imprisonment has not suppressed the work of the gospel” observes Silva.[2] He is still fulfilling his calling to preach the gospel of grace. “The word of God is not imprisoned” (2 Tim. 2:9), although he is. Chained between two guards 24 hours a day, Paul is confined, but not dejected.

It is not his suffering that he centers upon; but the sufficiency of God to use him to preach the gospel to his limited audience. The key word used in verse 12 is progress. Notice it is twice in this chapter of Philippians: here and verse 25. Here it is used in the context of the gospel; the gospel of grace was progressing in Rome and the palace of Caesar. In verse 25 it speaks of progress in the Philippian’s lives. The word is prokope in the Greek, meaning to advance in a journey, furtherance, or progress. There are evidently two backgrounds which the word pictures: First, a military one in which the troops advance through rough terrain by removing barriers. Second, the word is used by Greek philosophers as a catchword for the difficult path to wisdom.[3] The word clearly indicates advancement in spite of difficulty or circumstances. It is a word that speaks of overcoming the difficulty and advancing through it.

“So that” (v. 13) indicates results. These results were twofold: First, “my imprisonment in [the cause] of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else” (v.13). The stress is on Paul’s imprisonment, which became wellknown as a result. Paul's relationship to Christ, not just his service for Christ, was what had

became known. He is not chained because of a crime, but because of his preaching Christ. There are two great truths that Paul knows and communicates to the Philippians: (1) God is in every circumstance; (2) Every circumstance is an opportunity to minister.

Second, that he ministered where he was, and results are known. Ministry is to take place where we are in spite of the circumstances that exist. It is not clear if the phrase “praetorian guard” refers to the solders or the palace. The praetorian guard was a place. In all likelihood it refers to the guards themselves. In Acts it indicates that Paul was kept in his own hired house, not the location known as the praetorian guard (cf. Acts 28:30-31). Paul was chained to two guards 24 hours a day. A.T. Robertson tells us: "There were originally ten thousand of these picked soldiers, concentrated in Rome by Tiberius. They had double pay and special privileges and became so powerful that emperors had to court their favor. Paul had contact with one after another of these soldiers."[4] How many of them were chained to him in two years of imprisonment is unknown.[5] It can be said it was a significant number so that his message was known among the whole guard.

Third, it had resulted in an aggressive witness by believers. Paul’s example was an encouragement to others to stand for the gospel. The way we act in times of troubling circumstances has an influence on others. This is an additional result from Paul’s imprisonment as indicated by the word “and,” connecting verses 13 and 14. Because of Paul’s imprisonment, believers “have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear” (1:14). One cannot arrest the spread of the gospel. Instead of discouraging the witness of God’s people, Paul being in bonds is an encourager of their witness. Interestingly, the word speak does not mean preach. The Greek word is laleo and means primarily to make vocal utterance, to talk, to hold conversation. It can take on the aspect of preaching, but that is not its primary meaning. Most witnessing is done through conversation rather than through preaching. The word is a present active infinitive, indicating that their bold speaking out for Christ lasted throughout the Apostle’s imprisonment.[6] One purpose for the difficult circumstances and suffering is to increase effective testimony and witness of the gospel.

The Gospel will Progress in Spite of Bad Motives (1:15-18)

As one turns to these verses, it should be notice that Paul now goes beyond speaking by believers to preaching by preachers. The word for preach is not the same as the word speak. The word used here is the Greek word kerysso, from the word keryx (a herald or a preacher), meaning to proclaim publicly as a herald or a preacher.  Second, special notice should be taken that these preachers are NOT preaching false doctrine, but preaching truth from bad motives. They are “preaching Christ,” that cannot be questioned. For Paul the preaching of Christ is key. This would include and center upon His crucifixion (1 Cor. 1:23; Gal. 5:11) and resurrection (1 Cor. 15:11-12, 14). The problem is not the material they are preaching, but the manner in which they are preaching.

In this section, Paul is contrasting two classes of preachers. One does so out of bad or faulty motives, others from pure motives. Note the double use of the word “some.” Some are on one side, and some are on the other. He thus describes good and bad motives: 

Bad Motives (1:15a-16)

The group with bad motives exhibits six features:

• They preach “even from envy and strife” (1:15). The word translated even in our text is dia, which is normally translated “because of.” The first listed is envy (phthonon).  This is not simply wanting what someone has, but “the concern was more to deprive the other person of the desired thing than to gain it.”[7] It is one of the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:21 cf. Rom. 1:29). They may have been envious of Paul’s popularity and wanted to draw attention to themselves and away from Paul.
• Second, is strife. (1:15). The Greek word is erin, meaning strife or contention. It speaks of having a contentious or disputing spirit. It is the outward effort to outdo the object of envy It likewise is the work of the flesh (Gal. 5:20). We are to avoid such motives (Rom. 13:13).
• Third, is “selfish ambition” (1:17). The Greek word is eritheias, which is related to erin, also meaning contention. However, this word takes it to a higher and more personal level. It is not just a disputing spirit, but indicates a self-seeking partisanship; a factious, selfish spirit. While strife is an effort to outdo the object of envy, contention or selfish ambition is the effort to outdo the other for self-serving results. 
• Fourth, without “pure motives,” or better “not sincerely” (KJV, NIV). The Greek word is hagnos with a negative.  It is where we get the word holy, and means pure, undefiled, and guiltless. It speaks of impure motives. It speaks of  not being free of ulterior motives. They preach out of motives that uplifted their own reputation, not Christ.
• Fifth, from wrong intentions. Their intention was to aggravate or cause distress to Paul. The Greek word for distress (thlipsin) means friction. The term distress makes the image of the aggravation of rubbing of the iron chains against the skin. The phrase “to cause me distress in my imprisonment” (1:16) identifies that their wrong sprit or motives were directed against Paul. People often try to invoke jealousy and cause a split among the brethren. This was experienced even between John the Baptist and Jesus (cf. John 3:22-29). 
• Sixth, is pretense (1:18). The Greek word prophasis is that which is put forward to hide the true state of things; a pretext, “in order to cover one’s real intent.”[8] It is pretending to do one thing, but in reality doing another.

Good Motives (1:15b, 17).

In contrast to those preaching with bad motives, are some who preached from pure motives. What is not clear is which group is the majority. These two groups are found among every group of Preachers. Pure motives involve:

• First, they are motivated by “goodwill” (1:15b). This phrase is somewhat controversial. The Greek word is eudokia meaning favor, good pleasure or intention and speaks of that which brings pleasure to another or to oneself. It can be used of goodwill of men, or it can have a Godward reference denoting divine pleasure. The Rabbis used it for “divine good pleasure.”[9] The word is used mostly in reference to God. However, most take it here as goodwill toward men, i.e. for their benefit. Can it be said that both ideas are present here? Is not the preaching of the gospel out of God’s goodwill for man’s goodwill? The concern of the preacher is for the goodwill of man because of the goodwill of God.
• Second, they do so in love (1:16). Interestingly, love here in this context indicates the love is directed toward Paul. In other words, they are preaching the gospel out of love for Paul. Some may question the motive here. However, love for the brethren reflects the love of Christ (cf. Gal. 5:13; 2 Cor. 5:14). Paul evidently was their motivator and mentor (should he not be ours?).
• The third great motive in preaching is truth (1:18). Truth acts as both motivation and content in the gospel.

The Conclusion (1:18).

This gives Paul’s reaction and analysis all of this. “What then?” (1:18) reflects his conclusion. In this conclusion he lays aside any problems that they were causing him (1:18 cf. Rom. 15:3). His conclusions are twofold: First, in spite of motives, Christ was preached. Again this emphasizes that the matter did not involve false doctrine. While some try to identify these as Judaizers, but they are not. Judaizers preached a false gospel (cf. 2 Cor. 11:13-15; Gal. 1:6-9). There is no evidence that those preaching were preaching a false gospel. Paul is not condoning doctrinal error. To Paul motivation whether “in pretense or truth,” is secondary to the fact that Christ is preached.” This does not mean that he is putting a premium upon pretense. He is simply stating the fact that the grain of truth can overcome any inaccuracy of the preacher. Preaching of Christ is what matters. Second, in the preaching of Christ, he proclaims “I rejoice.”  He was thrilled that Christ was being preached.

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[1]  O’Brien, PHILIPPIANS, 86.

[2]  Silva, PHILIPPIANS, 66-67.

[3]  Bob Utley, LETTERS FROM PRISON, 175.

[4]  A.T. Robertson, WORD PICTURES, 4:438.

[5]  However, Gromacki, STAND UNITED IN JOY, 54, estimates 3,000 guards in a two year period, assuming no one guarded him more than once.

[6]  Gromacki, 55.

[7]  O’Brien, 99.

[8] Spiros Zodhiates, THE COMPLETE WORD STUDY DICTIONARY: NEW TESTAMENT, 1242.

[9]  O’Brien, 99-100.