Lesson for January 19, 2020
The Book of Philippians
Chapter 1:15-20
Verses 15-17
“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.”
False Motivation
Some refers to reversionistic believers who were testifying of Christ from the false motivations of envy and strife, and from selfish ambition. Selfish ambition is arrogance and arrogance creates false motivations. Arrogance becomes the basis of all false motivation among those who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Arrogance is often a blind spot in the soul of a believer and especially believers who have been exposed to or are influenced by any form of legalism.
Envy is simply another word for jealousy. So we have some believers in Rome at this time proclaiming the Gospel trying to become “greater” than Paul. Paul was great because of his humility and super-grace status not because of a desire to be great. Jealousy of course causes divisions within the body of Christ which is the definition of strife. It also seems that these believers were deliberate in their attempt to cause distress to Paul while he was in prison.
We have much of the same in our day. Believers, even pastors, are proclaiming an accurate gospel message with false motives. Though we cannot look into a person’s mind and discover their motives, we can observe their lifestyle. Often as person’s lifestyle will give away their true motives. We are living in the day of the prosperity preachers who give people false hope of prosperity based on their financial support of their “ministry” while presenting an accurate Gospel message. However, the doctrine of the Christian life is flawed.
True Motivation
But some also from good will;the latter do it out of love means true motivation comes from Bible doctrine in the soul, i.e. virtue-love. There are two parts to virtue-love as a problem solving device for the believer: personal love for God as motivational virtue and impersonal love for all mankind as functional virtue. Personal love for God as problem solving device emphasizes personal love as a virtue. Personal love always emphasizes the object. Impersonal love for all mankind as a problem solving device emphasizes impersonal love as a virtue. Impersonal love emphasizes the subject. Personal love for God and occupation with the Person of Jesus Christ are motivational virtues in life. The virtue is found in the object of personal love: God the Father, the author of the Protocol Plan of God, and God the Son, the winner of the strategic victory over Satan.
In effect, virtue-love is thinking in terms of Bible doctrine, not emotion, not affection; but love which comes from a maximum amount of doctrine in the soul. Personal love as a virtue is thinking; it is rational, not irrational. This is exactly what Paul had taught believers in Rome and some responded to his ministry of defending the Gospel and his teaching, and were sharing the Gospel on the basis of virtue-love not envy or arrogance. (I John 4:9-12)
“The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment means the former category from verse 15 – the motivation of divisive self-promotion. In other words, one who contrives to promote himself at the expense of creating divisions. The reversionists in Rome had false motivation and they were witnessing in order to retaliate against Paul. The reversionists in Rome were seeking to retaliate against Paul and try to make him miserable. It is no different today when we see and hear preachers proclaiming a clear Gospel message but a by-works Christian life, many times for fame and fortune. It distresses those of us who know and practice the truth.
Verses 18-20
“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.”
The conclusion that is reached begins in verse 18 with the phrase “What then? It is an idiom which means “What is my conclusion?” In pretense means a false motive and in truth means a true motive. Christ is proclaimed can be accurate information or inaccurate information. The point is the fact is that He is proclaimed. The action is the fact that in witnessing, whether true or false motivation is involved, it does bring out the name of Christ and does present Christ before the people as an issue. The principle is, and the thing that Paul is going to use in his conclusion is that people are making an issue of Christ without realizing, even with their bad motivation. So God is using the wrath of man to praise Him. (Psalm 76:10) At the same time Paul is going to draw a specific conclusion from it. Christ is proclaimed regardless of their motivation and regardless of their accuracy.
The true issue is not the pettiness and false motivation; it is that Christ is being presented by people who are really not interested in presenting Christ but in hurting Paul. But it is boomeranging on them. Jesus Christ controls history. The whole thing is turning around on them and they haven’t even accomplished their objective which was to make Paul unhappy. Paul was not only happy, but he was happy in the very thing that they were using against him. All of the other things that accompany this false motivation cannot possibly hurt the person who is insulated with doctrine, occupied with Christ, and about to step into ultra-super-grace. Paul was able to ignore all the pettiness.
Paul did not condone false teaching or false doctrine, nor does this verse imply it. Paul did not concern himself with false motivation. Therefore he did not become involved in pettiness. False motivation becomes self-destructive and a part of satanic policy of evil. Therefore false motivation is a matter for God and His administration of justice. Paul does not become involved. Paul ignores the false teaching, the false motivation, and finds happiness in the fact that Christ is being proclaimed to the citizens of Rome—falsely, but at least He is being presented. Not only is Paul happy at this moment but it will continue, regardless of any personal circumstances or catastrophes of history. Bible doctrine resident in the soul was the basis for Paul’s happiness, not the false or true motivation of others. Furthermore, Paul’s ministry and happiness would continue since they do not depend on what others do or don’t do. Catastrophe and disaster in history cannot change the blessing or the happiness of the spiritually mature believer.
For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ is Paul’ssuper-grace interpretation of history. Jesus Christ controls history under three separate categories: 1) He controls history directly through His power and perfect attributes, His essence. 2) He controls indirectly through the Laws of Divine Establishment 3) He controls permissively by permitting evil to run its course in history in order that the Angelic Conflict might be completed. This must now be related to the principle of advance to spiritual maturity. The advance to spiritual maturity is accomplished by persistent intake and application of Bible doctrine.
Paul, through doctrine, had come to understand the significance of the Roman Empire. Contemporary history had some meaning or purpose that had eluded him up until now, and in the next few verses we see one of the most beautiful pictures of how common sense, maximum doctrine in the soul, the reasoning power which is given to anyone who has divine viewpoint is brought to focus in a perfect interpretation of contemporary history, and then a perfect interpretation of the meaning of Paul’s own life and why he must go on. Paul interpreted this extensive witnessing by the churches for Christ as an inference that his soon release was about to occur.
In the interpretation of history you must relate yourself to what is going on in history, being aware of one’s own existence, and the ability to use doctrine in the soul to face the reality of contemporary events. For my deliverance indicates the highest quality of deliverance, a divine deliverance, the direct intervention of the Lord Jesus Christ. It also confirms the fact that Romans 8:28 applies to the spiritual mature believer without any questions or doubts.
Paul now relates the events of contemporary history to two other events which are involved in his deliverance. Both of these factors come directly from the Philippian congregation, namely their prayers and their monetary offering. Paul noticed the power of prayer which means “through intercessory prayer,” which indicated their love and personal interest for Paul. The Philippians loved Paul so much that they prayed for him all the time. This was the prayer of those who had reached spiritual maturity and had followed Paul.
Provision means to abundantly supply. The next phrase, of the Spirit, emphasizes the source of all this true giving, which was the Philippian offering that provided Paul and his team with what they needed financially for the next five years or so. This was God’s logistical grace provision.
They were motivated by God. Of the Spirit of Jesus Christ refers to God the Holy Spirit as the origin of their motivation. Jesus Christ is mentioned because it is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in this dispensation to glorify Jesus Christ. So the motivation for all of these things was doctrine resident in their souls and the ministry of God the Holy Spirit.
According to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything. Earnest expectation means intense concentration. It should be translated, “According to my intense concentration.” The principle behind this prepositional phrase is intense concentration on Bible doctrine as number one priority. Hope means confidence. Confidence is based upon the fact that Bible doctrine has the number one priority. That I will not be put to shame in anything means total freedom from the arrogance complex, a relaxed mental attitude knowing that Jesus Christ was in control.
But that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. The Greek word for boldness is “paresia,” which means courage or confidence in the presence of others, and joyous confidence in your relationship with God. It was used for someone who was not afraid to censor a friend, hence boldness of speech, and eventually it came to mean candor or frankness. Eventually it went back into the origins of the soul where it meant to be totally relaxed and therefore to be a good friend. It finally comes to mean integrity, which is its meaning here—”but with integrity.” Integrity is the state or quality of being unbroken, complete, undivided, with honor and sometimes with moral courage added. Jesus Christ receives exaltation (glory) from believers in super-grace whether is life or by their death.