Phil 1

by Paul Ice

            "Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

            Yes, and I will rejoice,"

(Philippians 1:15-18 ESV)

 

Paul lives for the gospel.  He raises its banner in every book he writes.  And here we see that in the worst of human circumstances, sitting in prison, he is rejoicing in the proclamation of the gospel even when it is done at his own expense.  Seems a little confusing doesn’t it.  How could some “proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.”

Consider this:

The answer might be found in our brushing over the word “proclaiming”.  That is not necessarily the same as evangelizing.  For sure Paul had enemies; and they are contributing to his trouble in prison by trumping up charges against him. The most effective way for the Judaizers to do that would be to make a clear distinction in the minds of Paul’s captors between the approved religion that they (by virtue of their association with Judaism) enjoyed, and the illegal religion that Paul was advocating; rigorously detailing the differences between what they teach and what Paul teaches, in other words: “Do you realize Paul actually teaches that all one must do to be saved is to believe in Jesus, and that there is no necessity in keeping Jewish law? Why that’s not the true approved teachings of Judaism!”

 And so, even though it meant ill for his health, he rejoices in the fact they were instruments of the gospel, proclaiming the truth in an attempt to silence the truth.

We already struggle when the truth is spread through events that don’t fit our well thought out system, don’t we?  How would we respond when it gets personal?  Self-defense?  Paul’s response -  “I will rejoice.”