Art Toombs Ministries
Online Bible Commentary
God’s Prayer for You
Philippians 1:1 Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, 5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; 7 just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. 8 For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. 9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, 11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (NKJV)
Paul wrote this letter to the Church at Philippi in Macedonia, which is now northern Greece. It is thought that he wrote this during his first Roman imprisonment when he was under house arrest.
The time of the writing is about 62 A.D. Epaphroditus visited him in prison and Paul sent this letter back with him to deliver it to the church.
Philippi was abandoned in the fourteenth century after the Ottoman conquest. The current city of Fillipoi is located near the ruins of Philippi.
At the time of Paul’s letter, Philippi was a principal city. Paul established the church on his second missionary journey.
It was the first known church in all of Europe and it supported Paul financially. In many ways it was a model church.
Paul begins this passage by writing “Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, (v. 1a). He identifies himself as the writer of the letter. He also states that Timothy is serving with him in Rome and he identifies himself and Timothy as “bondservants of Jesus Christ”, as are all Christians. We have all been purchased with the blood of Jesus Christ.
Next, Paul writes “To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons” (v. 1b). This epistle, an authoritative letter, is addressed to the saints, the Christians, in Philippi, who are under the leadership of the bishops and the servanthood of the deacons.
Paul follows up with his customary greeting. He writes “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 2).
Paul writes “3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, 5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now” (vv. 3-5). He states that when he prays for them, he always thanks God for them because of their “fellowship” with him in the gospel. His reference to the “first day” refers to the time when Paul started the church.
The word translated “fellowship” is the Greek word “koinonia” which means fellowship, participation, sharing, and contribution. So, the fellowship that Paul refers to has a financial component to it.
Paul continues “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (v. 6). Paul commends them for their service, expressing confidence that God will carry on their “good work” until the rapture, “the day of Jesus Christ” (v.6). God always finishes what He starts, including our salvation.
Next, Paul writes “just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace.” (v. 7). Paul tells them that he always holds them in his heart, whether he is imprisoned, defending the gospel, or confirming the gospel “Defense” of the gospel refers to answering his critics, whereas “confirmation” of the gospel refers to establishing the gospel more firmly in the hearts of believers.
Paul then writes “For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ (v.8). He writes that God knows of his great affection for the believers at Philippi and how he “longs” to see them.
Paul is expecting to be released from his house arrest soon, and, indeed, he was. His previous plans were to minister in Spain (Romans 25), and church traditions have him doing so.
However, it is also possible that he had other pressing matters elsewhere, such as Philippi and Colossae. He was released from house arrest for about two years before the Roman imprisonment that resulted in his beheading in 68 AD at the hands of Nero, just prior to Nero’s suicide on June 9, 68.
Continuing, Paul writes “9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ” (vv. 9-10). So, Paul has written in the previous verses why he prays for the believers, and now he prays for them.
This is also God’s prayer for His universal church, which includes us. God’s prayer is that our love, “agape” in the Greek, might constantly increase in all knowledge and discernment, so that we may be “sincere and without offense”.
The word translated “without offense” is the Greek word “aproskopos”, which means “not causing one to stumble.” We are not to cause others “to stumble” in their Christian faith.
So, our agape love, the Christian love, is not just an emotional love but it is a love that seeks the best for the love object, not causing them to stumble. Thus, when we correct others we are showing our love for them. If we did not love them we would just let them go their merry way down the wrong path.
Paul concludes this passage by writing “being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (v. 11). God’s prayer is also that we will be “filled with the fruits of righteousness”, that comes from Jesus (v. 11).
Jesus is the source of righteousness and the object of righteousness is for the glory and praise of God. We should glorify God everyday in all that we say and do, to His praise.