Art Toombs Ministries 

Online Bible Commentary

Motives in Teaching
Philippians 1:12 But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, 13 so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; 14 and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. 15 Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from good will: 16 The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; 17 but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice. 19 For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. (NKJV)

 

Paul begins this passage writing “But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel” (v. 12). Paul writes, while under house arrest in Rome, that good has come from his imprisonment, even though it was meant for bad. The good is twofold. 

Paul writes “so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ” (v. 13). The first good is that Paul has had the opportunity to witness to the guards and other prisoners. The guards now know that he is not a criminal, but that he is there solely because he preached the gospel, the good news of Christ. 

Paul continues “and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear” (v. 14). So, the second good is that his disciples have become emboldened by his persecution, which has resulted in an even greater spread of the gospel. 

Paul writes “Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from good will” (v. 15). Not all of those who are spreading the gospel are friends of Paul, who preach from “good will”. 

Paul continues “The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains” (v. 16). Some are jealous of his stature in the faith and seek to build up themselves, through his misfortune. They are motivated by selfish ambition, wanting to stir up trouble for him. 

Paul writes “but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel” (v. 17). Paul’s friends know that he is in prison by divine appointment to defend the gospel. The word translated ”appointed” is the Greek word “keimai”, which means to be laid out, or destined. 

So, Paul is defending the gospel, answering critics of the gospel, while under house arrest. At the same time, his disciples on the outside are preaching the gospel out of love and goodwill.

Paul continues “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice” (v. 18).Paul rejoices because the gospel is being preached, regardless of the motives of the preachers. He is rejoicing because the truth is being preached. 

He writes “For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (v.19). Paul, also, will continue to rejoice because he is confident that through the prayers of his disciples and the work of the Holy Spirit, he will soon be released from house arrest. It is this confidence in soon being released that leads us to believe that this is the last of the four prison epistles Paul wrote. 

He completes this passage by writing “according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death” (v.20). Whatever happens, whether he is freed or put to death, Paul’s goal is that Christ will always be magnified by his life. He expects and hopes that he will not fail, but will have the courage to finish the race, to reach the goal. 

Motives in teaching are important. Not only should we be teaching the truth of the Word of God, but, also, we should be teaching with good motives. In verses 15-17 Paul points out that the motives for Bible teaching should be out of good will, sincerely, and out of love.