Commentary on Philippians 1.15–2.5

He has set down either four causes or four persons that proclaim Christ. Of these, two, the first and the last, are from malice; the two in the middle from a good mind and will. How the first and last differ from each other, and how the second and third, must be said. The first is from malice, through envy and contention: for he said “envy” because they feel that way, since they are rivals to us. The last too is itself from evil: as “some proclaim Christ out of contumacy.” That is, in order to harm us. For though they openly deny Christ, they have pretended to proclaim him, so that we, who think and believe them adversaries, may grieve that the same things we proclaim are proclaimed by them: for they proclaim Christ, he says, out of contumacy, not holily nor purely, but so as to strike us with tribulation and groaning and pain, so as to show that they rejoice in our punishments and chains; as it was said to Christ himself when he was placed on the cross, “If you are the Son of God, free yourself,” so it may be said to Paul: “May your God free you from your chains; that Christ God is God; yet you are in punishments.” In this way, then, this preaching of the malicious differs from that earlier one: that one is not to add punishments to the apostle’s chains, but so that they themselves may aim at the glory of preaching, since they do this through envy, not through understanding and their own will. But the double cause, or double person, from good stands thus: some proclaim Christ through good will, some out of love. These two causes from good are opposed one by one to those from evil: for this, which is second, answers to the first. For if the first preach Christ because they envy and contend, on the contrary some of the good proclaim Christ through good will, truly thinking so, not envying us, but because what they think is good and they have good will toward the gospel. And the third cause, which is from the good, is contrary to that which is last of the evil. For if the last of the evil is such that some proclaim Christ out of contumacy for our punishment and tribulation, this one of the good is contrary, because some proclaim out of love: that is, following me and dear to me, not insulting me: namely, he says, because I am placed in the defense of the gospel. For they know that I am in the defense of the gospel, and that therefore I endure these punishments of mine for the gospel; hence they too proclaim Christ out of love, either love toward Christ or love toward me, not insulting me, like those who preach Christ out of contumacy; not purely, but thinking to raise up tribulation for my chains.

“What then? Provided that in every way, whether under pretext or in truth, Christ is proclaimed.” Since he set down above four persons or causes for Christ’s being proclaimed, he declares and shows that he is not moved at all by the malicious because they preach Christ. For they think in vain that they are raising tribulation for my chains. For what, or why am I moved? Or why am I sent into tribulation? For I rejoice and am glad that Christ is proclaimed in every way: whether they preach Christ under some pretext of theirs or some occasion of their own for harming or envying—provided they preach—or proclaim him in truth. For the outcome pleases me greatly, that they proclaim Christ; and they both name Christ, and confess him God, though in another spirit, and the Son of God. For when this is celebrated, practiced, carried out, Christ is so proclaimed by all, and we arrive at what we wish, that Christ be proclaimed. If this is so, they thought in vain that I was sent into tribulation. Then he adds thus: “And in this I rejoice, and shall rejoice.” And I rejoice, he says, even in this very thing, that Christ is proclaimed. For even those who proclaim Christ by way of harming, to harm me, do not deny him; nor do those who proclaim Christ through envy, out of spite, secretly, and by malicious words, yet they confess Christ and proclaim Christ: in this, he says, I rejoice and shall rejoice.

“For I know that this will turn out for my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Christ Jesus.” Almost boldly and rashly he has gladly accepted, and accepted with joy, that Christ should be proclaimed in any way, even by the wicked, even out of contumacy, even through envy: but this from confidence in God and his goodwill, and, as he himself says, from the supply of Christ and his Spirit, I confirm will be; and I know it will be, since this which is proclaimed in any way will be true, and will even be as Paul himself wishes, who truly proclaims: and therefore he says, “for I know that this will turn out for my salvation”: so that what they proclaim, even for my ruin—those who proclaim Christ out of contumacy, or those who proclaim Christ through envy and contention—all of it, I know, will turn out for my salvation, with Christ and his Spirit supplying, namely. “According,” he says, “to what I expect,” and I have hope, so I have confidence that they will never harm me, even if they proclaim Christ for another reason, that I may suffer punishments and be tormented: yet since my hope and expectation is from Christ, this will turn out for my salvation.

“Since I shall be ashamed in nothing; but with all confidence, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body.” It followed that this very thing which the malicious preach, which they preach through envy, which they preach out of contumacy, might not straightway turn out for salvation, so that it could bring him ruin and punishments, so that he would always be in chains, and indeed even in death, but either way. For the apostle, looking ahead, says that it will come about that Christ is preached whatever the outcome: for never, he says, shall I be ashamed, but from either I shall be glad with joy and rejoice, and as always, so now Christ will be magnified, he says, in my body; that is, when my body, subjected to all punishments, endures everything, and preaches Christ, and does not desist, nor is frightened by punishments, nor yields to all punishments. What “all punishments” means he himself explains by adding, “whether by life or by death.” For whether I live by enduring punishments, Christ will be preached; or whether I die under punishments, he will be preached more and more, when all see that I was neither deterred by punishments nor called back by death, but either spent my life in the gospel with punishments, or endured punishments even to death, and yet persevered in preaching the gospel.

“For to me life is Christ, and to die is gain.” So I do not fear death, because to die is gain for me: not death itself is gain, but dying: but life is Christ, because whoever hopes in him always lives, both now and afterward. For when he said, “Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death,” referring to this life: if he conquers those who lay snares for him and perseveres in the gospel, his life will glory, because it glories in Christ, not in chains, not in safety, not if he suffers nothing. But if he is killed, to die is gain, since Christ is life to him. So he has answered each with each; so that to death he answered, I do not fear death, since Christ is my life: whether in life, or in chains, though they bind me, yet Christ is my life, and dying itself is gain, since I come to Christ. Or each of these two is given to each of the preceding: I do not fear death, because Christ is my life and to die is gain; or, when life will be in punishment for me, I do not fear life, because Christ is my life. So they accomplish nothing, whether they hand me over to death or give me over to torments in life: for neither harms me, because for me there is no life in torments with punishment, since Christ is my life: or if they kill me, this too is no punishment to me, because Christ is my life and to die is gain.

“But if to live in the flesh, this is the fruit of work for me.” Since he said above, “to me life is Christ,” and it was uncertain which life he meant, whether this one in the flesh or that one afterward, he added about this life which is here in the flesh, and said that nevertheless even in this life, while we live here in the flesh, there is fruit for me, he says, of work. What is this fruit of work? That by my labor and the gospel I proclaim Christ and bring about for many the hope of life and salvation, when they have begun to hope in Christ and to give faith to the gospel. This, he says, is for me the fruit of work, even to live in the flesh. “And what I shall choose I do not know.” For whether I die, because death is gain, and Christ is my life, and I surely come to him when I die here in the flesh; or whether again I live here in the flesh, because to proclaim Christ and preach the gospel is fruit of work for me; which I shall choose, he says, I do not know: whether to seek death, or still to remain in life.

“But I am hard pressed between the two, having the desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ, which is far better. But that I remain in the flesh is necessary for your sake.” A double necessity and desire, he says, leads me in divided directions; for I have the desire to be dissolved, that is, to depart from the body, and to be with Christ; also that, to obtain the gain; which indeed is best and to be chosen. But again there is for me in the flesh the necessity to remain and persevere for your sake. So to the first part he gave desire, to wish to be dissolved and to be with Christ, because it is highest, chief, and best; but here, that he should still remain in the flesh, he called rather a necessity than that; so that for this reason I may live, to instruct you, to confirm you in the gospel. Since, then, he has as it were two desires, he confirms one, that he will still remain here in the flesh: and this I know with confidence, that I shall remain and continue with you for your progress and the grace of faith. Truly like a father, truly like a servant of God, of his two desires he as it were leaves aside that which would have profited him alone: to go away now, to be dissolved now, and to be with Christ.

I am confident, he says, and know with confidence that God will make me remain here still, so that I may remain; and I will continue, so that I may profit you all, and you may have progress toward the glory of faith. I will remain, he says, and he added more, “and I will continue,” that is, I will remain until perfection; the perfection of your progress, that you may advance and obtain grace, namely of faith; that is, when you offer faith you may earn grace from God.

“That your glory and exultation may abound in Christ Jesus with me, through my presence again with you.” So that when I have begun to be with you again—that is, “through my presence again with you”—your glory may exult, and that exultation may abound in Christ Jesus with me, through my presence again with you: that is, so that I, being present, may perceive how your glory exults and abounds in Christ, because you love Christ, because you serve Christ, because you rejoice to serve Christ.

“Only conduct yourselves worthily in the gospel of Christ.” The whole sum of the Christian life is this: to conduct oneself in the gospel of Christ, to proclaim him to oneself and to others, to have hope in him, to do whatever one does from his commandments: this is to conduct oneself worthily in the gospel of Christ. But even this is too little: so it must be joined that we conduct ourselves in the gospel of Christ before all things, and conduct ourselves worthily. To conduct oneself worthily is to live according to his precepts and do what Christ commands. “So that whether I come and see you, or, being absent, I hear of you, that you stand in one spirit, with one soul striving together with the faith of the gospel.” He himself explains what it is to conduct oneself worthily in the gospel of Christ: “standing in one spirit, with one soul striving together with the faith of the gospel.” “Standing,” he says, “in one spirit”: because the spirit is one when we are now wise, and perceive the gospel, and live so. And the work of the soul is this, that we drive out the adversities of the body: therefore “with one,” he says, “soul striving together with faith,” which faith the gospel gave you. So stand, he says, in one spirit, and struggle together with one soul with the faith of the gospel. But this exposition contains what he said above, “conduct yourselves worthily in the gospel of Christ.” How the words stand so as to be whole and joined to one another we shall consider thus: conduct yourselves, he says, worthily in the gospel, so that I may hear worthily of you that you stand in one spirit and with one soul strive together with the faith of the gospel. And I shall hear, or even in absence; and there will be faith, so that when I hear, I may believe, when I come to you and see you. Or in absence I shall hear of you, as I shall see you in either case, that you stand in one spirit.

“And are in nothing terrified by your adversaries”: and this work too belongs to the exposition of what it is to conduct oneself worthily in the gospel of Christ: never to be terrified by adversaries, nor terrified in anything. “Since for them it is a declaration of destruction, but for us of salvation.” This, he says, is not to be terrified, for those who serve the gospel. That is, every act of a Christian is toward salvation: not to be troubled by adversities, to believe the faith of the gospel in Christ, to suffer for Christ, and at the same time to know that it comes from God’s grace. So this thing, he says, not to be terrified in anything by adversaries, is both for our salvation and for our adversaries a cause of destruction: and yet this is the gift of God. “And this from God”: lest we think it is our own work that not being terrified is a cause of salvation for us: for this too is from God, as I have often warned, so that all things come about by God’s will and mercy and grace.

“Since it has been given to you by Christ.” He joins these precepts to the whole exhortation: for it pertains to showing what it is to conduct oneself worthily in the gospel of Christ, thus, according to the preceding precepts: and now when the exhortation is added that they should believe in Christ; and not only believe, but also suffer for him. And what they should suffer he adds: either what you have seen in me, or what you have heard about me: for this is to conduct oneself worthily in the gospel of Christ, and this has been given us as a gift for Christ’s sake, since he fulfilled the mystery and suffered all things for our liberation. For his sake, then, he gave us the gift of believing in him. And it is a great gift, if by faith in him alone we merit so great a grace. But let us so believe as also to suffer for him; for this he adds: “having the same contest and struggle which you both saw in me and heard about me.” So that you too, believing in Christ, may suffer all things for him, that is, for his sake. For to do all things, and not to turn to another, and to suffer all things for him, this is the contest: and we have this struggle, namely the contention and intention that leads to the palm and the crown. So that you may not be ignorant of this struggle, it is the one you saw in me, namely about the chains, the prison, all the ills which Paul endured: both of which have credibility with you that I suffered, since you either heard or saw.

“If, then, there is any calling in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the spirit, if any affection and compassion, fulfill my joy, that you all think the same.” Being about to ask a favor, that his joy may be fulfilled—a joy commanded regarding this, that you all think the same, that no one disagree (for then there is both love and concord, when all think the same; and if there is concord, the apostle will have this joy)—so, then, that he may obtain what he wishes to be his joy, through their unanimity, concord, and same mind, and the rest like these, he sets forth first, as it were, an account of merits, which he deserves from them, that his joy may be fulfilled in this: that all think the same, and the rest. These are the grounds of merit: that they have been called together in Christ: for God calls us in Christ; for he sanctifies those whom he called and chose and ordained. Calling, then, is first; if there is, he says, any calling in Christ among us, that we have been called together, and called in Christ, and my merit toward you; then fulfill my joy. This, then, is the first ground of merit among them, that they listen to one another: that they have been called in Christ. And from the fact that they have been called in Christ there is also love. Likewise he adds, “if any consolation of love.” For since we are in evils, and labor under the evils of the world, if we love one another, God will be to us the consolation of love. If this, then, he says, is the consolation of love, that, since I love you, you console me in the evils in which I am: fulfill, then, my joy. This must be added to each. Then he added, “if any fellowship of the spirit.” In good order this is third too: for first is being called in Christ, then having love: and when both are present, so that they are both called in Christ and have among themselves the consolation of the beloved and of love, there is without doubt fellowship of the spirit. “If there is,” he says, “any fellowship of the spirit.” Let us hear that: “fulfill my joy.” Then he adds, “if any affection and compassion.” For one body of the church is made when those called in Christ are joined to one another by love; they are joined also by the spirit, and become the same heart and the same compassion. If, then, there is any heart, if there is a heart of compassion, to this end, that the calling be in Christ and the fellowship in the spirit. And compassion is for this, if there is any consolation of love: that each console the other, because we are always in evils in the world: since we are the same heart, we ought to show compassion to one another. So, then, if there is any heart of compassion, fulfill my joy. And what joy he added: “that you think the same, all the same thing.” What is “think the same”? He supplies it by what follows, either in what they should think the same or how they should think the same: “Exercise the same love, being of one soul, knowing one thing, doing nothing through contention or through vain glory, but in humility of mind each considering others to surpass him; let each of you look not only to his own things, but each to those of others.”

“For think this in yourselves which is also in Christ Jesus.” As I said, this is the exhortation he is now carrying out with fuller precepts: “fulfill,” he says, “my joy,” in the things by which it can be brought about: and these precepts, as he always taught, contain what is to be done, and likewise what is not to be done. What is to be done he adds thus: “that you all think the same, all exercise the same love, being of one soul, knowing one thing.” He inserts what is not to be done: “nothing through contention nor through vain glory.” And he adds again what is to be done: “but through humility of mind each considering others to surpass him.” Likewise he adds what is not to be done: “let each not look to his own things.” Then what is to be done: “but each to those of others.” Then he adds thus what is of greatest force for exhortation, and a sure exhortation from the precepts, in which the conclusion of the precept is this: that each think of the refreshment of others. This, he says, you ought to do, resolve, and think in yourselves, which Christ did: that, thinking of others, he thought nothing of himself and his own glory; or that, as he will teach, he himself laid aside his power in order to help all others. So this is held in the exhortation, so that the joy of Paul himself may be fulfilled. Let us see, then, the individual precepts. First he says, “that you think the same”: the power, right, and working of all Christianity is not to disagree, but to have one and the same thing in mind. For if there is one God, if one his Son, if one Holy Spirit, if all these three are one, so we too ought to hold as one what we think, so that we all think the same. Then follows that we “exercise the same love.” This now pertains to moral discipline, that is, to life; that to knowledge. For since I have said that there are two kinds in Paul, and in every treatise—that some things are learned for knowledge, others for acts and for life—so here too, for knowledge, it is set down “that you think the same”; then for life, “exercise the same love.” What is “the same”? The same you show to another as another shows to you; not a divided love, but love in Christ. This is the same love. Then he added: “of one soul, knowing one thing.” He seems to me to have repeated in reverse order what was said above. For “of one soul” is one thing, pertaining to the same love; “knowing one thing” is another, pertaining, as I said above, to “that you all think the same.” But there is something more in these two than in the earlier ones. For “that you all think the same” is one thing, “knowing one thing” another, in the same subject indeed, since both pertain to knowledge. But that earlier “thinking the same” serves this, that while knowledge is not yet confirmed, yet the power of knowing may appear equal, not yet completed, and knowledge already perfected. So in the second precept, though both are in one sense, it is set down more strongly: “knowing,” he says, “one thing”: this is already the precept itself, when he said “knowing.” But above he said “thinking the same,” that is, having the same perceptions of understanding: so that is still in act, this can be seen in perfection. “Thinking the same” and, for life in like manner, still in act, regarding life, “exercise the same love.” But in perfection there is “of one soul,” and both concern morals and the manner of life: hence, though each seems the same as its counterpart, the later ones are stronger. Then he added: “nothing through contention nor through vain glory.” For even with thinking the same and knowing the same there could still be contention. So a measure is added of what ought to be, or rather what ought not to be: “nothing,” he says, “through contention.” For many have either a necessity or a will to contend. So he removed both kinds of contention, so that there is neither necessity nor will to contend, since both are faulty. Some rush into contention itself out of curiosity; others are by nature such as to be contentious: therefore it was added, “nothing through contention.” Then again others bring this forward for boasting, so that they contend and seem equal, or superior by persistence in resisting, and superior in glorying. This, then, he wants taken away, and says, “nor through vain glory.” For vain glory is to wish to please by words, to please by great cunning and by contention in debate. For contention ought rarely to be found in a Christian, and not boasting in speech. With this later precept so set down, that we may not seem to do anything through vain glory, there was necessarily added, “but through humility of mind.” For so vain glory can be taken away, if there is humility in the mind, that is, in the understandings. For he set down these “senses.” Let him bring forward whatever he treats by way of inquiry, not by assumed authority. “Each considering others to surpass him.” For this is truly humility, if you think every other better: for this is to consider yourselves surpassed by one another; so that no one thinks of another without esteeming him better, and as surpassing and being better. If this is so, this is humility of mind. Then he adds: “Let each of you look not to his own things, but to those of others.” From this thought is linked what is added afterward. Meanwhile this is to be referred to what precedes: for then you will fulfill my joy, if you do this too, that each looks not only to his own things but to those of others, and so each has care for others and the concerns of others. For this is what we think: that if we think only of ourselves, we can profit ourselves, and deal only with our own affairs, with our hope, our liberation: but this is too little. For we truly deal with ourselves then, if we also care for others and hasten to profit others. For since we are all one body, if we look out for others, we look out for ourselves; if we think of others, we think all the more of ourselves. Hence he adds how great is this which he admonishes, how exceptional, how forceful, when he says: Let us have this same in our minds which is also in Christ Jesus. What this is—“think this in yourselves which you think in Christ Jesus”—he himself sets out and explains. For if we think this in Christ Jesus, that he took care rather for others, that is, for us, not for himself, nor for what he himself could or was able or is able to do, but thought rather of us. This is what he said above: “but each of us should take care of the things of others”: for our Lord Christ the Savior, surely, since he was Savior, brought salvation to others: and how he did not use kindness only, nor, shining with his goodwill, clothe and cover with his light, nor call back to himself by infused kindness and majesty. So that we might know his benefit as greater and greatest, he emptied himself, he says, and stripped off all majesty, so that, descending into flesh and taking up all that patience of humility, in order to profit us in the flesh, he endured injuries in the flesh, then the cross and death. All of which teach and exhort us, imitating the Lord in like manner, to think rather of others than of ourselves. For this is truly to deal with ourselves: to take up the care of others for their salvation. This, then, is “that you think this in yourselves which you also think in Christ”: you perceive that he profited others: so think this in yourselves too, that you think for others, and take up concern for others, so that you may be able to profit others.