To live is Christ and to die is gain

Philippians 1:1-26 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

1 Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons: ² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³ I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, ⁴ always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, ⁵ in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶ For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. ⁷ For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me. ⁸ For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. ⁹ And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; ¹¹ having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

¹² Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, ¹³ so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, ¹⁴ and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. ¹⁵ Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will; ¹⁶ the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; ¹⁷ the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment. ¹⁸ 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, ¹⁹ for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, ²⁰ 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.

To Live Is Christ

²¹ For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. ²² But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. ²³ But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; ²⁴ yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. ²⁵ Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, ²⁶ so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again.

Paul is writing the letter while he is in prison. One of the greatest blessings in the western church today is the amount of freedom and prosperity we enjoy. Unfortunately, in many ways this freedom and prosperity can also be a hindrance to true faith. Far too often our motives and our faith are based on what we have, what we might gain or what we might lose in this earthly realm. Paul says:  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. ²¹ For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Paul’s circumstances no longer dictated his actions or his attitude. Christ was the purpose of his life and so he saw the end of this life as his reward, not something to dread.

2 Corinthians 5:7 is an often quoted verse about Christian faith. - for we walk by faith, not by sight- This encouragement was also given from the context of living completely for Christ, understanding that this life is temporal.   Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— ⁷ for we walk by faith, not by sight— ⁸ we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. ⁹ Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.

For Paul everything was centered around Christ, not what he had, might gain or lose in this world.  In Philippians 3:7-8 he says: But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,

What is our motivation for the things we do? The things we say? The things we pray? Are we, like Paul, seeking Christ in all things or do we act speak and pray for worldly outcomes? When we pray for our nation and our leaders is it really that they would come to a saving knowledge of Christ? Or do we seek revival for our land so that our lives will be easier, so that we can continue to enjoy the abundance and prosperity we have? When we pray for healing for ourselves and those we love is it because God’s purpose is not yet fulfilled in this life? Or do we pray for healing because in reality we still fear death and have not yet come to the place where Paul was, to live is Christ and to die is gain?

Paul reveals the key to his contentment, his ability to look passed the circumstances of life and walk in faith, in his opening line of this letter.   Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus, A bondservant is one who was granted freedom, but rather than go on and live for themselves, because of their love for their master, they made a vow to remain in servitude for life. When Jesus revealed Himself to Paul on the road to Damascus, Paul was saved, freed from his sin. He could have continued to live for himself but chose to give his life to Christ. Every one of us has that same choice to make. Jesus saves us from our sin. He gave everything for us. We are free to choose how much we give to Him. Paul made his choice and in Philippians 2:4-7, he encourages us to choose to live like him and like Christ.    do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. ⁵ Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.   

Christ became a bond-servant to us all. It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1) Christ has set us free. Still though we all serve someone or something, it may be self, it may be the world or someone or something else.    We are free to choose how we respond, who or what we serve.

 Unless we, like Paul, become a bond-servant to Christ we cannot live by faith not by sight. We cannot truly pray as Christ taught us to pray. Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.  

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit thank You for loving, finding and choosing me. I choose to live for You. Amen