Philippian Bits – 1:16 – Considering the Bible

For this series in Philippians, I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

1:16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.

The brothers who found confidence in the life of Paul during his imprisonment, preaching Christ with boldness and of good will, were doing this service out of love. Love was the root of this service, and the fruit of righteousness was developing in these brothers!

As we have spoken of love in this epistle, note the number of times this topic repeats itself, over and over again as Paul shares his heart with the Philippians. These brothers were preaching Christ, in part due to the life of Paul in prison and their devotion to him and the Savior.

Paul could not have been happier, or to put it in the language Paul preferred, he could not have had greater joy.