But I want you to know, brethren, that the things
which happened to me have
actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has
become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains
are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord,
having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word
without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from
goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not
sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of
love, knowing that I am appointed for the defence of the gospel. What then?
Only that in every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is preached;
and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice. For I know that this will turn
out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of
Jesus Christ, 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. For to me, to live is
Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit
from my labour; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed
between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far
better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. (Philippians 1:12-24)
As
I understand the above context, Paul’s faithfulness as an apostle had already brought
about the desired effect. Though he was imprisoned, others were spreading the
Gospel as a result of his preaching, irrespective of their motives. His
consequential suffering left him with a dilemma that, though it touched upon
his deepest desires, was somewhat hypothetical because it was beyond his
control: ‘would I rather die now or continue suffering for the Gospel?’
By
faith he could see gain in both eventualities. Continuing to serve the saints
with his life would present more opportunities for ‘fruit from my labour’. Dying would mean being ‘with Christ, which is far better’. Paul felt no further need to divulge
on why he desired the latter option; the benefits to death were obvious to him
and his readers. Why? Had he opened his epistle with thoughts about ‘going to
Heaven’? No, he had opened his epistle with thoughts about ultimate reward on a
specific future date:
I thank my
God upon every remembrance of you, always in every
prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until
now, 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; 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 defence and
confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the
affection of Jesus Christ. And this I pray, that your love may abound
still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you
may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and
praise of God. (Philippians
1:3-11)
Though
Paul is glad for the fellowship and memories of the Philippian church, his hope
for them is rooted in a time he calls ‘the
day of Christ’. Twice he makes sure to mention that this is his hope for
them. Note that his hope for them is a singular date, not the various dates at
which each Philippian saint would eventually die. So when is ‘the day of Christ’? Other Pauline
epistles may help us to determine the answer.
For as many as have sinned
without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law
will be judged by the law (for not the hearers of
the law are just in the sight
of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the
things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves,
who show the work of the law written in their
hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else
excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus
Christ, according to my gospel. (Romans
2:12-16)
I thank my God always
concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that
you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even
as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no
gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day
of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1st
Corinthians 1:4-8)
Now, brethren, concerning
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we
ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word
or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ
had come. (2nd Thessalonians
2:1-2)
1st Thessalonians
chapter five, as well as 2nd Timothy 4:8 help shed further light on
this term, which refers to a future date when the Lord Jesus Christ will act as
judge, rewarding the faithfulness of God’s people. Though the specific date and
time remain unknown, the knowledge of its arrival one day was presumably well
known to those local churches that Paul had helped to establish, including Philippi.
I do not think it can be emphasized enough that Paul has referenced this date
twice at the beginning of this epistle. It will help inform us of the motivation
behind his famous expressions in verses twenty one and twenty three.
Returning
to the more immediate context – the verses quoted at the beginning of this
section – we see that Paul had lived by faith, believing that God would reward
him for all he had done thus far. Continuing on in life in a similar vein would
merely serve to accumulate more reward for him. When death would eventually
come then he could enjoy a great reward. However, considering that his accumulated
reward even at that point would be substantial in and of itself, Paul could
easily see the benefit of death there and then. This explains why the second
option was the preferred one.
So
what is it to ‘depart and be with Christ’? Immediate entrance into Heaven? Immediate fellowship with the Lord? The text does not say. I
believe that we have been guilty of reading immediacy into the statement. To
depart and be somewhere else does not necessarily imply immediacy. To depart my
living room and be in my hallway does imply immediacy, but to depart London and
be in New York implies a delay. In other words, only the context and prior
understanding of the Philippian church can tell us if the words suggest
immediacy.
‘To die is gain’ sounds like immediate
Heaven if we hold that as a prior belief. But, whether the doctrine be true or
not, it should not be the first experience to come to our attention
contextually. What ‘gain’ could death hold for Paul within the context of the chapter? This is where ‘the day of Christ’ performs a very
important role in helping us understand his words. ‘Gain’ means positive judgement, not intermediate Heaven. Paul’s
confidence is that, if he were to die for the Gospel, he would gain at the
Judgement Seat (because he would be dying as a martyr). However, if he were to
continue in the flesh, his ministry would be of further benefit to the
Philippians, storing up even more
Judgement Seat reward.
Given
this context, what does ‘depart and be
with Christ’ mean? It seems to me that being ‘with Christ’ is the reward of a positive judgement. It is the
acceptance by Christ of a faithful servant, which hardly describes all of God’s
people.
I also
believe that, when Paul later describes his motives for obeying the Lord Jesus,
it is clear that going to Heaven at the point of death is not in his thoughts.
Yet indeed I
also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as
rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own
righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in
Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him
and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being
conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from
the dead. (Philippians 3:8-11)
This
section seems to clarify that the reward Paul sought (aside from the honour of
suffering with Christ in this life) was not experienced at the point of death but
at the point of resurrection.
Just as Christ died, Paul also wished to die. Why? Because death was the
only door through which the great reward could be realised. Paul knew that his
death would lead to him being raised from the dead as Christ was.
This
is precisely the meaning behind ‘being
conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from
the dead’. It also informs us why Paul could say, in the opening chapter,
that it was better ‘to depart and be with
Christ’. To ‘depart’ is
synonymous with ‘being conformed to His
death’. To ‘be with Christ’ is
synonymous with passing through death in order to ‘attain to the resurrection from the dead’ – an exact conforming to
the process that His Saviour underwent. How was Christ raised – by ‘soul/spirit’
only? No, it was evidently a physical resurrection and this was therefore
Paul’s hope as well.
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