Philippians 1:12-18, Part 2

A second proof that the gospel is truly advancing is also somewhat puzzling and involves the activities of Paul’s fellow Christians. It occurs to me that Paul may be referring to other Christians imprisoned like him, but I’m not sure. At any rate, seeing Paul’s boldness, others are spurred on to preach about Christ (14). Fear no longer inhibits their activities. It is easy to see how this could be the case when we think of times in our lives that we’ve been scared to do something we still in some way thought valuable.

All alone, we may lack the courage to move forward even though our minds may be convinced of its ultimate value, yet give us a few like-minded individuals, and together we may gain the boldness required. Such boldness does not simply seize the other believers because of “[Paul’s] imprisonment (14)]” but on account of the way the apostle continues to pursue Christ’s glory in the midst of it. A good question is what does it take for a Christian to reach this point where all else pales in comparison with winning honor for Christ? Paul speaks more of this later in our passage.