Philippians, Chapter 1

Chapter 1, Philippians, verse-by-verse commentary/summarization/whatever-you-see-fit-to-call-it, for the purpose of gaining understanding. I used NASB while doing this; you can follow along with whichever version you prefer at BibleGateway (see sidebar). Beware, I have no established form of what I'm doing. I'm just going at it. So here I go:


1. Fellow slaves of Christ:

2. May God bestow His grace upon us and give us peace, in Christ and as far as God's desire.

3. It is good to thank God when you remember, or are reminded of, your brothers and sisters in Christ.

4. Praying for brethren, joyfully, because of what God has done through them is good.

5. Joyfully pray because you see or have seen your brothers and sisters participating as tools of God in furthering the gospel of Jesus for God's glory and the advancement of His kingdom.

6. God in Christ will cause godly spiritual growth resulting in refined activity for the gospel until all things are new.

7. It is good that we followers of Christ Jesus feel that god is making us better through grace.

8. Longing for a brother or a sister as Christ long and patiently waits for His bride is good.

9. Pray for the brethren, that their love may have true (and thus, godly) information so that it may be applied in a godly manner, resulting in wisdom and discernment, becoming confident of what should be done in any circumstance.

10. By having the above information and discernment, we may approve things that are of God, allowing us to be peaceful in mind, soul, and body and holy before God.

11. Knowledge, discernment, approving of excellent things, sincerity, blamelessness--these come from the righteousness we receive from Christ, and all of it is for God's glory; it praise Him.

12. Abiding in Christ results in furtherance of the gospel.

13. Abiding in Christ makes known Christ.

14. Abiding in Christ causes other brothers and sisters to trust the Lord more, resulting in action (that receives opposition from enemies) that speaks of God.

15. Sometimes Christ is preached out of evil, and sometimes out of good.

16. Those who preach Christ out of good do so in the Spirit of God; they do so out of love, selfless care.

17. Some or all who preach Christ out of evil do so to cause anxiety, worry, or stress to those who abide in Christ.

18. But whether or not the motives are good or evil, we should rejoice that Christ is being preached nonetheless.

19. We are delivered through Christ's Spirit and our prayer, both according to God's mercy and grace.

20. If God is our deliverer, then Christ will be exalted whether we die or live.

21. Life gives us time to be more like Christ under trial; death allows us to glory in Christ's infinity.

22. Life in Christ on Earth means fruitfulness.

23. But existence in Christ's literal presence is far better than bearing fruit.

24. Still, we should remain in the flesh so that we may benefit our brethren.

25. In Christ, we can continue on in the flesh with joy, for our brethren's progress.

26. Confidence belongs in Christ.

27. We should always live for God's kingdom so that other brethren will take heart and have greater confidence in Christ.

28. We should not be startled or frightened by opponents of God's kingdom because we have strength in God while they have destruction from God.

29. Suffering for Christ is a unique privilege.

30. We see how it is a privilege through other brethren who suffer for Christ.