Rejoicing at the Gospel Proclaimed in Philippians 1:12-18

“Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.” This is the central thought of Philippians 1:12-18. As Paul writes this epistle to the Philippians, he is imprisoned at Rome, which the letter itself implies (1:13, 4:22). The possibility of Paul’s imminent death while imprisoned (1:20) would also implicate Rome as the location of Paul’s imprisonment. The textual implications (along with an early tradition) far outweigh the modern conjectures that Paul wrote this letter elsewhere. From a Roman imprisonment, then, Paul writes to his “partners in the gospel” at Philippi who would naturally be concerned with whether the gospel was spreading in Rome despite Paul’s imprisonment. In 1:12-18, Paul reveals that his imprisonment has actually led to the great progress of the gospel because “most of the brothers … are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”

Nevertheless, Paul goes on to admit that some of these evangelists are envious of Paul and “proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.” Despite their impure motives, however, these evangelists proclaim a true gospel, and because their gospel is true, Paul rejoices and affirms “Yes, and I will rejoice.”