Philippians 1:26 – Superabounding glorying

And, having this confidence I am aware that I shall be remaining and shall be abiding with you all for your progress and joy of faith, that your glorying maybe superabounding in Christ Jesus in me through my presence with you again.

Paul is counting on visiting the Philippians again. This means that his two-year imprisonment in Rome, as the conclusion of the book of Acts describes it, did not mark the end of his travels. As a Roman citizen he had successfully appealed to the emperor and now he had the prospect of the end of his imprisonment.

When Paul would meet the Philippians again, he wanted to aim at their progress and joy of faith. As he also writes to the Corinthians, he is a fellow worker of their joy since his readers were firm in the faith (2 Cor.1:24). This joy is not available separately but a natural effect of trust (=faith) on the word that Paul preached. He pursued that joy. So that the Philippians would boast abundantly of Paul’s presence. Of course, this is not about Paul himself (cf. Gal. 1:24) but about what he had received directly from Christ Jesus. That word guarantees unrelenting joy!

Delen: