Philippians 1:3 - Meaning and Application

Paul now moves on from the greeting to give thanks for the believers at Philippi. He tells them why he thanked God on their behalf. First, he remembered them often. Even though they were far away and out of sight, they were not out of his mind. Every time he thought of them, and every time he heard them mentioned, it gave him pleasure. It is a joy to hear that an absent friend is doing well.

He remembered them with joy, even though Philippi was the place where he had been mistreated. There he was beaten and put in stocks, and at first he saw little result from his labor. Yet he still thought of Philippi gladly. He counted his sufferings for Christ as honor, comfort, and a crown. So he was not ashamed of that place or reluctant to hear it mentioned.

He remembered them in prayer. The best way to remember our friends is to bring them before God’s throne of grace. Paul prayed often for his friends, and for these believers in particular. His way of speaking suggests that he named the churches he cared about one by one when he prayed. God allows us to be that open with him, and for our comfort he knows whom we mean even when we do not name them.

He also thanked God whenever he thought of them. Thanksgiving should have a place in every prayer. Anything that gives us joy should also lead us to give thanks. Whatever comfort we receive, God should get the glory for it. So Paul prayed with joy and also gave thanks with joy. Holy joy is the heart of thankful praise, and thankful praise gives holy joy its voice.

In prayer and thanksgiving, Paul looked to God as his own God: “I thank my God.” It strengthens prayer and enlarges praise when we remember that every mercy comes from the hand of our own God. Paul thanked God for other people’s grace, comfort, gifts, and usefulness, because he shared in their benefit and God received glory through them.

The main thing he thanked God for was the comfort he found in their fellowship in the gospel, from the first day until now (Philippians 1:5). Gospel fellowship is a good fellowship. Even the humblest believers share in the gospel with the greatest apostles, because the gospel offers one common salvation (Jude 1:3), and they receive like precious faith (2 Peter 1:1). Those who truly receive the gospel share in it from the first day they believe. A new believer, if truly born again, already has a part in all the promises and privileges of the gospel. “Until now” shows the value of steady perseverance. It is a great comfort to ministers when those who begin well continue on.

Some understand “fellowship in the gospel” as their support for spreading the gospel, taking the word to mean “sharing” or “giving.” But in this context, it seems broader. It likely means the fellowship they had in faith, hope, and holy love with all true Christians, along with a share in gospel promises, ordinances, privileges, and hopes, from the first day until then.

Paul also thanked God for the confidence he had about them (Philippians 1:6). Christian confidence can be a great comfort, and we may give thanks not only for present blessings, but also for hopeful prospects. Paul spoke with confidence about others when charity led him to hope well of them, and when faith led him to trust that, if they were sincere, they would be blessed. He was confident that “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.”

This can be read as “in you all” or “among you all,” meaning the planting of the church in Philippi. He who planted Christianity in the world will preserve it as long as the world lasts. Christ will have a church until God’s mystery is finished and the whole body is complete. The church is built on a rock, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. But Paul is probably speaking here of individual believers, and then the words mean that the work of grace will surely be completed wherever God has truly begun it.

The work of grace is a good work, a blessed work, because it makes us good and gives us a true hope of good to come. It makes us like God and prepares us to enjoy God. A work that does us the greatest good is rightly called good. Wherever this good work begins, God is the one who begins it. We could never start it ourselves, because by nature we are dead in sins and trespasses (Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13). Dead people cannot raise themselves to life.

This work is only begun in this life, not finished here. As long as we remain imperfect, there is more to be done. If God did not take up the work and carry it through, it would never be finished. The one who begins it must also complete it. We can be sure that God will not abandon his own work, but will finish and crown it. “As for God, his work is perfect.” The work of grace will not reach perfection until the day of Jesus Christ, the day when he appears. When he comes to judge the world and bring his work of mediation, his saving work as our go-between, to its close, then this work will be complete, and the top stone will be set in place with rejoicing. The same expression appears again in Philippians 1:10.