Philippians - Verse-by-Verse Biblical Exegesis

LWB Philp. 1:18 What then is my conclusion? Only that in every way, whether with falsely
alleged motives [pretext] or with true motives, Christ is being proclaimed. As a matter of
fact, I am maintaining inner happiness during this [proclamation of Christ with false
motivation]; and furthermore, I plan to continue maintaining this inner happiness in the
future.
KW Philp. 1:18 What is my feeling in view of these things? The only thing that follows is that in
every manner, whether in pretense or in truth, whether insincerely or sincerely, Christ is being
proclaimed. And in this I am rejoicing, and I will certainly continue to be rejoicing.
KJV Philippians 1:18 What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth,
Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.
TRANSLATION HIGHLIGHTS
Now that Paul has compared and contrasted the two types of evangelists in Rome, and has
emphasized in particular those who are preaching Christ with false motivation, what is his
conclusion on the matter? Regardless of their conduct or character, he is glad that Christ is
being preached (Gnomic Present tense). He focuses on the end result and ignores any
malfeasance directed to his person. He shifts his priorities from protecting himself to the
ultimate purpose of exalting Christ. He doesn’t care whether the people on his team have
good motives or bad motives, he is happy that the job is getting done. The use of the Gnomic
Present tense means he is always focused on the desired result (preaching of Christ) and not
on the conduct or character of those who are doing the preaching.
I don’t know about you, but in my experience at work on teams, I find this to be a most
difficult perspective to maintain. It is one thing to talk about focusing on the project and
ignoring the shortfalls of various team members, but it is another thing to keep that focus day
after day in the midst of conflict. And I say this while living on the outside and not in prison!
Paul gives us a high standard to live by in this passage: switch from human viewpoint and
preoccupation with oneself to divine viewpoint and occupation with Christ. And as if that
isn’t difficult enough to maintain on a daily basis, he adds yet another requirement: maintain
inner happiness through it all. When things aren’t going well on the job, we still have to
approach the day with inner happiness!
Paul maintained inner happiness while these preachers proclaimed Christ from false
motivation. The Iterative Present tense tells us that he remained happy every single time
someone proclaimed Christ publicly, no matter what their motivation was. And then with a
double emphatic conjunction, he told the Philippians that he planned to keep on maintaining
inner happiness in the future (Progressive & Predictive Future tense), no matter what
happened. Paul was determined to maintain divine viewpoint, keeping Christ in the forefront
of his thoughts. He was determined to continue exercising impersonal love towards those
members of his extended preaching team, even when they tried to make him miserable with