Philippians - Verse-by-Verse Biblical Exegesis

doom] for them, but for you, deliverance, and this [deliverance] from God,
KW Philp. 1:28 And do not be terrified in even one thing by those who are entrenched in their
opposition against you, which failure on your part to be frightened is an indication of such a
nature as to present clear evidence to them of [their] utter destruction, also clear evidence of your
salvation, and this [evidence] from God.
KJV Philippians 1:28 And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident
token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.
TRANSLATION HIGHLIGHTS
Paul adds to his desire that the Philippian believers function as a team by commanding them
(Imperative mood) to never be intimidated (Gnomic Present tense) by their enemies. Enemies can
either be reversionistic believers or unbelievers. If you haven’t been in a battle against fellow
believers who are apostate or reversionistic (Latin: adversaries), you haven’t lived. They are as bad
if not worse than unbelievers, when they become your enemy. In either case, they are being used by
God to test you, to see if you become afraid (Latin: terrified) and abandon the spiritual life in a state
of panic. Their goal is to get you out of fellowship, causing you to crash-and-burn in your inner life
(priesthood functions) and the exercise of your spiritual gift (ambassadorship).
If you interpret these enemies as being unbelievers, then you will assign “ever-lasting torment” as
their probable reward (Latin: perdition). If you interpret these enemies as being reversionistic
believers, then you will assign spiritual torment on earth as their probable reward. The Tendential
Present tense allows a future opportunity for the unbeliever to believe in Christ and avoid eternal
judgment, and a future opportunity for the reversionistic believer to confess his sins and be restored
to fellowship. Since “all things work together for good to those who love Christ Jesus,” the temporal
or eternal destruction of the unbeliever or reversionistic believer is in turn deliverance for the
believer in fellowship. It is an obvious disadvantage to the one, and an eventual advantage to the
other.
REVELANT OPINIONS
This fear or intimidation in the Greek is “compared to the uncontrollable stampede of horses,” (J.B.
Lightfoot) and “could also be proof to them of their success in ambushing you.” (R.B. Thieme, Jr.)
These words provide a ground of encouragement for Paul’s friends, and they are further assured that
the experience of violent antagonism to the gospel through which they were passing, the
steadfastness that they are to demonstrate, and the assurance of salvation that follows are all under
the sovereign control and purpose of God. (P. O’Brien)
It is a humbling exercise to estimate the ratio of the number of sermons preached to the number of
souls won for Christ, or of the number of churches in our cities to the level of interest, never mind
concern, for spiritual values in the general public. (J. Motyer) The apostle aspired to a victorious
endurance in which his life or death would magnify Christ, and he exhorts them to aspire to the same