4 Christ is Preached in Many Motives

Paul is saying that others are preaching Christ through envy and strife. He is in jail and telling the Philippians that they should not despair. They seemed to be concerned that the Gospel would not continue to go out since he was in prison. They cared for him as evidenced by their financial support. They also were deeply connected to him and took to heart the encouragement he offered them in the Gospel to take a stand for it as truth and fact. The extensive number of cults in Philippi at that time gave the Philippians significant opposition and competition for Christianity. But Paul assured them that regardless of where he was the Gospel would spread. They saw how tirelessly and faithfully devoted he was to the Gospel. They just could not see the larger picture of Christ building His Church. It was not Paul’s Church it belonged to Christ. This was a concept that he had to deal with at Corinth. He made it quite clear to the Corinthians that they should be following and trusting in Christ not him.