Philippians 1:9

These verses are the prayer that follows Paul’s thanksgiving for the Philippians and their partnership with him in the gospel (Philippians 1:3–8). He has just said that he has them in his heart (Philippians 1:7), so “this I pray” comes from a pastor’s love for people he knows well. The prayer sets the tone of the whole letter, which is full of joy, affection and encouragement, with little of the correction found in many of Paul’s letters. From here he goes on to speak of suffering, of unity, and of pressing on to know Christ.

Paul wrote from prison, most likely in Rome, around A.D. 60–62. His chains confined him, yet they gave the gospel fresh openings, as he explains a few verses later (Philippians 1:12–14). Philippi was a Roman colony, proud of its Roman citizenship, and the church there was the first in Europe, founded on Paul’s second missionary journey (Acts 16:11–40). Its first believers included Lydia (Acts 16:14) and the jailer (Acts 16:33). This church sent Paul gifts again and again (Philippians 4:15–16) and stood firm under persecution, though later in the letter Paul has to urge two of its women, Euodia and Syntyche, to be of one mind (Philippians 4:2).

A city like Philippi prized civic virtue, practical wisdom, a good name and public honour. Paul’s prayer takes up those same longings for sound judgment, an upright life and praise, and turns every one of them toward God. The standard becomes what God counts excellent, the goal becomes the day of Christ, and the praise belongs to God alone. Later in the letter he reminds them that their true citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20).

Paul’s first request is about love, agápē, the self-giving love that seeks the highest good of another, whatever that person deserves. It is rooted in who God is, and the Holy Spirit works it in believers. Paul sets it above every other virtue in 1 Corinthians 13, and he calls it “the bond of perfectness” (Colossians 3:14).

The Philippians already love, which is why Paul asks for an increase. The verb perisseúō means to abound, to overflow, to be in excess, and Paul adds “yet more and more” (eti mâllon kai mâllon) to say that he wants their love to keep on growing. The Christian life moves forward like this all the way to the end, and Paul speaks of his own life in the same terms: “I press toward the mark” (Philippians 3:14). A church whose love keeps growing will also work together more closely in the task they share.

Verse 10 gives the purpose of this growing love: “That ye may approve things that are excellent”. To approve, dokimázō, comes from dokimos, “tested” or “approved”. It means to test something, examine it and find out what it really is, and then to approve it when it proves genuine. It is an active judgment that ends in a choice.

“Excellent” translates a form of diaphérō, made from dia (“through”) and pherō (“to bear”). The word means to differ, and from that to surpass. The things that are excellent are the things that stand apart from the rest because they are better, more valuable or more important. Some choices are between good and evil, and many more are between the good, the better and the best. Paul wants the Philippians to see what is truly superior in God’s sight, to prize what has lasting worth, and to hold to it.

Paul asks the Romans for this kind of testing when he tells them to be transformed by the renewing of their mind, “that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). He prays in much the same way for the Colossians, that they would have spiritual wisdom and bear fruit (Colossians 1:9–10).

Discernment shows itself in character. Paul prays that the Philippians will be “sincere and without offence”, pure within and blameless in the way they live among others.

Sincere is eilikrinḗs, pure and unmixed, with nothing false blended in. The word is often explained from heilē, the sun’s light, and krinō, to judge, so that it pictures something held up to the sunlight and found clean. That origin is uncertain, but the meaning is plain: a heart free of hidden motives, hypocrisy and double-dealing, undivided in its devotion to Christ, able to stand the closest look.

“Without offence” is apróskopos, and it carries two senses that both fit here. Toward others, it means living so that no one is led into sin by what we do. For ourselves, it means keeping our own footing, firm in faith and conduct. Such a life keeps the gospel from reproach. Peter speaks of believers “having your conversation honest among the Gentiles”, so that those who speak against them may see their good works and glorify God (1 Peter 2:12). Paul asks the Philippians themselves to let their conversation “be as it becometh the gospel of Christ” (Philippians 1:27).

All of this looks ahead to “the day of Christ”, the day of his return. On that day he appears in glory and judges, believers stand before him and receive their full salvation, and they are made like him (1 John 3:2). Paul calls it “the day of the Lord” in 1 Thessalonians 5:2. The word “till” means that the purity and blamelessness he prays for are meant to last the whole way to that day.

Paul holds the same hope before other churches. He tells the Corinthians that God will confirm them to the end, “that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:8), and he prays for the Thessalonians to be “preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). The day of Christ gives our present life its weight, because we live it before him, and it gives it joy, because the one we will stand before is our Lord.

The prayer ends with a harvest: “Being filled with the fruits of righteousness”. Filled, from plēróō, speaks of abundance, a life brimming with this fruit. Karpós is the produce of a plant, from a root meaning to pluck, and in its figurative sense it means the natural result of what has been done. Fruit was a familiar picture in Scripture for what a life yields, and Paul uses it here for the godly character, right actions and faithful living that grow out of a life made right with God.

Righteousness, dikaiosýnē, is being right with God and living rightly before him. It includes the righteousness God counts to believers through faith in Christ, which gives them their standing with him, and the practical righteousness they then live out. The fruits of righteousness are the visible signs of both: a person in right relationship with God, whose conduct shows it.

The fruits are “by Jesus Christ”. The preposition diá marks the one through whom something comes, the channel and the means, and here that is Christ. Every true fruit grows through him and by his power, and none of it springs from our own goodness or striving. Jesus says, “I am the true vine” (John 15:1), and “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). He is also our righteousness, for God “hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). His righteousness gives us our standing with God, and his Spirit living in us bears the fruit.

The last words give the purpose of it all: “unto the glory and praise of God”. Glory, dóxa, is honour, and praise, épainos, is commendation. A life that shows Christ’s power brings honour to God the Father and moves others to praise and worship him. In a city where people sought honour for themselves, Paul gives all of it to God. Salvation and the holy life that follows exist to make God’s name great: “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen” (Romans 11:36). Paul tells the Corinthians, “whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31), and Jesus said to his Father, “I have glorified thee on the earth” (John 17:4). Paul counted all things loss “that I may win Christ” (Philippians 3:8), and his prayer has the same centre: Christ is the source of the fruit, and God’s glory is its end.

Everything Paul asks for is seen whole in Jesus. His love abounded in perfect knowledge and judgment. He laid down his life for his friends, the greatest love there is (John 15:13), and he knew what was in man (John 2:24–25), so his love was always wise and clear-sighted. He is made unto us wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30), and in him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:2–3).

He approved what is excellent at every step, for he came down from heaven to do the will of the Father who sent him (John 6:38), even to the cross. He was sincere through and through, for he “did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2:22). He was tempted in all points as we are, “yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15), and his life drew people to God. By his life, death and resurrection he made it possible for us to grow in the same love, knowledge and judgment, and his Spirit in us shapes us into his likeness until the day we see him.

These verses give us words to pray for one another. Paul prayed for a church he loved, and he asked for growing love, full knowledge, keen discernment, a pure and blameless life, and a harvest of righteousness. He asked God for every part of it, so the growth he describes is God’s gift, and its fruit comes through Jesus Christ. That keeps the glory where it belongs and lifts the weight of producing it from our own shoulders.

The prayer also shows us who God is. He wants his people’s love to be warm and wise together. He cares how we choose between the good and the best. He keeps his people toward the day of Christ, and every fruit of righteousness in a believer’s life comes through his Son and returns to him as praise. When we pray for those we love, we can ask for what Paul asked, knowing that it matches God’s own purpose for them.