Verse 15 “Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will.”
Paul states a fact here but without blame. He is not judgmental of those whose motives are wrong because Paul is single minded. Spread the good word that the Messiah has come. Tell the world by any means the story of Jesus. People were doing that although their intentions were not pure.
They seemed to be the minority as Paul is quick to point out that others had the right attitude and were preaching to bring people to Jesus and not for self-credit. As we will discover in the next verse, those who practiced good will were doing so out of love. Paul sees their love for Jesus as well as for himself. How sweet it is when brethren work in harmony together. Paul and the Philippian church have grown to be great friends and partners in the gospel.
Task for Today: It’s always good to do a self-examination of our motives. While we are looking at these verses, perhaps we should stop and ask why are we doing what we are doing in the name of Jesus. Think about your encounters over the past few days with non-Christians. If you reached out to them on behalf of the gospel, why did you do so? Was it perceived pressure from God or the preacher or elders? Was it habit or unthought out? I hope it was good will. Your call.
Reminder
Tomorrow the blog will look at the temple concept in the scriptures. That blog will focus on the Garden of Eden as a temple of God.
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