(Photo courtesy of St Paul's)
12 I want you to know, brothers, that
what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so
that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to
all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of
the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much
more bold to speak the word without fear.
15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and
rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of
love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The
former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to
afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every
way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I
rejoice.
Philippians 1:12-18 ESV
I recently preached a sermon
(a video of this sermon can be viewed here) over the above text. In it, I discussed how the Apostle Paul was
in prison when he wrote these words. What, then, is the reason for his great
optimism? Paul was convinced that God was sovereign and had a plan of
redemption that transcended any trial or circumstance. Moreover, Paul, though
his situation was bleak, actively embraced the theological truth of God’s
sovereignty and sought to be a willing participant in God’s plan of redemption.
What does sovereignty mean? The dictionary defines it as
follows: “having supreme rank, power, or authority.” This seems to be correct
with respect to God. Certainly, the Bible (and reason for that matter) teaches
that God—the creator of all things, infinite in knowledge and power, eternal in
being—is sovereign. God has supreme rank, power and authority. We can also
conclude from this truth that this great God is intentional and has a plan.
The passage listed above is a fine example of this. Paul
clearly recognized this truth. This is why he was able to rejoice even though
his circumstances were poor by earthly standards. As one writer notes: “Paul
had been bound but the word of God could not be bound.” Yet, these poor
circumstances were the means by which God furthered His redemptive plan. God is
sovereign over all, God was sovereign in Paul’s circumstances, and God is
sovereign in your life.
We want to be careful when we discuss God’s sovereignty.
Some, unfortunately, speak of God’s sovereignty as though it were sheer power
or omnipotence. We must always remember that God’s sovereignty can never be
separate from His moral goodness. Theologians very often organize God’s various
attributes into two categories: natural and moral. Natural attributes are
things such as omnipotence, omniscience, immutability, etc. God’s moral
attributes are things such as his faithfulness, goodness, holiness, etc. Andrew
Fuller once said that God’s natural attributes are those that evoke respect and
the moral attributes are those that evoke love. In the end, however, we must
never compartmentalize God and his attributes. People sometimes think of God as
an all-powerful ruler, or, perhaps, only as a loving but impotent deity.
Whenever we compartmentalize God in this way, we misunderstand Him altogether.
God is a unity and all of His attributes work together in harmony. Everything
that God does as the sovereign king of the universe is done from the
perspective of perfect moral goodness. If all of this is true, then be a willing participant in
God’s sovereign plan of redemption.
