MEMORY VERSE: ‘For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better.’ Philippians 1:23.
LESSON AIM: To study what Paul meant when he wrote that to depart and to be with Christ is far better.
‘Paul, in one instance, without stopping to explain, uses the expression, “to depart and to be with Christ;” whereupon his words are seized by religious teachers as unanswerable evidence that at death the spirit enters at once into the presence of its Redeemer. The passage is found in Philippians 1:21-24, and reads as follows: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour; yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ,; which is far better: nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.” Uriah Smith: Here and Hereafter, page 207.
Compiler’s note: The Bible principle of interpretation is that scripture must be compared with scripture. Where there are individual ambiguous scriptures, these must be compared with the majority on the same subject. Without doing this, hasty conclusions can be arrived at that mislead and distort the truth of the Bible as a whole. This text is often seen as the strongest text in favour of an immortal soul that leaves the body at death and goes to be with God. If one reads this verse with no other that Paul had written on this topic, it might be possible to understand it in that light, but it has to be compared with all the other scriptures that Paul wrote about death, the sleep in the grave and the resurrection. This verse must be interpreted in its wider context. Paul is speaking of life and death. He has been beaten by a mob a Jerusalem and now he is at Rome in captivity, with a major trial imminent.
Paul now says that he kept back nothing from those to whom he wrote that was profitable for them, and ‘I have not shunned to declare to you the full counsel of God.’ He said this with total openness. There is nothing whatever delineated in his epistles that teaches that we have an immortal soul now and so we should not put this meaning into his words. Paul’s writings comprise almost one third of the New Testament and include about 100 chapters in all his letters. The view of the immortal soul is just not found anywhere in these hundreds of words.
1. What is the situation in which Paul wrote his epistle to the Philippians? Philippians 1:12-13.
NOTE: ‘When the Christian churches first learned that Paul was to visit Rome, they looked forward to a signal triumph of the gospel in that city. Paul had borne the truth to many lands; he had proclaimed it in great cities. Might not this champion of the faith succeed in winning souls to Christ even in the metropolis of the world? But their hopes were crushed by the tidings that Paul had gone to Rome as a prisoner. They had confidently hoped to see the gospel, once established at this great centre, extend rapidly to all nations and become a prevailing power in the earth. How great their disappointment! Human expectations had failed, but not the purpose of God. Not by Paul’s sermons, but by his bonds, was the attention of the court attracted to Christianity. It was as a captive that he broke from so many souls the bonds that held them in the slavery of sin. Nor was this all. He declared: “Many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.” Philippians 1:14.’ Acts of the Apostles, pages 463-464.
2. What was Paul’s attitude towards the believers in Philippi? Philippians 1:3-6. Consider Acts 16:12-40.
NOTE: ‘The apostles did not regard as in vain their labours in Philippi. They had met much opposition and persecution; but the intervention of Providence in their behalf, and the conversion of the jailer and his household, more than atoned for the disgrace and suffering they had endured. The news of their unjust imprisonment and miraculous deliverance became known through all that region, and this brought the work of the apostles to the notice of a large number who otherwise would not have been reached. Paul’s labours at Philippi resulted in the establishment of a church whose membership steadily increased. His zeal and devotion, and, above all, his willingness to suffer for Christ’s sake, exerted a deep and lasting influence upon the converts. They prized the precious truths for which the apostles had sacrificed so much, and gave themselves with wholehearted devotion to the cause of their Redeemer.’ Acts of the Apostles, page 218.