Confident (Lesson 5)
Paul links this sentence to the previous one with the word therefore. This word introduces “the result of or an inference from what precedes.” The result of the experience of unity with one another in the same struggle caused by those who oppose the church (1:27–30) should be an endeavor to seek unity with those who have different interests within the church (2:1–4). Paul spells out the motivation for seeking unity in the church in the four clauses that begin with the word if. In this context, the word if points to realities or certainties, not possibilities or probabilities. Barth expresses the sense of this word in his translation “as surely as.”4 In these four clauses Paul is reminding believers of four certainties they can be sure are true. These confident indicatives of reality are the basis for the urgent imperatives to build unity.
Partnership unites Paul and the church in Philippi in the joint venture of proclaiming the gospel. In this partnership, the church in Philippi gave financially to support Paul’s mission (4:15–18). Now Paul deepens the understanding of his partnership with the church by calling it a koinōnia of the Spirit. Koinōnia is not simply a business relationship depending on the willingness and ability of the business partners to fulfill the terms of a business contract. The koinōnia of believers is more than partnership; it is “communion in the Spirit,” common sharing in the Spirit.
The phrase common sharing in the Spirit emphasizes the experience of the entire community rather than the individual experience of possessing the Spirit. What all believers have in common is their experience of sharing together in the gift of the Spirit.