Paul’s life-forming motto, ‘To live is Christ and to die is gain’, is followed by a call to us to take up the baton. As gospel citizens, we too are to strive side-by-side for the faith of the gospel, even when that means suffering. It is the path that many have run over 2,000 years, and we are on the same path today.
27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.
