To Live Is Christ and To Die Is Gain

Calm Waters II by Rob Surreal

Musings on Philippians 1:21-26

This is an amazing and convicting claim.  Is it true of you?  Does life for you mean Christ and is the prospect of death seen as gain?   Again we need to be reminded that these words are Apostolic.  We are not only to follow the particular instructions or commands that we read in the New Testament, we are also to pay careful attention to the personal examples that the Holy Spirit saw fit to include in its pages.  This is indeed Paul’s testimony, yet we are at least to make it our aim that it becomes our testimony too. 

This affirmation rises out of the previous statement that Paul made in verse 20.  “It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.”   He says that he is being pressed between two prospects or choices (not that these were really his to make or to bring about).  He was being pressed between what was good and what was better by far.  It was good that he be released from prison to return to his ministry.  This would mean fruitful labor for him in the Lord.  He could once again return to the Philippians to aid in the progress and joy in the faith.   This would give them more opportunity to glory in Christ Jesus through the ministry that he would have among them.   This was indeed good.  Yet, there was something that was far better.  He is pressed (“hard pressed”) between the good and the better.  What could be better than continuing in this life to live from and for Christ?  “It is better by far,” he says, “to depart and be with Christ.” 

The major focus in the passage is on how death for the believer is gain.  Yet we do not want to overlook the other claim.  “For me to live is Christ.”   In fact death is only gain for those who in this age find Christ to be their life.  Death is in no way gain for those who have no relationship with Christ by faith.  In fact death for the unbeliever is permanent and irredeemable loss.  The writer of Hebrews says, “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).  The Scriptures teach that death is the result of sin.  “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).  Jesus Christ has conquered death through his resurrection and only as we are united to him by faith will he not only be with us in death but will bring us through death.  This is so because Jesus also paid the penalty for sin and only by faith in him are our sins forgiven and are we reconciled to God and have hope of eternal life.

So in what way is death for the believer gain? 

1.      It may be gain for the cause of Christ.  Paul desires that Christ be magnified in his body whether by life or by death.  When believers live for Christ and suffer Christ is magnified.  When their suffering leads to martyrdom Christ is magnified.  So Paul saw the prospect of dying for Christ to be gain for the cause of Jesus Christ.  In this way Christ would be magnified in his body by death.

2.      Yet Paul was also thinking in personal terms.  He is hard pressed between two prospects.  For him death, which is to depart and be with Christ, would be gain.  He is speaking as a seasoned soldier of the Cross.  He is battle worn and weary.  Death is gain for the believer in that he is evacuated from the fight for faith.  Paul spoke of this when he wrote his final letter.  He is back in Rome and in prison but he knows that his outcome will be different.  He will die there.  He writes to Timothy, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure (same word used in Philippians 1:23) has come.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”   The struggle is now over and season of rest and waiting begins.  Martin Luther pointed out numerous times that for the believer death is gain “in that the pilgrimage is ended, the process of sanctification is completed, the struggle to do right is over.”  (quoted from Freeman Barton’s book “Heaven, Hell and Hades,” page 78).

3.      It is gain because the believer is with Christ.  Believers are those who die in the Lord and who rest form their labors (Revelation 14:13).  Death is not able to separate you from Christ.  You are at home with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:6-9).  Those who die in Christ have fallen asleep in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:20, 51; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). 

Now for these reasons death for the believer is indeed gain.  Death is gain but it is not yet full and complete glory.  The Bible’s picture of the nature of physical death is really opaque and not as clear as many think it is.  Another problem that occurs is that many confuse the Bible’s description of the state of eternal glory, when we will be raised with glorious resurrection bodies, with what occurs at physical death.  Now while Paul saw death as gain, he makes it clear in other places that it is not glory (2 Corinthians 5:1-10) and that it is not our ultimate hope or source of comfort.  In fact when the Scriptures speak of what our true hope is in the face of death they speak of the resurrection at the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).  What we need to understand from this text is that Christ is central for you and it is because of his centrality that you can live differently in this life and face death knowing that he will take you through death to eventual glory and resurrection.  We can think of it this way.  To live in this age with faith in Jesus Christ and to seek to promote his kingdom is good.  It is good even when it is hard and pressing.  It is good even when in faith we hold fast to Jesus and he holds fast to us, yet we endure affliction and trial.  It is good to know and live for Christ and endure the consequences of what a vital faith means in this fallen world that hates Christ, than not to know Christ and enjoy all the benefits and accolades of the world.  

Yet it is better to see this pilgrimage end and end well, like Paul could say has his death approached, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”   It is better to lay the armor down and take up the white robe and fall asleep in Jesus’ arms. (Revelation 6:11).  It is better.  Yet it is not the best!  There is more to come.  Your redemption will not reach its final and complete goal until your resurrection from death occurs and with this the curse is ended and a new heavens and new earth appear.  This is what is best.  This is our grand and glorious destiny.  This is our ultimate hope.   (Revelation 21 and 1 Corinthians 15 see also Job 14:10-15). 

To live is Christ and to die gain means that knowing Christ is the path through the obstacles of this fallen world.  Christ who is the believer’s life is the one who will also bring you safely through death to the dawning of that eternal day.  Faith in Christ for this life and hope in Christ for the life to come carry the saint and are his both our joy and stability.  So is it true for you?  Can you say “for me to live is Christ and to die gain?”  Ask the Lord to help you at least want this to be true and functional in your life.