The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:
Paul was an aged prisoner at Rome when some took up the preaching of Christ out of envy and strife, hoping by their contention to make his chains still heavier to bear. Their proclamation was not sincere but in pretense rather than in truth, yet Christ was nonetheless proclaimed through them. That imprisonment itself became the means by which the good news was spread abroad, so that souls were won for Christ even within the very palace of the Caesars. Affliction, reproach, and persecution heaped upon God's messengers only cause the knowledge of God to be spread more widely, magnify the name of Christ, and result in the saving of souls. What is meant to destroy the gospel in this way only sows the incorruptible seed of God's word in human hearts.
To preach the truth from contention or strife turns the conflict back upon the preacher himself. Such a course does not advance God's truth but advances the cause of the enemy instead. Any contest entered upon in God's work must arise solely from a sense of duty. In it self must be subdued and God made one's strength.
Paul was an aged prisoner at Rome when some took up the preaching of Christ out of envy and strife, hoping by their contention to make his chains still heavier to bear. Their proclamation was not sincere but in pretense rather than in truth, yet Christ was nonetheless proclaimed through them. That imprisonment itself became the means by which the good news was spread abroad, so that souls were won for Christ even within the very palace of the Caesars. Affliction, reproach, and persecution heaped upon God's messengers only cause the knowledge of God to be spread more widely, magnify the name of Christ, and result in the saving of souls. What is meant to destroy the gospel in this way only sows the incorruptible seed of God's word in human hearts.
To preach the truth from contention or strife turns the conflict back upon the preacher himself. Such a course does not advance God's truth but advances the cause of the enemy instead. Any contest entered upon in God's work must arise solely from a sense of duty. In it self must be subdued and God made one's strength.