God’s Word for You
Philippians 1:7 chains, defense, and confirmation
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Wednesday, February 11, 2026
7 Just as it is right for me to think this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart, for whether I am in chains or in my defense or in my confirmation of the gospel, you all share in this grace with me.
Paul was a prisoner in Rome, so the only means he had to care for his friends was in prayer. Since God invites us to pray, and to pray with firm confidence, Paul was encouraged even through his own prayers, and he kept the Philippians in his heart and in his thoughts.
His imprisonment happened this way. There was a famine in Judea and in Jerusalem. Paul collected gifts and offerings to help the people in Judea during his third missionary journey, but already on the way back there was a plot by the Jews to kill him (Acts 20:3), and although he changed his travel plans, he was warned by a prophet that the Jews would arrest him and that “prison and hardships” would happen (Acts 20:23). He was arrested in the temple (Acts 21:27), and was put on trial before the Sanhedrin (Acts 23:1-10). The Romans sent him to Caesarea on the coast to see Felix the governor (Acts 23:26-30) and Paul remained in prison there for two years. As soon as Felix was replaced, the new governor (Festus) sent Paul away to Rome when the Apostle appealed to Caesar (Acts 25:12).
Paul stayed in Rome under house arrest for two years, receiving many guests and visitors. “Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 28:31). But he was also in chains, bound on account of the Gospel. The visitors who found him, including those who had been with him on the voyage who were not themselves under arrest, remained with him to encourage and comfort him, since even Paul had weak moments in his faith. Luther acknowledges this, and does some very intuitive thinking: “Hence those boasts of his,” he said at the dinner table when the subject came up, “‘I am a servant of God, and apostle of Jesus Christ’ (Titus 1:1). When he was on the sea an angel appeared to him and consoled him (Acts 27:23-24), and when the brothers who were on their way to Rome met him he took courage (Acts 28:14-15). So you see what the fellowship of the godly does. The Lord wishes them to stay together and comfort one another, for he knows that they will have adversaries” (Table Talk, LW 54:146).
Paul describes his imprisonment as if there were three main parts: In chains, in defense of the gospel, or in confirmation of the gospel. The first part, “in chains,” would be his usual state, sleeping, eating, waiting, or being moved from place to place. His chains would also become a part of his daily exercise, perhaps he held onto the chain as he paced back and for in his cell, or standing in place on account of the chain as he practiced boxing by “beating the air” (1 Corinthians 9:26). But perhaps he also had this comfort: What happened to him had happened before. “Great men are put in chains” (Nahum 3:10), and “the Lord has weighed me down with chains” (Lamentations 3:7).
Secondly, Paul “in defense,” describes how he stood up for the Gospel when questioned by the Romans or was attacked outright by certain Jews, as he had been before the Sanhedrin. This “defense” is the Greek word “apology” (ἀπολογία), meaning an explanation (as opposed to the other meaning of apology, which would be an admission of error). When the early Lutherans were challenged by representatives from the Pope after reading their confession of faith (the Augsburg Confession), they found that they had to produce a similar defense or apology (explanation). “During the negotiations that followed, it was clear that our side was willing to put up with anything, however unpleasant, that did not violate our consciences. But our opponents stubbornly insisted that we sanction certain manifest abuses and errors… They commanded us to prepare an apology of our Confession, answering the opponents’ objections and explaining why we could not accept (their official position)” (Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Preface 3-5).
What the Lutheran theologians had a few days to accomplish, Paul did in the moment, standing on his own two feet as it were, just as he had done ever since his conversion to Christianity on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-6). His goal was always to preach a clear message beginning and ending with Christ crucified for the forgiveness of our sins.
Finally, Paul also spoke “in confirmation of the gospel.” A bebaiosis (βεβαιωσις) is a foundational statement, an assurance or a firm establishment of the truth and of facts. It is also a word used of a permanent legal settlement such as a deed of property (Leviticus 25:23) This is Paul’s continuing Gospel preaching to the saints, to encourage them with the truths of Scripture, the basics of our Christian faith, and the confirming passages of Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms, and the words of Christ being preached by the Apostles and written down as the Gospels. The Word of God must be read, understood, defended and preached, all by ministers with faith and true devotion to Christ. Luther said, “Shall we frivolously despise this might, blessing, power, and fruit [of the Gospel]—especially we who would be pastors and preachers? If so, we deserve not only to be refused food but also to be chased out by dogs and pelted with dung. Not only do we need God’s Word daily as we need our daily bread, we also must use it daily against the daily, incessant attacks and ambushes of the devil with his thousand arts.”
Paul’s sentence, then, is that whichever of these is the case in any given moment—chains, defense, or confirmation—he is blessed by the grace of God, and this is the same grace that the Philippians have, and all Christians everywhere. For God’s grace is the permanent blessing of God (Psalm 45:2), to all who put their faith in him, given to all believers before the beginning of time (2 Timothy 1:9) and given again and again, more and more, to those who love him and who humbly search his holy Word (James 4:6).
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.