Philippians 1:21 - Exposition

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain . Others, as Calvin, render (not so well), "For to me Christ is gain both in life and in death." The alternative suggested in Philippians 1:20 leads St. Paul to a short digression on the comparative advantages of life and death; he is content with either. Life is blessed, for it is Christ; comp. Colossians 2:4 , "Christ, who is our Life," and Galatians it. 20, "Not I, but Christ liveth in me;" " Quit-quid rive, Christum vivo " (Bengel). The life of Christ lives, breathes, energizes, in the life of his saints. His flesh, his incarnate life is their meat; his blood, the mystery of his atonement, is the drink of their souls. He abideth in them, and they in him. And yet death is gain; the slate of death, not the act of dying, is meant (the infinitive is aorist, τὸ ἀποθανεῖν ), for the dead in Christ are at home with the Lord ( ἐνδημοῦντες πρὸς τὸν κύριον ) in a far more blessed sense than the saints on earth.