<p>1:21 <i>For to me to live, is Christ, and to die- is gain</i>- As noted on :20, Paul faced the possibility of death as a win-win situation. If he lived, he would glorify the Lord through his work with the Philippians and others. if he died, he would likewise glorify the Lord. If he lived further, then Christ would continue living in him. His life would be that of Christ. To live, therefore, would be &quot;Christ&quot;. And yet if he died- that would be gain or profit for him. He uses the same word in explaining how he counted all that was once &quot;gain&quot; to him as loss for the sake of Christ (3:7). His real gain was, in a word, &quot;Christ&quot;. His life was so absorbed with that of the Lord Jesus, the Lord's Spirit was his spirit, that death itself was no great issue for him. If he lived, he lived &quot;Christ&quot;, the Christ who was in him. If he died, whilst he would be unconscious until the Lord's coming, he would eternally have that same connection with his Lord after the resurrection and immortalization which he so eagerly anticipated.</p><p>When Paul speaks of &ldquo;&hellip;that I may win Christ&hellip;.to live is Christ&rdquo;, his idea seems to be of attaining a spirituality even in this life where the life we live is Christ living in us, totally reflected in our actions and spirit. &quot;To die is gain&quot; was effectively Job's attitude too, particularly in Job 10:20-22, where whilst recognizing the unpleasantness of death, he speaks as if he were willing to suffer it to maintain his integrity with God. Paul is reasoning along similar lines.</p><p>The picture of Paul in prison, having reached this spiritual pinnacle, fired the minds and living of &quot;many of the brethren in the Lord&quot; (:14). And for me too, the old and brave Paul in that cell is the man I fain would be. And yet as his perception of Christ and his surpassing excellency increased, so did his warnings against apostasy, and the need to hold on to true doctrine. In other words, his absorption and appreciation of the Spirit of Christ was what fired his zeal for purity of doctrine and practice. It was this which gave him the spiritual energy and power to live the life that he did, to the point that he could truly say that for him, to live was Christ; that the life he lived in the flesh, the things he did, the thoughts he thought, was all the result of Christ living in him and through him. He brought <i>every thought </i>(and this isn't figurative language) into captivity to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). My sense is that as he was lead out to face his death, this phrase he'd coined to the Philippians was in his mind: &quot;For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain&quot;.</p>