Fee comments on Philippians 1:3-8

Philippians 1:3-8

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,
always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,
because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
And I am sure of this,
that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

It is right for me to feel this way about you all,
because I hold you in my heart,
for you are all partakers with me of grace,
both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

For God is my witness,
how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.

From Paul's Letter to the Philippians (Fee, Gordon D. Paul's Letter to the Philippians. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1995. 173) by Gordon Fee:

That Paul is not an academic, but a passionate lover of Christ Jesus, is made plain by the deep and uninhibited expressions of affection that permeate this thanksgiving, since academics tend to be embarrassed by such displays! But there is much here to be learned by those on the church who have pastoral care of any kind, including that of parents for their children. The emotion, after all, in Paul's case is simply the outflow of his theology and the spirituality that issues from such theology. The theology has to do with the gospel, which has God as its source and sustainer. Whatever else, those whom we love in Christ first of all belong to God. God has begun the "good work" in them that he has committed himself to concluding with eschatalogical glory. That "good work" is the result of "the affection of Christ Jesus," through whom God has brought about this "good news" on behalf of his people." (95)