For Christians, this is a verse that you may have come across reading or heard someone preach about. For the nonchristian, it may seem very irrational or even sound threatening as this verse could be quoted out of context and used for terrorism. But before we jump to any conclusions, what does this verse mean??

Let’s put it into context. This verse is found in Phillipians, a letter written to the Phillipians church by Paul the apostle. This was a response for the church sending a gift to Paul when he was imprisonned. The main theme of the letter is joy, so why is the word death written in an epistle of joy??

I learned the true meaning of this verse on my mission trip to India, in the state of Orissa; the most persecuted state. People there were killed daily for their faith by scouts that the extreme Hindu government send out, and on top of persecution, they were living in extreme poverty. The lack of food can be seen by the shape of their bodies and the lack of basic healthcare meant that someone could die just from a fever since there aren’t any doctors around.

Compared to the North American lifestyle, many may claim that their living conditions are living hell. Knowing that their life is harsh and and being a Christian just makes it harder, I have almost never witnessed that type of faith in North America.

A family of 7 are crowded in a room less than 15 squared meters. That is smaller than the size of my department’s cubicle where it seats 4. They sleep, eat and spend their time in this space although their house was double the size. Why? It’s because they were called to serve the Lord to a point where they gave up half of their house to use as a church!

Why then do they do all of this? This is because of the bible verse:

To live is Christ, to die is gain. Phillipians 1:21 (ESV)

These people are so sure that they will be with the Lord to a point where they devote everything in their lives to God and they have their eyes completely fixed on the future; eternal life! They don’t care about the sufferings of this life since they fully understand that is the cross they are called to carry (Luke 14:27) . They understand that they will receive their reward in heaven for all that they have done: loving our Lord our God with all their hearts, souls, strength and mind (Matthew 22:37).

Going back to Paul, he explicitly claims later that

I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. – Phillipians 1:23 (ESV)

It is clearly seen that the type of faith witnessed in the persecuted church is the type of faith Paul has and what God has called us to.

Therefore brothers and sisters, do you have this type of faith? If you really believe in Jesus, I challenge you to live a life believing in having no guilt in life no fear of death as Jesus washed our sins away! It is amazing!!! This is one of the bible verses I live my born-again life on.

If you don’t have this type of faith, don’t worry! Keep on praying for God to grant you this faith and witness transformation in your own life!

God Bless!!!