1:28–30 Paul offers the Philippian believers four assurances. (a) Their courage in the face of opposition is a sign of the divine judgment facing the persecutors (2 Thess. 1:5–10). (b) Their courage is also a sign of the believers’ own salvation in the full, redemptive sense (Rom. 1:16; 13:11). (c) Suffering for Christ is an honor given by God (3:10). (d) Paul shares in their struggle (vv. 7–26; Acts 16:19–24; 1 Thess. 2:2), and his example can encourage them just as it does “the brothers” (v. 14).