Philippians 1:5

“For your fellowship in the Gospel, etc.] Or “for your communication unto the Gospel”; that is, to the support of it. These Philippians were one of the churches of Macedonia the apostle so highly commends for their liberality in (<470801>2 Corinthians 8:1-3); they had been very communicative to him, and those that were with him, from the beginning of the Gospel being preached to them: as the instances of Lydia and the jailer show, and which are taken notice of in this epistle, (<500415>Philippians 4:15,16); And this same generous spirit still continued, of which their present by Epaphroditus was an evidence; and for this the apostle gives thanks, not only that they had an ability to support…”

“Ground of his "thanking God" (Phi 1:3): "For your (continued) fellowship (that is, real spiritual participation) in (literally, 'in regard to') the Gospel from the first day (of your becoming partakers in it) until now." Believers have the fellowship of the Son of God (Co1 1:9) and of the Father (Jo1 1:3) in the Gospel, by becoming partakers of "the fellowship of the Holy Ghost" (Co2 13:14), and exercise that fellowship by acts of communion, not only the communion of the Lord's Supper, but holy liberality to brethren and ministers (Phi 4:10, Phi 4:15, "communicated . . . concerning giving"; Co2 9:13; Gal 6:6; Heb 13:16, "To communicate forget not").”

“For your fellowship in the gospel - “For your liberality toward me, a preacher of the gospel.” - Wetstein. There has been, however, no little difference of opinion about the meaning of this phrase. Many - as Doddridge, Koppe, and others - suppose it refers to the fact that they participated in the blessings of the gospel from the first day that he preached it until the time when he wrote this Epistle. Others suppose that it refers to their constancy in the Christian faith. Others - as Pierce, Michaelis, Wetstein, Bloomfield, and Storr - suppose it refers to their liberality in contributing to the support of the gospel; to their participating with others, or sharing what they had in common…”

“The sense is, I thank God for your fellowship with us in all the blessings of the gospel, which I have done from the first day of your receiving it until now. Philippians 1:6”

“1:5 Their partnership included financial support (see 4:10-20).”

“Phi 1:7, Phi 4:14; Act 16:15; Rom 11:17, Rom 12:13, Rom 15:26; Co1 1:9; Co2 8:1; Eph 2:19-22, Eph 3:6; Col 1:21-23; Plm 1:17; Heb 3:14; Pe2 1:1; Jo1 1:3, Jo1 1:7 Philippians 1:6”