“some indeed preach Christ from envy and strife, and some out of Good will. The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice” (Philippians 1:14-18 KJV).

Paul did not mean as long as Christ is preached that we accept the men preaching or whatever these people say as the truth.

First) Many who do not know him speak of Christ. The Mormons preach a Christ that is not from the bible- he is not the eternal God but an angel. The Jehovah witnesses preach a Christ that is the archangel Michael who went out of existence when he died only to be recreated. The word faith Jesus is described as one who left his deity in heaven and came to earth as an ordinary man, an anointed man who could do miracles. Still others preach a Jesus that was not God from heaven but a man, a prophet, or an enlightened teacher. These are all different Jesus’, so it matters what the content of what you preach is, not just that you are preaching Christ. These different Jesus’ are also what Paul warned not to accept in Gal.1:6-9 as another gospel.

In Philippians 1:14-18 Paul states while he is in jail there appeared some competitors to Paul who were not sincere, preached Christ out of contention, some had wrong motives, and their own agendas. But he rejoices the story of Jesus is going out in spite of their wrong motives for doing it. Christ being preached could mean they spoke about Jesus to others in a general sense.

Some think they may have been the Judaizers, who mixed the Mosaic Law as a necessity. They denounced Paul to the Jews (Philippians 1:16). Whoever these self-seeking teachers were they `proclaimed Christ,' not `another Gospel,' as the Judaizers in Galatia did.

Second) They were not muddling the Gospel; but speaking what was true. Paul was dealing with their motives, not their doctrine. "In pretense or in truth" was in relation to their motives not their doctrine. They spoke of Christ to serve their own purpose, to ingratiate themselves among the people;

Christ being preached does not automatically approve the person doing it or what he is saying about Jesus. Paul is not giving his stamp of approval on just anything the person says but on the true message of Christ that was being spread. He would not for one second approve of a false gospel (Galatians 1:7-9), even if a person had right motives. For he reminds us, that he was “appointed for the defense of the gospel.” Paul warned against false teachers all through his epistles so this could not be what he is approving of. He would never approve of anything false spoken about the gospel or Christ; for he even corrected Peter when he was compromising the gospel (Galatians 2). Paul challenged those that altered the gospel. He warned of another Jesus and another gospel.

Though their intention was to “add affliction to my chains” Paul would not allow himself to be troubled by them, he is rejoicing over the true message was going forth even with wrong motives (which were directed toward him while he was in jail). We need to keep in mind it is not the messenger that saves, it is the message that saves and that is what was most important to Paul. This has nothing to do with excusing and accepting those who claim to be followers of Jesus that teach falsely about him.