though I am confident in the Lord that I too will be coming to see you soon.

I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that my situation has actually turned out to advance the gospel:

Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ so that – whether I come and see you or whether I remain absent – I should hear that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, by contending side by side for the faith of the gospel,