-This. Some of this 'this’ will be instrumental towards securing some form of salvation/deliverance for Paul. ‘This’ looks to be Paul’s rejoicing, his total focus on Jesus, on the truth about Jesus being proclaimed and people hearing about Jesus, and finding his satisfaction and joy in this above all else. With that in mind Paul says that his ability to endure and pursue and love Christ and the spread of the Gospel above all else definitely requires the prayers of God’s people and the enabling provision of God’s Spirit. There is nothing that will truly be accomplished for the Lord apart from Him. God's people advance in knowing Christ and in making Him known on their knees and only in the means and power which He superabundantly supplies through His Spirit.
-But this also suggests that when Paul talks about salvation here he indeed is not thinking about deliverance in a temporal sense, about any kind of an automatic get out of jail free card. Yes, the word is sotéria, which is almost always translated ‘salvation’ but can indeed refer to something other than that which we associate with entrance into heaven. In Acts 27.34, it is used to describe deliverance from physical death, for example. But what Paul is saying is that his continued and ongoing joy at the proclamation of the Good News even and especially in the midst of difficult circumstances is a sure sign that he has in fact been eternally saved (cf Romans 8.17, 2Timothy 2.12 - he is not earning salvation, but rather his joy and endurance evidence the reality of his having been saved). He continues to unpack this perspective in the verses that follow...
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