6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (ESV)

⁶ And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. (NLT)

Verse 6 in Context

Verses 3-8 are Paul’s prayer of Thanksgiving to God for the Philippians, while verses 9-11 are Paul’s prayer of intercession for the Philippian church.

The prayer in verses 3-8 has three characteristics. The first is Joy (3-5), which we looked at last time. The second is that Paul prayed with confidence in God’s continuing work in the lives of the Philippians(6) and the third (7-8) is that Paul’s confidence that his is proper and right given the circumstances of his relationship with the Philippians which serves as evidence of the ongoing spiritual transformation in the Philippian church.

Verses 3-8 are a prayer of thankfulness to God for the Philippians. First Paul is thankful that the Philippians have entered into a partnership with him right from the beginning, through his various travels and troubles right up to now when he is under arrest and in danger of being executed. Because of this Paul is confident that God will complete the good work he has started in the Philippians, which is also a cause for thankfulness.

This is addressed to a community of individuals. Thus God is at work in the individual and the collective of individuals, the church. The word used in verse 6 for “you” is hymin, which is the plural use of “you.” The NRSV rendering of this word as “among you” more accurately captures Paul though of God working within a community. While each person is transformed individually there is also the result within the group of a community being transformed.

This work is the work of God. It is a progressive work throughout your life that commences when you become a follower of Jesus as Lord and Savior. Part of this work is God giving believers the desire and ability to do good works, which then become evidence of a person’s faith, God’s work in them and their salvation.

Paul’s Confidence

In verse 6 Paul expresses confidence that the work, the transformation, God started in the believers lives will continue until it is completed when Jesus returns. Some believe that Paul’s confidence here is limited to the support that the church has been providing him. However given the context of this letter is seems more likely that Paul is speaking about their lives as Christians in general. In this view the Philippian church’s continuing support of Paul can be seen as one indicator, one piece of supporting evidence, of their growth in spiritual maturity. Paul’s confidence in the faithfulness of God to accomplish what he starts is expressed throughout this letter and is such places as 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24.

Day of Christ

This refers to the “Day of the Lord” referenced in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Old Testament the “Day of the Lord” was used to signify God’s intervention in human history for judgment. This can be past judgment, as in Lamentation 2:22 with the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. which God allowed as a judgment against the nation of Israel.  However, even when referring to a past event it is always looking forward to the ultimate intervention in the End Times. Most Old Testament references to “The Lord’s Day” refer to the future events related to the End Times. The theological term for this is Eschatology. Examples include Amos 5:18-20, the earliest use of “The Day of the Lord,” and Joel 2:1-11. In the New Testament the “Day of the Lord” is specifically referring to the Second Coming of Christ (Matthew 24:29-31; Matthew 25:31-46;  1 Corinthians 1:8, 5:5; 2 Corinthians 1:14; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, Revelation 1:7-10). The theological term for the Second Coming is Parousia.

We will be studying the End Times, Eschatology, as part of our upcoming “Life’s Big Questions” series in 2011. In the meantime it is important to note that there are differences among Christians regarding the End Times, which are summarized here. For one perspective I would recommend that you listen to Shannon Brown’s excellent series on the End Times presented at the Fountain earlier this year (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4).

Good Work

There are two lines of thought usually associated with this verse. The first is the approach we are taking today, which sees this verse in the context of Sanctification, is from a Wesleyan/Arminian perspective. The second is from the Reformed/.Calvinist perspective, which sees this verse in light of Eternal Security, also called “Perseverance of the saints,” which is the completion of salvation by God in a person’s life with out the fear of Salvation being lost or forfeited. . When we are done with “Letters From Prison” series we will be starting a series “Life Big Questions” in 2011, in which we explore Systematic Theology, during which we will examine this question from each perspective.

Paul uses the term “good work” in a number of places in his letters to indicate the ethical aspects of a saving relationship with Jesus (Romans 2:7; 2 Corinthians 9:8; Colossians 1:10; 2 Thessalonians 2:17).

From Paul’s perspective redemption results in change in our lives. Part of the change is our desire to do good works. In this regard he would agree with James that “faith without works is dead” (James 1:5). If there is no change, or transformation, in a persons life then they would want to ask is it really salvation.

Justification and Sanctification

Justification and Sanctification are an intertwined couplet, or as Karl Barth puts it ““Justification is the basis and presupposition of sanctification; sanctification is the aim and consequence of justification”(Quoted in Faith Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Theology by Daniel L. Migliore, p. 240). to paraphrase John Calvin, when we are justified by faith in Jesus we are forgiven our sins and reconciled to God. Then the Holy Spirit sanctifies us so that we may develop a new life of conformity with Christ (Calvin Institutes 3.11.1). This is also referred to as the “Double Blessing.”

John Wesley also saw the interrelationship between the two. For Wesley we are both justified and sanctified by faith. (Wesley Sermon 43: The Scripture Way of Salvation). Sanctification is then a gift of God to believers and for Wesley, our love of others is a result of our sanctification, which is a result of our justification by faith in Christ. Wesley pursues this further to the point of Christian perfection, or Entire Sanctification, in Sermon 40 - Christian Perfection. We will be exploring this in more detail during our “Life’s Big Questions” series in 2011.

Sanctification

Paul has in mind the continuing growth of the Christian both in the Philippian church, and by extension all Christians. The Theological term for this is Sanctification.

Sanctify means to set apart, make holy, purify. We learn from 1 Thessalonians 4:3a “It is God's will that you should be sanctified” (NIV).

Paul deals most comprehensively with the subject of sanctification Romans chapters 6-8. Each of the three chapters in question deals with a different aspect sanctification. In chapter 6 we learn of the believer’s freedom from the tyranny of sin. In chapter 7 we learn of the believer’s freedom from the condemnation of the law. And in chapter 8 we learn of the believer’s new life with the power of the Holy Spirit. It would take weeks to go through all of these chapters in detail, so I just want to take a brief high level view. On our webpage under Resources>Bible Study, I have placed links to some of the best commentaries on Romans that will let you dig into these chapters, and more, in detail.

There are three phases of sanctification:

Positional – Sanctify comes from the Greek word hagiazō. One of its meanings is to be set apart and dedicated to God. This happens the moment when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. It is at that moment that we are Justified and set apart, sanctified. Justification is when a sinner who has accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior is declared righteous before God. In other words, it is when all of our sins (past, present and future) are forgiven on the basis of Jesus’ death on the Cross, which was the punishment for all sin. At that moment we are freed from the penalty of our sins. It also means that we are adopted as a child of God, meaning that we have all rights as a child with a parent (Romans 8:17; 1 Peter 1:4). We are now part of the family; we are now citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. One day, as a result of our Justification and Adoption, we will be with God in Heaven.

We are sanctified, set apart by God. So while we wait to be with Jesus we have a mission on earth to be ambassadors who spread the love of Jesus in the world through our service and attitudes. We are also to share the good news of Jesus and the option for any and all people to be adopted by God, justified by God and Sanctified by God, through faith in Jesus as Lord and Savoir.

Progressive – Once a person has accepted the freely offered gift of salvation and is positionally set apart, they also begin the life-long path of progressive sanctification. That is the process of becoming more holy, more Christ like, by living a holy life. Practically this means that day-by-day the things of the word will hold less and less sway over us. We will constantly have struggles with sin and temptation. But as we continue to mature in our walk with Christ we will find more power to turn away from sin. We will discover that what used to interest doesn’t interest us in the same way. Paul illustrates this change in his life as an example in 1 Corinthians 13:11

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.

Here Paul was speaking to the church as a whole, using his life as an example. The context of this sentence was in relation to spiritual gifts and their role in the church. We must remember in Philippians 1:6 that Paul is using the plural word for “you.” So his individual example is one for the individuals in the church and as a result for the church as a whole, the collective “you.”

Sanctification is an ongoing process. Once were slaves to Sin, where sin controlled us, now we have been liberated. Thus while we still do sin, we find that it is less often, or with less regularity, and that we repent and turn from it much quicker. In other words we are making progress in our spiritual growth. We will not become perfect; however the progress we see in our lives provides us with encouragement as we progress to the final stage of Sanctification. 

Glorification – Progressive sanctification is the work of a lifetime. We will never make it to a life of sinless perfection in this life. Our hope comes from the end of the process of Sanctification. Once we die and go to be with Jesus, or Jesus comes back before we die, we undergo Glorification in which we become Christ like.  

In Romans 8:29-30 Paul sums up the entire process

²⁹ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

While living out this process we will have setbacks, temptations and trial. Paul addresses this in Romans 6:1-14 we are presented with some guidance for our life of transformation.

¹ What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? ² By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? ³ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷ For one who has died has been set free from sin. ⁸ Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. ¹⁰ For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. ¹¹ So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

¹² Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. ¹³ Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. (ESV)

Knowledge – There is an old saying that Knowledge is Power. To many times we count ourselves as Christians, yet forget why we have that title. We need to know that we have been liberated from the controlling power of sin. As Christians we know that Jesus died for us on the Cross, was buried for us and was resurrected on third day for us.

In verses 1-2 he is carrying on a thread from the previous chapter is which he says the more sin there is the more God’s grace becomes abundant. So some might have taken that to mean I can sin more because grace will be abundant.

Paul is letting them know that if one has a relationship with Jesus as Lord and Savior, then we have died to sin, and thus how could we continue to live in it. It just wouldn’t make sense for a believer to purposely consider how to sin more. When you accept Christ, you are filled with the Holy Spirit. This is how progressive sanctification begins. The change within begins with a change of perspective and a change of purpose. Your motivations in life are changed; your desire is to sin less, not more.

In Verses 3-5 Paul is reminding his audience that Christ’s death for our sin was also our death to sin. He then goes on in verses 6-10 to elaborate more on what this means in terms of our life and sin. We are now no longer “enslaved to sin.”  When we comprehend and reflect upon the fact that because of Jesus, and our acceptance of him as Lord and Savior, that we are no longer prisoners, slaves to sin. We need to know the victory we are looking for over sin has already been provided to us. When we realize that sin no longer is our master is empowers us to battle the forces of temptation that would have us live again as slaves. Where once we had no control we now have the choice to not sin. Choice is a powerful weapon and the key to any strategy.

Consider – In verse 11 Paul uses logizomai which translates from Greek as consider (ESV, NLT, NRSV) or reckon (NKJV) and it could also be translated declare. When we use “consider” it is not meant as considering two options. Instead it is a definitive statement. Once we know and experience Christ internally in our lives we will consider ourselves as followers of Christ. This should have an effect in our life in the form of progressive change, progressive sanctification.

This is where “the rubber meets the road.” When we consider ourselves, declare ourselves, to be new creations we can, and should act on it. We need to understand and accept the fact that our old sinful nature is dead and that we have a new life, a new nature, because we are alive in Christ. This should cause us to celebrate and deepen our commitment to make progress in our relationship with Jesus and outlook, attitudes, actions and motivations in life.

Reign – While we have a new nature, we still have the same old bodies and mind. In verses 12-14 Paul warns us against presenting the members of our bodies to sin. If we continuously do that we will be in effect letting sin reign over our bodies and we will find ourselves obeying those lusts that enter our mind. Sin can’t reign over our spirits, or souls, because we are new creations; however the body and mind are powerful areas of attack for Satan. One need only look at how our minds operate, how thoughts evolve, to realize the power of the body to lead us to sin. Paul admonishes us to offer the member of our body to righteousness instead. And we receive that liberating reminder in verse 14 that we are no longer under the condemnation of the law, but rather under the Grace of the Lord.

In the rest of Chapter 6 Paul elaborates and talks about obedience as we have been freed from slavery to sin and are now “slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:18). In chapter seven Paul continues to develop the theme of our new nature and the battle between the old body and the new self.  He even opens up and shares his experiences in this battle. Verse 15 is a powerful testimony to the ongoing struggle with sin as Paul declares “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” This is powerful, encouraging, ammunition for people struggling in their life with temptations and sin, in other words all of us. Paul’s testimony makes his writings real.

In chapter eight Paul describes a life of victory for the Christian by developing an appreciation for the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life.  We learn how the Holy Spirit changes our nature and provides the strength we need to overcome our struggles. And we learn of the coming Glorification.

When we are filled with the Holy Spirit we are transformed day-by-day. . And it is not a straight line. We take steps back, sometimes we sprint ahead. The results of the Holy Spirit in our lives results in not just doing good, but going above and beyond what we would have imagined before we started on this journey. But when you look at your life you can see some practical results of Sanctification.

1. You will be more interested in the Bible
2. You will spend more time in prayer
3. You will experience freedom in a way that reflects the Holy Spirit within. John Calvin points out that there are three parts to this freedom in his Institutes 3.19.2-7.
   1. You no longer look to the law, that is looking to your own abilities for salvation. We are justified because of the mercy of God, not our efforts or “goodness” or obedience to the law.
   2. We see the Law, the Bible as not containing a bunch of rules and regulations, but a source of teaching for us, pushing us to do good. In other words our freedom toward a transformation in us that is focused on love.
   3. Part of growing in sanctification is not sweating the peripherals of the faith.
4. You will see your hope and joy increasing in your life.
5. This will be evidenced in your attitude of love and service

Let us all go forward with this new found Joy and Hope and freedom and love and as we are being transformed through sanctification let us be part of transforming the world with the love of Jesus. We do this knowing that one day we will be in heaven. We will have reached the the final eternal state for believers, glorification, in our new glorified bodies. We will be in a place where Revelation 21:4 tells us that God

 "will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain."



Philippians 1:3-5 (Joy in Thankfulness and Partnership)

3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. (ESV)

Introduction

This is part of a larger section of the letter (3-11). In this section we have Paul expressing his thanksgiving to God for the Philippian church (3-8) and offering a prayer of intercession for the church (9-11). His note of thanksgiving (3-8) is full of positive outlook, filled with Joy, affection and complete confidence in the faithfulness of God. He once again takes a common letter format and adjusts it to make powerful theological points. In this case it is the usual mention of prayers to someone’s God near the start of a letter that Paul transforms.

First in he tells the Philippians that he is thankful to God for them, not just in a passing nicety of a letter, but continually and he tells them why this is so (3-8). The he shares with them how he prayers for them, other wise know as intercessory prayer, and let’s them know some of the specifics he is praying to God about for them. (9-11). The difference between Paul’s letters and the general letters of the time is that while a typical letter might use a prayer to introduce a general theme of the letter, Paul provides a far more detailed level of anticipation regarding the rest of the letter through his prayers.

Overview

In the Greek verses 3-8 is one long and complex sentence, however in our translation 3-5 is presented as one sentence. It is important to remember that originally the Bible had no chapters and verse. Each book or letter was just one document, much like letters or e-mails we send today. Eventually there were some paragraph breaks added in the Old Testament. Another clever way of breaking up the text in the Old Testament were the use of such literary devices as an acrostic, which we can see in Psalm 119

Psalm 119, the longest Psalm, is a poem that has 22 stanzas. Each of the 22 stanzas is made up of 8 sentences. Each of the stanzas begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in sequence from Alpeh to Tav/Taw. In addition the first word in each line also begins with that same letter. Tradition holds that David  used Psalm 119 to teach his son Solomon both the alphabet and in the course of doing so also taught him the main message of this Psalm, which is a celebration of the Torah, God’s word, up until that time.

So aside from some clever divisions within the text like that, and spaces that were added in to provide some separation, there was no real separation that could be used for reference. . The New Testament was broken into paragraphs by 300 AD, though these paragraphs don’t match the ones in today’s Bible. In the early thirteenth century there were two competing Bibles texts created with Chapter breaks. The one created by Archbishop Stephen Cardinal Langton is still the one we use today.

Verses came later. In the Hebrew Old Testament they had been using some punctuation in the text to provide some separation. In 1551 a printer, who was a former Catholic now part of the Reformation, created a New Testament with a verse system that was a variation on one that had been tried earlier and not widely accepted. In 1560 The Geneva Bible was the first Bible published with both chapters and verses, and it is these chapters and verses that we still use today. This was a significant and important Bible that was used by the Reformers who split from the Catholic Church, and such people as William Shakespeare and John Bunyan who wrote Pilgrims Progress.

The Geneva Bible was the first mass produced Study Bible, made available to the general public with a significant number of study notes. It was also the first to be issued in a variety of formats and styles. It was one of the Bibles carried by the puritans to the new world and while the Library of Congress states that they are unsure which bible were present at the signing of the Declaration of Independence or the signing of the Constitution, there are some who believe it may well have been the Geneva Bible. It was a modern language version, unlike the King James Version with came later with its more formal wording. In today’s terms if you like to use the NIV or NLT you would probably have liked the Geneva Bible. If you like the NKJV, NRSV or ESV you probably would have liked the King James Version.

More information this can be found on Wikipedia. And for an excellent video presentation on the Reformation I recommend Episode 4 of the recent BBC history of Christianity with Diarmaid MacCulloch. Here are the links to the other videos in the series, which I also highly recommend: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 5, Episode 6. If you enjoy reading history you will enjoy his books Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years and The Reformation.

Verse 3:

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,

This is not clear a clear-cut statement and has been taken two ways. Either Paul thanks God whenever he thinks of the church in Philippi or he is constantly thanking God for the way the Philippians are thinking about, and remembering, him. At first glance it might seem to make sense to favor the second option because it fits in with the theme of thankfulness to the Philippians for their ongoing support, including the most recent support they sent up with Epaphroditus.

However in the other letters of Paul that includes a note of remembrance (Romans 1:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; Philemon 4; 2 Timothy 1:3) he does so from the perspective of remembering them.  So when he discusses ‘remembrance of you’ in prayer it is showing that he is thkful to God for the church in Philippi.

The word he uses at the beginning of verse 3 that we read as “I Thank” is the Greek verb eucharisteō. This is where we get the term ‘Eucharist,’ which is the term used by some churches for what others call “Communion” or “The Lord’s Supper.” Churches using this term are highlighting the thanksgiving aspect of the Sacrament of the Church.

In this letter Paul is thankful to God, Not just some disembodied spirit, not some abstract god. Paul was not a Deist, one who believes that God created the world and then left it alone. Deism was a popular belief in the 18^th century, including among some of men who were instrumental in the founding of this nation. For example Thomas Jefferson who not only was the key author of the Declaration of Independence which we celebrate next week, but who also, while president, took the Bible and using a razor blade removed all references to angels, the genealogy of Christ, prophecy, miracles, anything to do with the Trinity, the divinity of Jesus and Jesus’ resurrection. Jefferson considered Jesus a great moral teach, but not God. In the book that resulted, “The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth” and now referred to as the “Jefferson Bible,” the ending is of Jesus still in the tomb:

“Now, in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus. And rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.”

Other leaders who were Deists, and saw Jesus as a great man but not as God, include Benjamin Franklin and John Adams. These leaders were better at political freedom than they were at theology. But this view of Jesus and the role of God in the world is still common today, although the term “Deist” is not popularly used to represent these views. This is in marked contrast to Paul who isn’t praying to a great man or a God that is out there somewhere. Instead he says I thank “My God,” which is his way of indicating that he has a deep relationship with God. Paul uses this term “I give thanks to my God” in the opening of other letters as well.

When Paul thinks of the Philippians he is thankful and when he is in his time of prayer the Philippians are front and center. Paul begins with thankfulness and later proceeds to address prayer for them. While prayers for our needs, and those of others, have their place, perhaps here we can learn about the importance of thankfulness in our prayer life as well. For example we can be thankful for our relationship with Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives as a result. In addition we can be thankful for people in our lives, and the celebrations in their life. Celebrations of thankfulness might include the birth of a child, the growing stages of the child into an adult. Your health, job, relationships and the opportunities you have to serve others and share the love of Jesus in the world.

These things should occupy a major place in our prayer life. Prayers and celebration for people we love and care about should become a part of us. This is how the church in Philippi was to Paul. And since it was a small church plant Paul probably personally knew quite a few of them and their life stories. He knew what individuals need praying and thanksgiving for.

We tend to get a bit individualistic in our life, including our prayer life. We often start with what we need or want. We sometimes forget to say thank you for we have, and what we see others have in their life. We can also get a bit down and only see the negative as we prayer. But you know some of the most outward looking; thankful people I know or know of are people going through terrible diseases, like cancer.

Verse 4:

        always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,

Once again we see how important Joy is in this letter, appearing almost twenty times in one form or another. Joy is possible in the midst of happiness and unhappiness in our daily circumstances because, as believers, we are filled with the Holy Spirit.  This joy needs to be in us and part of us and with the power of the Holy Spirit it should flow out of us to those around us.

Because of Joy we can not only endure hardships, such as Paul is experiencing constantly for his faith, but we can have Joy in the face of opposition, jus as Paul tells his readers to do, and by extension us, throughout this letter (2:18; 3:1; 4:1) and in such other places as Romans (12:12, 15; 1 Thessalonians 5:16) and 1 Thessalonians. With this Joy we can be there to encourage each other. The key is that we can only have this joy as a result of our relationship with Jesus and as we are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Later Paul is going to emphatically tell the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord, which given their circumstances can only happen when Joy is part of who you are.

Paul’s joy in light of his experiences is a testimony to the validity and power of joy in a believer’s life. Thinking back on that time might have caused some to only focus on the negative. However with Joy Paul was able to keep his eye on the bigger picture and keep on mission. Because he was focused on spreading the gospel he was able to look through the pain at the people he met while there and the church group that had formed and continued to grow in the years since he was last there.

This is a good lesson for those who focus on the negative experiences on their life. By doing this they can define themselves as by their past. They come to live as victims, seeing and living through the perspective of being a perpetual victim. Bad, horrific things happen to people of all ages, and it is so much more painful when we see little children suffering diseases or being victimized by a criminal. Pain and suffering are real, and joy doesn’t minimize what a person is experiencing or has experienced. However it is the joy from God that empowers people to transcend these negative events. I am always amazed that so many people I have met or seen who have had so much bad in their lives emerge victorious in life, not letting the bad, the awful, define them. Many of these people attribute the attitude and victory in the midst of pain to their relationship with Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

This does not mean we block out what happened, it is a matter of our focus in life. Paul certainly had scars on his body from his numerous beatings and stonings, we know that he may have had some sort of eye damage perhaps as a tragic reminder of his beatings. Yet Paul looks past all of that and focused on the people who were with him. In the midst of really bad circumstances he thinks it important to thank God for the good.

And so out of this Joy Paul remembers the Philippians in his prayers, constantly. As a church we need to ask if we do the same for each other and for the wider Christian community, such as those suffering oppression around the world for following Jesus. And as followers of Christ do we remember to pray earnestly for all those being oppressed, exploited and otherwise victimized regardless of the faith. As a local church family my prayer is for each of us to grow in our relationships with Jesus, spend more time with Him in His word and in prayer. I also pray that we all live more radically committed lives that transform our lives, the priorities of our lives and lead us to serve others. In addition as a church family we should be praying for the individual situations of each other’s lives.

One of the commentaries I used while researching these passages is by William Barclay. He shares from George Reindrop an illustration of prayer:

“A nurse taught one man to pray and in doing so changed his whole life. A dull, disgruntled, and dispirited man became a man of joy. Much of the nurse's work was done with her hands, and she used her hand as a scheme of prayer. Each finger stood for someone. Her thumb was nearest to her, and it reminded her to pray for those who were closest and dearest to her. The second finger was used for pointing and stood for all her teachers in school and the hospital. The third finger was the tallest and it stood for the leaders in every sphere of life. The fourth finger was the weakest, as every pianist knows, and it stood for those who were in trouble and in pain. The little finger was the smallest and the least important and to the nurse it stood for herself" (Barclay, 17)

Verse 5:

       because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

Paul goes on to share with the Philippians why he is thankful for them and how they contribute to his joy. It comes down to being active members of the same team.  They had been supports, backers, fellow workers with Paul since he was first in Philippi about a decade earlier and planted the church through his first convert Lydia. The word Paul uses is Partnership (koinōnia), which is also translated as Fellowship in many translations.

They didn’t just accept the message, start a church and send a prayer Paul’s way. There was a deep connection between the people that made up church in Philippi and Paul. Now usually in ministry when we think partnership or support we think of money. Financial support is important. The Philippians gave to Paul even though they were not a wealthy church (2 Corinthians 8:2-3). The church gave sacrificially to Paul.

This sacrificial giving allowed Paul rent a place and have an adequate supply of food while under guard. If he had been in the actual prison he would have received just enough food for bare subsistence and would not have had the visitors he was able to in a rented apartment. The result is he was able to share the gospel with more people and encourage believers to share the gospel in their community.

The Philippians support for Paul had been consistent through the up’s and down’s of his circumstances over the years. They sent him financial support while in Thessalonica and Corinth before this and they sent Epaphroditus to help with his physical needs in this circumstance. There was a true partnership between Paul and the Philippians. The result of this is that they were partners as evangelists and missionaries to further spread the gospel (1:27-28). In addition Paul and the Philippians suffered for the same cause, which created a deeper bond between them as well (1:30; 4:14).

The heart of what Paul is getting at here is fellowship. We hear the term in terms of the church, for example “we are going to have a time for ‘fellowship’” and there are usually a number of “Fellowship” activities such as potluck, church hikes, and church day at the game etc. Fellowship is mentioned in the description of the early church in Acts 2:42 “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

So what does it mean to “Fellowship?” To be sure hanging out together is part of it, because sending time having fun together and sharing life together is part of how a community develops and grows as bonds are forged. However, “Fellowship” goes much deeper that social activities within a church. If it were only these types of activities the church would just be another social club, and unfortunately perhaps in some cases this is what has happen in the United States.

When Paul uses the word we translate as “Fellowship,” koinōnia, he has in mind more than just a bunch of people forming another social club. He is interested in joining together in a mission to spread the gospel as a team. To do this we need to move past sharing laughs and good times and over time invest in deeper relationships where there is also the sharing of tears, heartache, worry, pain, loss and other parts of life that are not so good with each other.

The result is that we become so tight with each other, and are continually inviting people to join with us in community, that we form a continuously expanding team committed to learning more about Jesus, sharing the love of Jesus and the hope found in Jesus with others in our world. We see our lives are transformed, we fellowship with each other and we are transformed as a community, and we reach out as a team to help the world be transformed by the love of Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The more we do this, the more Paul would say that we have understood and are living a life of koinōnia, the of true fellowship where we share in service to others, prayer for others, evangelism together and living a radical lifestyle that puts God at the center of our lives, with Love as the central action in our lives. 



 Philippians 1:1-2 Study Notes (Servants and Saints)

¹Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:

² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV)

Introduction

Philippians 1:1-2 is Paul's greeting in his letter to the church in Philippi. Some of the major themes of this letter are Joy in life though all of life’s circumstances, as opposed to fleeting happiness, a plea for unity within the church and a call for believers in Philippi and the larger church in general, including believers today, to follow the example of Jesus, who adopted the attitude of a servant. As we do this, and deepen our relationship with Jesus, we will see transformation in our lives, the lives of the family of believers and as the church shares this love and attitude of service the world will also experience transformation.

In this letter Paul provides four examples of gospel living

1. Jesus
2. Paul
3. Timothy
4. Epaphroditus

Historical Context

Paul was in prison in Rome and is writing a letter to this church community which he founded 10-12 years earlier and which has been his most faithful partner and supporter over the years of his travels. Paul is probably under house arrest, chained to a guard. The help from the church in Philippi would have been vital because aside from a very minimal supply of food the prisoner was responsible for their own food and Paul would have needed money to rent the house he was in, or someone would have had to let him use theirs.

There is no consensus on where this letter was actually written. Rome and Ephesus are the two leading candidates, though there are some that advocate for other location albeit less convincingly. If you are interested in the various theories of where it was written, and how this may provide some understanding of the context of the letter I recommend the commentaries listed on our website. I believe that the evidence for Paul’s writing this letter in Rome is the most compelling.

Founding of the church in Philippi:  Paul arrived in Philippi around 50 AD, during his second missionary journey (Acts 16:11-40), and headed straight to the riverside on the Sabbath day with his companions.  Normally he would head to the synagogue and speak with the people there, however because this was such a strongly Roman city culturally and legally there were not very many Jews to compete with the plethora of god worshipped by the Romans. This was a town strongly loyal to Rome, settled by Roman veterans who had made this city in effect a little Rome. It was around this same time that the Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome, so the odds are they were not going to be too popular in a city that prided itself on being a “Rome away Rome.” You needed ten men to start a synagogue and this city didn’t even have that so Jews would go to the river for worship. When Paul arrives at the river he finds not only Jews, but also people from the other religions in the city.

As a missionary Paul would have researched the area and realized that the dominant religions in the area often built temples and worshipped near springs or rivers (Thurston, 12). Paul went where the people were. He lived the missional life, and it is an example that we should follow today. We should follow the Holy Spirit with a missional focus and go where the people are in our culture, which might be the cubicle across the hall, the neighbor next door or in another par of our city or region or perhaps even our neighbors in another part of the world.  

By going to the people Paul met Lydia. Luke, the author of Acts, describes her as a “Worshipper of God” (Acts 16:14), which means that she was a gentile who believed in God but had not become a full convert to Judaism. Professionally as a “seller of purple goods.” Lydia was not a native of Philippi. She came from the city of Thyatira, about 20 miles away, which was famous for its purple dyes.

Purple Dye was popular with the Romans, who used this non-fading dye in their ceremonial robes. In fact it has been reported that the intensity of the color increased as the cloth aged. It was not easy to come by, and thus those who produced it and/or traded it were financially very successful. The exact process of creating this dye has been lost in history. One theory that archeologists have developed is that shellfish, such as snails, would be gathered up and left to decompose, which produced a horrendous stench. What happened next is unknown. The production of this dye ended during the crusades, when Constantinople was sacked in 1204.

Paul addresses the women by sitting down, which is the usual position of authority for a Rabbi taught, while the people stood. As they were listening Lydia’s heart was opened by God and she became a believer in Jesus. The Holy Spirit is active in the world paving the way for people to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. As Jesus was preparing his disciples for life after he left the scene physically he promised that the Holy Spirit would be coming and in John 16:8-9 He says “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;”

All humans are sinful people. Because of our sinful nature we can’t seek after God on our own. So the Holy Spirit is here to point out our sins and our need for a savior. Everyone is touched by the Holy Spirit in this way, however we have free will and so not every one responds. A term for this presence of the Holy Spirit in the world in Prevenient Grace, of which theologian Thomas Oden says it

“antecedes human responsiveness so as to prepare the soul for the effective hearing of the redeeming Word. This preceding grace draws persons closer to God, lessens their blindness to divine remedies, strengthens their will to accept revealed truth, and enables repentance. Only when sinners are assisted by prevenient grace can they begin to yield their hearts to cooperation with subsequent forms of grace.” (http://wesleyanarminian.blogspot.com/2009/05/prevenient-grace.html)

Once Lydia’s heart is opened and she responds in faith by accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior she, along with her household, are baptized (Acts 16:13-14). Her first instinct as a new believer is to show hospitality toward Paul and his group by inviting them to stay at her house. Again we see she probably had money and a larger than normal house to accommodate Paul and his group. It appears there was reluctance on the part of Paul to accept her offer, probably due to the issues that could have been raised for her. First she was probably a single woman, since there is no mention of a husband, and having these men at here house could have caused gossiping and damaged her personal reputation and as a result her business.  In addition to worrying about her, Paul may also have had to consider the normal Jewish cultural and religious norms that he would push the limits of. However she “prevailed upon” them, or as the NLT put is “she urged them,” and they agreed (Acts 16:15).

Lydia’s house became the church in Philippi. It is the place where people gathered for worship. It is also the place where people where gathered in prayer while Paul and Silas were in prison, and it was also here they returned to when released from prison. It is also probably where this letter from Paul in prison was delivered and read aloud.

Role of Women:  In the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, and consequently Jewish, culture women had few if any rights. In the Macedonian area, where Philippi is, it was a different story.

In this area women had increasing freedom during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, which is began in the period following the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC (Thurston, 19). During the Roman period in which this letter is set some women owned provincial estates and were financially secure enough to be the financial backers of the various religions in the region. While they still lived within a patriarchal system they had real opportunities to make money and wield influence in society. 

Religion was very important to women, and they were usually in the forefront of participation, organization, inception and support. Some of the most important religions were the cults of Diana and Isis, of which women were heavily involved and which were popular with women in general. So it is no surprise that the first converts to Christianity in Philippi were women (Fee, 27). In addition to Lydia we see in Philippians other women in roles of leadership (Eudia and Syntyche). Whether they had any official title or not they defiantly had the power and were leaders. Leadership does not mean a title. And even in a culture that was repressive for women, such as Israel in Jesus’ time, women cared deeply about religion and were usually on the forefront there as well. For example in Luke 8:1-3 we read of the women who followed Jesus and provided support.

Literary Context: Form, Structure, Movement

This is a letter from Paul to the church in Philippi. Verses 1-2 are the salutation and part of the overall greeting. Paul begins his letter in the custom of the day by identifying himself and who the letter is addressed to as well as a greeting. This greeting is structured in the style of letters in that time within the Mediterranean and Middle East. 

Paul used the designation “Apostle” in his other letters, with the exception of Thessalonians and Philemon. Typically we read that he was “a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an Apostle.” He uses the title as a way to establish his authority by which the recipients should listen to what he has to say. But he and the Philippians are friends, so there is no need to assert apostolic authority. In addition he may be laying the framework for his later discussion of humility.  

Paul uses the standard salutation of his time and cultural setting: Who is sending, name of recipient and a prayer/greeting, much like a modern e-mail. However Paul adapts this typical formula to make some major theological points right from the start and into the first few paragraph and he “pours theological content into the greeting” (O’Brien).

The opening of the letter has three parts.  

1. A greeting (1-2)
2. A prayer of thanks (3-8)
3. A prayer of intercession (9-11)

This week we are looking at the first of these three in verses 1-2. Here Paul modifies the standard opening of a letter in a way that provides a model of humility that he will unpack and emphasize later in the letter.

In the rest of the opening (3-11) he modifies the typical opening prayer of a letter in such a way as to express both the Philippians concern for the advancement of the gospel and his own concern for their progress in the faith (NIV Application commentary, 34).

So within the first 11 verses of the letter we can see four key themes of the entire letter: joy, humility, advancement of the gospel and progress in the faith of the church.

Instead of just listing the “church” or “the believers in Philippi” he says “all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi together with the overseers and deacons.” This is a letter to everyone one there, unlike most of Paul’s letters. Philippians, Romans, 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians are the only ones of Paul that are addresses to the whole church.

Detailed Analysis

Saul/Paul: It was common for Jews living in predominantly Gentile area adopt names that sounded similar to their Hebrew and Aramaic names. This was this case with Saul, who’s Latin and Greek names translate as Paul. Paul would be the name he used in his ministry among the Gentiles.

Paul wrote both formal and informal letters. The formal letters are an organized, systematic presentation from Paul. One example is Paul’s letter to the church in Rome (Romans), which reads more like an academic paper than it does a letter. In today’s context we can think of a journal article or a series of blog posts on a topic from a favorite author and theologian.

On the other hand Philippians is an informal letter, in which there is spontaneity. It reads more like a conversation between friends, such as an e-mail, where ideas just seem to flow from Paul’s mind, like a stream of consciousness. This is a letter of practical theology, or “theology in street clothes” (Melick). It is addressed to specific situations being faced by one church; however the issues also affect other churches, both in the past and today.

Timothy: Paul met the young man Timothy during his First Missionary Journey in the area of Lystra and Derbe. When he set our in his Second Missionary Journey Paul asked Timothy to come with him. It was on this journey that the church in Philippi was founded (Acts 16-18).  Paul and Timothy were close, like father and son (Philippians 2:19-23). Paul includes Timothy in the salutation of about half of his letters, including this one (2 Corinthians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, Philemon) in addition he wrote two letters directly to Timothy (1 Timothy and 2 Timothy). So it is no surprise to see Timothy in the salutation of this letter, and even more so as Paul later reveals in 2:19 that he is going to send Timothy to Philippi.

Servants/Slaves: The Greek word here is “Doulos” which can be translated “servant” (ESV, NIV, NRSV), “Slave” (NLT) or, what seems most appropriate in this context, “Bondservant” (NKJV). A bondservant can be seen as voluntary slavery, in that a person declares in a ceremony that even though they could be free they are choosing to remain a slave for life with this master. Slavery in that culture was different than that which we are familiar with in recent centuries, including today. In that time slavery was extremely common and could in fact be a way for upward social mobility. People could rise to positions of prominence and wealth, while still being the property of someone else. It is thought that perhaps Luke, the author of the Gospel According to Luke and Acts, was a slave.

Slavery was the result of war and debt. In Jewish culture the year of Jubilee also required the freeing of slaves who were such because of debt. In addition if a person was able to purchase their freedom they could be free, but they may have to give up their family and many cases power and materiel success. So many a slaves who could be free would make the choice to remain a slave, a Bond-Servant. (Exodus 21:1-6)

In slavery as we know it people are forcefully taken captive and forced into slavery. Jesus doesn’t force anybody, it is a choice that we make to accept the salvation offered by Grace and enter into a life of service, as a bondservant to Jesus.  Paul doesn’t identify himself as an apostle in this letter as he does in others. Instead he and timothy are both identified as “servants” or “slaves”. Being a bondservant to Christ and the humility that results is a theme of this letter. 

By claiming the title “Bondservant/Slave” Paul does three things.

1. He declares that he is completely owned by Jesus. He has been bought with a price and that price was the cross (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
2. He is obedient to his master, Jesus, and it is the will of Jesus that is supreme in his life.
3. In the Old Testament the prophets usually went by the title “Servant of God” (Amos 3:7, Jeremiah 7:25). It is also the title given by God to Moses in Joshua 1:2 and that Joshua is designated in Judges 2:8, David in Psalm 78:70 and Psalm 89:3, 20. Thus in this context it would be a title of honor. However Paul is using the title here as a way to demonstrate humility.

Being a “bond-servant” to Jesus is in no way like being a slave to another human. Slavery is wrong and we should do all we can to end this despicable stain of sin, tragedy and oppression in the world today. We encourage everyone to find more information about slavery here: Not For Sale, End Human Trafficking and International Justice Mission. 

This is not what we are talking about here. With Jesus we are talking about spiritual slavery. We all have sinned and by this choice we have become slaves to sin. Jesus offers us freedom from that slavery. This gift of freedom came at the price of the cross for Jesus. We can accept the gift of freedom, but we can’t buy it, earn it, or inherit it. Jesus offers each of us freedom from slavery to sin. When he frees you from that slavery you become a servant, a bond-servant to him in voluntary allegiance to Jesus.

In Christ Jesus:  For Paul being in Christ was a core component of Christianity. We are not “Saints” of a church or in a church. We are Saints in Christ Jesus. “In Christ” we are different from others, set apart from others in how we live our live. However we are to be among people as missionaries who want to share the love of Jesus by serving others and sharing Jesus with others. Our vision is to see more people placing the faith in Jesus.

Saints: “Saint” comes from the Greek word “Hagios.” Saint is probably not the best translation. The New Living Translation captures the intended meaning of the word “God’s holy people.”

There is a Hebrew equivalent word, “Kadash.” When you trace the words “Kadash” and “Hagios” out they are usually translated “Holy.” So a better translation would be “Holy People” The idea of holy is to be different from the world around you, to be set apart for God. This is for all Christians equally. We are all set apart; we are all called to live different lives, to think differently, to be an example to others. But no one believer is more “holy” or special than another believer.  We are Saints in Christ Jesus. “In Christ” we are different from others, set apart from others in how we live our live. However we are to be among people as missionaries who want to share the love of Jesus by serving others and sharing Jesus with others. Our vision is to see more people placing the faith in Jesus. A church is a collection of people who have faith in Jesus and as a result have been consecrated, set apart with a purpose. In terms of the church this also implies the unity of the people in humble submission to God and each other as servants in Christ Jesus in the world. In other words we are “Saints,” “God’s holy people.”

We can see this in a few examples from the Old Testament.

1. Leviticus 21:6 “Holy” = different from other people. Set apart for a special function.
2. Exodus 26:33 The central part of the temple was the holy place. This is different from other places of worship and within the temple was set aside for very specific functions 
3. Exodus 19:6 the Jews/Israel were a holy nation, set apart to God.  Amos 3:2 the nation was different than other nations. They had a special purpose from God.

Now the Christians of the world are Hagios, saints, holy people.

When people think of “Saint” today they are usually think of someone special, some that is better than they are, more faithful etc. We often think of the saints of the Roman Catholic Church, of which there are thousands. Being a saint in the Catholic tradition is one who is considered special. They have made this the case with their process of becoming a saint (canonization). The process is a lengthy one that begins after a person dies and can last decades or in some cases even centuries. If you are interested in the history of this process, and how it has changed over time, I would recommend these articles: Canonization and Historical process of beatification and canonization

This process of sainthood has nothing to do with the bible; Rather it is a man-made process of personal recognition for the works of someone within some churches. We do not believe that naming an individual as a “Saint” places them in any more of a holy position with God that you, I or any other follower of Jesus. The good news is that if Jesus is you Lord, if you are a follower of Jesus then congratulations you are a “Saint.”

Not saint in the way we think of Roman Catholic Saints, but as a “Hagios,” a holy person as the Bible defines it. This is a “Saint” in the true sense of the word in that you are called to be different from others, starting with being different that the person you were before you came to Christ and as you continue on in your transformation to be different than you were yesterday.

Overseers and Deacons:Here we have the two offices in the church. The first in “Episkopoi” translated as Bishops (NKJV, NRSV) or Overseers (ESV, NASB, NIV). This term describes an overseeing. This term is also used interchangeably by Paul in the 1 and Titus with “Presbyteros” (Elder) when discussing the leadership of the church. So these are basically the same office. The church has two designations for leaders in the church: Elders/Overseers and Deacons. The Elders are charged with spiritual oversight of the congregation and the Deacons with the matters of practical service within the congregation as established in Acts 6:1-6

Grace and Peace: Grace (Charis) and Peace (Eirene) is an expression of the nature and effect of Christ’s saving work and is part of Paul’s standard greeting in most of his letters. In the salutation we are seeing a marriage of two cultures that make it culturally appropriate for both the church in Philippi and his audience in Rome.

Typically Greek letters began with “Grace” as part of the greeting and Hebrew letters began with “Peace” as part of the greeting. Grace connotes Joy, pleasure, brightness and beauty. How much more so is the grace from Jesus? The Hebrew word for peace is “Shalom.” This word is also used when Jews greeted each other, and it is still used today. This “peace” is not used in the negative sense, such as an absence of trouble. Instead it is used in the positive way of expressing well being. Grace and Peace is knowing God as the Father and the peace of being reconciled to God. This can only come through faith in Jesus Christ.



Here is the video we played as part of the sermon this past Sunday.