Phil 1_3-11 (Saints in Christ Jesus)

- He was part of the team that founded the church (Acts 16–18), Paul intended to send Timothy to the church not long after writing the letter (Phil 2:19),

The Readers

“To all the Saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, together with overseers and deacons” –

Saints – who or what is a saint? Holy –‘set apart’

“The biblical word for saint refers to consecration. This meaning is very evident in the Old Testament where the Bible speaks of the sanctification of objects. In Exodus 40 Moses is instructed by God to sanctify the altar and the basin in the midst of the tabernacle. Moses was to make saints of them. Clearly, the chapter does not refer to any intrinsic change in the stones of the altar or the basin but to the fact that they have now been set apart for a special use by God. Jesus prayed for the disciples in John 17, saying, “For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified” (John 17:19). This does not mean that Jesus made himself more holy, for he was holy. It does mean that he separated himself for a special task, the task of providing salvation for us by his death.

In the same way the Bible teaches that those who are Christians have been set apart by God. These constitute “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God” who should show forth the praises of him who has called them out of darkness “into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). If you are a Christian, God has set you apart in this way. David was an adulterer, but before God he was a saint. For God had set him apart unto himself. Jeremiah was a rebellious prophet, but before God he was a saint. For God had set him apart unto himself. The church at Philippi had a woman who was a merchant, one who was a slave girl, and a man who was a violent soldier. Yet these were saints in Christ. Are you a Christian? If so, you are a saint, and so am I—regardless of our station in life. We are so, not because of what we have done, but because we have been separated unto God in Jesus.”

Boice-Philippians (pp. 20–21)

Overseers - bishops

And Deacons – ministering servants

Officers in the Church at Philippi

The Greeting / Blessing

“Grace to you and Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”

A Common Greeting

The words Paul used to greet the church at Philippi were actually quite common in Paul’s day. The word translated “grace” was a normal gentile address that meant “greetings.” We know this from the use of the word in the thousands of Greek papyri found in the Near East by archaeologists and in letters written by officials of the Roman Empire… The last word is like Paul’s word for grace. Similarly, the common greeting among the Jewish people was “peace” (shalom). One of the kings of Persia used this form of address to write to the people of Jerusalem under Ezra (Ezra 4:17). This was also the common word of greeting in Jesus’ day.

At the same time, however, it is important to note that the words are transformed in Paul’s hands so that they carry Christian meanings. The normal gentile greeting in Greek was cherein, a verb; but Paul uses the noun form of the same root, charis. The difference is slight, but there is a great change in meaning. For in Christian speech Paul’s word charis was always associated with the grace of God. The emperor Claudius was merely sending greetings to the citizens of Alexandria. Paul was saying, “God’s grace be with you.” In a similar way, although the word itself is unchanged, peace cannot be understood merely as a common salutation. In Paul’s mouth it must always have some reference to the fruits of justification, the result of the reconciliation of the Christian with God.

A great New Testament scholar Johannes Weiss wrote of these two words, “The fact that these terms connect themselves with the ordinary Greek and Hebrew greetings does not exclude the employment of ‘grace’ in its specifically Christian and Pauline sense in which it denotes the unmerited divine operations of love, which is the source and principle of all Christian salvation. Similarly, ‘peace’ is not to be understood primarily in the technical sense of Romans 5:1, as the first-fruit of justification; but we may be sure that, in Paul’s mind, the whole state of tranquility and general well-being which was implied in ‘peace’ attached itself at the root to the fact of reconciliations with God.”

Boice-Philippians (pp. 24)

Paul’s Great affection for these believer no doubt relates to the origin of the church in Philippi.

Paul’s call into Macedonia – Acts 16

The Holy Spirit direct – Acts13:2,4 to send them on the missionary journey

The Holy Spirit closed the door “forbids them…” Acts 16:6,7

The Holy Spirit calls them vision of a man of Macedonia – Acts 16:9

Marvelous things happened in Philippi!

It was a Roman colony:

Wherever they were, these colonies were little fragments of Rome and their pride in their Roman citizenship was their dominating characteristic. The Roman language was spoken; Roman dress was worn; Roman customs were observed; their magistrates had Roman titles, and carried out the same ceremonies as were carried out in Rome itself. They were stubbornly and unalterably Roman and would never have dream of becoming assimilated to the people amidst whom they were set. We can hear the Roman pride breathing through the charge against Paul and Silas in Acts 16:20, 21: “These men are Jews, and they are trying to teach and to introduce laws and customs which it is not right for us to observe—for we are Romans.”

“You are a colony of heaven” (A.V.), Paul wrote to the Philippian Church (3:20).

Barclay, W. - The letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians (electronic ed., p. 4).

The circumstances of the organization of the Church in Philippi.

It was on the second missionary journey, about the year A.D. 52, that Paul first came to Philippi. Urged on by the vision of the man of Macedonia with his appeal to come over and help us, Paul had sailed from Alexandrian Troas in Asia Minor. He had landed at Neapolis in Europe, and thence made his way to Philippi.

The story of Paul’s stay in Philippi is told in Acts 16; and an interesting story it is. It centres round three people—Lydia, the seller of purple; the demented slave-girl, used by her masters to tell fortunes; and the Roman gaoler. It is an extraordinary cross-section of ancient life. These three people were of different nationalities. Lydia was an Asiatic, and her name may well be not a proper name at all but simply “the Lydia lady.” The slave-girl was a native Greek. The gaoler was a Roman citizen. The whole Empire was being gathered into the Christian Church. But not only were these three of different nationalities; they came from very different grades of society. Lydia was a dealer in purple, one of the most costly substances in the ancient world, and was the equivalent of a merchant prince. The girl was a slave, and, therefore, in the eyes of the law not a person at all, but a living tool. The gaoler was a Roman citizen, member of the sturdy Roman middle-class from which the civil service was drawn. In these three the top, the bottom and middle of society are all represented. No chapter in the Bible shows so well the all-embracing faith which Jesus Christ brought to men.

Barclay, W. - The letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians (electronic ed., p. 4-5)

Joy and Rejoicing in Philippians

Paul…

1:4 - prays with joy

1:18 - rejoices that Christ is proclaimed

1:25 - will remain living on earth, for the Philippians’ joy in the faith

2:2 - asks the Philippians to complete his joy

2:17–18 - is glad and rejoices with the Philippians

2:28 - sends Epaphroditus, that the Philippians might rejoice

2:29 - tells the Philippians to receive Epaphroditus with joy

3:1 - tells the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord

4:1 - tells the Philippians they are his joy

4:4 - tells the Philippians twice to rejoice in the Lord

4:10 - rejoiced in the Lord at the Philippians’ concern for him

Commentary Notes:

Wycliffe Bible commentary :

I.The Fellowship of the Gospel (1:1–11)

To be “in Christ” and a part of the Christian fellowship is a source of joy when things become difficult. Here is Paul, a prisoner in Rome, yet rejoicing because of the fellowship of the Gospel. Three phrases summarize his joyful attitude.

A.“I have you in my mind” (vv. 1–6).

Paul was not thinking about himself; he was thinking instead about the dear saints (set-apart ones) in far-off Philippi. Every memory was a blessing to him—including the suffering he experienced in that Philippian jail (Acts 16). As he prayed for them, he rejoiced over their salvation and growth. He knew that what Christ had begun in their lives would be completed, for Christ is the Alpha and Omega, the Author and Finisher of our faith (Rev. 1:8; Heb. 12:1–2).

B.“I have you in my heart” (vv. 7–8).

The Philippian church was composed of a mixed group of people, but they were bound together by love. Among them were wealthy Lydia, the jailer, the slave girl (all found in Acts 16), plus other believers, mostly Gentiles. They had shared in the Gospel ministry with Paul; their hearts were united in their love for Christ and each other. How different they were from the Corinthian church! (2 Cor. 12:20–21)

C.“I have you in my prayers” (vv. 9–11).

Paul always took time to pray for people; his prayer here is that they might live full lives. An empty Christian is a tragedy! He prayed that they might be full of love and discernment; that they might be faithful in their daily walk; and that they might be fruitful in Christian service. This was a prayer for Christian maturity.

II. Thanksgiving and Prayer. 1:3-11.

Paul lifts his heart in gratitude and prayer for the partnership of the Philippian Christians in the work of the Gospel and expresses his deep yearning that they continue to grow in love and discernment.

3. Thanksgiving with joy is an undercurrent that runs through all of Paul’s writings. (Only in Galatians is it momentarily eclipsed by the seriousness of the Judaizing menace.) Nowhere does it burst to the surface more expressively than in Philippians. Even in prison Paul’s thoughts were directed towards others. In his continuing remembrance of them (not isolated instances, as the AV suggests) he gave thanks to God. The singular my God betrays a profound and intimate relationship.

4. This verse is parenthetical. Always in every supplication of mine goes with what follows rather than paralleling verse 3 (cf. J. J. Mller, The Epistles of Paul of the Philippians and to Philemon, p. 40, n. 4). For Paul, to remember was to pray. The nature of his intercession is pointed up by the choice of deesis (a prayer of petition) instead of the more general proseuchē. The studied repetition of the word all (1:4, 7, 8, 25; 2:17, 26; 4:4) is Paul’s gentle reminder that there is no place for partisanship in the Christian community. Intercession is not a burden to be borne but an exercise of the soul to be performed with joy.

5. The occasion for the thanksgiving is the Philippians’ “sympathetic cooperation towards the furtherance of the gospel.” Koinōnia is poorly translated by the English word fellowship. It comes from a verb meaning “to have in common” and may be defined in the NT as “that Christian corporate life and mutual belonging which grows out of the common sharing of Christ and his benefits” (C. E. Simcox, They Met at Philippi, p. 28). Even though the immediate reference may be to the gift of money (koinōnia is so used in the papyri), the expression is not exhausted by this one act. The gift is only a symbol of a far deeper concern for the propagation of the Gospel. The desire to share had been characteristic of the Philippians from the first day. One gift had reached Paul when he had gone no further than Thessalonica (4:16). 6. Paul’s confidence that their partnership in the Gospel would continue rested upon the faithfulness of God who, having begun a good work, would most certainly bring it to completion. To the convert from paganism the semitechnical terms began and complete would call to mind the initiation into and ultimate goal of the mystery relgions. Good work. That total action of divine grace in their midst. The day of Jesus Christ. NT equivalent for the OT “day of the Lord.”

7. It was right for Paul to think of them in this way because he had them in his heart. This bond of affection is made evident by their partnership with him both in his imprisonment and before the court. (Papyri discoveries show that both apologia, defense, and bebaiōsis, confirmation, were legal terms.) They were partakers with him in grace, not, of his grace. To suffer for Christ is a special favor of God. 8. I yearn for you all reveals a deep sense of Christian family affection. Michael comments that the AV translation bowels of Jesus Christ “is as inexact as it is inelegant” (p. 19). Splagchnos (lit., heart, lungs, liver, etc.; not intestines) refers metaphorically to the feelings of love and tenderness believed to arise from the inward parts. Paul’s affection had a divine origin; in fact, it was actually the indwelling Christ who was loving through him (cf. Gal 2:20).

9. Paul does not disparage the warmth of their affection but prays that their love may abound more and more in precise knowledge (epignōsis) and moral discernment (aisthēsis). Love must comprehend with accuracy and apply the truth with discrimination and ethical common sense. All discernment. Discernment for all kinds of situations. 10. To approve things that are excellent (interpreting ta diapheronta as “things which transcend”) is to give one’s entire support to that which through testing has proved to be essential and vital. The result of intelligent love is a right sense of values. This, in turn, enables one to be pure (one derivation of eilikrineis suggests the meaning of “flawless when tested against the light”) and without offense to others (taking aproskopoi as transitive). This becomes a vital concern in view of the coming day of Christ. 11. Filled with the fruit of righteousness. Discerning love will also result in a bumper crop (note sing., karpos) of uprightness. But even this depends upon the righteousness by faith-that which comes through Jesus Christ. The goal of all Christian activity is to bring recognition and homage (epainos) to the divine perfections (doxa) of a redeeming God.

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