One with the Savior

I: Introduction

A. The Theme of Philippians

2,000 years ago, the Lord Jesus Christ asked His disciples “Who do you say that I am”

They could have given answers like: carpenter, friend, teacher, healer

But Peter’s answer got to the heart of Jesus’s true identity — You are Christ, the Son of the living God.

This morning I want to ask you: “Who you say that you are?”

You may say, I’m a: dad, husband, mother, father, son, or daughter.

You may answer with vocation: I’m a teacher, a carpenter, a business owner, a student.

But those things are roles you perform or things you do — they are not your identity — they are not who you are.

Ultimately — who you are is: in Christ and that makes you a saint.

The most important thing about you, the center of your being is who you are — in Christ.

Today the elders begin a new book: Philippians and my text today will be the first two verses of chapter one.

And from these two verses and other passages we will see how our being IN CHRIST defines who we are and how we interact with each other as believers.

Together we will see how the themes of unity and humility that run through the book starts in these opening verses.

KEY: Together we will see how our union with Christ is the foundation and source of unity and humility.

B. Road Map:

(1) Take My Life and Let it Be

(2) In Christ Alone

(3) It Is Well

II. Exegesis: Take My Life and Let It Be (Philippians 1:1)

A. Servants

Philippians 1:1 “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:”

Paul identifies himself as the author and his fellow servant Timothy (whom the Philippians know, and Paul plans to send to them).

Interestingly, Paul —a real life Apostle—groups himself with Timothy as just servants of Christ.

Already we get our first picture of the twin themes of unity and humility that run throughout the book.

Servant (Greek: Doulos) — Slave

Sense: “a person who is legally owned by someone else and whose entire livelihood and purpose was determined by their master”

Paul and Timothy are slaves or servants of Christ.

Servants of Christ are those chosen people who are purchased by Jesus’s blood and now live in servitude of their perfect King.

Servants of Christ are those who go where Christ tells them to go and do what Christ tells them to do.

Servants of Christ recognize that they are not their own, but belong to Christ because they are united with Him.

Servants of Christ, are those who have said: “Take my life and let it be”.

The servants of Christ are those who say:

Take my life, my moments, my days, my hands and feet, my voice and my heart, my love and my will and consecrate them all for your glory.

Paul and Timothy, are such servants of Christ and Paul is writing to servants of Christ.

But Paul, Timothy, and the Philippian church aren’t just servants — they are also saints.

B. Saints

Philippians 1:1 “…To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:”

Paul addresses the Philippians as saints or “holy ones”.

These believers are holy because:

(1) They have been set apart in Christ.

(2) They live their lives in Christ.

Or: They are holy because they have been justified and are being sanctified by Christ.

But just who are these saints? Acts 16 actually gives us great detail about at least three of them.

KEY: The earliest members of the Philippian church are a business woman, a possessed girl, and a warden.

Lydia:

Acts 16:13–15

After sailing from Neapolis they land in Philippi.

Philippi is the leading city of Macedonia and is a very rich and wealthy city.

And providentially, the first person Paul meets and converts is a rich business woman named Lydia.

Lydia hails from Thyatira, a city renowned for its wool and dyeing processes and she’s a very successful business woman.

But what is most important about her is that she was a worshipper of God, which is why she was gathered by the river at the place of prayer.

R.C. Sproul: Ancient Jewish rules stated that 10 men were necessary to form a synagogue, if that wasn’t possible a place of prayer could be established preferably near water.

Here in Acts 16 we see such an example of these women gathering by the riverside at a supposed place of prayer.

Lydia, although a Gentile, did not worship Zeus or Jupiter, she worshipped Yahweh.

She offered her worship to Yahweh and conformed to the moral laws of Yahweh, but she had not yet placed her faith in Jesus and rested in His finished work.

Thus, Paul meets these women and begins preaching to them.

God divinely appointed this time, and opened Lydia’s heart to receive the gospel and she believed and was baptized (and so was her whole household).

The Possessed Girl:

Acts 16:16–18

Following this worship service by the river, Lydia, Paul, and the team make their way to Lydia’s home.

On their way they meet a slave girl who, being possessed by a spirit of divination, begins to harass Paul.

This poor slave girl is exploited by this evil spirit and by her owners.

Her owners do not care that she’s possessed by an evil spirit — they care about the money she makes them.

According to Luke, what starts on the Sabbath continues on for many days until Paul casts out the spirit.

This act of mercy and ministry results in a beating and jailing for Paul.

Why? Because her owners realize they just lost their ticket to living it up in this affluent area.

In their minds, Paul didn’t just heal this young girl — he hurt their income.

So they go to the magistrate (I repeat: they went to the magistrate — kids that means they went to government) and have Paul and Silas beaten and jailed.

However, this evil repaid for good in God’s providence is just a stepping stone to more conversions.

And God often still works in this way — our minds can be drawn to the murder of Jim Elliot and the ministry of his wife to the primitive tribes that killed her husband.

Through this providence Paul meets the Philippian Jailer.

The Philippian Jailer

Paul and Silas are escorted to prison where the jailer binds their feet and puts them in a cell.

While in prison, Paul and Silas set to praying and singing hymns.

During this an earthquake happens and all the jails doors open and their bonds fall off.

The jailer, who realizes what’s happened assumes that all the criminals have left and he’s going to be blamed for it.

He goes to kill himself but he’s stopped by Paul who tells him that all are accounted for.

Then he asks Paul, what must I do to be saved?

He professes faith and he and his family are converted and baptized.

C. Servants and Saints in Christ

And so these are the beginnings of the Philippian church: with a business woman, a possessed slave girl, and a jailer.

And what binds them all together is Christ.

KEY: They are united to one another through union with Christ.

They come from different backgrounds, from different tax brackets, and from different walks of life.

A business owner, a slave, and a warden are no longer just a business owner, a slave, and a warden — they are all saints.

And they are all now to treat one another as saints — they are to practice unity and humility and to love one another as Christ loves them.

This all flows from their union with Christ.

And the church today is exactly the same.

Our church is exactly the same.

Through our union with Christ we are not just stay at home moms and school teachers, CEO’s and students, engineers and government employees.

We are all saints and we ought to treat one another as so.

KEY: We ought to seek unity through humility from our place IN CHRIST.

III. Theology: In Christ Alone (Union with Christ)

Look with me closer at Philippians 1:1 “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:”

Those three words, “In Christ Jesus”

A. Union with Christ Defined

Union with Christ is the Spirit’s joining us together with Christ.

Union is the combining of two things and in this case it creates something new.

Kids what happens when you mix blue and red? You get the color purple.

KEY: Union with Christ is the Holy Spirit uniting you with Christ and that makes you a NEW CREATION.

You are now a human being with the Spirit of the living God IN YOU — because you are in Christ!

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.”

All men are born into sin under Adam, but when one of God’s elect believes in the Lord Jesus, they are joined to Christ by the Holy Spirit.

B. Union with Christ Defended

Union with Christ is thoroughly biblical.

The phrase “in Christ” appears 10x in Philippians and variations occur almost 200 times in the NT.

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works…”

Ephesians 1:3–14 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

Thus this section contains 10 references to being “in Christ” in 11 verses.

Let’s look at union with Christ a little closer and see how each person of the Trinity is involved in this union: our subheadings will be — selected, saved, and sealed

(1) Selected — The Father

We were selected IN Christ before the foundation of the world.

Ephesians 1:4 “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him…”

This means that before the creation of all things — you were selected by the Father for salvation.

KEY: Before the Father spoke creation into existence He spoke your name to Jesus.

The Father selected you IN CHRIST to be holy and blameless IN Christ before Him.

(2) Saved — The Son

We are saved by the Son!

Ephesians 1:7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,”

Just as we distinguish that it was the Spirit who was poured out at Pentecost and not the Father.

We distinguish that it was the Son who took on flesh and died in our place.

Thus we sing and we proclaim that we are saved “In Christ Alone”.

It is in Him alone that our hope is found.

It is IN HIM that we have redemption through HIS blood.

In HIM is all our righteousness.

KEY: When we look at ourselves we see our ugly sinfulness, yet when the Father looks at us He sees righteous beauty — because we are in Christ.

How? Because when we are justified by faith we are credited all of Christ’s righteousness.

(3) Sealed — The Spirit

We are sealed in Christ by the Spirit!

Ephesians 1:13–14 “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

KEY: The Father predestines our union with Christ, The Son purchases our union with Him, and the Spirit protects our union.

The Spirit convicts, regenerates us, grants us faith and repentance and places us in Christ and seals us.

If Christ is the ark that saves us from the flood of God’s wrath, the Spirit is the door who shuts us up in Him.

KEY: He seals us and is Himself the guarantee of our precious imperishable inheritance — eternal life with and in Christ.

Union with Christ encompasses our entire salvation from beginning to end.

And the application of this doctrine changes everything because its transformative.

C. Union with Christ Applied

KEY: The doctrine of union with Christ is transformative.

Too often Christians do not see themselves for who they are IN CHRIST and they blind themselves to the wonderful, awesome, and transforming power of being in union with him.

Yet, this is why we love Jesus and treasure the Gospel — because we were dead in our sin and Christ raises us to life.

We were sin-riddled little monsters and now Christ has made us new creations.

We are no longer monsters but new creatures in Christ — Isn’t that amazing?

The transforming power of Christ is why we preach the gospel.

And the inclusivity of Christ is why we preach the gospel to everyone and welcome everyone to believe in Jesus so that they too would be transformed.

Inclusivity has been hijacked by woke false teachers who paint rainbow flags over the biblical picture of inclusivity and unity.

The woke version of inclusivity welcomes all to church but does not give them Jesus.

Instead of encouragement to repent, to turn to Christ, to cut off arms and gouge out your eyes they celebrate sin and blaspheme God.

Unity in this worldview flows from idolatry and union with Christ.

Yet, just because these people have a warped view of inclusivity it does not mean that Christianity is exclusive.

And I’m tired of hearing about the exclusivity of Christianity.

Christianity is not exclusive — it is radically inclusive.

When I read the biblical text and I see those who come to Jesus the list is undeniably inclusive.

I see prostitutes, divorcees, and eunuchs.

I see centurions, slaves, zealous patriots, and turncoat-tax collectors.

I see fishers, pharisees, and sadducees.

I see Jews and Gentiles.

I see the leprous, the disabled and the demon-oppressed.

I see the spoiled rich and poor slaves.

I see aristocrats and society’s outcasts.

I see grown men and women and little children.

I see the living and the dead.

ALL COMING TO JESUS.

The only ones I see excluded are those God did not predestine for salvation in Christ before the foundation of the world.

KEY: But all these people are brought together in UNION WITH CHRIST.

And it’s this union in Christ that brings together Lydia, the slave-girl, and the jailer, and the overseers and the deacons and the whole congregation of Philippi.

It’s Christ who unites them in Himself — and this runs through the entire letter.

The beauty of Christ’s inclusivity of everyone the Father gives them is that IN HIM THEY ARE TRANSFORMED.

They are granted faith and repentance.

They are renewed in their minds and given new hearts.

They turn from their sin and they walk in the newness of life as new creations — IN CHRIST.

They are not left dead in their trespasses but they are raised to life in Christ!

The inclusivity of Christ doesn’t celebrate sin — it kills it.

In union with Christ we are not what we once were and we do not treat other as such.

We were sinners, and now we are saints and we will treat each other like it.

So we do not turn away the gay, the trans, the racist, the fascist, the whatever but rather we preach Christ crucified to them and pray that God would grant them faith and repentance and newness of life.

We preach and pray that they would turn from their sin and repent of their sinful lifestyles and seek to live a life worthy of the gospel.

If we don’t believe Christ can transform them from the inside out what’s the point of the Gospel?

What’s the point of evangelism?

You were not without hope in Jesus and neither are they.

Transformation applied:

The transformation of this union with Christ is demonstrated to us in at least 3 ways in Holy Scripture: We are transformed into saints, sons, and siblings.

(1) Saints

Again, Paul here in Philippians refers to the believers as SAINTS.

As those made Holy.

Union with Christ transforms you from into a saint.

Union with Christ transforms your soul but it also transforms your life.

You are born bent against God’s Law, and IN CHRIST you are given a new zeal to obey it out of gratitude.

Yes you will sin but your identity is in Christ now.

KEY: Union with Christ makes a you a saint from the inside out.

(2) Sons

Galatians 3:26–27 “for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

Union with Christ means that we are now sons of God through faith!

If you are baptized into Christ you have put on Christ because you have union with Christ!

KEY: You’re not only a new creation — you have a new identity: you are a child of God!

(3) Siblings

Scripture is clear that union with Christ makes us brothers and sisters with Him!

Romans 8:29 “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.”

Hebrews 2:11 “For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,”

Those who are sanctified by Christ are in union with Christ and He is not ashamed to call them brother.

Returning to Philippians 1:2 we continue to apply the doctrine of union with Christ.

IV. Application: It Is Well

A. Grace and Peace

Philippians 1:2 “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Our greatest problem is establishing peace with the God we’ve sinned against.

We’ve confessed here today, that we’ve broken God’s Law and fell short of it’s demands.

Rightfully, we are deserving of God’s wrath and displeasure.

And the only way to have peace with God is through Christ in Christ.

Romans 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We obtain this peace by grace and not by works — not by checking boxes on a to-do list.

And if we can’t be saved works, how can we be saved? — By grace through faith in Christ alone.

If we could work ourselves to death and somehow fulfill the Law then Christ has died for nothing.

What we need for atonement is a spotless lamb and a perfect priest and we find both of those IN CHRIST.

We have grace and peace with the Father because of the Son.

KEY: In Christ, our greatest problem is solved.

And because of that, whatever happens in our lives we can say: IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL.

B. We can say: It Is Well

When sorrows like sea billows roll

When Satan should buffet

When trials should come

We can say IT IS WELL because our SIN has been nailed to the cross and we bear it no more!

We can proclaim that it is well because we are IN CHRIST and no one and no thing could ever take us from Him.

This means that:

Your depression that tries to drag you down into hell cannot drag you out of Christ.

Your mind that is under attack from anxiety that seeks to implode your brain can have peace because you have the mind of Christ and is being renewed by the Spirit.

This means the cancer that tries to eat your body from the inside cannot devour your blood bought soul because it belongs to Jesus.

This means that Satan who stands to accuse you has no case in the courts of heaven because in Christ you have been declared righteous.

Dear Christian if you leave here today with anything I hope it is that you remember that you are IN CHRIST and that changes everything about you.

This is theology you can apply right now by impressing on your mind that you are IN CHRIST.

V. Assurance and Warning

A. Assurance for the believer

Dear Christian — I pray that you would be assured and nourished by this blessed doctrine.

The world, the flesh, and the devil are all competing for you and I pray that you would be reminded that they cannot have you because you in Christ and you belong to Christ.

Dear Christian be reminded today that one with the savior you cannot die because your sinful soul is purchased by His blood and that your life is hid IN CHRIST on high.

B. Warning for the unbeliever

Unbeliever — I plead with you to repent of your sins and profess faith in Christ.

You are not in Christ, but you are in Adam.

You are fallen and you have not yet been raised with Christ.

You do not have communion or union with the one who died to make peace with God on your behalf.

Please find an elder so we can speak more to you about this.