Philippians 1

Philippians 1:1–11

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul starts this letter with the traditional first century letter introduction which all include

Name of Sender

Name of Recipient

Greeting

We see this in Acts 15:23 “23 This is the letter they took with them: “This letter is from the apostles and elders, your brothers in Jerusalem. It is written to the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. Greetings!”

Acts also records another letter Acts 23:26 “26 “From Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings!”

Paul goes a step further and uses this typical introduction to encourage his readers not just greet them.

Paul identifies the sender as himself and Timothy although Timothy probably had little to do with writing or sending the letter. After their names Paul describes them as “servants” of Jesus Christ. It is important to understand what Paul means by servants or slaves, it is more than just a servant. His idea of his position in Christ is that he has no choice but to serve Christ. For he understands that you will serve someone, so you can be a slave to Jesus or you can be a slave to sin, but you will serve someone.

Romans 6:12–18

“12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. 15 Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! 16 Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. 17 Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. 18 Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.”

Next Paul Identifies the Recipients as the saints in Philippi who belong to Christ Jesus. But he also includes Overseers and Deacons.

He identifies believers as God’s Holy People as he does in all his letters many of your versions may say saints.

Only here does Paul identify church leaders in the greetings. Overseers and Deacons

bishops - ἐπίσκοπος (episkopos). n. masc. overseer. A believer set apart from those in the church for the purpose of watching over, nurturing, and caring for the needs of those in the church.

deacons - διάκονος (diakonos). n. masc. and fem. servant, deacon, deaconess. A leader in the church who is committed to serve God through meeting the needs of the Church, characterized by a disposition of humility and self-sacrifice.

Finally Paul does more than just say greetings. As usual, he gives them something from God the father and Jesus the Christ. Grace and Peace!

Grace -χάρις (charis). n. fem. grace, good will, favor. Conveys the sense of a gift of kindness and favor given to a person or persons.

Peace - εἰρήνη (eirēnē) n. fem. peace. The state of well-being and concord. In the Septuagint, eirēnē is the usual translation of שָׁלוֺם (šālôm, “soundness, peace”). In the NT, eirēnē also carries some of the meaning of well-being expressed by šālôm.

3 Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. 4 Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, 5 for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.

Vs 3-5 - Paul emphasizes his joy in their partnership with him. They were a church that continually supported Paul especially while he was in prison.

The word partners is He uses a well-known Greek word, koinōnia, that connotes a deep-seated “fellowship,” as well as a sharing in an enterprise.

koinonia is not just spending time talking and eating with someone in fellowship but having a special connection.

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.

7 So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart. You share with me the special favor of God, both in my imprisonment and in defending and confirming the truth of the Good News. 8 God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus. 9 I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. 10 For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. 11 May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.”

Philippians 1:12–20

“12 And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. 13 For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. 14 And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear. 15 It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. 16 They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. 17 Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. 18 But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. 19 For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance. 20 For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.”

Philippians 1:21–30

“21 For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. 22 But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. 23 I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. 24 But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live. 25 Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith. 26 And when I come to you again, you will have even more reason to take pride in Christ Jesus because of what he is doing through me. 27 Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News. 28 Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself. 29 For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. 30 We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it.”