A Designated People

Slave - whose bond is expressed in loving service on behalf of Christ

Gordon D. Fee, Philippians, vol. 11, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Westmont, IL: IVP Academic, 1999), 40–41.

Philippians, Colossians, Philemon 1. The Writers (1:1a)

Slaves were common because of war, and Christian slaves probably worshiped in the churches along with their masters. Everyone knew slaves. A slave had no rights or privileges, and all personal interests and ambitions had to be repressed. Everything related to the master.10 This title did not refer to a position of honor in the first-century world.

Saints -

Philippians The Addressees (1:1b)

Its New Testament usage most likely derives from Daniel 7:18, where God’s end-time people, who receive the kingdom as an eternal inheritance, are called “the saints of the Most High.”