Partners in Grace

Our Goal:

Walk through Scripture in such a way that we understand what is being said and then are able to apply it to our lives.

That we may be encouraged to act and follow in obedience.

An introduction to the Book of Philippians

Philippi was a Roman colony and leading city in the district of Macedonia.

The planting of this church can be seen in Acts 16 starting in verse 11.

Lydia was the first person that we see converted “A purple cloth dealer” and she and her household were baptized. She allowed them to stay at her house.

Paul cast out a demon that got him thrown in jail.

They were delivered by stayed in Jail. The jailer was then saved along with his household.

Map of Philippi

With this context lets dig in.

Philippians 1:1–11 CSB

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus: To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Indeed, it is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart, and you are all partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how deeply I miss all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, so that you may approve the things that are superior and may be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.

A letter from a prominent church leader, to a church that he loves.

He is thankful for them because of their partnership in the Gospel.

He believes that God will complete the work he started in them.

His love for them is prompted by the commonality in Christ.

His desire is that they will grow in love with knowledge and discernment.

So they will know what is right and be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Christ.

to the glory and praise of God.

The Gospel Creates Relationship

The Gospel creates a relationship with Jesus.

All of the people that are involved in this letter are involved because of their relationship with Jesus Christ.

Paul, Timothy, and all the saints.

We are here today because of the Gospel. Because of what Jesus has done for us.

This is the most important relationship that we can have.

You have heard the adage, “it isn’t a religion, it is a relationship.”

This is a true statement. It isn’t about what we do, but what he has done, and the relationship that we have with God because of this.

We must always remember that this relationship was initiated by God!

We often like to hear and share stories about the beginning of relationship. Who talked to who first. Who expressed first interest.

This relationship was initiated by Christ.

Romans 5:8 CSB

But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

He who began a good work… will carry it on to completion.

We know that God will remain faithful in this relationship.

God will not leave us or forsake us.

Temporary nature of human relationships. It can be strange to look back through your life and see all of the relationships that you have had. To see the people who you have been close to, the people you have struggled with, the people who have hurt you. So many times people that play a major role in our lives for a season, then are suddenly no longer in our lives. We do not have this worry with God.

God will always be with us.

This is a relationship that can and should change all of your future relationships.

Like marriage, or a best friend, all relationships that come after are forever altered because of this.

What do a Jewish Pharisee, a half-greek half-jewish boy, and a bunch of people in a coastal city in Greece have in common? Jesus.

The Gospel creates a relationship among believers.

These believers then have a common bond that should surpass other bonds in the world.

On the mission trip, I was able to have a great relationship with people that I had not known previously.

The partnership that Paul has with the Philippians is based upon their shared relationship with Christ.

Family reunions. All these people come together because of a shared relationship with family members.

The Philippians have a relationship with Christ and this is what stirs this affection within Paul. However, it is evident that the actions that have resulted from their faith has deepened that bond.

The way they have partnered in the Gospel. He thanks God because of their partnership in the Gospel.

He has them in his heart because they are partners with Him in grace because of his imprisonment and defending and confirming the Gospel.

It is not just that we are on the same team, it is that we are actively working together to a common goal. This action causes a deep and abiding affection between believers.

Because of all of this we see that the Gospel creates partnership.

The Gospel Creates Partnership

We partner with God through our obedience.

We have the work of the Gospel that is to be engaged in.

The beautiful thing about the Gospel, is that God chooses to use us to proclaim the good news of salvation to the world.

2 Corinthians 5:20 CSB

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”

When we are obedient in living and sharing our faith, we partner with God to present the Gospel to a lost and dying world.

God is the one who convicts, God is the one who saves, but he has partnered with us in that he convicts when His people proclaim the truth about Him.

We partner with one another to share the Gospel.

It is clear that the Philippians have done this. He has called them partners in the Gospel and in how they have defended and confirmed the gospel.

Paul regularly talks about those that work with him in the Gospel. When he does He almost always makes it clear that those he is mentioning he is mentioning them because of their status as a co-worker in the Gospel.

We spoke last week about the situation with Apollos with the Corinthians.

Here is what he goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 3:7-9

1 Corinthians 3:7–9 CSB

So, then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s coworkers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

Some may say this means we are coworkers with God. This isn’t unbiblical as we have already seen we present the Gospel on behalf of God.

This seems to indicate that Paul and Apollos are Coworkers in the mission of God. They are both working on the same team.

We should view one another and those who are faithful to the mission of God outside of this church as our coworkers in Christ.

Churches and Christians are not in the business of competing with one another.

Churches and Christians should be working with one another to fulfill the Great Commission and make disciples of all nations.

The idea of “Building our New Bethel” is not to build this church at the expense of others, but rather to build and to grow in such a way that Hell suffers as people cross from death to life.

We should regularly examine how we can partner with one another.

If we are to share the Gospel, it is better that we do so together.

We partner with one another through the difficulty of life.

Paul expresses gratefulness for the Philippians concern with his imprisonment.

We should be willing to come alongside and care for one another when they face difficulties in life.

The Gospel Creates Life Change

He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Pray that their love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, so that you may approve the the things that are superior and may be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.

We are being brought to a place where we must come to look more like Christ.

This means turning from the sin in our lives.

The more you follow God, the more aware you become of your sin.

Imaging a huge warehouse. You walk in and it is completely dark.

When you come into his light, the dark places you have are revealed.

The process of becoming more like Christ never ends.

We cannot rest in our pursuit of holiness until our holiness matches Christ’s… and that will not happen in this lifetime.

A part of this understanding of who we are in relation to God is that we will see how we have allowed the actions of others to shape us.

A part of this process is allowing God to heal you as well.

A part of the transformation that is found in the Gospel is that we are healed from the hurt that we have encountered as well.

We must forgive those who have hurt us.

Matthew 6:12 CSB

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Going on to say a verse later...

Matthew 6:14–15 CSB

“For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses.

We cannot delight in forgiveness but withhold it from others.

We must seek to faithfully follow Christ.

One thing that is clear in this passage and through the entirety of Scripture is that a relationship with God will impact the way we live our lives.

We talked about the relationship with Christ that we have because of what Jesus did. We know the truth that He will be faithful. We need to seek to be faithful as well.

We discussed Wednesday that the church is the bride of Christ.

In this relationship with God we must seek to be faithful.

A massive part of our relationship is seeking to live obedient and pure lives, not for our salvation, but for the sake of the one who has saved us.

We see in the end of this passage that the purpose of growing in love and knowledge is that we “may be pure and blameless in the day of Christ.

Carrying through this illustration of the church being the bride of Christ, the reason a bride wears a white dress is to symbolize her purity.

2 Corinthians 11:2 spells it out very clearly 2 Corinthians 11:2

2 Corinthians 11:2 CSB

For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, because I have promised you in marriage to one husband—to present a pure virgin to Christ.

Scripture is emphatic about this idea of the Christian and the church being pure and blameless among the world.

This is one of the central themes of Scripture.

As it says in 1 Peter 1:15-16

1 Peter 1:15–16 CSB

But as the one who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.

As long as we are clear that our actions can do nothing for our status of salvation, we cannot overemphasize that our lives and our conduct should be shaped by this relationship with Christ.

Questions to Consider:

Do you have a relationship with Christ?

Have you believed the Gospel?

How are you walking as a partner in grace?

Are you engaged in the work of the Gospel?

Are you coming alongside those who are your partners in this work?

Are you experiencing life change because of the Gospel?

Are you seeking to be pure and blameless on the day of Christ?

Have you forgiven those who have hurt you?