philippians 1:1-1

overview

The New King James Version Chapter 1

1 Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ,

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.

In order to function, any organization must have three things: a system of authority, clearly defined policies, and an objective.

Authority

The first thing a believer must understand if he is to be effective in the plan of God is authority. What is it? Where does it come from? From whom does the believer receive his orders? How is he to know what his duties are? In Paul’s first words to the Philippians, we see three aspects of authority.

Authority requires humility.

Paul’s Hebrew name was Saulos, his family name Paulos, and his tribal name Benjamitis. Saulos means ‚mighty.‛ Saulos Paulos Benjamitis became mighty in the human realm, advancing beyond his contemporaries in the faith of Judaism (Gal. 1:14). But after he met Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, Paul realized he was not as big as he had thought. In time, he began using his family name Paulos, which means ‚little or small.‛

Authority means service.

Paul begins by pointing not to his authority, but to his submission to authority. He says not ‚Paul the apostle,‛ but ‚Paul the bond-servant.‛ The word used here is doulos, which means ‚born into slavery.‛ Paul became a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ by regeneration. Now he belongs to the Savior of the world and his job is to do the work of his Master.

Authority means responsibility.

Those in authority must work harder and their task is more difficult because they are responsible for the people under them. Paul addresses this to the “saints,” from hagios, the root of three key New Testament words: ‚saint,‛ ‚sanctified,‛ and ‚holy.‛ Believers are not always holy in their practice, but they are always holy in their position in Christ. Paul also includes in his greeting the overseers, who are the pastors of local churches, and the deacons, administrators with responsibility for different areas of service

From a study of the New Testament, we can draw an organizational chart for the church of Paul’s day and for today. Paul as an apostle was in authority. Apostles received direct revelation from Jesus Christ, so their authority was based on the spoken Word of God. When the Canon of Scripture was completed around A.D. 100, the office of apostle ended and the written Word became the ultimate authority. Next in rank is the pastor, then deacons, and then the saints or members of the congregation

Objective

When you align yourself with grace and simply receive what God has to offer instead of trying to give to Him, you will have something amazing in your life: peace—reconciliation with God. This is the objective. The word eirene means ‚reconciliation, peace, prosperity.‛ Paul introduced his letters with “grace and peace” and never with ‚peace and grace‛ because only grace produces reconciliation with God (Rom. 5:1). Peace in your life and spiritual prosperity are based on your reconciliation to God by grace through faith. Every time Paul wrote the phrase “grace and peace,” he was summarizing the entire plan of God.