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The letter of Philippians was written to the church at Philippi, a major city located in Macedonia, by the Apostle Paul in approximately AD 61. The Philippian Church was established by Paul in AD 50 during his second missionary journey. The Philippian Christians were generous towards Paul, supporting him financially while he was imprisoned for sharing the gospel. A gift was carried to Paul by a man named Epaphroditus, who had been charged by the Philippians to minister to Paul with acts of service. Epaphroditus became incredibly ill when serving Paul, which greatly delayed his return to the Philippian Church. Due to a probable miscommunication, Epaphroditus was highly concerned about returning to Philippi. Perhaps he thought that his illness and delay was a disappointment to the church or there may have been those suspicious if Epaphroditus was ill at all. Paul instructs the Philippians to receive Epaphroditus as a man of honor, reassuring that his illness was certainly significant. The letter was not sent to the Philippians as a thanks for the gift; far too much time had passed and an immediate note of gratitude was likely sent. Rather, the more likely reason for Paul's letter was to prepare them for Timothy's visit, to share his desire to visit the church once again, and to address the issue of two quarreling women who were causing church tensions.
Philippians 1:1-2: "Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.Firstly, we note that Paul and Timothy are identified as the authors of the letter, though scholars are certain that the letter is only written by Paul. Timothy was a well known church leader, was planning to visit Philippi, served with Paul, and may have been Paul's amanuensis (or scribe). Paul identifies himself as a servant of Christ Jesus, an expression of humility compared to his other letters where he immediately identifies himself as an apostle. We see that Paul is careful with his choice of words towards the Philippians; he is not asserting authority but is demonstrating humility by referring to himself as a servant while highlighting the supremacy of Christ Jesus.
The word "saint" is a highly debated word, particularly between Catholics and Protestants. We must allow the Bible to speak for itself and not project our own theology onto the Scriptures. The Greek term for saint, hagiois, is preceded by the term pasin meaning "to all." Therefore, there is no separation from one person or another. "To all the saints at Philippi" with no special emphasis on the term pasin (all) indicates that Paul is not writing to a spiritual elite. These were not "canonized" individuals who achieved a saintly status postmortem; rather, they were very much an alive people with ongoing issues and happenings in their church. We must remember that Paul often refers to Christians as "saints," not because of their personal piety but because they are spiritually unified with Christ, who is perfectly holy and righteous. Since there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1) and those who place their faith in Jesus are now "in Christ" (Romans 6:11), we can rightly conclude that the sainthood of Christians is not earned by their merit but by their relationship with Christ Jesus. Therefore, "all saints" is truly addressed to every single believer at the Church at Philippi.
The use of the terms overseer (a better translation is bishops) and deacons is interesting because it teaches that there were New Testament offices of leadership. Paul's recognition and separation of them from the remainder of the church implies that Paul not only recognizes their authority, but he reinforces and respects it. Let us remember that Paul is the highest earthly authority for the Philippian Church; he founded the church himself and taught many of the Philippians the gospel. Regardless, he does not dismiss the authority that is in place - he supports it. This reinforcement and respect for authority in the church seems to be an extension of Paul's humility in the earlier part of the greeting (where he chooses not to assert his authority as an apostle). We can then tentatively conclude that the letter's initial tone is likely one of respect and fondness. As an aside, while these church offices were established at Philippi, there is no command thus far that we must establish our churches in the same way. There is not a prescriptive statement; no command is given. Rather, we see this as an illustration of a means by which we may set up a church's positions of authority.
We note that Paul greets the saints with grace and peace. The usual Greek greeting in a letter (chairein) is replaced with a spiritual greeting (charis), noting the grace or mercy a sinner receives from "God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." This greeting is a reminder that all are lost and that grace and mercy (redemption) comes from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Note that both the Father and the Son are involved in delivering grace and mercy, which presents quite the challenge to those that deny the deity of Jesus. Both figures are required for the saving of sinners and both figures are together issuing grace and mercy.
Lastly, note that Jesus' name is repeated three times in the greeting alone. This repetition of Jesus' name is an expression of Paul's Christ-centered theology. Jesus is the center of Paul's writings, ministry, and theology.
There are some principles we can glean from this one verse for our own lives today:
1. When we address others, we do not need to impress them with our authority. For instance, to consistently remind others that you are the pastor, the small group leader, or the person in charge of "thus and so" may not always be the most effective means to reach people. While there are times when asserting our authority may be helpful as it may contribute to our credibility or our decision making power (i.e., "I'm your mother, you need to listen to me" or "I'm the pastor, of course I can answer questions for you"), such assertion may not always be necessary. If the most superior apostle can leave out his title, we can too.
2. No matter what authority we have, we are firstly servants of Christ Jesus. We are freed slaves (to sin) who now have the ability to worship God. We must never allow our positions of influence to cause us to think more highly of ourselves than sinners unnecessarily redeemed by the work of another (Christ Jesus). Like Paul, we must identify ourselves as Jesus' servants.
3. Remember that we are saints and all those who follow after Christ are saints as well. Regard one another and yourself in a manner becoming of a saint, but do not allow such saintliness to develop moral superiority or pious arrogance. Recall application number 2 - we are sinners who are redeemed, yet our attitude of joy and the relief of forgiveness must cause us to be rejoicing sinners, not down-trodden self-defeatists.
4. We are to respect the authority in place, even if we ourselves established the authority. If we are the boss and we place someone in charge of a project, we are not to usurp their authority or undermine them.
5. Grace and peace come from the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father. If we are in need of either or both, we can find them in the loving arms of God. We cannot have peace by embracing God the Father but rejecting Jesus or by loving Jesus and ignoring the righteous Father.
All this from two verses. I am always amazed by how much we can glean from the Scriptures when we study them in their original languages. I am indebted to H.A. Kent, Jr. and his commentary for the information regarding Greek translations and the background of the letter.
God bless us and help us as we seek to understand His word and apply it to our lives.
References:
Kent, Jr.,
Homer A. Philippians: Expositor's Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 1978.
