Slaves to Christ, Saints by Grace: Philippians 1:1–2 Explained

Good morning. What a blessing it is to study God's Word with you today.

My name is Pastor Simon, and welcome to the Preaching Ministry of Dillingham Moravian Church.

Here at DMC, our focus is to make disciples of Christ as we study the Word of God together.

For most of my life, I have loved the books and movies of The Hobbit and The

Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.

I have been really wanting to show my boys the movies directed by Peter Jackson.

However, Abigail and I are concerned that they are still too scary for them.

To ease them in, we watched the old 70s cartoon version of The Hobbit this last week.

And while we were watching, my six-year-old boy Paul got up and came back with

a sugar-free candy for me.

Paul is like that. He often just spontaneously gives gifts to others and to

us, asking nothing in return.

However, this time, I'm not quite sure that Paul expected nothing in return

because I then went out and got treats for everyone.

God, however, in the sacrificial death and resurrection of Christ,

has given His people the undeserved favor of God.

And God's favor never expects return, and His undeserved favor is always given freely. Let's pray.

Oh, Heavenly Father, we are so grateful that You, in Your precious and most

wonderful Son, Jesus Christ.

You have loved us so dearly. You've given us your grace without measure and

without cost to us because your Son bore all the cost.

Thank you. And I pray today as we go to your word,

illuminate our hearts and our minds so that we can see you, so that we can know

you and know what your word is teaching us by your Holy Spirit.

Convict us, encourage us, use us for your glory. In your precious Son's name,

Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

I'd like you to turn with me today to Philippians 1, verse 1-2,

Philippians 1:1–2

where Paul introduced his letter.

Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus

who were in Philippi, with the overseers and deacons, grace to you and peace

from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ.

As we begin a new series in Paul's letter to the Philippians,

there are three central principles or truths that I'd like to show you in this passage.

The first principle is that.

As Christians, we are called to be slaves of Christ and saints in Christ.

One of the great testimonies of self-denial for the gospel's sake in the 19th

century America took place in

Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love in Northampton County, Virginia.

James Burroughs was born a slave and lived in Northampton County, Virginia.

He felt that he was called to preach, but his master refused to allow him the privilege.

He then persuaded his master to permit him to come to Philadelphia to earn money

to purchase his freedom.

In 1831, Samuel and John Bivens, two free men from Philadelphia,

traveled to Northampton County, Virginia.

They voluntarily entered into bondage as security to allow James Burroughs to

travel north to earn his freedom.

The Biven brothers were bound to Burroughs' owner for approximately six months,

and if Burroughs had not returned or paid his debt within that time,

the brothers would have remained enslaved until that debt was cleared.

In 1832, James Burroughs successfully earned the required funds in Philadelphia

and purchased his freedom, as well as the release of the Bivens' cousins.

After securing his freedom, Burroughs served as the third pastor of the First

African Baptist Church in Philadelphia.

I share this historical account with you to impress upon us the sacrificial

love that the Bivens brothers had for James Burroughs,

as they put themselves into slavery for him because they believed in his calling

as a minister of the gospel.

And this concept of being a willing slave out of sacrificial love is how Paul

and Timothy viewed themselves to Christ.

Paul began in Philippians 1, verse 1-2, Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus,

Philippians 1:1–2

to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi with the overseers and deacons.

While Paul was the main writer of this letter, Timothy was mentioned in the

greeting for the purpose of greeting, but also that Timothy agreed with the

content of the letter sent to the Philippian Christians.

And since Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians from prison,

most likely from Rome, it's very possible that Timothy acted as Paul's secretary

since Paul would have been chained to a Roman guard.

Philippi originally was a minor village of Thrace or northern Greece and was

known in antiquity as the Springs until about 357 BC when the father of Alexander the Great,

Philip II of Macedon, conquered the site and rebuilt it. And this is important for our study.

He gave the village his name, Philip's City, or Philippi, fortified it as a

military stronghold in subduing the area and exploited the nearby gold mines.

Later, when Rome conquered the region, became a Roman military base and the

people of Philippi considered themselves as Roman.

And this is the city where earlier on, Paul and Silas in Acts chapter 16 were severely beaten.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

They were put into prison where Paul and Silas sang to God in the presence of

the other prisoners and the prison jailer or warden.

A great earthquake happened where Paul and Silas and the other prisoners were released.

And as a result, the warden listened to the gospel from Paul and Silas.

And then he and the family place their faith in Christ Jesus as their only Lord and Savior.

Back in Philippians 1, verse 1, there are two aspects that I want to bring to your attention.

Philippians 1:1

The first part focuses on Paul and Timothy viewing themselves as bondservants

or bondslaves of the Lord who come as representatives of their master.

So why is it so important that we know that Paul and Timothy were slaves of Jesus Christ?

The Greek word for bondservant in the NASB is, or a servant that the NIV uses,

literally means to be a slave.

Now, this is a hard concept for us in America, but in the Roman Jewish world,

it was a part of everyday life.

The question is, what was entailed in being a bond slave in a Hebrew household?

A bond slave was a Hebrew slave who, after seven years, had the chance to be

released from their slavery.

But because the slave loved his or her master, gave up his or her freedom to serve that household.

Life was often better for the slave under his or her good master than it was

out in the brutal Roman world.

The slave then had his ear or her ear pierced with an earring called an awl,

which marked the slave as being a bond slave for life.

Thus, the big question is, why did Paul, with Timothy with him,

put this verse at the beginning of his letter to the Philippians?

Paul and Timothy viewed themselves as slaves of Christ Jesus,

the anointed king over Israel and Savior of the world, to make it clear who

their lives belonged to, who they served, and by what authority they wrote with.

And thus, God, through Paul and Timothy, were speaking with the authority of

their anointed king and Savior, Jesus Christ.

And it's essential for you and I to understand that Paul wrote his letter to

the Philippians from the standpoint that he belonged solely to Christ and that

his life and his purpose was for the magnification of Christ,

his only Master and Lord.

The second aspect of Philippians 1 is that Paul was writing his letter to the saints in Philippi.

There are two facets, or two ways, that this word saints can be used.

Saints are holy ones, those who are set apart for God's use,

being dedicated or consecrated to the service of God.

However, the word holy also meant perfect, without blemish.

Thus, Paul was addressing the Christians in Philippi as holy ones,

those who are set apart for God's service and seen by God as holy or perfect

and without blemish or blame.

And this concept of being set apart in the holiness of the grace of Christ is

one of the major themes of Paul's letter.

Paul, in Ephesians 1, verse 3-4, instructed, Blessed be the God and Father of

Ephesians 1:3–4

our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the

heavenly places in Christ.

And here it is, verse four, just as he chose us in him before the foundation

of the world, that we would be, what?

Holy and blameless before him.

However, I want you to also see that Paul included, as his intended target for

the letter, not only the general congregation at Philippi, but also the overseers

or the elders and the deacons.

And I believe this is important because Paul was meaning that this letter was

to be taught to the congregation by the leaders of the church,

that the contents of this letter were, and still is,

essential for every individual Christ believer and for congregations to live

out the holy grace-filled life in Christ.

So, what can we as Christ believers today learn from Philippians 1.1?

There are two applications that we can learn. The first way that we can apply

verse 1 is that we are called by God to consider ourselves as slaves of Christ Jesus.

Now, I'm not suggesting that we all go out and sell ourselves into slavery.

Yet, the Lord through Paul is calling us to have the same kind of abandon of

our own personal comforts, our rights, even our own desire to rule ourselves,

as Paul and Jesus had, in order to reach the people around us with the gospel of Christ.

Our extended family members, neighbors, co-workers, villages,

communities, regions, and states and even nations need Jesus.

They need the saving gospel of Christ communicated to them.

Our children and spouses need discipleship in the sanctifying gospel of God's Word.

All of this calls for surrendering to Christ's control and power over our lives

as we continually deny ourselves and joyfully, in the love of God,

take up the cross of carrying the gospel of Christ to those around us.

God through Paul is asking us, including me, who is our master?

Do our own desires and wants and comforts rule us?

Or is it our good and faithful Lord Jesus Christ, truly our master?

Listen to what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 14 to 15. And this is awesome.

2 Corinthians 5:14–15

For the love of Christ controls us.

Having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died.

Meaning, we died to ourselves.

And he died for all, so that they who live would do what? no longer live for

themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

The second application for Philippians 1, verse 1 is for us as Christians to

Philippians 1:1

trust and live in the reality that we are saints, that we are set apart in Christ's

holiness to accomplish Christ's purposes in this life.

In our everyday lives where our sin-infected flesh wars with our spirit,

It may seem at times like the flesh is winning.

Yet I want to encourage you of the reality that if you have truly surrendered

your life to Christ as your only Lord in response to God's grace,

you have been made holy and blameless before God.

You have been set apart to live for God's holy purposes.

You have been made anew.

You may say, Pastor Simon, I understand that positionally I am holy and blameless

before God in the heavenly spirit realms.

But what about down here where my life is hectic, filled with temptation and trials?

How am I to live a wholly set-apart life for Christ here in this life?

Paul instructed a struggling Timothy to fan into flame the calling that God has put on his life.

And how is Timothy to do this? Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 1, verse 6-7,

2 Timothy 1:6–7

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God,

which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

For God gave us a spirit not of fear. Here's what I want you to see.

Power, love, and self-control. You may not be a pastor or missionary,

but God has laid His calling upon your lives.

He has set you apart and dedicated you to serve Him and live only for Him.

Christ has given you the Spirit of God to indwell you and I,

and the Spirit's power and love and self-control is there for us to access so

that we can live wholly unto God, to love God and others.

Including our families, and to personally experience the love of Christ.

We have also been granted the ability to use the self-control of the Holy Spirit Himself.

The problem is that we do not believe these truths really deeply.

We might mentally understand them, but in the depths of our souls and our wills,

we just don't want to believe it and act accordingly.

In our self-focused flesh, we want to do what we want to do,

and operate under our own power. But the question is, what are we missing?

We are missing the very love and power and self-control of God Himself in our lives.

And if this is the case for you, then I strongly urge you to repent.

Trust in Christ Jesus your Lord, and let Christ operate you in the Holy Spirit.

The second foundational truth of Paul's introduction in his letter to the Philippians

was that God has given his people his undeserved favor.

This truth leads us to Philippians 1, verse 2, where Paul wrote,

Philippians 1:2

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let's look at the first foundational gift of God to his people in verse 2.

The first gift that Paul extended to the Philippians was the grace of God.

I want you to see that the word that Paul used for grace meant the undeserved

favor of God towards his people.

Another way of seeing grace is that it is goodwill freely disseminated by God,

especially to the benefit of the recipient, regardless of the benefit accrued to the disseminator.

Meaning that God in Jesus Christ freely gave His goodwill or favor to His people,

and the people of God did not have to give God anything to receive favor.

And let's look at Ephesians 2, 1-8, where Paul wrote.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked,

following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the

air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience,

among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the

desires of the body and mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the

rest of mankind. And here's what I want you to see.

But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love for which he loved us,

even when we're dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. And here it is again.

By grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him

in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace

and the kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.

Again in verse 8, For by grace you have been saved through faith.

This passage reminds us that we as humans were dead in our sins and we were

objects or targets of God's wrath.

We were complete and utter slaves to sin and to Satan.

We had no spiritual life in us and we were destined for hell.

But God, I love that, but God,

in His great mercy because of what Christ did on the cross made us alive in

Christ and recipients of the grace of God which we by faith received or through faith received.

And we who did not deserve mercy from God were given it in overflowing abundance.

We still are. God's grace is completely unearned and nothing we can do.

To earn God's grace or his undeserved favor.

God's undeserved favor has been bestowed on us by Christ through his sacrifice

on the cross and resurrection.

Thus, Paul in verse 2 shared and extended the undeserved favor of God with the church in Philippi.

And the message was this, that as they responded to God's grace by faith or

through faith in Christ,

the Philippians, who are now in relationship with God, were recipients of the

undeserved favor of Almighty God.

You see, the Philippians needed to hear this truth because all their lives they

grew up in a religious system based on works.

Work to please their so-called gods of Rome, to offer the right sacrifices so

that the gods were pleased with them.

When false gods, as we know them now, in the Roman Pantheon,

were pleased, the gods were believed to bless the people with material wealth,

fertility, good crops, and safety.

The Philippians were mired and enslaved to a system where to receive the favor

and approval from their idol, they had to earn it.

Now, we also need to know that this special favor of God was and is appointed

for the people of God alone.

Paul was writing and addressing believers in Christ in Philippi,

who were part of the larger body of Christ's church.

It was through the church of Christ that Paul extended the grace of God to.

It's important that we understand that while God loves all people and desires

for them to be saved, It is only those who are chosen to surrender to the lordship

of Jesus Christ as they respond to the grace of God.

It's only the chosen ones who are saved from the wrath of God.

It was also critical that Paul was not referring to universal salvation here.

And although loved by God, the world was and still is enslaved to the passions

of the sin-infested body and under the temporary dominion of Satan.

And I bring this to your attention because Paul's welcome of the believers in

Ephesians 1, verse 2, into the undeserved favor of God was not a call for universal

Ephesians 1:2

salvation, regardless of whether they believe in Christ or not. Why?

Because the world and the people in it were still trapped under the control of sin and Satan.

We'll study more about this theme later. We can learn from the truth that God

has given His people grace.

We need to know that you and I do not deserve any mercy from God at all.

It is not due to any works of ours that we are allowed to have forgiveness and new life in Christ.

It is solely because God loves us.

Hebrews 10, verse 17 stated that if we've been born again in Christ,

Hebrews 10:17

not only has God the Father forgiven us because of Christ's sacrifice,

He has also forgotten our sins.

Our sins are gone from the mind of God.

And if you're listening to this message, and you are being overwhelmed with

thoughts of uselessness or of no worth,

or you are struggling with the guilt of past sins, or maybe circumstances feel

overwhelming, do not give up.

God loves you so much that he allowed his son to be murdered on behalf of you

and of all believers in Christ.

And if you're not a believer in Christ today, today is the day of salvation.

Do not put off what you can do today.

Surrender yourself by faith to the Lordship of Christ. Even now,

as you're listening to me, and forgiveness and the undeserved favor of God will

be yours in Christ Jesus.

We need to remember though that grace is not about letting us do what we want.

Grace is about loving and forgiving us and making us right with God so that

we will be free to live abiding in Christ and leading others to abide in Christ

as we wait for Christ to return.

I want to encourage us to that in order to faithfully stay in Christ in the

midst of daily challenges that we face and on the uncertainty in our nation and world,

we must understand and believe just how much God loves us and that he has given us so much grace.

We also need to understand and know that grace is not meant to be kept for ourselves.

Rather, grace is designed to be given out.

And please listen to this. Grace is never earned. It is always, always given.

Let me say that again. Grace is never earned. It is always, always given.

And thus, even though people may hurt us or misunderstand us,

we are to extend God's undeserved grace to them unconditionally.

Paul extended God's grace to believers and others, and so also must we.

With the extra losses of losing so many loved ones in our region,

substance abuse and other forms of abuse going on.

Homelessness is on the rise again, marriages and families are struggling,

It would be so easy to allow ourselves in Christ's church to be impatient and

hurtful and bitter towards each other and to look down on those outside the

church who are struggling.

And yet God gave us his undeserved grace and peaceful goodwill so that we can

extend the unmerited favor and goodwill of God to others.

So far, we've learned that Paul shared the truth that the Philippian believers

in Christ were indeed favored by God.

Not only were the believers favored by God, but they were also given God's peace.

And this leads us to the third main principle that Paul extended to the congregation in Philippi.

Paul communicated that God has brought his people into a state of well-being with him.

Over the last few years, I have had stomach problems, a hernia,

and high blood pressure issues.

The two common denominators of what has been going on with my health comes down

to my not-so-great diet and a lack of exercise.

So the more I exercise and eat better, the better I feel.

I share this because our health is an important part of our well-being,

one that I have been somewhat neglecting.

And yet health is only one aspect of our whole well-being that God is concerned

about. God's desire is for everyone to be saved from His just wrath and to be

brought into relationship with Him.

God is also very concerned about our spiritual life as we abide with Christ.

I point this out because Paul extended the goodwill of God for the well-being

of the church in Philippi.

Paul continued on with the second gift that God shares with His people.

In Philippians 1, verse 2, Grace to you.

Philippians 1:2

And here it is, peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I want you to see that not only did God freely give out His grace to His people

through faith in Jesus Christ alone, but God's people have also been brought

into a state of peace with God.

According to Bible teacher and apologist Del Tackett, the word that Paul used

for shalom meant all of God's goodwill has been poured out towards His people.

Shalom didn't just mean peace, but all of God's goodwill for that person.

And thus Paul was extending God's good, his love, his mercy,

his protection, his peace, joy, all of it to be given, to be presented and be

with the Thessalonian congregation.

The word peace also meant total well-being, prosperity, and security associated

with God's presence among His people.

Linked in the Old Testament with the covenant, the presence of peace as God's

gift was conditional upon Israel's obedience.

And in prophetic material, true peace is part of the end-time hope of God's salvation.

In the New Testament, this longed for peace is understood as having come in

Christ and able to be experienced by faith.

In Christ, shalom or true peace is the state of well-being that we as Christians

are now in right relationship with God.

Paul was holding forth the relationship with God that the Philippian church

had and was encouraging them to stay in the undeserved grace of Almighty God.

I want to point out another central truth from this verse.

Grace and peace are from both the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul used the word Lord, which was the Greek word kurios, which was the Greek

translation of the Hebrew word Yahweh.

Paul wanted to make it very clear that Christ Jesus was not only viewed as the

anointed King of Israel and Savior of the world, but also that Jesus is Yahweh,

the same God of the Old Testament whom the.

Philippians called God the Father. The Father and Christ Jesus are one.

According to John MacArthur, the conjunction and indicates equivalence.

That is, the Lord Jesus Christ is equally divine with the Father.

Thus, God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are united in giving the same

grace and peace to believers in Christ.

So, how can we apply these truths to us as Christ's disciples today.

As Christians, we must know and trust that we are now right with God in Christ Jesus.

In Christ Jesus, God the Father has extended to us all the wholeness of God,

His unity, His love, His joy, and peace that surpasses all understanding.

And as we surrender to the Holy Spirit's control and Christ's lordship over

our bodies and our thoughts and our words and our actions, Christ will begin

to heal us of the brokenness that sin has caused in our lives.

Even in challenging or traumatic circumstances, Christ will grow His joy and

peace in us because God is now with us and living in us in Jesus Christ.

More and more we will see our lives take on the characteristics

of Jesus Christ because we are now in right

relationship or in shalom with the

whole trinity father son holy spirit and if

you are listening today and you are experiencing the

brokenness due to your past sins or present

ones know that when you have surrendered your life to christ jesus as lord and

savior repented of your sins and obey christ's word as you trust in god with

your thoughts your emotions your families even your relationships All of these

things will begin to heal.

Will start to, and for some of you, experience more of God's shalom in your life.

God will give you His full goodwill upon your life.

Why? Because God is now with you and He's in you and working through you.

Trust this truth and walk according to the ways of God's Word.

The first truth that god has left

us with today is that we are called by

god to consider ourselves as slaves of christ jesus

secondly we have learned that god in

jesus christ has extended to us his undeserved and

unmerited favor because of this favor god the father is now well pleased with

us the second overarching truth that is or the third overarching truth that

is essential for us to understand is that due to the sacrificial offering of

Jesus Christ and his resurrection on the cross,

we who have responded in faith to Jesus Christ as our sovereign Lord have now

entered into the shalom of God, the peace,

the well-being of God.

God now has directed all his love, his peace, his joy, his good favor towards us.

And with his good favor comes his spiritual healing, the wholeness and the completeness

that can be only found in Almighty God.

And I encourage you and all of us to trust and rest in the truth that as believers

in Christ, we are so well loved in God.

God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one God.

And we must trust in who God is.

And in trusting who God is, we, you and I, must trust in who we are in Christ.

We also must trust that we do have the healing, the wholeness and the fruits

of the Spirit that we've been promised in Christ.

And as we trust Christ.

Trust in His love, and obey His word, the more and more God's shalom will be displayed in us.

So go now, walk in these truths, walk in obedience to Christ as we live in the

shalom of God. Let's pray.

Oh, Heavenly Father, what a privilege it is to be able to hear from Your Word,

Your truths, that we are now in the shalom of God, that we have been given your

wonderful grace and your wonderful holistic peace,

that you have given us your complete well-being extended to us. Thank you, Lord.

Help us, Lord, to live in the truths of your word. May we follow you every day of our life.

Every moment, may we abide in you. May you work in us for your honor and glory.

In your precious Son's name, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

I'll leave you with this blessing from Romans 15, verse 13.

Romans 15:13

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,

so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope.

Have a wonderful Sunday. May the Lord bless you.