Confident Confidence :: Philippians 1:1-8

– by Delphine Manley –

In nine of his thirteen letters, Paul begins with a statement of his apostleship.  He sets out his credentials in the very first line.  In several of these letters, he states his official position, why he is writing, and why the recipients have the duty to listen.  He identifies himself up front and then gets down to the purpose of his writing, which often speaks to a specific problem or problems within that church.

 

However, this is not true of his letter to the Philippians.  Paul does not need to proclaim his authority or explain why the Philippians should listen to him.  There is a love relationship already flowing between Paul and the Philippians.  This is a letter from a friend to a friend.  It is the most personal of all of Paul’s letters.  Paul knows they will listen, and they will listen with loving hearts.

 

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: 

 

Paul is not alone when he writes this letter.  In verse one Paul identifies himself and Timothy.  There is nothing to lead us to believe that Timothy had anything to do with writing the letter, but that Paul was letting the Philippians know that Timothy was there with him in prison, and that he was grateful for his companionship in his time of need.  Later in this letter he reveals to the Philippians that he plans to send Timothy to them; so perhaps by mentioning him at the opening, he is paving the way for the future announcement in chapter two, verse nineteen.

 

Paul does not announce his apostleship in this letter, but he does announce his servanthood.  Most translations say servant, but the Greek word here is doulos which is more than servant; it is slave.  A servant can come and go as he pleases and can change masters as he chooses, but a slave is a possession of his master for all time.  Paul is letting the Philippians know he is an absolute possession of Christ, and he can never belong to anyone but Christ.  He will give his absolute obedience to Christ, and he has no will of his own.  Every decision concerning Paul’s life he has turned over to Christ, the master of his life.  Even more than this, Paul refers back to an Old Testament title which is “servant of God.”  This was used as a title for Moses, Joshua, David and many Old Testament prophets.  Paul humbly places himself in the succession of the prophets.  He believes himself to be a slave of Jesus Christ and boldly proclaims it.

 

The second half of verse one tells us to whom Paul is writing.  To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons. Saints here means “holy ones.”  These are people who have separated themselves from the world and are different from other people because of their connection with Jesus Christ. The prepositional phrase here in Christ Jesus signifies a personal relationship between the person and the Christ.  That’s the difference from other people that makes the Christian a “holy one.”  Not what he has in his own power, but what he derives through the person of Jesus.  Every person in Philippi who falls into this category finds his name within the ranks of those receiving this letter.

 

The bishops and deacons, included among the saints Paul is writing to, are the church leaders and helpers.  These were persons from among the body of believers who assumed certain responsibilities in the local church.  Paul mentions them in his salutation, but he is clearly writing to the whole church.  This letter is for all the members, not just a small group of a chosen few.

 

1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

 

Paul takes the normal greetings of two great nations and he molds them together.  Every Greek letter began with the Greek word for grace.  The normal Hebrew greeting when Jews met each other was peace.  Paul combines the two greetings here, but he identifies and deepens them when he prays their grace and peace will come from God the Father and Jesus Christ the Lord.

 

The basic ideas in the Greek word for grace are joy and pleasure, brightness and beauty.  Through Christ Jesus man receives grace and is no longer a victim of the law of God, but he becomes a child of the love of God.  Through the relationship of grace man discovers the beauty of knowing God the Father through Jesus Christ the son.

 

When you understand the Hebrew word for peace you see it is more than the absence of trouble.  It means a total well being, everything that makes man’s highest good.  Add to this the meaning of the Greek word for peace. This peace has to do with man’s personal relationship in three areas: to himself, to his fellowmen, and to God. It is a peace born of reconciliation.

 

William Barclay in The Daily Study Bible says, “When Paul prays for grace and peace on his people he is praying that they should know the joy of knowing God as Father, and the peace of being reconciled to God, to men, and to themselves – and that grace and peace can only come through Jesus Christ.”

 

Paul Expresses His Thankfulness and Prays for the Philippians

Now we enter the portion of Philippians where Paul expresses his deepest emotional feelings for the Philippians.  When the Philippians heard these words read from Paul’s letter they had to know for certain he truly loved them.  In verses three through eight you can feel the joy and love flowing from the heart of Paul.  Even though his personal circumstances were unpleasant, in his heart there was great joy and in his mind were wonderful memories.  He expresses these memories and this joy at the opening of this letter.

 

1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,

Every time?  Paul was speaking of human beings. We all know human beings are not perfect.  Everyone makes mistakes. At times everyone creates unpleasant circumstances affecting those around them.  Before his conversion, Paul had been a Pharisee.  He had been a hard, negative, judgmental person who considered it his God-given duty to take care of those he did not consider to be moving in the right direction. What changed this man from the condemning Pharisee into the man who thanked God for other men and women every time he thought of them?  It was his response to the love Christ had given him.  He had never forgotten the change the love of Christ had made in him.

 

Love made the difference.  Remembering his own relationship with Christ gave him the ability to remember the Philippians with joy.  Sure he could have recalled unpleasant things about the Philippians, they were humans as he was, but because of Christ’s love Paul had developed “the fine art of forgetting.”  In Christ he had chosen to concentrate only on the positive and the thankfulness for each person brought a flow of expression of God each time they crossed his mind.  What a joyous state to live in!  Memories of people cross your mind and you let your gratefulness flow back to God.

 

1:4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy,

Paul not only thanked God for them, but he prayed for them always.  It is significant that he says for you all.  He uses the phrase for you all many times, telling us that everyone was included.  Every time he remembered everyone, he always thanked God for them and offered prayer for their needs.  That takes a deep commitment.  Every time for every one?

 

But we need to note how Paul prayed for them.  He prayed with joy.  This was not a duty or obligation for Paul.  It was not a ritual he followed religiously for some ulterior motive.  This was fun for him!  He got a kick out of it!  He was so secure in the love of Christ and so dead to his own self-centered desires that he found joy in talking to God about the needs of others.

 

1:5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now,

 

Now what was the key factor in the relationship between Paul and the Philippians that warranted these feelings and brought about this devotion of Paul to their needs and their devotion to his needs?  It was their fellowship in the gospel.  The Greek word for fellowship means participation or partnership.  The Philippians partnered with Paul in sharing the gospel.  They had a common bond in Jesus Christ.  Paul met Jesus on the Damascus Road, accepted Him as Lord and Savior of his life and committed his life to Christ and the proclamation of the gospel.  On his first visit to Philippi, he led Lydia, the Philippi jailer, and their households to this same Christ, and they in turn had led others, who led others, who led others to Christ, thus bringing about the present church to which Paul was writing.  The bond of fellowship was the relationship they each had personally with Jesus which gave them relationships with others.

 

The first day was the day they had first shown their obedience to Christ and joined this fellowship.  That was their first day of participation in the gospel, and until now signifies the day Paul wrote this letter.  They had joined Paul and his proclamation of the truth and they were still a part of the advancement of Christ.  It was from this participation together in the common bond of Christ that Paul found more joy and more cause for rejoicing.  In spite of his personal circumstances, confined to a Roman prison, he found joy in remembering the Philippians, in praying for the Philippians, and in their fellowship.

 

1:6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

 

The very foundation of Paul’s theology is given to us in verse six.  This verse holds forth total reliance upon Christ which Paul practiced in his own life and then preached to others.  Paul had a Confident Confidence.  He believed the person of Jesus Christ was responsible for a man’s salvation and that this same Jesus was responsible for present and future victory in the life.

 

Paul speaks strong words of reassurance here.  At the end of chapter one Paul speaks of the Philippians personal persecution when he says to suffer for His sake.  Paul was imprisoned for the cause of Christ, and the Philippians are experiencing persecution for the same cause.  In verse six he points them back to Jesus.  He encourages them to remember who started them in the Christian life.  It was Jesus.  He alone brought them into it, and Jesus alone can work in them until His return.  Jesus has not called the Philippians into something He cannot carry them through.

 

God has not called us to an easy life.  The stress and pressure of surviving as a person in this century is rough, but survival as a Christian and leading our loved ones and other body members calls for a strength we do not possess within ourselves.  The pull and deadly influence of the world is mighty, increasing the stress and pressure on each of us.  But God is mightier!  He did not call us to life in this century to leave us fighting the battle alone.  He does not provide us with doses of strength to use as we feel we need it.  He calls us to Himself.  He is our strength.  Only He has the power to save us, and only He has the power to cause us to live as we cannot.  He is in the middle of every circumstance we encounter.  He takes up residence within us at our point of surrender to Him, and that places Him right in the middle of every trial of our lives.  Each trial is a tool He can use to perfect us.  Every temptation that we defeat through Him brings growth in our lives.  The struggles of our life become the instruments of our growth as we daily see Christ’s strength revealed in our living.  We have the possibility of revealing Christ to our world in a way no other has had before.  The rougher the circumstance the greater the power of Jesus can be seen.  We cannot only survive, we can shine through His power.

 

1:7 just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace.

 

It is here that Paul expresses his deepest emotional feelings for the Philippians and gives the basis for and the source of these feelings.  He first of all says he has them in his heart.  It is one thing to have others in our minds where we think of them, but to have them in our hearts has a much deeper meaning.  Our heart is the center of our emotions.  This speaks of a deeper love than that of an acquaintance.  Paul relates to these people at the point of their deepest need as well as their highest joy.  When they are joyous, his joy increases.  When they are hurting, he feels pain.  It is all a part of relationship.  It is what the body of Christ is all about.

 

1:8 For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. 

 

Here Paul speaks of the longing he has for them.  There are various words in various translations to describe this longing.  Some are affection of Jesus Christ, tender mercies of Christ Jesus, and even bowels of Jesus Christ.  The Greek word here is splangchnois.  It means the area in the body which takes in the upper intestines, the heart, the liver, and the lungs.  This is the area the Greeks believed to be the seat of the emotions and the affections.  Paul was telling the Philippians the love and longing he had for them came from deep within him where Jesus dwelt.  This was not a love Paul mustered up on his own, but because he was one with Jesus, this loved flowed from Christ, through Paul, to them.  It is as though Christ is expressing His love through the personality of Paul to the Philippians.  It is true love in its essence.

 

Paul speaks of the love the Philippians expressed to him in verse seven.  They are partakers of grace with him, both in his imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

 

Summary

This letter was from Paul to his beloved Philippians.  It is written in the style of Paul’s day, and is to every member of that body, not to a chosen or designated few.  In his greeting of grace and peace he is praying they will know the joy of knowing God as their Father and be reconciled to Him, to their fellowmen, and to themselves.  This grace and peace is only possible through Jesus Christ.

 

He expresses then his joy in them.  He finds joy in praying for them and every time he remembers them he thanks God for them.  They have joined him in Christian partnership.  They are partners in grace, each individual receiving God’s grace in Jesus Christ.  They are partners in the world of the gospel, sharing in its defense and confirmation.  They are partakers in suffering, sharing in the suffering of Christ to further the gospel.  And they are partners with Christ, allowing His love to flow through them to touch others.  Deep within them dwells the person of Christ, and it is His love that flows through them causing each to long for the other with the affection of Jesus Christ.

 

Paul knows the way is rough but he knows the power and might of God is greater.  “Harken, Philippians, you are not alone!  God called you and God will sustain you!”  Paul’s Confident Confidence was that God began the work and He would complete it.  Each Christian needs only to stand firm in his decision come what may and God will do the rest.  Let the persecution come; God is able to take you through and with each new victory perfect you into His likeness and complete you for His return.

 

Until next time, I have you in my heart.