Lesson for January 5, 2020
The Book of Philippians
Chapter 1:1-8
Philippi was a city the Romans had established for its retired military and they had been given great rewards. At the time of writing, the Romans had a system whereby any Roman soldier who won a decoration was given a certain amount of money and at the time of his retirement, a certain amount of land. They were retired in grand style. So, it must be understood that the basic group of people in the Philippian church were retired military personnel. There were also Jews and some Greeks living there.
There are three paragraphs in this chapter. Paragraph one: the super-grace congregation at Philippi, verses 1-11; paragraph two: the super-grace prisoner [Paul], verses 12-19; paragraph three: verses 20-30, the anticipation of ultra-super-grace.
Verses 1-2
“Paul and Timothy, bond-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.
Paul (Paulos) was a Roman surname; Timothy (Timotheus) was a Greek surname– [qeoj = God; timo = honour], he who honors God. After Paul was released from his first Roman imprisonment Paul and Timothy went to Ephesus where Timothy remained as the pastor.
Bond-servants of Christ Jesus calls attention to the spiritual gifts of apostle and pastor-teacher who are communicators of doctrine and responsible to God. This means God (Jesus Christ) is totally responsible for their provision, their blessing, their term of office, and their authority in the local church. Being a bond-servant means giving oneself up to the will of another and is the best form of life when Jesus Christ is the Master.
Saints is a common word in the New Testament for all believers, regardless of spiritual status, meaning to be set apart. Overseersis another title for the pastor-teacher and also means guardian. Overseer is a pastor-teacher who protects his congregation from false doctrine through teaching accurate systematic theology. The pastor-teacher is the spiritual authority in the local church, but he must also have a system of administration carried out by deacons for the function of the local church. The requirement for this position is found in I Timothy 3:1-7. Deacons are those in the local church who assume the administrative and assistance roles as outlined in I Timothy 3:8-13.
Grace and peace are directed toward believers and are therefore referring to the execution of the Christian Way of Life. Grace is God’s policy before and after salvation and must be understood in order to properly execute the Protocol Plan of God. Therefore, we have the importance of clearly understanding Grace Orientation as a way of life. Grace Orientation, therefore, means to become familiar with God’s grace plan and grace policies by adhering to the facts and principles found in the Word of God, which puts you in correct relation to God and others. Grace is all that God is free to do for mankind on the basis of the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Grace is undeserved mercy and unmerited favor. Grace is the title of God’s plan and His policy for mankind. You will never advance in the Christian life until you understand and apply the grace of God. This means you must discover for yourself what the Word of God really teaches about the grace policies of God.
Peace is the Greek word “eirene” and means spiritual prosperity. This is spiritual prosperity based on God’s grace. Prosperity refers to the greater blessings of spiritual growth. The Philippians at the time of this writing were spiritually mature believers, and were under the grace support of God, which included a lot of prosperity. “Grace to you, and peace (prosperity)” is an entire way of life. Prosperity is a part of spiritual growth, spiritual maturity, and it is one of the ways in which Jesus Christ is glorified. God can only give prosperity to those who have the capacity for it. If you are a spiritually mature believer, then you have capacity for prosperity.
From God the Father means that the source of all grace is God the Father, the Author of the divine plan of grace. For all members of the Royal Family of God, He is our Father. And the Lord Jesus Christ means Jesus Christ is also the source of grace and prosperity, along with the Father. Notice that there is no reference to God the Holy Spirit. In this dispensation of the Church Age, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Jesus Christ. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is not mentioned in verses such as these.
Verses 3-5
“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all,in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now.”
I thank my God uses the Greek word “eucharisteo” for thank. “Eucharisteo” comes from two words in Greek [eu = good; charis = grace] and came to mean good grace. Grace oriented people have gratitude, appreciation, capacity. It means to be mindful of benefits, to be thankful and it is correctly translated
“I thank my God.” The Philippians were some of the greatest of memories to Paul; he loved them dearly. He remembers his association with them and obviously he remembers their positive volition toward Bible doctrine. He remembers them in a very special way at this time.
To become a pleasant memory for someone in the royal family requires spiritual growth and spiritual advance. The Philippians were a pleasant memory because they had grown spiritually under Paul’s teaching. Believers who attain spiritual maturity become a blessing by association and this was the memory of that association. As the Philippians advanced spiritually, they became very wealthy. Since Paul was in their memory, they wanted to do something for him and share their grace blessings with him as he had shared his grace blessings with them. His grace blessing to them had been Bible doctrine; theirs was financial success. On three different occasions, having amassed large fortunes, they sent an offering to Paul: 1) at Corinth according to II Corinthians 11:9 and Philippians 4:15 2) at Thessalonica according to Philippians 4:16 3) at Rome during his first imprisonment according to Philippians 4:10,14.
Always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. Prayer is our privilege, but it is also personal and private. Offering is the Greek word “poieo,” which means to perform, to produce, and to accomplish. With joy is reference to sharing the happiness of God every time he prays for them. For your participation in the Gospel means these believers supported Paul and his team financially while on their missionary journeys. God uses advancing believers to provide the support for their pastors and missionaries.
Verse 6
“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Paul had complete confidence, not only in his own spiritual advance, but even much more so in those who were following him closely in the Philippian congregation. Paul received this confidence from Bible doctrine resident in his soul plus his own observation of the Philippian congregation. Confidence is a spiritual asset; it is not a sign of arrogance. This very thing should be translated, “in this doctrine itself.” Paul is confident the Philippian will continue to advance spiritually. He is confident in the principle that when anyone is positive to doctrine long enough, they are going to reach spiritual maturity. Some people take longer than others; some have more set-backs than others, but if you live long enough, the consistency of your own positive volition toward Bible doctrine will result in reaching spiritual maturity, and with it you will have everything that God designed for you. And every blessing that you have glorifies God.
That He Who began a good work in you refers to God the Father, the author of grace. It emphasizes the Philippian progress from salvation to spiritual maturity. Anything that comes from God has to be essentially good, it can’t be anything else. Therefore, the good work that God began in these Philippian believers was good of intrinsic (lasting) value because it came from perfect God.
God the Father provides the support for those who are advancing toward the objective of spiritual maturity and super-grace. For any believer who is positive toward God and His Word, God provides grace support. Until the day of Christ Jesus is a reference to the Rapture of the Church. God’s grace provision is available to the Royal Family of God until the resurrection of the royal family occurs.
God has a plan for every Church Age believer and that plan has certain defined objectives. Notice that the divine objective is never stated in terms of the Christian’s works or production. Divine production does not advance the believer spiritually. Divine production is the result of spiritual advance but never the means. God’s plan and objectives require support from the Planner. Therefore, God’s grace provision will continue with the royal family until their resurrection at the Rapture. God’smaterial provisions will no longer be needed after the Rapture since believers will be in Heaven. As long as you are alive, God has a plan for your life. But you can never fulfill that plan for your life apart from Bible doctrine resident in your soul. All objectives in the Christian life are accomplished through the consistent study and application of Bible doctrine. All greater grace blessings come through positive volition toward Bible doctrine.
Verses 7
“For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me.”
For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all is what occurs when a pastor has a congregation who is positive toward Bible doctrine. In my heart refers to Paul’s feeling of virtue-love for these believers based on his love for God and their love of Bible doctrine. Paul had great fellowship with these believers because of the amount of Bible doctrine they shared.
In the defense and confirmation of the gospel, refers to Paul’s evangelistic ministry and his teaching ministry. To the Jewish unbelievers, Paul had to defend the Gospel against their legalism. To the Gentile unbeliever Paul had to defend the Gospel against their paganism. For those who believed his message, Paul established the Gospel by teaching them Bible doctrine, establishing a local church and leaving them Timothy as their pastor-teacher. The church at Philippi assisted in these ministries by prayer support and giving.
Verse 8
“For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.”
Paul was saying that his love for the Philippians is so deep that he loves them as Jesus Christ would love them. There is no greater standard of love than that related to the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul, as a super-grace believer had maximum love for the Philippians, so much so that he related it to the standard of the love (affection) of Jesus Christ. When a pastor finds a congregation responding positively to his doctrinal teaching, he has both love for the congregation and the desire to lead them to the maximum objective of spiritual maturity and super-grace. This leads to maximum glorification of Jesus Christ.