To my horror I realized that I scheduled over a chapter of Philippians reading for Monday's Prison Epistles class so that we could spend extra time in the hymn of chapter 2 thereafter. So I'd better get a crankin'.
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Introduction (1:1-11)
Prescript (1:1-2)
1:1 Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with [your] overseers and deacons,
Although Paul mentions Timothy here in the prescript, the bulk of the letter addresses the Philippians in the singular ("I," "me") and mentions Timothy in the third person (2:19). We can speculate that Timothy may have served as Paul's secretary or amanuensis in the writing of the letter.
Philippians and Romans are the only two places where Paul begins his letter by referring to himself as a "slave" or "servant." In Philemon he does refer to himself as a prisoner. More often he begins by calling himself an apostle. Perhaps it is significant that Philippians and Romans are not letters in which Paul plays up his authority. In Romans he wants to invite the support of his audience and in Philippians he is on some of his most cordial terms.
Paul refers to the audiences of his letters as "saints" or as called to be holy in several of his letters. In both instances the Greek word hagios is involved. To be holy is of course to be set apart as God's. The word itself need not imply any particular inward morality or goodness, as in 1 Cor. 7:14. Something that is God's is not to be treated as "common" or like any other thing. It is on the God rather than human side of the line.
"In Christ" is a characteristic phrase for Paul that appears on nearly every page of his writing. It is for him an essential part of redemption, for we are joined with Christ in baptism, united to his death, so that we might live with him (Rom. 6:4). We live in his faith (Gal. 2:20).
Philippi was a major city of Macedonia, a Roman colony located on the Egnatian Way. Latin would have been the official language of the city, although it doesn't pose any problem that Paul writes in Greek. Acts depicts the founding of the church there during Paul's second missionary journey around the year AD50. If Paul wrote Philippians from Ephesus, then this letter dates only 4 or 5 years later. If he wrote it from Rome, it would date as much as 10 or 12 years later.
The mention of "overseers and deacons" hints at the way Paul's churches were structured. Paul only refers to the church at Philippi in the singular (4:15), so we may only be speaking of a church of 40-50 people meeting in the house of a wealthy patron like the Lydia of Acts 16. This suggests a church governed more by a collection of individuals more than a single leader, unless we are meant to take Epaphroditus in some greater role.
The distinction between overseers and deacons is not made clear. If Acts 6 and 1 Timothy 3 give any indication, a deacon apparently held less oversight and authority in the assembly, perhaps taking on more of a role of the nuts and bolts of the church. Overseers would then provide more spiritual guidance. Acts suggests that it was Paul's pattern to appoint elders in the churches he founded (Acts 14:23), and it makes sense to say that such elders took on these roles.
1:2 ... grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is Paul's standard and perhaps self-styled way of introducing his letters. The word "grace" (charis) resembles the standard letter greeting (chairein) and so may be a word play. Peace (shalom) was of course the standard Aramaic greeting. So Paul's greetings in a way embody his theology of the unity of Jewish and Gentile believer.
That grace and peace comes from our divine Patron, God, our Father. And it is brokered through the Lord, the risen, cosmic king, Jesus the Christ, the Messiah.
Thanksgiving (1:3-11)
1:3-5 I give thanks to my God with every remembrance of you, in every petition of mine for you, making the petition with joy because of our fellowship in relation to the gospel from the first day till now,
Part of the standard format of an ancient letter was a section of thanksgiving to the gods or a word of praise to the gods after the letter opening. Paul's letters, with the exception of Galatians, typically do the same. However, even though the language here is somewhat typical (like "Dear John"), we have every reason to think that Paul meant it sincerely.
This is especially true in relation to the Philippians, perhaps the church with which Paul felt the strongest bond of fellowship.
1:6 ... since I am persuaded of this: that the One who began a good work among you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.
Paul's thinking holds in tension a sense of human responsibility for action along with a sense of divine direction and determinism. In our opinion, Paul never works out a resolution to this tension, and the contrasting schools of Calvinism and Arminianism are the result, with one group emphasizing the deterministic passages and the other emphasizing Paul's sense of human responsibility.
This particular verse focuses on God as the one working in and among the Philippians. Paul believes he can already discern the trajectory they are on, a trajectory for salvation on the Day of Messiah Jesus. The "Day of the Lord" is of course prophetic language that refers to the day of judgment. In the Old Testament it is the day when God finally brings justice for his people.
For Paul it is the day of Christ's arrival from heaven, the day when the judgment of the world begins. It is also the day of salvation for those who because of faith escape God's wrath in judgment. So Paul believes he can tell that they will be among those who make it till the end and escape the wrath of God when Christ returns.
1:7 ... as it is right for me to think this about you all, because I have you in [my] heart, and since, in my chains and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, you are all my fellow partakers of grace.
Paul does not reveal the full dynamic of why he is convinced God will complete the work God began in them, but perhaps he gives a hint here. He knows that God will complete His work among them because he himself has them in his heart. Presumably, Paul does not think he would care so much about them and long for their fellowship if God had not truly chosen them.
And they feel the same way about him. They walk with him and experience God's favor just as Paul does. Paul may currently be waiting trial in prison for his activities in relation to the gospel, the good news that Jesus is Lord. But such suffering for Paul is an honor, a gift from God. He has been granted the honor of defending the lordship of Christ and confirming it by the fact that he stands firm.
1:8 For God is my witness, as I long for you all with the bowels of Christ Jesus.
Paul does not actually swear by the Lord, but he does invoke God as a witness to the truth of what he is saying. And what he is expressing to the Philippians is his deep love for them, here expressed as a longing of his bowels. It was a commonplace to see the heart as the origin of courage and spirit in the chest. The bowels or abdomen then were the seat of desire of a more fundamental kind. Paul has that sort of bond with the Philippians, and it is the same love that Messiah Jesus also had and has for them.
1:9-10 And I am praying this: that your love might multiply still more and more with knowledge and all perception, so that you can discern the things that are superior, so that you may be pure and without blame on the Day of Christ.
Wisdom and discernment are not major themes in Philippians, unlike Colossians, which Paul might have written at about the same time. Paul does address the potential influence of "Judaizers" in chapter 3, an issue that Paul no doubt thought required good judgment.
But in keeping with the theme of God continuing to work in them until the day of Christ's return, Paul prays that they will know how to live in this world, "to discern the things that are superior." Paul is presumably talking about knowing how to live and make the kinds of decisions that will leave them free of blame.
Paul knows nothing of some blamelessness that is a "legal fiction" in which a person is still as much a sinner as before, but only considered pure from a legal standpoint. This verse focuses on the need for God's people to live in the world in a way that is literally considered blameless and pure to God. He surely implies that it is God that gives them the discernment to live this way. But there is no hint of anything but a full expectation of righteous living.
1:11 ... and be filled with the fruit of righteousness through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
The person who is "pure and without blame" is a person whose life is "filled with the fruit of righteousness." Galatians 5:22-23 spell out the kind of fruit Paul likely has in mind. They are things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
To be sure, this fruit comes "through Jesus Christ." It is not something the Philippians might boast about. In the end, as every praiseworthy thing in the cosmos, the goodness of this fruit goes "to the glory and praise of God."
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