An Exposition: (Philippians 1:1) "In Christ"

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,  
   To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: (Phil 1:1)

The greeting in a letter is often scanned without much thought or fanfare given to the content -- much like the opening credits of a film: the audience tends to view it as a distracting formality, and not part of the content itself.

But if we hold to the inspiration of scripture (as I hope you do) it follows that even the simple opening lines of the letters were chosen intentionally, and have something to say to the reader today.

 In the simple act of identifying the author and recipient of the letter, we learn much about: how the authors identify themselves (and something about their theology), how they identify their audience, and something about the intended purpose of the letter itself.

"Paul and Timothy" are credited as sending this letter.  Some letters, Paul sent in his own name only.  Peter's letters only carried his own name, as did James and Jude.  John didn't even use his own name.  But Paul chose to include Timothy's name along with his own.

Paul was conscientious about fulfilling the command to 'make disciples'.  He did this with regular believers, but beyond that, he also specifically trained leaders (like Timothy and Titus) to equip the Church, and he trained his leaders to do the same.  Including Timothy's name beside his own, he has included Timothy in the writing of this letter.  He is not threatened by the rise of new leaders, but rather, he is helping them rise.  All who read this letter will now identify Timothy as a faithful Christian leader in whom Paul has confidence.  As such, they too, will have confidence in him.

They identify themselves as servants of Christ Jesus. This is one of Paul's favorite titles for himself. The greek word used is servant or slave, but the manner in which Paul uses it springs from an Old Testament practice of voluntarily committing to the lifelong service of a master you love, even after he has declared you a free man. (1,2)  This is a beautiful picture of the gospel.

Specifically, they are servants of Christ Jesus.  Paul might have said "God", or "the Lord" or even "the Lord Jesus Christ" (which he uses later this chapter)  but he chose "Christ Jesus".

For one thing, this affirms Jesus' Resurrection.  Obviously, one cannot be the personal property of a dead man or an idea.  If Raised, then that affirms His humanity.  This was important in the period where Greek understanding of metaphysics had a dim view of the material world, and Gnostic heresies were rampant.  At the same time, no pious Jew would hold a mere man in the place of esteem that only God deserves.  This would be idolatry.  One must conclude, if he is no idolater, that Paul is affirming Jesus' divinity.

Notice the lack of title "Lord" with His name.  I would argue that this omission, together with the devotion implicit in his use of servant, takes us beyond the mere Sovereign/subject relationship and sets up a genuine personal affection for Jesus in Himself, apart from the titles, majesty, and the creature-ly obligation of worship. It underscores his own eagerness to do so freely and with joy.  This ought to move us to a similar adoration not merely of God in the abstract, but of the person of Jesus himself.

Now to the recipients.

This was an open letter to "all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi".  It was customary for the Early Church to gather together and read aloud the letters they and other Churches had received from the apostles (Example: 1) publicly and for the edification of all.

The word "saints" causes some confusion.  It can be translated "holy", "sacred", or "saint".  In today's vernacular, that often expresses a person of magnificent character, or who is unusually self-sacrificing in some way.  That is not what is being said in this context.

Paul's letter is directed to a large group, a body from which two smaller groups (overseers and deacons) can be identified.  The modern sense of the word would stress "few" but this stresses "many" especially with the use of "all".  In fact, the "all" is to bring attention to the wide scope of people the letter is intended to benefit.  This isn't just for the guys in charge, but to "all the saints" meaning, the whole assembly of believers.

I especially appreciate that Paul mentioned the entire city.  Doubtless there are factions of believers here, as there were in Corinth.  (Some follow Paul, some Cephas, etc).  Nevertheless, the message was for all believers throughout the city regardless of their sectarian loyalties.  This is consistent with Paul's vision of the unity of Christ's body transcending our various differences.

"In Christ" is key to understanding Paul's use of "saint" (sacred/holy).  It is the hinge upon which his epistle to the Romans turns:  we have been united to Him in His death, and raised with Him in new life. (see Romans 6 for more detail.)  This is the New Birth, the Gift of Christ's Righteousness ('alien righteousness'), our Adoption as Sons and Heirs.  This is the Sinner's hope of the Gospel, and the faith we profess.

Finally, it addresses those who lead in the Church, in 2 categories.  The "Overseers" and the "Deacons".  These two categories of leadership are both important in the Church.  In order to become such a leader, one must first demonstrate certain qualities of Christian maturity, wisdom and character.  At least, that is the Biblical expectation.

They differ in the roles they play, however.  The Deacon - as we see in Acts 6 is important in that it makes sure the day-to-day operations of the church are correctly tended to.  In this case, the feeding of widows.  In the modern sense, this can take various forms.  Key to the understanding of this passage is that the Twelve understood the importance of the continual giving of themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word.

How many pastors today are so burdened with the minutia of book-keeping and building maintenance that they cannot give proper place to the very thing that the Twelve carefully guarded their time for doing?  If you read to the end of that passage in Acts, once the Deacons step up and take up the miscellany of running the Church, and free up the Twelve for prayer and the ministry of the word, what happened in verse 7? A "move of God". 

7. Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.

Maybe Churches today could look to see what lessons could be learned from that?

To sum up:
We saw where Paul and Timothy looked to find their identity.  It is "In Christ".
We saw where they looked to find the Church in Philippi's identity:  also "In Christ".

This tells us where we ought to find our identity.  More than our position in society, employment, position in family, education, where we're from or where we think we're going.  We, too, must look to Christ to find our identity.  Ultimately we are either "in Him", or we are Outsiders(1), "strangers to the covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world"(2).

If you find yourself in the second group, and desire mercy, cry out to Him, he is good and gracious to give it.