The New Testament book of Philippians is known as a letter of encouragement and joy. Ironically, the apostle Paul wrote this letter while imprisoned in Rome. He opens the book by addressing his listeners as “the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi” (Philippians 1:1, NASB).
Before we delve into the beautiful depths of that greeting, consider the memory Paul had of his founding of the church at Philippi. We read of Paul’s first visit there in Acts 16. After sharing the Gospel and casting an evil spirit out of a young girl, Paul and Silas were persecuted by the authorities and thrown into jail. (Yes, in doing the will of God we can find ourselves in challenging circumstances!) During their ordeal in prison, Paul and Silas chose to worship the God who is bigger than our trials. They sang and praised God after having been beaten with rods and placed in stocks. Our very real God chose to shake the foundation of the prison house and set His servants free. (And yes, God intervenes in the tangible circumstances of life!)
The city of Philippi, then, no doubt brought to the surface many emotions for Paul. he remembered severe and physical persecution on the heels of service to the Lord. He remembered, too, an irrepressible joy that pervaded the very place of pain in which he had resided. Paul surely smiled as he recalled singing to Jesus with a bruised back and restrained in a dark place. The smile arose from a heart that had come to understand the inexplicable joy that erupts when a person chooses to place his life in the protection of Jesus Christ. Chains or no chains – discomfort or comfort – Paul and Silas were shielded by the Savior who lives in their hearts. Defying what circumstantial evidence dictates, the Holy Spirit delivers protection incomprehensible. Trust bubbles over. Joy outruns pain.
Fast forward ten years to the early AD 60’s. Now Paul is imprisoned in Rome under the general persecution of Nero. As a prisoner, he is writing to the church of Philippi where he was ten years ago. Armed with the memory of God’s faithfulness in that Philippian jail a decade earlier, Paul greets his friends this way, “To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi.” A deep salutation it is! We Christians today need to claim it as our own. Though we do not live in Philippi, we are the saints in Christ Jesus who are in (insert your own town).
What exactly is a saint? The Greek word behind “saint” here is a word that could be alternately rendered “holy one.” We are saints because we are “set apart for God’s purposes” (the essential meaning of holy). In other words, we are different – and not simply for the sake of being different. We are peculiar because we have been forgiven and made new by the death and life of Christ Jesus. We operate counter to the dark ways of the world. We take the path largely untrod. Our very countenance is noticeably and beautifully strange to the unredeemed, as the light of Jesus Christ shines in us. We operate with different motivation, out of gratefulness and adoration for a merciful God. We are saints, and no one can make a saint but Jesus! Hence, Paul proclaims, “To all the saints in Christ Jesus.”
This point cannot be overemphasized. I am not holy because of what I do; I am set apart because of Him to Whom I belong! Since I am “in Christ Jesus,” I am different. I am in Him; He surrounds me with His presence. As a child in His arms, I rest. As a warrior with Him as my shield, I enter battle. Wherever I am, Christ Jesus is with me, encircling me with His power, and encompassing me with His faithful love.
Since I am “in Christ Jesus,” nothing can touch my life that does not first touch Him! Why were Paul and Silas okay in the Philippian jail? They were surrounded by Jesus! Paul knew nothing invaded His life without first passing through the plan and love of Jesus. Jesus knows our limits and knows the ways in which we need refined. If we are in Him, we have nothing to fear.
Notice, too, these are the “saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi.” Is God really with you in the home in which you live? On the road where you walk? In the office where you work? In the hospital where you recover? In the town in which you dwell? Yes! You are in Christ Jesus, and He is quite literally with you geographically. Christ surrounds you, and He also surrounds the place where you are. He is Lord of all locations! (Psalm 24:1)
We are safe no matter where we are or how we are. We are set apart for God’s purposes as we live in Christ Jesus. We must – like Paul – proceed forward in the high calling of God. Experiences and memories of imprisonment did not thwart Paul. Hard times did not dissuade him. As he sat imprisoned in Rome, he wrote those precious words to us, the saints in Christ Jesus who are in (insert town here).