Title: Are You a Saint, A Bond-Servant, Both or Neither of the Above?
TEXT: Phil. 1:1-2

When I was in school I liked tests with multiple choice, sometimes more accurately called multiple guess questions. You hope something rings a bell when you read the answers and guess which one is correct. But they always throw in the option which reads all of the above, or sometimes none of the above. Then you really have to think about the question and the answer.

In writing this letter to the Philippian church Paul uses two descriptive terms. He refers to himself and his cohort Timothy as Bond-servants and those to whom he is writing he addresses as Saints. This morning we want to examine those terms, asking the question, are you a Saint, a bond-servant, both or none of the above?

I preached a series from this book in 1992, unfortunately or maybe fortunately I didn't keep hard copies of those manuscripts and they were not backed up but on a hard-drive that crashed and burned. It taught me to always backup my computer files. Hopefully this time through the book will be an improvement, not on God's Word obviously, but perhaps my presentation of it.

To get a background on the church in Philippi lets look in Acts 16, beginning at verse 6. Paul and Silas traveling through the regions of Phrygia and Galatia on what we call the second missionary journey was forbidden by the Holy Spirit, which Luke refers to as the Spirit of Jesus in v.7 from going into Asia and Bithynia. Instead he is directed to Troas, where he has a vision of a man from Macedonia in verse 9 calling him to, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." (NAS)

It is at this point Luke appears to become a part of Paul's entourage, notice in the previous verses Luke says they were traveling and they came down to Troas. Beginning in verse 10 he wrote, 10 And when he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. 11 Therefore putting out to sea from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis; 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a {Roman} colony; and we were staying in this city for some days. Acts 16:10-12 (NAS)

Briefly to summarize the events, Lydia is converted, Paul and Silas are cast into prison for casting a demon from a slave girl, the jailer is converted and Paul leaves Philippi. Luke apparently stays there because he doesn't record in the first person again until chapter 20 when Paul leaves for Jerusalem.

Some 10 - 12 years later Paul writes to this church a letter which is a general encouragement to Christian living. In it Paul doesn't deal with any particular error or heresy, not that there weren't false teachers or teachings , but the mood of the letter is more of encouragement to stand firm in the faith, which brings us back to our question.

Paul describes Timothy and himself as a bond-servants, more specifically bond-servants of Christ Jesus. The word bond-servant means slave. A slave might be defined as a person who is totally responsible to and dependent on another person. Much of the world of the first century was made up of slaves. Estimates are as high as one of every five or six persons in the Roman empire were slaves. Possibly a third of the adult population of Rome were slaves.

When we think of slaves and slavery we usually get a negative image in our mind. Living, as we do, in the United States we likely get a picture in our minds of a black person in tattered dirty clothing, perhaps in chains. We might think of hard manual labor. Maybe you get a picture of Charlton Heston working in the stomping in mud with a cruel Egyptian task master standing over him with a whip. Whatever the image that comes to mind it's probably not very appealing.

Paul, however, uses the term in verse one in different way. Here a slave is one who gives himself up to another's will. Paul uses the term in a covenantal sense. In the message last week on freedom, the last thing mentioned was being free to choose what we would be enslaved by, either righteousness or unrighteousness.

At the same time we are free to choose not to be slaves to sin by giving our lives to Jesus Christ, submitting ourselves to his Lordship in a covenant relationship where we willingly give ourselves up to the will of God. The word denotes dependence, obedience, acknowledged ownership and devotion.

Unlike the human institution of slavery, being to be a slave of Christ Jesus recognizes the perfection of God's will as opposed to the fallenness of the human will. It acknowledges the relationship between creator and creation and suggest the desire to live properly related to a God who loved us so much He gave us the freedom to choose not to live in proper relation to Him.

The desire to be bond-servants, or slaves, of Jesus Christ, should be the overwhelming desire of all believers - everyone who has experienced His love, His mercy, His grace, and His forgiveness. The question is, does the shoe fit? Does the description of a bond-servant describe you and your relationship to Jesus? It should, it must.

But what of Paul's use of the term "saints" to describe the Philippian believers? When we think of the term saint we think of someone who is exemplary, above reproach. Some of you from a Roman Catholic background may think of those designated saints by the Roman church. We're probably all familiar with Saint Patrick, St. Jude, St. Christopher - who I think was decommissioned some years ago, and others. These are people who have been set apart from the rest of us by virtue of their deeds including the ability to performed miracles. I think 3 verifiable miracles are necessary to achieve sainthood. These are not ordinary believers, they are extraordinary believers - super Christians. Certainly we could never be on the same level as they are. But is that what Paul meant when he called these believers at Philippi saints? No.

It was a common term applied to all Christians. It was the equivalent of "believers" or "brethren." Though it was a common description, it's use did have strong significance and implication.

The general idea is one of separation, or consecration. It comes from the same word translated holy. It is a spiritual activity and It describes those who are set apart for a holy use and implies those who are set apart in this way should be set apart in both character and conduct. The Bible says in 1 Pet 1:15-16, "but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all {your} behavior; because it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." (NAS)

The late Charles Erdman said:
It was a term applied frequently to Israel as the chosen people of God, set apart from the nations for his service. Quite naturally it was adopted by Christians as the proper designation of the church, which was "an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, " called out from both Jews and Gentiles as the elect people of God. It is an ideal term, indicating not moral perfection, but such a relation to God as makes purity of heart and conduct an obligation for all to whom the term is applied. . . .it implies not only duty, but a glorious privilege. . .they are encouraged to become in actual experience what they already are in the mind and purpose of God. (The Epistle of Paul to the Philippians, Charles R. Erdman, Philadelphia: Westminister Press, 1932, p. 35)

As Saints from what is our character and conduct set apart? The obvious answer is from the world in which we live. We are in the world, but not of the world, because we have been as Paul wrote, delivered from the domain of darkness, and transferred to the kingdom of His beloved Son, (Col 1:13)

The Bible says in 1 Jn 2:15-16, "Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world."

And Rom 12:2 says we are not to be conformed to this world, but we are to be transformed by the renewing of our mind.

The Bible makes clear there is a distinct difference between the ideas attitudes and actions of a fallen world described as the domain of darkness and the ideas, attitudes, and actions of the kingdom of God. John Stott points out that difference in his book Basic Christianity when he said:

Much that we take for granted in a 'civilized' society is based upon the assumption of human sin. Nearly all legislation has grown up because human beings cannot be trusted to settle their own disputes with justice and without self-interest. A promise is not enough; we need a contract. Doors are not enough; we have to lock and bolt them. The payment of fares is not enough; tickets have to be issued, inspected and collected. Law and order are not enough; we need the police to enforce them. All this is due to man's sin. We cannot trust each other. We need protection against one another. It is a terrible indictment of human nature.

As saints, the truth is we are no better than any other person, we are simply sinners saved by the grace of God. Yet because we have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, set apart by the Holy Spirit we are to strive for holiness in all of our actions. It is that distinction that is to set Christians apart.

Paul said it this way to the Ephesian church: And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly {places} in Christ Jesus. Eph 2:1-6 (NAS)

The way of the world is that of disobedience to God, arrogance or pride - the I did it my way attitude, indulgence of the mind and flesh - no limits. On the other hand the character and actions of the believer are based on obedience to God, dependance upon God, Christ-centeredness rather than self-centeredness rather than indulgence the Bible says in Rom 12:1 we are ". . .to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, {which is} your spiritual service of worship. (NAS)

That's what it means to be a saint - saved by the grace of God, set apart by the Spirit of God, submitting to the will of God, striving for the glory of God. This too should be an overwhelming desire for the believer. Does the description of Saint describe your relationship to Jesus? It should and it must as well.

How will you answer the question, Are You a Saint, A Bond-Servant, Both or None of the Above? Certainly you should be both! Jesus calls whosoever will let them come, come to be saints and slaves of the Perfect Master. Will you come?

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