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Paul’s letters follow the standard form of those days. The introduction stated who the letter was from and who it was to, and a greeting. The key elements are how Paul identifies himself, and the nature of the greeting. The letter is from Paul and Timothy. This does not imply that Timothy had anything to do with the writing of the letter. Paul was in captivity at the time, but Timothy was free and was continuing the work of the gospel, continuing Paul’s work.
Paul identifies himself as a servant, or slave, of Christ. There are two possible meanings of the word slave here. One is relating to how a slave could gain their freedom, by becoming a “slave” of a “god”. This is why Paul sometimes boasts that he is a slave of Christ. He has become free by becoming a “slave” of Christ. In letters like Galatians this idea is almost certainly relevant, but in Philippians it probably isn’t the thinking behind Paul’s use of the term. Rather he is simply stating that he is glad to be a servant of Christ.
The letter is written to all God’s saints in Philippi. Saints means holy people, and means people set apart for the purposes of God. Being a “saint” is not a special status applied to only a few special individuals, but applies to all God’s people. We need to realise that we are set apart for the purposes of God in the world today. If we look at life and see it purely in a self-centred way then we will never understand what life is really about. If instead we seek out God’s purpose we will make much more sense of life.
The overseers and deacons are those who had leadership roles in the church. Note that they are mentioned last. Leaders are important, but are no more important than anyone else.
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