A church was established in Philippi, comprising the saints with the overseers and deacons. In Philippians 1:1 Paul says, “Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the overseers and deacons.” This verse indicates that the church in Philippi was established in good order. Notice that Paul speaks of the “saints...with the overseers and deacons.” This is the only place in the New Testament where such an expression is found. It is significant that Paul speaks of the saints with the overseers and deacons. In every local church the unique group consists of the saints. The saints are the components of a local church. Among the saints there are leading ones, which the New Testament describes as elders or overseers. Both titles refer to the same people. When an elder is carrying out his responsibility in the church, he is functioning as an overseer.
In 1:1 Paul also mentions the deacons. Deacons are the serving ones in a local church under the direction of the overseers (1 Tim. 3:8). The English word “deacons” is an anglicized form of the Greek word diakonos, which means a serving one.
It is contrary to the Scriptures to have different classes of believers in a locality. The New Testament reveals that in a local church there is a unique group, and this group is composed of all the saints. For this reason, Paul did not say to all the saints “and the overseers and deacons”; he said all the saints “with the overseers and deacons.” The Greek preposition rendered “with” actually means together with. If Paul had used the conjunction “and” instead of the preposition “with,” this would indicate that in a local church there should be three groups of people-the saints, the elders, and the deacons. But his use of “with” here indicates that there are not three such groups in the church. Paul’s use of the preposition instead of the conjunction indicates that in any locality there should be just one church, which must include all the saints in that locality.
Thessalonica, like Philippi, was a city of the Roman Empire in the province of Macedonia, north of the province of Achaia. After the Macedonian call, which Paul received on his second journey of ministry, he and his co-worker Silvanus visited first Philippi and then Thessalonica (Acts 16:9-12; 17:1-4). The apostle stayed and worked there for only a short time, probably less than one month (Acts 17:2).
First Thessalonians 1:1 says, “Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Both 1 and 2 Thessalonians were addressed to the local church in Thessalonica, composed of all the believers in Christ in that city. Such a local church is of the believers and is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This indicates that such a local church is born of God the Father with His life and nature and is united with the Lord Jesus Christ organically in all He is and has done. Hence, it is of men (such as the Thessalonians), yet in God and in the Lord organically.
The emphasis on the organic union with Christ is an outstanding feature of Paul’s writings. Although 1:1 is written in a simple way, it nevertheless includes Paul’s characteristic reference to the organic union. In this verse Paul speaks of the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The preposition “in” here is very important, for it indicates that the church is in the Triune God. The church is composed of human beings, but they, the believers, are in the Triune God. On the one hand, the church in Thessalonica was of the Thessalonians; on the other hand, this church was in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
In 1:1 Paul does not merely say that the church is in God; he says that the church is in God the Father. Unless God is our Father, we cannot be in Him. We were not created in God, but we were regenerated, born again, in Him. This means that in creation we did not have any organic union with God or any life relationship with Him. Instead, there was only the relationship between the creature and the Creator. As God’s creatures, we did not have the life of God. However, when we were born of God, our life relationship with God began. This brought us into the organic union with the Triune God. Now God is not merely our Creator-He is our Father, the One who has begotten us.
Paul says not only that the church is in God the Father but also in the Lord Jesus Christ. “The Lord Jesus Christ” first implies that Jesus Christ is our Lord; second, that He is our Savior; and third, that Christ, God’s anointed One, is bringing us into the riches of God and accomplishing everything with us for God.
When Paul says that the church is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, he indicates that we have been born of God and have been brought into the organic union with Christ. The church, therefore, is a group of human beings who have been born of God and who have been brought into the organic union with Christ.
Home | First | Prev | Next