January 29
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PARTAKERS OF GRACE
Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, 5 in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work among you will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus. 7 For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me. Philippians 1: 1-7
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According to David Guzik’s commentary, the Apostle Paul wrote this letter to his close friends, the Christians in Philippi, from his Roman house arrest described in Acts 28:30-31, as he waited for his court appearance before Caesar around the year A.D. 61. The church in Philippi was founded by Paul some eleven years before this letter on his second missionary journey mentioned in Acts 16:11-40. This was the first church established on the continent of Europe.In this letter addressed to all Christians in Philippi and to the church leaders, he always brings grace and peace from God to them all. Only those who are in Christ Jesus would greet one another with grace and peace because only the One true God has grace and peace to give to all His people. In verse 3, we hear Paul’s grateful attitude towards God for all the believers in Philippi and in verse 4, we hear the joyful delight in him as he prays for all of them. There is so much love and joy even at his greetings. It almost sounds like a love letter of someone who have far been away from their loved one. In verse 5, Paul states the reason why he is so delighted with the Philippians, they have continually spread and lived the gospel from the first day they have heard it. In verse 6, he mentions the confidence he has for the completion of God’s work in the Philippian church. In verse 7, he sounds like his heart is bursting of love for all these faithful believers who have continually given him all the support even though he is in prison. They have been so persistent to extent all the support that Paul needed and their faith in him never wavered. They are all spiritually led to do God’s work, and Paul sees all the works of the Spirit and he is so overjoyed that they didn’t doubt of God’s goodness. They are all partakers of the grace that he himself received from God.
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REFLECTION
• How have you manifested grace to others just as you received it from Christ?