Whatever Happens … Rely on Revitalizing Grace

Whatever Happens

Rely on Revitalizing Grace
(Philippians 1:1-2)

Mr. Christian, the hero in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, had just started out for the Celestial City when he stopped at Interpreter’s house and learned helpful lessons for his journey. Interpreter took him from room to room displaying various items of significance. In one room a fireplace blazed with a roaring fire, but the devil was throwing buckets of water on the flames to douse them.

Christian asked in amazement, “How does the fire keep burning?”

The interpreter beckoned him through the door to the backside of the wall where a man behind the hearth was pouring a constant stream of oil onto the flame, making it unquenchable.

How grateful we are for the secret supply of grace and peace that floods our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The book of Philippians begins on this note:

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:1–2).

There’s enough truth in those two verses to fill an ocean, but for the sake of simplicity let me show you three grammatical prepositions that link the clauses and allow us to follow the logic of Paul’s words. Prepositions are just little things, some of our smallest words, but they’re very important. In a parade, it makes a big difference if you’re before the elephant or behind the elephant. At a funeral, it’s important whether you’re above the ground or below it.

So let’s look at Paul’s three primary prepositions. He tells us that he and Timothy are “servants of Christ Jesus,” sent to all the people who are “in Christ Jesus.” Then he extends to his readers grace and peace “from God our Father.”

Paul listed those in the order that was natural in the writing of his letter, but let’s tackle them in order they unfold in our lives.

Saints in Christ

Paul addressed his letter to “all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi.” Most transitions say, “to all the saints in Philippi,” but the New International Version uses the phrase “holy people” because saints has become a confusing term.

If you asked a person on the street or even at your church to name a saint for you, they might come up with Saint Francis of Assisi or maybe Mother Teresa. Maybe they’d say, “Well, my grandmother was a saint. She was the saintliest person I’ve ever known.”

In the New Testament, however, the word saint simply indicated a Christ follower. The Greek term is hagios, often translated holy, set apart, pure. It was used among secular Greeks to describe something engendering awe. It also came to describe a temple or sanctuary containing beautiful and sacred things not accessible to the public.¹

In the Old Testament, the equivalent Hebrew term described the God of Israel, His name, and the things connected to Him. We read about holy ground, the holy temple, the holy place, the holy of holies. God’s Old Testament people were to be holy, keeping His laws and reflecting His purity to the nations of earth.

In the New Testament, God the Father is described as holy and so is God the Son. God the Holy Spirit actually has the word in His title. But to our surprise, we also discover that we who know Christ as our Lord are called saints or, as the niv says, “God’s holy people.”

It’s important for us to think of ourselves in those terms. Our self-image and behavior are influenced by how we talk about ourselves to ourselves. If you think of yourself as worthless, unlovable, or inadequate, you’ll begin to act that way. But if you say: “I am one of God’s holy people, one of God’s saints,” that will also affect the way you live.

We’re God’s holy people in a twofold way. First, as followers of Christ, instantaneous holiness is conferred on us at the moment of belief. Second, as we grow in Christ, the Lord’s progressive holiness develops within us. We can see both these aspects in Hebrews 10.

Hebrews 10:10 says, “We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” The moment we receive Christ as Savior, we are made righteous in God’s sight. Our sins are transferred to Christ, and His holiness is transferred to us.

If you think of yourself as worthless, unlovable, or inadequate, you’ll begin to act that way. But if you say: “I am one of God’s holy people, one of God’s saints,” that will also affect the way you live.

Consider Edward Creasy, a young man who joined the British army and fought in France and the Middle East during World War I. In May of 1921, he was captured and condemned to be shot by a Polish firing squad. But he told them: “The Union Jack [the flag of the British Empire], though invisible, is around me. You will hit the British flag if you fire. You dare not do it.”

The firing squad hesitated, then lowered their weapons.²

In the same way, the righteousness of Jesus Christ is wrapped around us. We’re shielded by His enveloping holiness. The devil may accuse us, but he cannot successfully attack and condemn us. We may not yet be all we should be, but we are wrapped in and vested with the holiness of Christ.

Four verses later, in Hebrews 10:14, we read: “For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Do you see the twofold aspect of this? You have been made holy (v. 10), and you are being made holy (v. 14).

David Allen in his commentary on Hebrews wrote, “The author is making good use of the Greek tense system here to contrast the perfect finished work of Christ on the cross and its sanctifying effect on believers (verse 10) with the ongoing work of progressive sanctification here in verse 14.”³

Theologians use the phrase “already but not yet” to describe this process. We are instantaneously declared holy when we receive Christ as Savior, but we progressively become more holy as we follow Him in discipleship. We are God’s holy people in Christ.

That was Paul’s trademark phrase—in Christ.

The word “in” means to be positioned or placed within a certain environment. Think of the atmosphere. We’re surrounded by air, and air is within us, in our lungs. If we’re locked in a vacuum chamber and the air gives out, we’re no longer in the air and the air is no longer in us. We’ll die.

When we receive Jesus Christ as Savior, we are enveloped in Jesus. He is the environment of the soul. He is in us, and we are in Him—His holy people.

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Taken from “Whatever Happens: How to Stand Firm in Your Faith When the World is Falling Apart” by Robert J. Morgan. Copyright 2024 by Robert J. Morgan. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson Publishing.