Philippians - Joy In All Seasons
Week 2 - A New Way of Life Part 1: Saints and Slaves

Servants is the word for slave, and saint means “set apart ones.” The introduction to Philippians leads us to ask what should a Christian life look like (or what is a Christian). Many answers to that question tend to be very self-centered or works centered. The true answer is that we are saved by the sheer grace of God, we are Servants and Saints. People will use this phrase, “A Christian is a sinner saved by grace,” and while true, there isn’t a place in the Bible where we are told to first and foremost identify ourselves as a “sinner.” That is not our identity.

When we talk about the Gospel, we mean that the Son of God came to earth and triumphed through weakness and suffering. He overcame our shame and guilt by taking it on Himself at the cross. As a result, when we are “in Christ,” we are justified by God and yet still sin. Martin Luther called it simul justus et peccator, simultaneously a terrible sinner and yet absolutely loved, justified, accepted in God’s sight.

Servants – The word for servant is the Greek word doulos and it means slave. Technically it means (voluntarily or involuntarily), “one who gives themselves up to another’s will.” Voluntarily it happens when we serve Jesus despite our own self-interests. Involuntarily is everyone on earth without Christ, we are/were slaves to sin. Imagine in Paul’s day if you were wealthy and owned slaves and now you hear Paul telling you that we are ALL servants. Does that change your view of your slaves? Does it change your view of yourself?

To the Greeks and Romans everything was about honor and status. A slave who was crucified is as low as you can go, and here Paul is saying that Christians are a group of people who say, “We admire, we venerate, we worship, and we serve a crucified Savior named Jesus.” We consider ourselves slaves to a slave; Paul knows exactly what he is saying and so should we.

Saints – The word saints is a translation of the Greek word hagios, which means “holy or set apart ones”. We are “in Christ,” not because of what we have done, but because of what God has done. We become a saint not by our own work, but by God’s work in Christ.

We tend to take grace and turn it into works, but that can/will never happen. We are meant to be defined by our union with Christ, not our union with our sin. We still struggle with sin, but we take our ultimate confidence not from our own victories over sin but Christ’s victory on the cross. John Calvin wrote “We know God only in Christ, through the Gospel.” Whether heavenly or earthly opposition, whether external or internal opposition, we have absolute and unqualified assurance: nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ and that is what makes us “the saints.”

As Paul writes these letters, preaches and teaches, he keeps telling people the Gospel and explaining who we are from God’s perspective. For Jesus, eternal life wasn’t a state of being for the future that we would enter into somewhere else; it is a quality of life that starts now. I am living more and more in connection with God, and I will live connected with God forever. We can move on from our sin, not because sin isn’t serious, but we take seriously who God says we are: Servant and Saint.

CONVERSATION:

Opening Questions:
• Share a time when you felt like you finally “belonged” somewhere. What made that experience meaningful?

• What is a Christian?

Discussion Questions:
• How does our culture typically define identity? How does this differ from the Biblical view?

• What does it mean to be both a servant and a saint? How do these identities work together?

• Why do you think we often find it easier to identify as sinners rather than saints?

• How might viewing yourself as a saint change your approach to daily challenges?

• In what areas of your life do you still try to earn God’s approval?

• What is one practical way you can remind yourself of your true identity this week?

• How can we help each other live out our identity as servants and saints?

Personal Application:
• Write down three ways your identity as a saint should change how you live.

• Choose one area where you have been defining yourself by your failures and actively replace that with truth about who you are in Christ.

• Look for opportunities to remind other believers of their true identity in Christ.

Prayer Focus:
• Celebration: Share a moment when you felt truly free in Christ.

• Challenge: Share an area where you struggle to embrace your identity as a saint.

• Community: Pray for each other to live in our true identity in Christ.