Wednesday AM Bible Study; June 18, 2025 from Philippians 4:21-23
Theme: Church family affection involves certain spiritual perspectives that enable our affection to flow in certain relational directions.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
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When it comes to the apostle Paul’s letters, it’s as important to pay attention to the openings and the closings as it is to pay attention to all the details in between. And so, in this final study of his letter to the Philippians, let’s begin this final study by going back to the introduction. It’s found in Philippians 1:3-11, where he writes about the depth of his strong affection for his fellow Philippian believers. He told them,
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God (Philippians 1:3-11).So then; at the very beginning of his letter, the apostle Paul expressed his deep affection for his beloved brothers and sisters. And he also expressed his desire that their affection for one another grow and increase all the way to the day when they finally stand together in the Lord’s presence in heavenly glory. The great theme of his letter has been ‘joy’—experiencing the joy of Jesus Christ in the details of everyday living. And deep mutual affection for one another is key to that joy. That’s why—even in the middle of his letter to them—he wrote in Philippians 2:1-5,
Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others (2:1-4).And now, at the end of the letter, Paul writes these final words of instruction—words that sound very much like the closing of many of his other letters, but that have special significance in the context of the emphasis on joy through mutual affection:
Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar’s household. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen (Philippians 4:21-23).
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If you look carefully at those closing verses, you’ll find that the word “greet” appears three times. The Greek word that Paul was using for the command to ‘greet’ one another is aspazomai; and in this context, it meant much more than simply saying a casual ‘hello’ to someone when they came to the door. It meant to warmly welcome them in such a way as to affectionately draw them into one’s self and receive them into one’s own life. Paul expressed the idea of this kind of affection clearly when he said, in 1:7, “I have you in my heart”. When two people are redeemed by the blood of Jesus through faith, there exists a common bond of love within both of them for the Lord Jesus Christ. And this common bond of love for the Lord creates a bond between them that’s far deeper and more profound than any other human bond on earth. They both love the same Savior, who Himself loves them both infinitely. This creates an obligation to one another and to have an ongoing, increasing attitude of welcoming one another into each other’s lives. As Paul would put it, they’re to welcome each other into their own hearts. There may have been differences of opinion at times; but by God’s grace, they’re obligated to overcome those differences and share a common bond of love with Jesus Christ that ultimately transcends whatever lesser distinctions there may be between them. They are to “greet” each other into one another’s lives in the truest and deepest sense of affection. When we greet each other in this way in the body of Christ, we’re simply reflecting the warm welcome of greeting that we have already received from Jesus Himself. He has ‘greeted’ us and has welcomed us into His own heart in the deepest way conceivable. In His great prayer for us in John 17—just before He went to the cross and paid the debt of our sin for us—He said;“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24).He welcomes us to be sharers with Him in His heavenly glory throughout eternity; and He holds nothing back in doing so. He even desires so much for us to be sharers with Him in His glory that He willingly died on the cross to ensure that we will be there. And if that’s how much He ‘greets’ us—and if we have personally become impacted by His love and have received His ‘welcome’ as we should—then we can’t help but have a mutual sense of affection and welcome, and a true ‘greeting’ toward one another. It’s this deep kind of mutual affection that Paul speaks of in these closing words of his letter. As we look at this passage more closely, we see that church family affection isn’t a matter of mere feelings. Rather, it involves certain spiritual perspectives that enable our affection to flow in certain relational directions. These three verses describe three unchanging dynamics that empower church family affection, as well as three relational directions in which that affection flows. So then; let’s consider … 1. THREE PERSPECTIVES OF CHURCH-BODY AFFECTION. First, notice the word “saints”. It appears twice in this passage. “Greet every saint in Christ Jesus”, he writes in verse 21. And in verse 22, he says, “All the saints greet you …” In other words, one of the perspectives we’re to hold to in our “greeting” of one another is that we’re to regard each other as saints. If that sounds extreme, that’s because we’re used to thinking of the word “saint” as only applicable to someone who is outstandingly holy and sacrificial—someone that some traditions of the Christian faith officially canonized as “saints”. But biblically speaking, the word simply refers to anyone who is ‘set apart’ by God as belonging to Him. If you look at the beginning of Paul’s letter, you’ll see that he has addressed it to “all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons” (Philippians 1:1). It’s obviously assumed that the bishops [that is, the ‘overseers’] and deacons were ‘saintly’. But Paul used the word “saints” to describe all the other believers in the church who were under the spiritual care of those bishops and deacons. This is true even when Christians are not behaving in a ‘saintly’ way. In 1 Corinthians 1:2, he referred to a community of troubled and disobedient Christians as “those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints [or more literally, “called saints”], with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours”. And that’s how we should regard each other—as a people set apart by faith in Christ as belonging to God. We may not always act like what we truly are. And we should always encourage each other to behave more like what God’s word says that we truly are. But if we nevertheless regard each other as people who God loves, and who have been set apart for Himself, and who are destined for eternal glory—then we will truly “greet” each other differently. We will welcome each other into our lives as a special, called-out people; and we’ll say, as King David put it in Psalm 16:3; “As for the saints who are on the earth, ‘They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight'”. Then notice that Paul wrote we’re to greet every saint as “in Christ Jesus”. We might call this the “sphere” in which we are to relate to each other. We mustn’t relate to God’s special called-out people in the mere perspective of the flesh alone. We should relate to each other as “in” Christ. We’re to view ourselves as people who have been redeemed in Christ, who are united to Him by faith, and who now live with and by Him as our Lord. And we’re to have a whole-hearted affection for others who have been likewise redeemed in Christ, who are now likewise united to Christ, and who now live likewise with and by Christ. Those who are saints can only be—as Paul says in Philippians 1:1—”saints in Christ Jesus,” and so, we should only “greet every saint in Christ Jesus”. Think of what Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers in 2 Corinthians 5;
For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:14-17).When we look at one another in Christ, we’re still likely to see each others’ faults and failures. But if we are careful to view one another as “in Christ”, we’ll see each other’s faults and failures as Christ Himself sees them, and will love each other as Christ Himself loves us. And third, notice that we’re to rejoice together in the blessing of grace. Paul says, in verse 23, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all” (or, as some translations have it, “be with your spirit”). “Grace” speaks of God’s unmerited favor. By grace, through our faith in Jesus, all of our sins have been washed away; and we stand before God as 100% acceptable in His sight. By grace, we’ve been freely given all that we need for life and godliness through the immeasurable supply of God’s riches in glory by Christ Jesus. By grace, we’re guaranteed a share in the eternal inheritance of Christ Himself, and will reign with Him forever in eternal glory. When Paul said, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all”, he was basically praying that we will receive, rest in, and rejoice forever over everything that God freely gives us through His Son Jesus Christ. As he wrote in Romans 5:1-2;
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:1-2).None of us—not even the very best of us—can earn such a standing before God. We can only receive it by God’s grace. But this grace has been poured out upon each of us equally. And if that’s how God so richly receives and blesses us—that is, by His infinite grace—then that’s how we need to receive and welcome each other. We need to be ready and eager to forgive each other. We need to be generous in our love and care for one another. We need to encourage each other to take our stand in God’s grace, and to rejoice together in the rich bounty that is ours by grace. We must be a community of people who are characterized by God’s grace—both in the way that we see each other and in the ways that we treat each other. So then; regarding each other as “saints” … relating to each other “in Christ” … rejoicing together in God’s “grace”—these are the perspectives that are to characterize and empower our warm welcome and affectionate attitude of “greeting” toward one another. But these three verses also give us … 2. THREE DIRECTIONS OF CHURCH BODY AFFECTION. You see; after having established the theological ‘basis’ of our affectionate welcome toward one another in the body of Christ, we need to go on to put that welcome into action. And Paul expresses the “direction” that “greeting” is sent out in three ways. First, it’s a welcome that’s to flow from us to every other member of the body of Christ. In verse 21, Paul writes to the Philippian believers and says, “Greet every saint in Christ Jesus.” The warm attitude of welcome and genuine brotherly affection is to be exhibited by us toward each other here in our own church body—and indeed, toward all who are in Christ Jesus. This was something that the Philippian believers may have particularly needed to hear. Apparently, there was a problem between two women in the church—faithful servants of the Lord—who were not getting along with each other. It was most likely causing trouble for the rest of the church family and its ministry. Paul had to write to them in Philippians 4:2-3—and perhaps specifically to the pastor of the church—and say,
I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life (Philippians 4:2-3).May God help us to be sure that we are obeying this command ‘at home’ in our own church fellowship; and that we are truly extending the church body ‘greeting’ from ourselves to ‘every saint’ within the body at large. Second, notice that it is a welcome that’s to flow from other believers to us. In the second half of verse 21, Paul wrote, “The brethren who are with me greet you.” Since Paul wrote these words while he sat in a prison cell in Rome, we should take this to mean that Paul was speaking of those in Rome who were faithfully laboring with him in his gospel work and who were serving his needs while he was in prison. This would include Timothy; who was mentioned at the beginning of this letter; but it probably included many whose names we do not know. It was in this context that Paul gave the Philippian believers an amazing and delightful surprise. He went on to say in verse 22, “All the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar’s household.” Some members of Caesar’s household staff and perhaps some family members—those of Nero himself—had become believers in Jesus Christ and were now among the saints who sent their greeting. Early on in this letter—in Philippians 1:12-14—Paul wrote;
But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear (Philippians 1:12-14).We can learn two things from this. First, we should allow ourselves to be the conduits of “greeting” from one group of saints to another. Paul, it seemed, was thrilled to be able to pass on to the Philippian believers the warm welcome and greetings of other believers who loved them. And second, we should learn to receive that love affectionately from others in the body and in no way hinder it or reject it. As our Lord taught us in Matthew 5:23-24;
“Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24).Finally—and most important of all—we should see this welcome as having its origin in Jesus Christ. It all flows from Him to us. Paul—as his closing affirmation at the very end of his letter—wrote, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” (v. 23). Truly, there can be no better wish we could wish upon one another than that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with us all. And indeed; our warm, affectionate, loving spirit of brotherly “greeting” toward each other can never happen unless the grace of our Lord be with us all first. This would reflect the direction of love’s flow that’s described in 1 John 4:7-11;
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (1 John 4:7-11).
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Now, it’s the desire of our Lord that this attitude of “greeting” prevails among us. And this is, in fact, His way of declaring Himself to an unbelieving world. As He taught in John 13—just after He demonstrated His love by washing the disciple’s feet; and just before dying on the cross for us:“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).May we truly demonstrate that we belong to Him by putting Paul’s command into action: “Greet every saint in Christ Jesus.”