Beyond Emmaus

This is the fourth in a series of posts exploring the roles ascribed to Christians by looking at the example of Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:25-29.

See also:

• Part 1: Introduction
• Part 2: Brother
• Part 3: Worker

As a Christian, how comfortable are you with the role of soldier, of knowing you are called to battle? I don’t think there’s any genuine believer who truly feels at home with the idea, and those who actually enjoy fighting might do well to reconsider their over-zealousness!

Confusion as to how we are to battle and who exactly we are fighting likely yields more contention both among and against Christians than simple gospel proclamation and gospel living does. My hope in this post is that we can have a better understanding of our role as soldiers and how we can fill that role while being a blessing to those around us instead of anathema.

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This is the third in a series of posts exploring the roles ascribed to Christians by looking at the example of Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:25-29.

See also:

• Part 1: Introduction
• Part 2: Brother

Saved By Works

Here is a bold statement: A Christian is one who is saved by works. Now, before getting all sola fide, sola gratia and Ephesians 2:8-9 on me, let me explain. A Christian is not one who is saved by his own works. Rather, he is saved by the works of Jesus Christ. This is the inherent difference between man-made religion and gospel religion. These two opposing views are usually referred to simply as religion and gospel.

We are saved by the works of Christ, which is summarized in the book of Hebrews:

Hebrews 9:24-28
For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

See also Romans 4:25 and Galatians 1:4, though there are ample more examples. This is the central message of the Gospel as presented in Bible, that Christ died to save sinners. We are saved by the works of Christ.

Saved For Works

The question that follows this statement is, “Why?” Why did Jesus die for sinners; what was his purpose?

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This is the second in a series of posts exploring the roles ascribed to Christians by looking at the example of Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:25-29.

See also:

• Part 1: Introduction

A Brief History

Throughout Biblical history the people of God have been a family, and it is through this family that God chose to work to rescue a people for himself—from every tongue, tribe and nation—and make them a holy nation and a kingdom of priests. It began with God’s call of Abram out of the land of Ur (Babylonia, present-day Iraq) to go to a new land and settle there. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham and promised to bless him and make him a great nation and through him to bless all the families of the earth, thus proclaiming the gospel to him (Galatians 3:8). In his old age, according to God’s promise, Abraham had a son named Issac; Issac had twin sons, Esau and Jacob, and God chose Jacob to inherit the covenant promise made to Abraham. Jacob, whose name God changed to Israel, had twelve sons whose descendants became the twelve tribes of Israel. Of these twelve, God’s promise of an offspring to bless the whole world continued through the line of Judah from whom we get Jesse’s son, King David, “a man after God’s own heart,” from whose line would eventually come Jesus, the Messiah promised to Abraham (Isaiah 11:10; Romans 15:8-13; Matthew 1:1-16).

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This is the second in a series of posts exploring the roles ascribed to Christians by looking at the example of Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:25-29.

See also:

• Part 2: Brother

In Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi he says to, “Keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us” (Philippians 3:17). In other words, act like those who act like the apostles. Earlier in his letter, Paul briefly speaks of two men who serve with him, Timothy and Epaphroditus. Now, Timothy is a fairly well-known character in the New Testament, with two letters written to him from Paul being recorded in the New Testament canon, in addition to Paul mentioning him in many of his other letters. Epaphroditus, however, is only mentioned in Philippians. But what little is said about him we can learn from and emulate just as Paul encouraged his readers to do.

Philippians was written as one of what is commonly called Paul’s prison epistles, which he penned while being held on house arrest in Rome (Acts 28:16). It was during this time that Epaphroditus was sent from the church at Philippi to deliver gifts to Paul to support him in his ministry while he awaited trial (Philippians 4:18). As a result of his journey Epaphroditus became gravely ill and almost died, but was spared from death by God. Since word had gotten back to the Philippian church about his sickness, Epaphroditus was worried that they thought he had died and so Paul was eager to send him back “so that you may rejoice at seeing him again and that I may be less anxious.”

It is Paul’s introductory statement on Epaphroditus that I’d like to focus on. He says that Epaphroditus is his, “brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need,” which is an apt description of the multifaceted roles of all Christians.

• As brothers, we are members of God’s family and heirs to the promises God made to Abraham and the nation of Israel.
• As workers, we have been assigned good works to complete while in this world in order to advance God’s kingdom and shine the light of Christ into the darkness.
• As soldiers, we do battle against the spiritual forces of evil who are at work in the “sons of disobedience,” meaning we are on both offense through prayer and evangelism and on defense through faith and what is called Christian apologetics.
• As messengers, we deliver the Gospel of God’s salvation which is made possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
• As ministers, we are the means by which God reconciles the world to himself.

Through the course of this series, I would like to look at each of these roles in depth to see how Christians are to assume all these roles in living out their faith.

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