The Christians Dual Citizenship
I’m going to be mixing in old remastered and re-edited content with entirely new stuff so that I can keep the podcast weekly.
Seeing how it is an election year, and an especially contentious one, I thought it worthwhile to repost a sermon I did on Philippians 1:27-30 several years back. In it, I make a basic argument that though our citizenship is in heaven we still possess an earthly citizenship with corresponding duties.
I hope you find this helpful. I’ll be posting whatever notes I have with all future episodes of This is Foster. The new episode is up on Spotify, iTunes, etc.
Philippians 1:27-30 reads:
"Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.”
The letter to the Philippians was drafted by Paul during one of his many imprisonments, but it’s hard to say exactly which one. I’m inclined to believe it was one of his later imprisonments, perhaps the one detailed in the closing verses of the book of Acts. Paul, though being Jewish, was a Roman citizen. And with his citizenship came the right to call for a trial before the emperor.
In the latter chapters of Acts, Paul is being harassed by a group of Jews who not only are spreading lies about his teaching but who are conspiring to kill him. Word gets out that the Jews are going to do this, and the Roman authorities bring Paul to a Roman court, called a tribunal.
In Acts 25, Paul says:
“I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know. If, then, I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.” Then when Festus had conferred with his council, he answered, “You have appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you shall go.”
In Acts 27, Paul is being transported to Rome for his trial before Caesar Nero by a ship that gets caught in a massive storm at sea. All the men begin to panic, fearing death, but Paul calms them saying:
“Yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’”
Paul knew he would stand before Nero, and he intended to use that opportunity to not only clear his name but magnify the name of Jesus Christ by preaching the gospel to Nero.
But Caesar Nero was a madman. He came to power when he was 17. His early reign wasn’t as extreme, with him being guided by his mother and the famous Roman scholar Seneca. However, Nero became increasingly drunk with power and tyrannical. He eventually had his own mother put to death and was known as a compulsive, corrupt, and morally debauched leader who eventually killed himself after being declared a public enemy by the Roman Senate.
Before his death, Nero became the first Emperor to target Christians for persecution. Some claimed he used them as scapegoats for the great fire of Rome in 64 AD, which devastated Rome’s economy. After that event, Nero started systematically torturing and executing Christians.
This is the crazy, God-hating tyrant Paul is going to stand before. We don’t have a record of what happened at his trial. We do, however, know what happened at his preliminary trial. Not entirely unlike our legal system, there were pretrials before the actual trial. Paul gives a short report in his last Scriptural writing, 2 Timothy. It was probably written just after the great fire of Rome when Nero started to actively persecute Christians. Thus, the entire book is very sober. As a matter of fact, Paul is expecting to die.
In 4:6-8, he says:
“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
And then in 4:16-18, he writes of his preliminary trial: “At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”
The reason no one stood with Paul is because they feared the wrath of Nero. Being associated with Paul—with Christianity and with Christ—could cost them everything and result in a slow, painful death.
But Paul was ready to die. He knew that there was a higher judge than Nero and that he would be safely brought through this life into the kingdom of heaven. This is why I believe that Paul is writing from one of his later imprisonments, prior to his preliminary trial and before Nero became the persecutor of Christians in the aftermath of the Great Roman Fire.
In Philippians, we see a Paul who is contemplating his death and finishing the race well. Two weeks ago, we studied v. 21-26, which begins with “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” From there, he lets the Philippians see the inner workings of his mind as he debates the outcome of his trial.
He is ready to die for the faith and go to heaven (which, as he says in v. 23, is much better) but he believes (v. 25-26) “that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again.”
This is the mind of a godly Christian father. He is a man who longs for heaven but is concerned for the wellbeing of his children. Many men have told me that their biggest fear when it comes to death isn’t death itself but knowing that their family will be taken care of and do well after their death. This is the mind of the Apostle and why in our passage he pivots from his situation to his concern for his spiritual children, the Philippians. He wants to see them progress in the faith. He wants to know that they are pursuing Christ whether he is with them or away from them.
v. 27 “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel…”
The word "conduct" here is translated from a Greek word which meant to “behave or live as a citizen.” The concept of citizenship grew out of the Greek empire and matured in the Roman empire. Not everyone under Rome’s rule was a citizen. It was a coveted legal status granted only to some, which protected certain rights in the empire. Beyond having property rights, voting rights, and access to certain judicial benefits, it was also associated with a certain kind of virtuous living.
For example, Roman citizens were expected to possess virtues like:
Comitas - which meant an ease of manner and friendliness
Dignitas - which meant a sense of personal pride and responsibility
Pietas - which meant a sense of duty to the natural order of things
And there were many more.
The Philippians understood this concept because they were a Roman colony and therefore possessed that highly prized Roman citizenship. So Paul draws on this concept in this letter. In Chapter 3, he says, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…”
So just as there are benefits and responsibilities with Roman citizenship, so there are with heavenly citizenship.
So what are some of the benefits that come from being a citizen of heaven? The benefits which in this life do flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification are assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Spirit, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end. Pretty good, right? But wait, there is more…
We also receive benefits from Christ when we die. The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection. And there is more yet… we get even more benefits from Christ when we are resurrected. At the resurrection, believers, being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of God to all eternity.
It’s good to possess the rights and privileges of a heavenly citizenship secured by Christ. But just as a Roman citizen was expected to exude Roman virtues, so it is true of citizens of heaven. Hence, Paul says, “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” He is saying live out your citizenship. You are forgiven saints. You are a child of God. You are an ambassador of heaven. Now act like it. Live a life that is worthy of the gospel.
Don’t misunderstand. He isn’t saying you can deserve or earn the gospel. No, quite the opposite. It’s the same idea you find in 1 Cor 6:20 which says, “For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”
You have been bought. You have been redeemed. Christ died to save you. Now live in light of that salvation. That’s what Paul is calling for here. And he tells us how to do it. If you are going to live a life worthy of the gospel of Christ, it’s going to require three things.
#1 Standing Firm #2 Striving Together #3 Suffering Well
v. 27 “…I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit”
To stand firm means you are rooted in your faith. The phrase “stand firm” in the Greek is a military term, used to describe holding one’s position while under attack. So picture a group of Roman soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder, shield to shield, protecting each other from an onslaught of attackers. They aren’t giving an inch to their enemies. They are resolutely holding the line.
That’s the picture that Paul is painting here. As soldiers stand shoulder to shoulder protecting each other, so believers must stand shoulder to shoulder, protecting each other from false doctrine and worldly temptation.
Beloved, if you are going to live a life worthy of the gospel, it means standing firm in the faith. It means being immovable when it comes to the essential doctrines of the faith. It means clinging to the orthodox truths that were once for all handed down to the saints. As Paul told Timothy, it means “retaining the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.”
One of my good friends here in our church has a motto: “No compromise.” And it’s true of him. He is a man who will stand for what is right no matter the cost.
We live in a time where every biblical doctrine and principle is under assault. We need Christians who are resolved to stand firm.
We need men and women who stand firm when the world teaches that men can be women and women can be men. We need men and women who stand firm when the world teaches that homosexuality is good and acceptable. We need men and women who stand firm when the world teaches that marriage isn’t necessary. We need men and women who stand firm when the world teaches that all religions are true. We need men and women who stand firm when the world teaches that the universe is the product of random chance. We need men and women who stand firm when the world teaches that the Bible is full of errors. We need men and women who stand firm when the world teaches that men are inherently good. We need men and women who stand firm when the world teaches that men can atone for their own sins by doing enough good deeds.
Living a life worthy of the gospel means standing firm on biblical truth, no matter what it costs.