After the arrival of the Europeans, the first form of government in North America was colonial. There were the thirteen English colonies as well as French and Spanish colonies. Many of the people living under those colonial regimes didn’t like the treatment they were receiving. There were plenty of reasons for colonists to complain against their particular mother country. And as a result there were several wars for independence – not just the American. But not everything about being a colony was bad. To be a British colony, for example, meant that there was guaranteed trade with England. And there was the British military to protect those colonists from the French and Spanish. Sometimes there was government money spent to bolster the colonial economy. There was the regular transmission of the mails – communication with the family at home. But I suppose, like ourselves, even colonists remember the bad things before they do the good.
Likewise in Biblical days there were pros and cons about being colonies of Rome. During the Roman Empire there were hundreds of cities and provinces under Roman dominion. And each of these little pockets had differing degrees of political blessing. Israel was under the thumb of Rome, but because of its religion and history, it was not held in very high regard by the Emperor. On the other hand there were many places, miles from Rome which were considered to be little parcels of Roman soil, and the people of those communities were given special privileges. For example, the Apostle Paul was a Roman citizen even though neither he nor his parents had been born in Rome. It was simply that the Asian province of Celicia was considered to be a Roman colony, and all the people who were born there were automatically Roman citizens. Celicia had performed some memorable service to an earlier emperor, so she had been blessed. Those citizens had protected trade privileges with Rome and the other colonies, and they had special personal rights, such as judicial privilege and appeals to higher courts. The same was true of the people of the Macedonian city of Philippi, but not so with Judah and Jerusalem. So when Paul wrote to the Philippians, these words had special significance to his readers.
What does the word “conversation” here in this verse mean to you? I say, “here in this verse,” because the English word “conversation” is translated from several Greek words. For example, in some cases the word speaks of a person’s “manner of life.” And in some cases it refers to the usual business of “speech.” But in this case “politeuomai” (pol-it-yoo’-om-a-hee) means “citizenship.” It isn’t found very often in the Bible, and neither is its root word “polites” (pol-ee’-tace). But the prodigal son “went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.” And “Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.” When this verse speaks of “conversation” it is more literally speaking about “citizenship.” And Paul was saying, “Behave like good citizens of the gospel kingdom.”
But notice that Paul was not saying, “You should discharge your civic duties like good Christians.” This wasn’t Paul’s exhortation for Christians to grab the reigns of human government. Rather, he was saying the same thing that he said at the end of chapter 3: “Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” The Lord wants us to remember that we are citizens of an heavenly country. He wants us to be loyal to that King, to extend His frontiers, to defend His Name and bring Him glory. It sounds very similar to what Queen Elizabeth I, and James I and other English monarchs wanted of their colonizers in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Christians should remember WHERE their CITIZENSHIP really is.
As a child, when I left Canada and moved to the United States we found a different attitude and culture. My parents felt it more than I did, and they did everything that they could to maintain their Canadianisty. My dad joined just about every Canadian and English organization that he could find. But there isn’t that much difference between Canada and the United States. I can just imagine the mixed emotions for someone coming from a more radically different country. And I wonder how Paul felt, even as a Roman citizen, to actually be in Rome. But when he wrote back to the Philippians, he exhorted them, not to be Macedonians, but to be Christians in a Roman society.
It is our responsibility to discipline our consciousness. Do you ever speak about your future life in Heaven, even though you may think of it as a lifetime away? The Bible tells us that we are “compassed about with an innumerable company of angels” watching us. Do you ever think about that fact? There is a connection between life on earth and what goes in our Capital City. Not only are the angels our witnesses, but they are our helpers. And the Lord Jesus is in there, preparing a place for us and interceding on our behalf. Forever the Word of the Lord is settled there, and yet holding sway over the people of earth. And where exactly is the home of the Holy Spirit?
Should it make us sad that we are not home? No it shouldn’t. We are not in Heaven tonight because the Lord needs ambassadors here in this earthly realm. But that ambassadorship makes our contemplation of home that much more important.
When I said that when my parents did things to help them remember Canada, Judy probably smiled. Because she knows that there are several things in her husband’s life, by which he remains tied to his home and native land. But am I sad or upset to live here among you? Not in the least.
Just as there was a little bit of Rome and Celicia in Paul’s heart, there was a much more of Heaven. And the same should be said of you as well. We are indwelt by the Spirit of God, who is the seal and earnest of our Heavenly citizenship. Here we have no continuing city, all that we have is transitory; the world passeth away. We are people looking for a city, which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
As dual citizens, we have the complex INTERMINGLING OF LAWS which we must obey.
The people of Philippi were required to live by the laws of Rome. Even though Philippi was a part of the province of Macedonia, the laws of Rome came first. And Christians must follow the same pattern politically and morally.
There was Daniel, a citizen of Judah, but a resident in Babylon. There was a Babylonian law which said that no man could pray to any god or man, except to the king. Daniel said, “Whoa, this law contradicts the clearly defined law of Heaven. I must first obey God.” The Jews told the Apostles to stop preaching in Jesus’ Name. “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.”
There are several ways to symbolically describe the Christian life. One of the best is through baptism. The Christian is someone who has been slain, embalmed and buried. But through his new King, he has a new life. The old citizenship failed him and now he has a new citizenship, to which he owes everything. As Christians we should live the gospel. We should hate sin and the things of the world, and we should love righteousness, and the things of eternity. “No man can serve two masters.”
A third aspect of our Heavenly citizenship ought to be to FIGHT for the ADVANCEMENT of that kingdom.
“Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. . . that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.” What do you think about this interesting statement: Someone suggested that Christians should pray that ISIS would become as weak in their faith as North American Christians are in theirs. He reasoned – that is the only way to stop them. They would stop themselves. Ouch! Good point, but a little too sharp. Our problem is that we are not suppose to be mere nominal Christians. Christians are supposed to be spiritually acute, but I’m afraid that we are not.
First we need to be defensive: “Stand fast.” Maintain your spiritual ground, your faith, the doctrines which the Word of God teaches. “Reprove, rebuke and exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” Resist the devil, rebuff the spiritual enemy. Hold the fort until the Lord arrives.
But while defensive, we must be careful not to crawl into a shell and suffocate. We also have a command, a duty, to earnestly strive for the faith in an offensive thrust. Jude 1:3 – “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” It should be obvious to all of us, that Satan is well entrenched in the world today. It is important that Christians remind him and his minions that there are a few of us alive and well even if they are within bow-shot of our position. We need to be like Jonathan, ready to attack even a foe as formidable as Satan. “Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.”
Something else of which this scripture reminds us, is that our citizenship is WORTHY OF THE LORD.
And that means victory. Let Satan have his slings and arrows, his stones, his mortars, his smart bombs and neutron bombs. In the Lord Jesus there is victory. So that “in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.” “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”
Paul was a citizen of Rome, but when this letter was written he was also a prisoner in Rome. This, of course, made his Heavenly citizenship that much more important to him. But how did he behave before his captors? He behaved like a victor. He prayed for his jailers and guards and he preached the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Like Paul, we are on the winning side if our citizenship is in heaven. So, “let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ:.”