The Bible tells the story of the restoration of God’s good world, not humanity’s escape from it.
This post is a part of our examination of common passages in scripture that have traditionally been interpreted as communicating the idea that the ultimate goal for humans is to leave the physical world to live in the spiritual location of heaven for all eternity.
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But our citizenship is in heaven.
Philippians 3: 20a (NIV)
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The first part of Philippians 3, verse 20 (as cited above) is one of the more commonly-referenced verses used to support the idea of the faithful ending up in heaven for all eternity after death. But is that really what Paul is talking about in his letter to the young community of believers in Philippi?
In this post, I’ll be re-examining the message that Paul is making to determine if he’s pointing to us ending up in heaven for the rest of eternity, or if he’s making a different point entirely.
Paul’s letter to the Philippian congregation is not long. I would recommend you take 10 or 15 minutes to read it before we start. This is a good practice to get a feel for the overall tone and message of the letter (not to mention this is the way that it was intended to be read).
At a bare minimum, it’s beneficial to read all of Chapter 3.
The Original Audience
One interesting thing about Paul’s use of the phrase “Your citizenship is in heaven” is the significance of who he’s saying it to: the believers in Philippi.
Philippi was a city in the eastern portion of Greece.
By the time Paul first arrived in Philippi during his second missionary journey (around 49 or 50 A.D.), the city of Philippi had been in existence for about 400 years and had over time been under the control of several different authorities (the Greeks first, then the Macedonians). And about 100 years prior to Paul’s arrival it was overtaken and colonized by Rome.
Once it was overtaken, Rome released some of the soldiers that fought in the battle to conquer it (as well as other Italian citizens) take up residence in the city. Soon thereafter, other changes were made to the city in the effort of making it like a “little Rome” — a Roman-style forum was added to the city, it was placed under Roman municipal law, and two Roman officers were placed over the city to govern it directly.
This means that by the time of Paul arrival, the city of Philippi was, in every meaningful way, Roman — its inhabitants were largely Roman in origin (or lineage), it was under Roman governance and rule, and its culture was Roman.
To summarize: Philippi was Greek geographically, but it was Roman in identity.
And this means that anyone who lived in Philippi was living in one place, while their citizenship was in another.
Heavenly Citizenship vs. Worldly Citizenship
Paul was drawing a parallel that the Philippians would understand because of their context as inhabitants of a colonial city. In essence, he was saying:
“Though you are citizens of a worldly kingdom and are subject to its culture, remember that your true citizenship and your true culture is not of this world. Though you are located in a place that thinks, moves, operates, and is governed in certain ways, you — being people governed by a different (heavenly) authority — are to think, move, and operate differently than the people around you that don’t live under that authority.”
Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Philippians 3: 17-21 (NIV) [emphasis mine]
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Paul wasn’t telling the Philippian believers that God’s goal for them was to live faithfully so that they could earn an escape from their earth-bound location to live forever in a spiritual, heavenly location. What He doing was pointing to the culture and governance that they were to live their lives under.
He was encouraging them to be a people of the culture and life of heaven, rather than that of the godless, worldly culture around them — because in the end, the ruler of the heavens would come back and transform their bodies (as well as the world), bringing “everything” under his control.
In Closing
When you read the entire Philippian letter, you see that it’s an upbeat, heartfelt letter of thanks and encouragement to the Philippian body of believers. Paul bounces back and forth between acknowledging how much they mean to him, updating them on the events of his life (he was in prison in Rome at the time), and encouraging them in their ongoing life as the living, moving community of Jesus.
The letter is overwhelmingly about living in the kingdom.
And this is in line with the consistent messaging of Jesus and the other apostles. Their message was not one of people following the right rules to earn acceptance to a heavenly place after they die. Jesus’ message (as well as the apostles’) was one of being a part of the kingdom of God on earth (Matt. 6:9-10) — and the beauty of life in the kingdom of God is that it will survive even death itself (as Christ had already taken power over death once and for all by his death and resurrection [Heb. 2:14]).
The life of the (heavenly) kingdom that you are a part of now will continue after your death and it will be the only reality after Jesus returns and puts everything under his good rule forever.
Brothers and sisters, Paul’s message in Philippians isn’t about leaving the earth to go to heaven…but it’s still incredibly valuable.
It’s a reminder and an encouragement for members of Jesus’ body to live in our true identity as citizens of God’s beautiful, world-restoring, everlasting kingdom, rather than living like the fallen, temporary, kingdoms around us. While living in peace in whatever kingdom we’re a part of, our allegiance should not be to that kingdom. We should see things through the lens of heaven, not the lens of the world.
As the community of God, we should give people a view into a culture and way of life that is totally contrary to the kingdoms of the world.
By our collective life as the community of God’s people we should highlight for the world around us these truths:
Earthly kingdoms seek power, but the heavenly kingdom seeks to empower.
Earthly kingdoms make war, but the heavenly kingdom pursues peace.
Earthly kingdoms perpetuate fear, but the heavenly kingdom lives only in love.
Earthly kingdoms encourage division, but the heavenly kingdom encourages unity.
Earthly kingdoms look to men for leadership, but the heavenly kingdom is led only by God.
Earthly kingdoms seek independence from God, but the heavenly kingdom exists in full dependence on God.
Earthly kingdoms seek their own glory, but the heavenly kingdom seeks to glorify God alone in all things.
God’s kingdom is not like the kingdoms of this world, thus God’s people should not operate like the world — as a people we should be distinct in pretty much every way.
A valuable message indeed.
Your fellow citizen of heaven,
Alex