Philippians 3:20

“For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for. Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ”

“For our citizenship is in heaven”: In contrast to those mentioned in Philippians 3:19. The same type of contrast between "us" and "them" is found in Philippians 3:2-3. Their fate is eternal damnation our "end" is heaven. “ Commonwealth gives. good and consistent sense. The state of which we are citizens is in heaven” (Vincent p. 452). “Is in heaven”: Yet such groups as the Jehovah Witnesses claim that the vast majority of Christians will never see Heaven. “Neither the Roman colonist nor the Christian depended for the meaning, character and purpose of his life on the ethos of his alien environment, nor did he allow that environment to determine the quality of his behavior” (Hawthorne p. 171). See Romans 12:1 and 1 John 2:15. “This metaphor the Philippians would fully appreciate. As inhabitants of. Roman colony they enjoyed Roman citizenship. They might never have seen the Imperial City, but they were under its protection and lived according to its laws and enjoyed the privileges of its residents. So Christians form. ‘colony of heaven'. To it they owe their allegiance and their conduct is regulated by its laws” (Erdman pp. 128-129). As citizens of. Roman colony were expected to promote the interests of their mother city and maintain its dignity, so citizens of heaven in an earthly environment should represent the interests of their true homeland and lead lives worthy of their citizenship” (Bruce p. 133). See the following verses (Romans 8:17; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 12:22; 1 Peter 1:4; Hebrews 11:10; Hebrews 11:16).

“Whence also we wait”: To expect fully. “It indicates earnest, patient waiting and expectation” (Vincent p. 452). Compare with Romans 8:19; Romans 8:23; Romans 8:25; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 John 3:1). “It denotes the withdrawal of attention from inferior objects” (Jackson p. 73). “A saviour”: Our hope is rooted in. "person" and not in some vague concept. “Not this or that heathen deity nor the Roman emperor but the Lord Jesus Christ is the real Savior whom believers are eagerly expecting” (Hendriksen p. 184). “Some scholars have argued that Paul expressed his conviction that Christ would return in the first century, and that in this opinion, of course, he was wrong. This is. mistaken notion. Paul could speak of himself as among those alive at the coming of the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:15), or as among those to be resurrected from the dead (1 Corinthians 6:14; 2 Corinthians 4:14); the point is, Christ could come at any time, but the definite time, according to the apostle himself, was uncertain (1 Thessalonians 5:1)” (Jackson p. 71).