Summary: Bible - Book of Philippians

The GIST

Philippians, a book of the Bible, is a letter written in chains that keeps breaking into joy. It comes from Paul the Apostle, with Timothy named beside him, to the Christians at Philippi in Macedonia, a church Paul had first visited on his second missionary journey, around 50 to 52 AD. He writes as a prisoner who does not know whether he will live or die, and he sounds like the freest man alive. An older commentator boiled the whole letter down to a single line: "I rejoice, rejoice ye".

Scholars agree the material is genuinely Paul's. Where he was held is uncertain: Ephesus and Caesarea have been proposed, and Rome around 62 AD is thought most likely. Since the 1960s many scholars have also held that the letter as it stands was assembled from parts of as many as three letters Paul sent to Philippi, pointing to sudden changes of tone and subject. Four short chapters hold a thank-you note, a self-portrait, a warning, and one of the most studied passages about Christ in the New Testament.

What It Says

Thanks and a prayer (1:1 to 11). Paul and Timothy introduce themselves as "the servants of Jesus Christ" and greet the saints at Philippi "with the bishops and deacons". Warmth comes at once: "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you". Every prayer for them is made "with joy", because they have been partners in the gospel "from the first day until now". He is sure of how their story ends: "he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ". He tells them plainly, "I have you in my heart", and prays that their love "may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment", so that they can tell what is excellent.

The prisoner's report (1:12 to 26). They will be worried, so he gives them the news, and it is not what they expect. His imprisonment has "fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel". Everyone in the palace knows why he is held, and other believers have grown bolder because of his chains. Some, he admits, preach out of rivalry, hoping to make his confinement harder. He refuses to be wounded: "whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice."

Then he thinks aloud about his own death. All he wants is that "Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death." The famous sentence follows: "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." He is torn. To depart and be with Christ would be "far better", but to remain is "more needful for you", and so he expects to stay and see them again.

Standing together (1:27 to 2:4). Whether he comes or not, he wants to hear that they "stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel", unafraid of their opponents. Suffering for Christ, he tells them, has been given to them as much as believing. Then he appeals for unity with all the feeling he has: "Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind." The method is humility: "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." And attention: "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others."

The Christ poem (2:5 to 11). To show what that humility looks like, Paul points to its pattern: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus". What follows moves in two great sweeps, down and then up. Christ, "being in the form of God", "made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men". The descent goes all the way: "he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Then the turn: "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name". The end is universal worship, "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow", and every tongue confess "that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Shining as lights (2:12 to 18). The application comes in a paradox. They are to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling", and the reason is that the work is not theirs alone: "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." In practice this means doing everything "without murmurings and disputings", so that in a crooked world they "shine as lights". Even if his own life is poured out, Paul says, "I joy, and rejoice with you all."

Two friends (2:19 to 30). Paul hopes to send Timothy soon, and pays him a rare compliment: "I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state." Timothy has served with him "as a son with the father". Meanwhile he is sending back Epaphroditus, the Philippians' own messenger, who brought their gift and looked after Paul's needs. Epaphroditus fell gravely ill: "he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow." He has been distressed that they heard of it. They are to welcome him with gladness and honour people like him, who risk their lives for the work.

Loss and gain (3:1 to 11). "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord", Paul writes, and then swerves into warning: "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers". The target, the article on the letter explains, is those who insisted that circumcision was necessary for salvation. If anyone could boast of credentials, Paul could, and he lists them: "Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee". Then he draws a line through the whole ledger: "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ." He goes further and counts everything loss "for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord". What he wants instead is to be found in Christ with a righteousness that comes through faith, and this: "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings".

Pressing on (3:12 to 4:1). Paul does not claim to have arrived: "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect". His image is a runner's: "forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before", and then, "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." He asks them to follow his example and speaks "even weeping" of those who live as enemies of the cross, "whose God is their belly". Believers belong elsewhere: "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ". He calls them "my joy and crown" and tells them to stand firm.

Peace (4:2 to 9). Two women, Euodias and Syntyche, who had worked beside Paul in the gospel, are urged to agree, and a "true yokefellow" is asked to help them. Then come the lines most often taken from this letter. "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice." Anxiety is to be turned into prayer: "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." The promise attached is "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding". And the mind is to be fed deliberately, on "whatsoever things are true", honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report: "think on these things."

The thank-you (4:10 to 23). At last Paul thanks them for their gift, and does it with great delicacy. He is glad of their care, yet he is not speaking out of need: "for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." He knows how to be full and how to be hungry. The secret is not self-sufficiency: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Still, they did well to share his trouble. From the start, when he left Macedonia, no other church entered into giving and receiving with him as they did. Their gift, brought by Epaphroditus, is "an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God", and he promises in return: "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Greetings follow, including from those "of Caesar's household".

Why It Matters

The poem in chapter 2 is the most discussed part of the letter. Because of its style, some scholars think it is older than the letter itself, a poem, hymn or creed already known in the churches that Paul quotes. It matters to historians because it suggests that very early Christians thought of Jesus as a heavenly being who took human form. How much it claims is debated. Some read "the form of God" as God's essential nature; others take it more plainly as appearance, or link it to Adam, made in God's image, who grasped at equality with God where Christ did not. Interpreters widely agree that the poem's ending, with its echo of Isaiah, places the exalted Jesus on a level with God.

On the letter's make-up, the view that it joins fragments of three letters rests on its abrupt shifts and on what seem to be inconsistencies about Epaphroditus; the fragments are thought to have been edited together by whoever first collected Paul's letters. The mention of Euodias and Syntyche has been cited as evidence that women took part in Paul's mission. The poem is read in churches on Palm Sunday, and the call to rejoice during Advent.

Who Should Read It

Anyone who needs courage or cheer, and anyone who wonders how contentment is possible when circumstances are bad. It is brief, affectionate and full of lines worth memorising. Readers facing rivalry, worry or an uncertain future will find Paul has been there first.