To Live is Christ: Applications of Paul’s Message to the Church in Philippi

The book of Philippians is known as the “Friendship Letter.”  Written to the Christians in Philippi during Paul’s Roman imprisonment (c. 60-62 CE), it offers a message of encouragement and gratitude to a congregation in the first century.  The book’s overarching theme of unity through humility is reinforced through the lives of examples of followers and ultimately Christ. Before reading further, I encourage everyone to read the book of Philippians in its entirety.  This paper will focus primarily on chapter two as we explore the expectations and joys of Christian living and congregational unity.

When the book was written, Philippi was a thriving Roman colony in Macedonia.  It was known for its national patriotism, and its population was an eclectic mix of Roman retired soldiers, Greeks, and “barbaric” Thracians.  We see in Acts 16:11-40, that Paul visits Philippi on his third missionary journey.  There, he and Silas are arrested and beaten, but we also see that God’s message was received well by many.  The passage in Acts tells us about the conversions and baptisms of Lydia, an unnamed jailer, and their households.  And when Paul writes to them, he mentions their lives of service saying, “…no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only” (Philippians 4:14-16).  They were a diverse group of people who had united in their salvation.   The evidence of their faith was reflected in service.

With this context in mind, it makes sense that there would be some differences and divisions within the local church.  Anyone who has been a member of any congregation knows that disagreements are just par for the course.  All people have their own ideas, cultures, and opinions. Philippi was no different.  Paul emphasizes the importance of unity in Philippians 1:

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents (Philippians 1: 27-28).

He calls them to be of “one spirit,” and “one mind,” so their “manner of life be worthy of the gospel Christ”!  Unity is a “manner of life.”  Our determination for it is in all that we do.  

This message is reinforced in chapter 4 when Paul directly addresses the tension and potential divisions caused by the disagreement of Euodia and Syntyche.  It is so serious a matter that he enlists the congregation to, “…help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel…whose names are in the book of life” (Philippians 4:2-3).    This disagreement was no small thing.  Both of these women had labored with Paul, worked for good and been identified by God.  And yet, their disagreement had such a profound effect on the local Christians, Paul calls them out by name.  That is the degree of importance unity plays with God’s children.  

This message of unity through humility is most clearly explained in Philippians 2. Paul writes: 

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.  Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others (Philippians 2:1-4). 

Paul begins with four conditional clauses as evidence of God’s work within the Philippian congregation.  Encouragement in Christ, comfort from love, participation of the Spirit, and affection and sympathy had all been provided by God to the church to help them function effectively.   With these given blessings, Paul goes on to tell the Philippians to be of the same mind and love and to find unity through humility.  To reiterate Paul’s point: humility for the sake of unity should be a way of life for Christians.

It is terrifying to realize the devil can distort God’s message.  Even after years of seeing God’s wisdom prove its goodness, it can be hard to trust that doing what is right will further God’s glory.  The devil manipulates and perverts our understanding of Godly behavior, trying to convince us that our worth comes from our fleshly versus our spiritual nature.  He would have us believe that humility and submission is for the weak.   He tells us to set boundaries, as if our service and patience has limits.  We are encouraged to not let people “take advantage of us.”  Our time, attention, feelings, and belongings can seem more important than brothers and sisters.  But Paul points out that God’s providence, our gifts provided from God, are far more valuable.  What is my time or what are my belongings compared to love or affection?  What is my pride when measured against Christ or the Spirit?

Paul continues by saying:  

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:5-11).

Ultimately, what should encourage us to humiliate ourselves for others is that we have the ultimate example in our Savior.  Our Christ brought Himself so low that He walked in our shoes and lived a life like ours.  In Hebrews we are told:

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One Who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:14-15).

Jesus knows what it is to be human.  In His final hours, He pleaded with God to “…let this cup pass from Me,” (Matt.26:39) and yet, He submitted His will to His Father for our benefit.  Sisters, when we submit to others in all humility, we are submitting to God – just like Jesus.  

Reading on in Philippians 2, the passage says:

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing,  that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,  holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain (Philippians 2:12-16).  

This phrase “fear and trembling” is interesting.  In the scriptures, we see it many times, and it is almost always addressing action through forethought and reverence.  It is the attitude we have towards a service, in this case, towards our brothers and sisters in an effort for unity.  When examining our “manner of life,” we should be asking ourselves – why are we doing what we are doing?   What are our motivations for our actions?  When there is a disagreement over the scriptures, do we look to belittle others?  Do we need to win an argument? Is it more important for us to be smarter or better than our brothers and sisters, putting our point and ideology above the need to mend God’s body?  

At the end of chapter 2, Paul talks about the service of Timothy and Epaphroditus and the amount of comfort their service and humility brought to him in a time of hardship.  When the opportunity is presented to serve others, do we consider ourselves to be “something,” like those addressed in Galatians 6:3?  Or do we count our earthly status as “rubbish” as Paul did for “the sake of Christ”? (Phil. 3:7-8). Do we serve like Timothy and Epaphroditus to the point of illness (v.25-26)? Or do we put our personal comforts and needs over others? As we strive to be more like Christ, consider these godly men. What’s more, consider Christ!  He was in the “form of God,” and still found a way to submit to you and me.  So, which are we?  “Something” or servant?  This is what we must “work out” when considering our salvation.  God knows our motivations, though they may not always be obvious to us initially.  We must really look at ourselves.  

Humility is the manner of a Christian life.  It unites, comforts, and strengthens. It is the culmination of our lived faith, the ultimate example of which was given by our Savior.  Though even Paul says he had not perfected it (Philippians 3:12), full humility is the goal we strive for more each day.   Sisters, as we close,  I pray we all improve in putting others before ourselves.  It is what our Savior did.  If we act like Christ, we will look like Him, and the world will see Him. What an amazing thing to be a part of! Praise God!