Philippians
A thank-you note from prison that turns into a short course on joy.
Who wrote it: Paul, with Timothy, from prison. Undisputed. Probably the early 60s AD in Rome, though Ephesus in the mid 50s is possible.
What it is
Philippi was the first church Paul planted in Europe, the one that started with a businesswoman named Lydia and a jailer who had almost killed himself. They were poor and they kept sending him money. This letter is his thank-you for the latest gift, delivered by a man named Epaphroditus who nearly died on the way. Paul is in chains, guarded, possibly facing execution, and the word 'joy' or 'rejoice' turns up fifteen times in four chapters.
The letter has no single argument. It moves: news about his imprisonment (the guards are hearing the gospel, so fine), a plea for unity between two women leaders who were falling out, a warning about people who want to add rules, and personal reflections about his own past achievements, which he now counts as rubbish compared with knowing Christ. The one thing that holds it together is the hymn in chapter 2: Christ, who was in the form of God, did not cling to it but emptied himself, took the form of a slave, and died on a cross, and so God exalted him. Paul uses it not as theology for its own sake but as the shape of how to treat each other.
Chapter 4 is where the famous lines are. Rejoice in the Lord always. Don't be anxious about anything, but pray, and the peace of God will guard your heart. Whatever is true, honourable, just, think about these things. I have learned to be content in every situation. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Read in context, that last one is not about winning a match. It is about being able to go hungry.
Verses worth keeping
being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
Gen Zsame meaning, your wordsI'm sure of this: the one who started a good work in you will finish it, right up to the day of Jesus Christ.
God finishes what he starts. Your progress is not the thing this rests on.
3doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself; 4each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.
Gen Zsame meaning, your wordsDon't do anything out of rivalry or vanity. Instead, be humble enough to treat other people as more important than yourself. Don't only look out for your own interests. Look out for other people's too.
The instruction right before the hymn about Christ emptying himself. He is the example.
13Brothers, I don’t regard myself as yet having taken hold, but one thing I do: forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Gen Zsame meaning, your wordsBrothers and sisters, I don't think I've got there yet. But here's the one thing I do: I forget what's behind me and stretch toward what's ahead, and I press on toward the finish line, to the prize God has called me up to in Christ Jesus.
Paul, decades in, says he has not arrived. That is permission to not have arrived.
Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report: if there is any virtue and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Gen Zsame meaning, your wordsFinally, friends: whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever people speak well of, if there's anything excellent or worth praising, think about those things.
Not 'think positive'. A list of what to feed your mind, from someone whose surroundings were a prison.
Read Philippians
The full text, every chapter, from the World English Bible, a modern public-domain translation. Pick a chapter below. The highlighted verses are the place to start if you have never read it.
Philippians 4
1Therefore, my brothers, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.
2I exhort Euodia, and I exhort Syntyche, to think the same way in the Lord. 3Yes, I beg you also, true partner, help these women, for they labored with me in the Good News with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
4Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, “Rejoice!” 5Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
8Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report: if there is any virtue and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9Do the things which you learned, received, heard, and saw in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
10But I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your thought for me; in which you did indeed take thought, but you lacked opportunity. 11Not that I speak because of lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it. 12I know how to be humbled, and I also know how to abound. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in need. 13I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 14However you did well that you shared in my affliction. 15You yourselves also know, you Philippians, that in the beginning of the Good News, when I departed from Macedonia, no assembly shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you only. 16For even in Thessalonica you sent once and again to my need. 17Not that I seek for the gift, but I seek for the fruit that increases to your account. 18But I have all things and abound. I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you, a sweet-smelling fragrance, an acceptable and well-pleasing sacrifice to God. 19My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever! Amen.
21Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. 22All the saints greet you, especially those who are of Caesar’s household.
23The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Questions about Philippians
Does 'I can do all things through Christ' mean I can achieve anything?
In context, no. Philippians 4:12-13 is Paul saying he has learned to be content whether he is well fed or hungry, has plenty or nothing, and that he can handle all of those situations through Christ's strength. It is a verse about endurance, not achievement. It is still a strong promise. It is just a different one from the one on the poster.
How can Paul be joyful in prison?
He tells you. His life's meaning was not attached to being free, or even to staying alive ('to live is Christ, to die is gain'). He was glad the gospel was spreading through his guards. He was surrounded by people who loved him. And he had a practice, in chapter 4, of taking anxiety to God and choosing what to think about. He does not say it was easy or automatic; he says he learned it.
Who were Euodia and Syntyche?
Two women in the Philippian church whom Paul asks, by name, to agree with each other, and describes as having contended alongside him in the gospel. We know nothing else about them. Their presence suggests women led in that church, and that the church was small enough for one falling-out to need an apostle's attention.