Paul's Letter To Philippi

It is evident that Paul wrote the letter to the city of Philippi while he was in prison. Paul’s main reason for writing this letter was to thank Philippi for the gift they sent him when they learned he was in prison. He uses this letter to tell the Philippians of his own circumstances, to encourage the Philippians to stand firm in persecution and to rejoice regardless of their circumstances. He also uses this letter to commend Timothy and Epaphroditus to the Philippian church and to warn the Philippians against the Judaizers and Antinomians among them. The city of Philippi was named after King Philip of Macedon, father of Alexander of Great. Philippians contains no Old Testament quotations. It is a missionary thank-you letter. In includes a

by Philip II of Macedon. It was located on the northern east-west highway, called the Egnatian Way (Dockery). Philippi was established as a Greek colony, but it later came under Roman control. Philippi was ruled by Roman law and the citizens of Philippi had the full rights of Roman citizenship. Anthony and Octavian defeated Cassius and Brutus in 42 B.C. In 30 B.C., Octavian made the town a Roman colony. The Philippians took great pride in their privileges as Roman citizens and lived as faithful citizens of Rome. Rome was the model city that Philippi was trying to be like. The church of Philippi was founded by Paul on his missionary journey between 49 and 52 A.D (Jamieson). Paul was arrested after exorcising a demon from a slave girl. He was beaten and thrown into prison. At this point, an earthquake opened all of the doors at the prison. In Acts 16, we know that God opened the jail doors and freed the prisoners from their shackles. The jailer ask Paul what he must do to be saved and Paul responds with the famous line “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved-you and your household” (Acts 16:31

Paul states that God did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. Although Jesus was equal with God, He did not use His status to seize power or glory for Himself, nor did He use it to take advantage of people. Instead he put aside his rights so that he could serve others. During His time on earth, He encouraged the disciples to follow this example, which we also find in Mark 10:45. Paul urges the Philippians to do the same. They can’t use their status as Roman citizens as an excuse not to serve others (Barry). The word nature in verse 6 is a crucial term in this passage. The word stresses the reality of that with which it is associated. Christ is of the very essence of God, and in His incarnation, He entered as a perfect human. Though He possessed full deity, Christ did not consider His equality with God as something to be grasped or held onto. He surrendered His right to visibly show Himself as God of all glory