An Overview of Philippians

A friendly letter with a bunch of commands—this could be one way to caricature the apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

Looking more closely, we can better appreciate the rich context and content of this letter.

As to context, Paul had just called himself an old man at this point in his life (Philemon 9). He was around 60 years old, having served for roughly 35 years since his conversion and calling in Acts 9, around 15 of the latter years with Timothy who was with him at this time (cf. Philippians 1:1). In fact, after joining Paul and Silas to minister to some established churches (cf. Acts 16:1–5), Philippi was Timothy’s first church-plant with Paul. They received “the Macedonian call” (Acts 16:6–10) and came to Philippi. Lydia, the Philippian jailer, and their households were won to Christ, and the miracles of an exorcism and an earthquake showed that the hand of God was at work (Acts 16:11–40). Lydia housed the missionaries, and the church continued to support Paul and his endeavors, both financially and through prayer (cf. 2 Corinthians 8:1–5; Philippians 4:10–20).

Paul wrote Philippians during his first Roman imprisonment (Philippians 1:7, 12–18; 4:22; cf. Acts 28:30–31). He also wrote Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon while during this imprisonment (cf. Eph 6:20; Col 4:3; Phm 9, 22), but Philippians was likely written shortly after, perhaps AD 62, and gives us the idea that he expected a soon release and eventual return to Philippi (Philippians 1:25–26; 2:23–24).

His letter stemmed from the coming of Epaphroditus with a financial gift to help Paul out during this time (Philippians 2:25–30; 4:10–20). Yet Paul had much more to say. Memorable moments in this letter are the exalted prose about Christ (Philippians 2:6–11), the inspiring language of pressing on toward the prize (Philippians 3:14), Paul’s exemplary contentment (Philippians 4:11), and the encouraging promise of being able to do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).

And yet there’s more. A simple look at the letter could outline it like this: Paul gave an introduction and a prayer for the Philippians (Philippians 1:1–11). He spoke of his own affairs (Philippians 1:12–26) and then theirs (Philippians 1:27–2:18). He spoke of their future and shared affairs (Philippians 2:19–30) and then gave a range of exhortations (Philippians 3:1–4:4), ended with some final commands (Philippians 4:4–9). He finally said “thank you” for their financial gift (Philippians 4:10–20), and closed the book with some greetings and a prayer (Philippians 4:21–23).

So, at this point, we have some context and some content for the letter to the Philippians. But if we could do one more sweep through the book, we could pull several themes together to learn that, just as Paul wanted them to be then, so also God wants the same for us today: We must have a harmonious, happy, and hopeful fellowship in the gospel of Christ Jesus.

Let’s break that statement into its several parts.

I say “we” because this is God’s Word, which is for salvation and sanctification us today as well (cf. 2 Tim 3:14–17).

I say “must have” because it lets us feel the force of many commands that Paul gives throughout this letter.

As to some of those themes, one of them is to be “harmonious,” and especially “likeminded.” Paul regularly exhorts the Philippians to be unified in their fellowship of the gospel, placing their own interests to the side for the sake of serving others, having a mind to do so just like our Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:27; 2:2–4; 3:15; 4:2, 10).

This harmony comes with being “happy,” or better, “joyful.” Paul uses nouns and verbs throughout this letter to express his own joy and encourage them to the same (Philippians 1:4, 18, 25; 2:2, 17, 17, 28, 29; 3:1; 4:1, 4, 10).

This letter is also “hopeful.” Paul sees something to gain and something better at the end of his own life (Philippians 1:21, 23), and he also anticipates the end of this age. This age ends with the day of Christ Jesus, our resurrection, our glorification, peace, and the glory of God (Philippians 1:6, 10; 2:11, 16; 3:11, 14, 20–21; 4:5b, 9b, 19–20). This hope stands out against the trials that Paul and the Philippians experience, whether trials from without (Philippians 1:15–17, 28; 3:2, 18–19) or within (Philippians 4:2–3) the church.

This harmony, happiness, and hope is found with the church, those who have a “fellowship” together (Philippians1:5, 7; 2:1; 3:10; 4:14, 15). This “fellowship” or “sharing” or “participation” stems from “the gospel” (Philippians 1:5, 7, 12, 16, 27; 2:22; 4:3, 15), which is the good news about Christ Jesus, the central figure of this book (e.g., Philippians 1:1–2; 2:5–11; 3:9–11; 4:13).

What a wonderful book. May God help us to strive for a unified, joyful fellowship, centered around the gospel of Christ as we anticipate His soon return.

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For an overview of Philippians, see especially Gordon D. Fee, Paul’s Letter to the Philippians (NICNT; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1995), 1–53.

David Huffstutler is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Troy, MI. He blogs here, where this article first appeared. It is republished here by permission.

Photo credit: The Apostle Paul by Rembrandt, c. 1657 (Wikimedia Commons)