Philippians 2
Philippians 2 — Commentary and Meaning
The short answer
Philippians 2 contains what many scholars believe is one of the earliest Christian confessions — a hymn the church may have been singing before Paul ever wrote it down. Its subject is a downward journey. The one who was "existing in the form of God" (v. 6) did not treat that status as something to cling to. Instead, he "emptied himself" (v. 7), taking on the form of a servant, and then went lower still: he humbled himself and became obedient all the way to death — and not just any death, but "the death of the cross" (v. 8), the execution reserved for slaves and criminals.
The hymn insists that this descent is not an interruption of Christ's divinity but its truest expression. He does not stop being who he is when he stoops; the stooping shows us who he is. That is why the hymn turns in verse 9: "Therefore God also highly exalted him." The exaltation does not cancel the humiliation — it vindicates it. The one lifted up and given "the name which is above every name" (v. 9) is precisely the one who went down. Every knee bows to a crucified servant.
This same descent-and-ascent shape was later built into the Apostles' Creed, which traces Jesus from birth through suffering, death, and burial, and then upward to resurrection and exaltation. The hymn and the creed share one arc: down, then up.
And Paul frames all of it as a pattern for ordinary church life. Verses 3–5 introduce the hymn with an instruction: do nothing from rivalry or conceit, count others more significant than yourselves, and have this mind among you "which was also in Christ Jesus" (v. 5). The hymn is not only something to believe. It is a shape to live.
What scholars say
In this excerpt, historian of Christianity Justo L. González points out that the Apostles' Creed follows the same arc as Paul's hymn in Philippians 2 — the one who descended is the one who is exalted — and that the descent affirms the reality of Jesus' death.
“Thus viewed, much of what the Creed says about Jesus is parallel to what Paul says in his famous hymn in Philippians 2, that Jesus, “though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:6–8). The parallelism will continue as we move along the Creed, where we shall find that the one who descended is also the one who has ascended and is exalted, as Paul declares in the rest of his hymn. Second, the descent into hell is the final affirmation of the real death of Jesus.”
What it means for you
Philippians 2 turns a doctrine into a direction. If the clearest picture of God we have is someone laying down status for the sake of others, then humility is not a personality trait for the naturally meek — it is the family resemblance of everyone who follows Christ. Paul applies it concretely: in your friendships, your marriage, your workplace, your congregation, look to the interests of others and not only your own.
The hymn also offers reassurance. Going low — serving unnoticed, absorbing a loss, choosing obedience when it costs — is not the path away from glory. In the shape of this passage, it is the path toward it.
Philippians 2 in context
Philippians is Paul's warmest letter, written from prison to a church he loved. Chapter 2 opens with an appeal for unity: one mind, one love, nothing done through rivalry or conceit (vv. 1–4). The hymn of verses 5–11 grounds that appeal in the story of Christ himself. Paul then applies it — work out your salvation, shine as lights in the world (vv. 12–18) — and closes the chapter by pointing to Timothy and Epaphroditus, two living examples of the self-giving pattern the hymn describes.
Passages we cover in this chapter