New York UBF - NY University Bible Fellowship

Philippians 2 by Missionary William Shin

The Path of Humility

Philippians 2:1-18
Key verse 2:5

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”

In chapter 1, Paul talks about being united with Christ, saying, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” In chapter 2, he talks about being united with each other through humility. The reason is that there was a problem of the disunity that was threatening some of the saints at Philippi. As we see in chapter 4, two women were quarreling, and there was a danger of divisions within the body of church. This is constantly happening in almost any church. People get irritated with each other. They get upset over the way other people do things. They do not like someone’s attitude or tone of voice. So Paul points out to these people that Christ is our example, our model in being united with others through humility, settling difficulties and problems. Let’s learn from Christ

First, in humility consider other better than yourself (1-4)

Look at verses 1-2. “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.” Paul starts with “If.” If you have any encouragement, comfort, fellowship, tenderness and compassion. Verse 1 looks very complicated. But the key is in verse 1a, “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ.” If we are being united with Christ, we will be encouraged by Christ, then, we will be comforted from his love, and our inner heart will be healed, then we will have fellowship with the Spirit, as a result, we will have tender heart and compassion for others. If we have these, then, we will have the same mind and the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. That is why Paul said, “then make my joy complete by being like-minded. If we are not united with Christ, we cannot have the same mind and same love. We will be in disunity and disharmony.

Look at verse 3. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” When we do something out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, it damages the body of Christ, because we ignore others in the body of Christ. As Paul mentioned in 1:17, some people preached the gospel out of selfish ambition. Ambition itself is good, because Paul even had his personal ambition. But selfish ambition is problematic, because it is selfish. It destroys the unity of the body of Christ. That is why Paul told them that they, in humility, should consider others better than themselves. Whenever I come to this verse, I was always puzzled and questioned, “How can I consider him better than myself? In fact I am better than him.” But the point Paul is making is not to know who is better or who is inferior but to build up the unity of the body of Christ through humility. Humility is the only way that we can be united with each other.

How, then, can we, in humility, consider others better than ourselves, in fact they are not?” The answer is to “Grow UP” to be like Jesus. What is humility? Humility is to lower oneself before others. So unless we grow up in higher spiritual realm, we cannot lower ourselves, because there is no space to put us down. So in order to humble ourselves we have to grow up in the spiritual realm to be with Jesus. It is like water falls down from high to low. It is like a grain lowers itself down as it becomes mature. Paul said in Eph 4:15, “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.”

There are some people who think that they are in higher spiritual realm, in fact they are not. We call it empty pride, vain conceit, or self-illusion. Paul said in Rom 12:3, “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” So we have to evaluate and examine ourselves with sober judgment where we are spiritually.

Those who grow up into Christ are those who truly can lower themselves before others and consider other better than themselves, because they have encouragement from being united with Christ, comfort from his love, fellowship with the Spirit, tenderness and compassion. In other words, those who grow up into Christ are those who are healed in their inner heart through the communion with God the Father, with the Son, and with the Holy Spirit. They consider others better than themselves, because they know that by doing so the body of Christ may be united. They can do so because they are secure in their identity and in their lives. They know who they are before God. But those who are not secure in themselves cannot lower themselves and cannot consider others better than themselves, because they need help for themselves. They have no room for others. Those who grow up into Christ say, “You are right, I am wrong.” But those who don’t grow up, not being secure cannot say that. Instead they always say, “You are wrong and I am right.” Those who grow up into Christ also look not only to their own interests but also to the interests of others, because those who grow up are those who are healed in their inner heart and have room for others. They have genuine concern for others with compassion of Christ.

Second, Jesus, a pattern of our mind (5-11)

Look at verse 5-8. “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!” Here Paul points to Christ. Paul encourages them to have the attitude and mind of Christ. What is the attitude and mind of Christ? Christ is the One who is, being in very nature or very form of God. Christ is God in nature and form. Christ had all his glory and all his rights as God in heaven. But Christ did not consider equality with God in heaven. Although He is God in heaven, He came all the way down to earth, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. He was found in appearance as a man. He lived a humble life. Although He is God, he, in humility, lived as a man so that He may be a friend of men. He was a friend of sinners and prostitutes. He was a friend of the lowly and the needy. He was a friend of the weak. He was a friend of children. He was a friend of the fatherless and the widows. He was even a friend of his enemies. He showed people the way to God the Father. His life on earth was a life of humility. He did not demand His rights. Rather He took all wrongs of his friends and all humanity and considered it his wrongs. And he took it to the cross. He became obedient to death. It was the surrendering of all that he had- his rights, his glory, and his all-in heaven. This is the mind of Christ.
In your disagreement with one another, have this attitude toward each other. Do not hang onto your rights at all costs. This is what Paul is saying to quarreling Christians: Give up your rights. Don’t insist on them. With Christ as your example, lay aside your rights and absorb wrongs. Replace selfishness with humility, and trust God to vindicate you. That is the mind of Christ. If we would truly put this into practice, we would be different people. There would be no quarreling within churches and no divisions among Christians if we all truly followed our Lord and patterned our minds after His.

There is a story about a man in the church business meeting. The meeting erupted into a quarrel between two men. One of them stood and pounded the desk, saying “All I want is my rights.” Sitting nearby was an old Scotsman, somewhat hard of hearing, who cupped his hand behind his ear and said, “Hey, brother, what’s that you say? What do you want?” The angry gentleman replied, “I just said that all I want is my rights, that’s all!” The old Scots snorted, “Your rights, brother? Is that what you want, your rights? Well, I say if you had your rights, you’d be in hell. The Lord Jesus Christ didn’t come to get His rights, He came to get His wrongs. And He got them.” The fellow who had been quarreling stood transfixed for a moment – then he abruptly sat down and said, “You’re right. Settle it any way you like.” In a few moments the arguments was settled – and it was settled when the guy was challenged to take on the mind of Christ, the attitude of the One who never demanded His rights but who, uncomplaining, took His wrongs, humbling himself, becoming obedient to death.

What was the result of Christ’s humility? Look at verse 9-11. “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and give him the name that is above every name. 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.” When Christ willingly surrendered His rights, God gave Him every right in the universe. Jesus placed everything He had, everything He treasured, in the hands of God the Father – and the result was that God the Father vindicated Him. Christ became the Lord of all in heaven and on earth and under the earth. At the Name of Jesus every knee should bow. At the Name of Jesus everything in universe should bow. When they hear the Name of Jesus, they tremble and bow down. When even the ghosts and demons hear the Name of Jesus, they tremble and bow down. As soon as Jesus stepped into the synagogues, the evil spirit in a demon-possessed man trembled at the presence of Jesus and cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God!” Jesus said to the demon, “Be quiet! Come out of him. Then, the demon obeyed and came out of him. The demon bowed down to Jesus, because Jesus Christ is the LORD of all things in heaven and on earth and under earth. Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.” Everything and everyone in universe must bow down to Christ. Jesus rebuked the wind and waves, saying, “Be still. The wind and waves, then, bowed down at the Name of Jesus and was calm. When Peter said to the crippled beggar, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ, walk,” the disease bowed down at the name of Jesus. The beggar instantly got healed. When Paul was troubled by a slave girl who had a fortune telling spirit, Paul said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit bowed down to the name of Jesus and left her.

Third, work out your salvation (12-18)

Look at verse 12-13. “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” After giving the example of Christ, Paul encouraged them that they must work out their salvation This verse shows the two parts of spiritual growth: ‘work out’ and ‘work in.’ the ‘work out’ is our responsibility, and the ‘work in’ is God’s role. Spiritual growth is a collaborative effort between us and God. This verse, written to believers, is not about how to be saved, but how to grow. Paul didn’t say “work for” your salvation, because we cannot add anything to what Jesus already did. Salvation comes to us by grace alone. But we have to work out it. During a physical workout, we exercise to develop our bodies, not to get the bodies. When we “work out” a puzzle, we already have all the pieces – our task is to put them together. God has given us a new life; now we are responsible to develop it with fear and trembling. When we work out, we will gain power and strength in our salvation of new life. As we work out our salvation, we will grow tall and strong continually. Based on the context, we must work out our salvation, esp. the mind of Christ. Change always starts first in our mind. The way we think determines the way we feel; and the way we feel influences the way we act. So we must work out our minds and pattern our minds after Christ’s, humbling ourselves. We must change the way we think and adopt the way Christ think through meditating and obeying His Word. Then, we will learn to pattern our minds after Christ’s. So we have to work out it with fear and trembling. If we work out our salvation with fear and trembling, we will do everything without complaining or arguing, so that we may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which we shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life.

Today we thought about humility and the mind of Christ. Jesus said in Mat 23:12, “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” James also said, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” I pray that we may grow up into Christ so that we may humble ourselves and consider others better than ourselves. I pray that we may at least grow 1 inch per year, so that we may low ourselves 1 inch each year. In this way we may be united with each other, building up the body of Christ through humility. I also pray that we may decide to learn to pattern our minds after the mind of Christ so that we may not demand our rights and absorb the wrongs of others. In this way, we may be united with each other and build up the body of Christ. May God bless our decisions.