After encouraging the Philippian believers, and us, to live with humility, Paul gives the ultimate example of humility in Jesus Christ.
Take a look at this passage in Philippians 2:5-6:
What better incentive to humility than the example of our Lord himself? This is the example Paul gives as he stresses this attitude for the believers in Philippi. In fact, the term “attitude” may be a little weak. A more literal rendering would be “mindset.” The thought is similar to the final verse of 1 Corinthians 2, where Paul states that we have the “mind of Christ,” although the Greek term used is different.
What Paul is saying here, in effect, is that we are to have the same mind as Jesus, in humility and in focus.
What follows has been debated for ages. Some believe that Paul writes the following verses, a poetic expression or hymn of worship. Others believe that Paul is quoting a more ancient source, an early hymn from before the date of Philippians, in the early 60s AD.
The language and structure are different than the rest of Paul’s letters, indicating that he may not have been the original author. However, the point of this passage is what matters, especially in light of Paul’s thoughts in chapter two.
In this first verse of the Christological hymn, there are two main sections.