The Letters
- When
- c. AD 61–62, from prison
- Written by
- Paul
- Chapters
- 4
The big idea
A thank-you letter from prison, full of joy: Christ emptied himself, so have his mind, press on toward the prize, and rejoice in the Lord always.
Themes
- Joy
- Pressing on
- The mind of Christ
- Contentment
Memory verse
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Key passages
- 1:21To me, to live is Christ
- 2:5–11He emptied himself
- 3:7–14Toward the goal
- 4:4–7Rejoice always
- 4:11–13I can do all things
Links to other Scripture
- Acts 16:12–40The church at Philippi
- Isaiah 45:23Every knee shall bow
- Matthew 6:25–34Do not worry
- 2 Corinthians 8:9He became poor
Read the text
Choose a chapter to read it here in the King James Version. Verses with a dotted underline have notes from Bible scholars. Tap one to open them.
Notes from
Chapters
King James text and the commentaries of Henry, Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Gill, Clarke, Calvin, and Keil and Delitzsch are in the public domain. Tyndale Open Study Notes are used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license, from tyndaleopenresources.com. Texts were reformatted for this site.
Journal prompts
Keep a journal or notebook for your study. Write your answers there, in your own words.
- Where do you see Christ in this book?
- Paul wrote about joy from a prison. What is the hardest thing in your life right now, and can you find any reason to rejoice inside it?
- “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication.” Write out what you are anxious about as a prayer.
- Paul says he has learned to be content. What would you have to let go of to learn the same?
- In one sentence, this book is about…