Philippians 2:5-6 - Have the mind of Christ

2:5

The motivating force for this is Christ Himself. There are two ways of taking this verse, and NIV and ESV give the two alternatives. ESV says “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus”, NIV (and ESV footnote) say “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus”. The difference is whether Paul is talking about the mindset which we have received because we are in Christ, or whether he is urging us to follow the example of Christ. In the end it doesn’t matter that much. When we believe we are born again, we are made a new creation, but we also have a responsibility to nurture that new self. So when we seek to follow the example of Christ we find that our new self is strengthened. We should constantly ask ourselves, am I following the world’s way or Christ’s way?

2:6

We then come to these famous verses. It is generally thought they come from a hymn. It may have been written by Paul, or he may simply be quoting it. Jesus was in the form of God, this refers to His preexistant state, ie before He came to earth. He had the true and exact nature of God. Jesus had infinitely more reason to boast or to exalt Himself than any of us has ever had, yet He did neither of these things. He did not hold on to His equality with God, but humbled Himself. And when He was here on earth He did not seek to exalt Himself. If this was the attitude of Jesus, then it should be our attitude as well.