Philippians - Verse-by-Verse Biblical Exegesis

viewpoint in life. (R.B. Thieme, Jr.) The absolute yieldedness of the Son to do the Father’s will is
not only the supreme example of a normal attitude of a child of God toward his Father, but such an
attitude is to be imparted and maintained in the believer’s heart by the Spirit, after the first act of
dedication has been accomplished. (L. Chafer) The category “hymn” is used broadly, similar to that
of “creed,” and includes dogmatic, confessional, liturgical, polemical, or doxological material. (P.
O’Brien)
Bible doctrine is teaching. It is the content of the Word of God, which God designed to be
communicated to the believer so that it becomes the measure of his thinking and the source of his
mental attitude. Doctrine is the body of orthodox teaching, which is drawn from Scripture and which
serves as the standard for truth. (R.B. Thieme, Jr.) Paul presents pure doctrine, which means a
statement of the facts, the realities, which the hearts of his readers are to receive. The exegete’s
supreme task is to note all that Paul thus states. If he is called dogmatic when he does so, this is
praise, not blame. (R. Lenski) In describing the passage as a hymn it should be noted that the term is
not being employed in the modern sense of what we understand by congregation hymns with
metrical verses. (P. O’Brien)
Mental attitude improves with each stage of spiritual advance. The believer with spiritual autonomy
is no longer as vulnerable to pressure as he was upon first entering spiritual adulthood. He now has
greater ability to concentrate so that he can apply Bible doctrine more consistently in adversity as
well as in prosperity … The paragon of right thinking is the humanity of Jesus Christ, Who
constantly lived and functioned inside the prototype of the divine dynasphere. Our Lord’s mental
attitude of humility was manifested by His total conformity to the plan of the Father … The legalist
assumes that overt activities – “handle not, taste not, touch not” – are the means of fulfilling the
command to overcome the world. Worldliness – the opinions, attitudes, and systems of thinking
characteristic of all human viewpoint – is a state of mind and can be conquered only by a right
mental attitude and a viewpoint based on Bible doctrine. (R.B. Thieme, Jr.)
Philp. 2:5 Keep on thinking (frone,w, PAImp.2P,
Customary/Iterative, Command) this (Acc. Dir. Obj., immediate
demonstrative pronoun; doctrine: perpetuated mental stability
and improved attitude; spiritual autonomy in Gate 7) within
you (Loc. Sph.; you cannot cross no-man's land with an empty
gun: without doctrine), which Subj. Nom., relative pronoun;
doctrine) was (ellipsis) also (adjunctive) in Christ Jesus
(Loc. Sph.),
WHO Philippians 2:5 tou/to fronei/te evn u`mi/n o] kai. evn Cristw/| VIhsou/
VUL Philippians 2:5 hoc enim sentite in vobis quod et in Christo Iesu
LWB Philp. 2:6 Who although He pre-existed [pre-incarnate Christ] in the form [divine
essence] of God [Christ as eternal God], He did not consider equalities with God [the other
two members of the Trinity] to be a gain to be seized and retained [spiritual booty],