Philippians

This is the sixth in a series of twenty-one summaries of the New Testament letters.  The sixth is Philippians, and the outline comes from John Paul Heil:

a   Grace from the Lord Jesus Christ to the Holy Ones, 1:1-2
     b   My Prayer that You Abound and be Filled to Glory and Praise of God, 1:3-11
          c   I Rejoice and I Will be Joyful, 1:12-18
               d   Death in My Body is Gain but Remaining is for your Faith, 1:19-30
                    e   Joy in Humility for the Day of Christ who Humbled Himself to Death, 2:1-16
                    e'  Rejoice with Those who Neared Death for the Work of Christ, 2:17-30
               d'  Gain in Faith in the Death of Christ and the Body of His Glory, 3:1-21
          c'  Rejoice in the Lord, Rejoice, 4:1-5
     b'  Glory to God who will Fulfill You as I am Filled and Abound, 4:6-20
a'  Greetings from Holy Ones and Grace from Lord Jesus Christ, 4:21-23

The 'a' pattern links the introduction and the conclusion.

The 'b' pattern connects two sections about being filled and abounding.  Both sections emphasize prayer.  In the first section, Paul prays.  In the second section, Paul exhorts them to prayer.  In the first section, Paul speaks about "discern(ing) what is best." (1:10).  In the second section, Paul lists good things and tells them to "think about such things." (4:8)  In the first section, Paul prays for their love to abound (1:9).  In the second section, he describes himself as having a "full payment," and indeed, having more than enough. (4:18).  In both sections, he mentions joy and glory.

The 'c' pattern links two sections about rejoicing in the midst of trouble.  In the first section, Paul describes people who preach Christ for selfish reasons, who "stir up trouble." (1:17).  In the second section, Paul pleads with two people to be of the same mind. (4:2).  In the first section, Paul says that he rejoices and that he will continue to rejoice. (1:18)  In the second section, Paul says that the Philippians should rejoice in the Lord always, and "again" says rejoice. (4:4)

The 'd' pattern emphasizes loss as a way of gaining Christ.  In the first section, Paul says "to live is Christ and to die is gain." (1:21).  In the second section, Paul says, "I consider (all things) garbage, that I may gain Christ..." (3:8)  In the first section, Paul writes that he desires to "depart and be with Christ." (1:23).  In the second section, he writes that in contrast to those whose mind is "on earthly things," the Philippians ought to remember that "our citizenship ins in heaven." (4:19-20)  In the first section, Paul says he will "remain and continue with all of you." (1:25)  In the second section, Paul says, "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (3:13-14).  The first section emphasizes Paul being "torn" between being here and being with Christ.  The second section shows that we rejoice here, knowing we are on pilgrimage to being finally with Christ in heaven.

The 'e' pattern shows the link between Christ's humility and Timothy and Epaphroditus' humility.  In the first section, Paul says to do nothing out of selfish ambition.  In the second section, Timothy seeks the welfare of Christ instead of his own.  In the first section, Christ humbles himself to death.  In the second section, Epaphroditus almost dies for the work of Christ.