The objection
According to Philippians 2, Christ does not grasp at equality with God. Perhaps he is merely Adam's obedient counterpart. Or he lays aside his deity and receives a divine position only after his death.
1. The exhortation draws its force from voluntary humiliation
Paul calls people to seek the other's benefit. He presents Christ, who was in the form of God and took the path to the cross. The movement is not the career of a human who finally becomes God. It is the self-giving of the one who possesses the highest dignity and does not use it selfishly.
“Form” should be treated neither as a mere costume nor as an automatic translation of a later metaphysical technical term. In any case, the parallel with the form of a servant shows that Paul speaks of real conditions of being and life.[1]
2. Emptying is explained through assuming
The text says that Christ emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant and becoming human. It names no constituent of divine being that Christ laid aside. The ensuing humiliation consists in obedience to death. This is a statement about the manner of his path, not a description of God's transformation into a creature.[2]
The disputed expression harpagmos allows different interpretations. The reading that Christ does not exploit equality with God for his own advantage explains the ethical context well. The entire conclusion, however, does not depend on an isolated dictionary gloss.
3. The Adam comparison does not explain everything
Adam wanted to grasp a position to which he was not entitled. Christ acts obediently. This contrast can illuminate the passage. It does not follow, however, that both possess the same starting position. Paul attributes the form of God to Christ and describes his assumption of the human form of a servant. “Image of God” in the creation account must not be substituted for these formulations without justification.[1]
A moral contrast between Adam and Christ therefore does not replace an explanation of the statements about Christ's identity.
4. Exaltation publicly establishes the incarnate one as Lord
Exaltation answers the crucified Christ's obedience. That he receives dominion as Messiah does not mean that his divine being was previously absent. Moreover, the culmination goes beyond ordinary royal rule: The universal bending of knees and confession take up Isaiah 45, where YHWH declares his unique dominion.
This confession of Jesus takes place to the Father's glory. Paul places no new god beside him. He connects Christ's humiliation and universal worship within the one God's action.
Biblical texts in context
Sources and further study
- Robert L. Reymond, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian FaithPhilippians 2,6–11, pp. 258–263: form of God, Adam comparison and debated overall interpretations.
- NET Bible, Philippians 2,5–11Text and translation notes on the connection between the form of God and the form of a servant.