Philippians
Chapter 2
1. If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
Keeping in mind that chapter breaks are a convenient feature added to the Bible by man, there is no break in thought from the previous section dealing with the need for the Philippians to stand fast, to not fear those who were bringing opposition to their Christian walk, and the call to suffer for the Lord. The word therefore signals that what follows is founded upon what has just come before.
The two words if and any appear together in the Greek. As such, they are frequently translated as if any, or if any man (Matthew 16:24; Mark 4:23), and may also be read as whoever.1 In the first phrase, consolation comes from a Greek word (paraklesis) meaning to call to one’s side, and speaks of exhortation, entreaty or that which affords comfort or refreshment.2 When we are called to the side of Christ, it could be for exhortation or comfort. Bringing these together, the first phrase would read, therefore whoever [has] an exhortation in Christ. The focus of this verse changes somewhat with this consideration: from an uncertain if to whoever among you has these, thereby removing any doubt that these various things exist. There is no question as to whether there is an exhortation or comfort in Christ – He is our Head. The reminder here is that we are a Body, and, as such, we must function together; we are inter-related, and so if “… one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26).
The word comfort (paramuthion) is closely related to consolation, meaning to speak closely with someone, but with more tenderness – hence, to encourage, rather than exhort.3 Not surprisingly, the Greek word for love is agape – not an emotional love, but a love based upon commitment.
The Greek word for fellowship speaks of intimacy and communion;4 bowels is the word used for the intestines and, within the Hebrew understanding (which would be very familiar to Paul), is considered to be the seat of the tender emotions of love and compassion;5 mercies expresses compassion, sympathy or pity.6
What we have in this verse is not an appeal for the Philippians to contemplate abstract concepts, but rather a call for them to consider those, within their gathering, who have been gifted in ways that will strengthen all of them as they face suffering. There will be some who have a word of exhortation, who will challenge others to remain firm in Christ; some will have a tender word of encouragement to bolster those who are becoming discouraged; there will be those who are having close fellowship with the Spirit of God, and will challenge and encourage others to such a walk; still others will have the ability to reach out in tenderness and sympathy to those who are struggling with the load of life. As we are born-again of the Spirit of God, we are all placed within the Body of Christ and gifted according to the Spirit’s desire (1 Corinthians 12:11). There is no mistake in our placement or in our gifting – it is by Divine appointment. Our circumstances in life might change dramatically over the years, but we can be confident that our gifting by the Spirit will always be appropriate for the needs that we face. Paul encouraged the Thessalonians: “Quench not the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19); we are not to suppress or constrain the Spirit of God Who is abiding within us, rather, we are to walk according to His leading so that we will see the righteousness of God lived out through us (Romans 8:4). “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life” (Romans 6:22). We are to set aside the sinfulness from which we have been freed by the Spirit of God, and become slaves to God – servants of righteousness and holiness (1 Peter 1:15-16). There must be a change of focus and a transformation of living.
2. Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
Paul now elaborates further on his admonition that they stand fast in one spirit (1:27). He has just identified the need for those, who have been given gifts, to exercise them, and to use them for mutual edification and growth in the Lord. Now he says to these people (made up of all who have been born-again by the Spirit of God, for we have all received something from the Spirit for the benefit of the Body), fulfil ye my joy – ye fill my joy (literal).7 This is in the imperative mood; it is a command that they are to make his joy abound.
The next phrase provides a glimpse into the purpose of the expressed gifting of verse one and what will result in Paul’s joy being filled to the limit – that ye be likeminded; literally, in order that ye the same ye are thinking.8 Although thinking is in the subjunctive mood, as part of this purpose clause there is no uncertainty here.9 As spiritual exhortation, encouragement, fellowship and compassion come together within the Body (verse 1), Paul charges them to make his joy flourish so that they will come to the same thinking or understanding as he has. We must not limit this resulting single-mindedness to the fulfillment of Paul’s joy – it is inextricably linked to the expression of the exhortation and compassionate gifting listed in the previous verse. It is through the exercise of the gifts of the Spirit that Paul’s joy will be filled to the brim, and out of that will flow minds that are centered in the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God must be permitted to do the work for which He was sent, namely, to guide us into all truth (John 16:13). Those who will be deceived in the time of Antichrist, are not saved because they refused to accept a love (agape) for the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10). The Spirit has been sent to guide us into all truth – if we do not have a love for the truth, then the guidance by the Spirit of God has been ignored. If we have a greater love for a creed, tradition, learning, unity or a theologian, then the Spirit will not open our understanding to the truth of God. However, as we exercise the gift that He has bestowed upon each one of us, the result will be spiritual like-mindedness. Nevertheless, we must recognize that it is only through the Spirit that this will be; we might well hinder the work of the Spirit in us and arrive at a very different understanding of His Word, but it will not be the Truth – the Spirit will not override the choices that we make. We have already noted that the pioneers of the Evangelical Free Church believed that the Spirit of God could draw different people to differing interpretations of His Word, which then permitted them to exercise great liberty with those presenting different, or even conflicting, views of Scripture (those alongside of interpretations that are to be avoided – Romans 16:17). Through their failure to properly understand the Spirit of God, they gave themselves the latitude to be very Ecumenical and accepting of other faiths – the product of which is evident in their churches today.
Paul now goes on to list three more things that he sees in conjunction with this same thinking. The first is having, or holding, the same love (agape), identical to the first evidence of the singular fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). The second is to be of one accord – or harmonious.10 The Greek word used is sumpsuchos (soom’-psoo-khos) and literally means fellow-souled, or united in spirit.11 As we understand the basis for this accord, we readily recognize that it makes no room for the Ecumenical unity that is so pervasive today; this is a unity that is centered in the abiding Holy Spirit. Lastly, to be of one mind – a literal translation from the Greek is: the one thinking or understanding.12 The central, pivotal essential for all of these is submission to the Spirit of God.
Once again, we must recognize that Biblical unity comes only through the free working of the Spirit of God within the hearts of believers (which means faith in and faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ); it does not come, nor will it ever come, through the efforts of men to arrive at a common basis for their faith by closing their eyes to the clear teachings of God in His Word. Chuck Colson and Richard Neuhaus might well have persuaded many to follow their lead through their Evangelicals and Catholics Together, but they did not do so with the blessing of God; the Evangelicals and Catholics are indeed coming together, but the Spirit of God has departed from among them. We read of King Saul that, as he cast off the Word of the Lord, so the Lord rejected him from being king over Israel (1 Samuel 15:26) – there is a correlation between our denial of the Lord and His rejection of us. In the same way, when Harold Ockenga renounced the Scriptures in matters of separation (and all Evangelicals have subsequently embraced his error), so the Lord departed from him (and them) (Matthew 7:21-23).
3. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
1. If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
Keeping in mind that chapter breaks are a convenient feature added to the Bible by man, there is no break in thought from the previous section dealing with the need for the Philippians to stand fast, to not fear those who were bringing opposition to their Christian walk, and the call to suffer for the Lord. The word therefore signals that what follows is founded upon what has just come before.
The two words if and any appear together in the Greek. As such, they are frequently translated as if any, or if any man (Matthew 16:24; Mark 4:23), and may also be read as whoever.1 In the first phrase, consolation comes from a Greek word (paraklesis) meaning to call to one’s side, and speaks of exhortation, entreaty or that which affords comfort or refreshment.2 When we are called to the side of Christ, it could be for exhortation or comfort. Bringing these together, the first phrase would read, therefore whoever [has] an exhortation in Christ. The focus of this verse changes somewhat with this consideration: from an uncertain if to whoever among you has these, thereby removing any doubt that these various things exist. There is no question as to whether there is an exhortation or comfort in Christ – He is our Head. The reminder here is that we are a Body, and, as such, we must function together; we are inter-related, and so if “… one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26).
The word comfort (paramuthion) is closely related to consolation, meaning to speak closely with someone, but with more tenderness – hence, to encourage, rather than exhort.3 Not surprisingly, the Greek word for love is agape – not an emotional love, but a love based upon commitment.
The Greek word for fellowship speaks of intimacy and communion;4 bowels is the word used for the intestines and, within the Hebrew understanding (which would be very familiar to Paul), is considered to be the seat of the tender emotions of love and compassion;5 mercies expresses compassion, sympathy or pity.6
What we have in this verse is not an appeal for the Philippians to contemplate abstract concepts, but rather a call for them to consider those, within their gathering, who have been gifted in ways that will strengthen all of them as they face suffering. There will be some who have a word of exhortation, who will challenge others to remain firm in Christ; some will have a tender word of encouragement to bolster those who are becoming discouraged; there will be those who are having close fellowship with the Spirit of God, and will challenge and encourage others to such a walk; still others will have the ability to reach out in tenderness and sympathy to those who are struggling with the load of life. As we are born-again of the Spirit of God, we are all placed within the Body of Christ and gifted according to the Spirit’s desire (1 Corinthians 12:11). There is no mistake in our placement or in our gifting – it is by Divine appointment. Our circumstances in life might change dramatically over the years, but we can be confident that our gifting by the Spirit will always be appropriate for the needs that we face. Paul encouraged the Thessalonians: “Quench not the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19); we are not to suppress or constrain the Spirit of God Who is abiding within us, rather, we are to walk according to His leading so that we will see the righteousness of God lived out through us (Romans 8:4). “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life” (Romans 6:22). We are to set aside the sinfulness from which we have been freed by the Spirit of God, and become slaves to God – servants of righteousness and holiness (1 Peter 1:15-16). There must be a change of focus and a transformation of living.
2. Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
Paul now elaborates further on his admonition that they stand fast in one spirit (1:27). He has just identified the need for those, who have been given gifts, to exercise them, and to use them for mutual edification and growth in the Lord. Now he says to these people (made up of all who have been born-again by the Spirit of God, for we have all received something from the Spirit for the benefit of the Body), fulfil ye my joy – ye fill my joy (literal).7 This is in the imperative mood; it is a command that they are to make his joy abound.
The next phrase provides a glimpse into the purpose of the expressed gifting of verse one and what will result in Paul’s joy being filled to the limit – that ye be likeminded; literally, in order that ye the same ye are thinking.8 Although thinking is in the subjunctive mood, as part of this purpose clause there is no uncertainty here.9 As spiritual exhortation, encouragement, fellowship and compassion come together within the Body (verse 1), Paul charges them to make his joy flourish so that they will come to the same thinking or understanding as he has. We must not limit this resulting single-mindedness to the fulfillment of Paul’s joy – it is inextricably linked to the expression of the exhortation and compassionate gifting listed in the previous verse. It is through the exercise of the gifts of the Spirit that Paul’s joy will be filled to the brim, and out of that will flow minds that are centered in the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God must be permitted to do the work for which He was sent, namely, to guide us into all truth (John 16:13). Those who will be deceived in the time of Antichrist, are not saved because they refused to accept a love (agape) for the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10). The Spirit has been sent to guide us into all truth – if we do not have a love for the truth, then the guidance by the Spirit of God has been ignored. If we have a greater love for a creed, tradition, learning, unity or a theologian, then the Spirit will not open our understanding to the truth of God. However, as we exercise the gift that He has bestowed upon each one of us, the result will be spiritual like-mindedness. Nevertheless, we must recognize that it is only through the Spirit that this will be; we might well hinder the work of the Spirit in us and arrive at a very different understanding of His Word, but it will not be the Truth – the Spirit will not override the choices that we make. We have already noted that the pioneers of the Evangelical Free Church believed that the Spirit of God could draw different people to differing interpretations of His Word, which then permitted them to exercise great liberty with those presenting different, or even conflicting, views of Scripture (those alongside of interpretations that are to be avoided – Romans 16:17). Through their failure to properly understand the Spirit of God, they gave themselves the latitude to be very Ecumenical and accepting of other faiths – the product of which is evident in their churches today.
Paul now goes on to list three more things that he sees in conjunction with this same thinking. The first is having, or holding, the same love (agape), identical to the first evidence of the singular fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). The second is to be of one accord – or harmonious.10 The Greek word used is sumpsuchos (soom’-psoo-khos) and literally means fellow-souled, or united in spirit.11 As we understand the basis for this accord, we readily recognize that it makes no room for the Ecumenical unity that is so pervasive today; this is a unity that is centered in the abiding Holy Spirit. Lastly, to be of one mind – a literal translation from the Greek is: the one thinking or understanding.12 The central, pivotal essential for all of these is submission to the Spirit of God.
Once again, we must recognize that Biblical unity comes only through the free working of the Spirit of God within the hearts of believers (which means faith in and faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ); it does not come, nor will it ever come, through the efforts of men to arrive at a common basis for their faith by closing their eyes to the clear teachings of God in His Word. Chuck Colson and Richard Neuhaus might well have persuaded many to follow their lead through their Evangelicals and Catholics Together, but they did not do so with the blessing of God; the Evangelicals and Catholics are indeed coming together, but the Spirit of God has departed from among them. We read of King Saul that, as he cast off the Word of the Lord, so the Lord rejected him from being king over Israel (1 Samuel 15:26) – there is a correlation between our denial of the Lord and His rejection of us. In the same way, when Harold Ockenga renounced the Scriptures in matters of separation (and all Evangelicals have subsequently embraced his error), so the Lord departed from him (and them) (Matthew 7:21-23).
3. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
This does not begin a new thought, but actually carries on from the previous verse. A literal translation of the first phrase is this: nothing according to selfish ambition or vanity.13 After identifying agape, harmony, and unity of thought as being the products of the exercising of the gifts imparted by the Spirit of God, Paul now points to that for which there is to be no place. Another word for vainglory or vanity is self-esteem.14 Here is a simple statement that runs contrary to much of modern thinking, even that which has found its way into Evangelical leaders. Robert Schuller, that great purveyor of heresy who still holds significant influence within the minds of many Evangelicals, has said that “sin is any act or thought that robs myself [sic] or another human being of his or her self-esteem.”15 Besides demonstrating bad grammar, this statement by Schuller shows that he sees the focus of sin as being against self, rather than against God. “For all have sinned [missed the mark], and come short [to fail or lack] of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23); clearly, sin has to do with our failure before God, yet Schuller would propose that, through sin, we have failed ourselves. In typical, modern-day psychobabble, he has made man the focus; he has fallen for the very same lie that caught Eve so very long ago – it’s all about me! “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food [personal sustenance], and that it was pleasant to the eyes [personal pleasure], and a tree to be desired to make one wise [personal prestige], she took of the fruit …” (Genesis 3:6). Schuller would have encouraged Eve to take the fruit, after all, look what it will do for you! Within his mind, to be born-again means to “be changed from a negative to a positive self-image – from inferiority to self-esteem, from fear to love, from doubt to trust.”16 What is strangely missing is that we were once dead, but we are now alive in Christ (Romans 6:11). Schuller, with his false concept of sin and what it means to be a born-again Christian, has been a significant influence in the lives of men like Rick Warren (rated the most influential Evangelical in America in 2010 by Time magazine17) and Bill Hybels (rated twelfth).
Someone else who promotes the concept of self-esteem, but within an even more commonly accepted forum, is psychologist James Dobson (rated the seventh most influential Evangelical by Time magazine). He has written: “If I could write a prescription for the women of the world, it would provide each of them with a healthy dose of self-esteem and personal worth ….”18 Dobson views low self-esteem as “a threat to the entire human family”;19 this is not a peripheral matter with him, but lies at the very heart of his philosophy for life. Dobson’s Focus on the Family (perhaps more appropriately identified as Focus on Self) broadcasts and literature, which are directed toward everyone from the child to the adult, have entered the homes of most Evangelicals today with little or no question; yet we must recognize that his philosophy runs contrary to the Word of God. He has been a great purveyor of the psychology that is based upon the musings of godless men, and he has done much to promote the agenda of New Evangelicalism and Ecumenism. If we would be obedient to the exhortation of Romans 16:17, then Schuller and Dobson are two examples of very prominent Evangelicals whom we must avoid altogether – we must not support them in any way, nor fill our ears with their homilies.
The charge here is that nothing is to be done out of selfish ambition or with the intent of making us feel good about ourselves. Lest we somehow miss this, Paul goes on to elaborate on what this means. The contrast is this: in lowliness of mind, we are to mutually regard others as surpassing ourselves. Jesus said that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:39); we have a natural, intuitive self-preservation – without thinking, we do those things that will preserve our lives; we have an inborn defense mechanism against anything that would seek to cause us harm. There is no suggestion here to set this aside, nor is there any suggestion to be a flag in the wind when it comes to the teachings of Scripture. To the Ephesians, Paul declared that Christ has given gifts unto us “for the perfecting of the saints … that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine …” (Ephesians 4:12,14). The gifting that we have received from the Spirit of God will make us steadfast and stable within the teachings of the Scripture – well able to stand against the false teaching that continually surrounds us. It is very clear from the example of Paul’s life, that he would not permit anyone to promote any teaching that did not line up perfectly with the doctrine that he had received from God (his letter to the Galatians is a good example of how vigorously he defended the truth). The thrust of this is that we are not to promote ourselves – this harkens back to the original deception into which Eve fell (Genesis 3:5-6; cp. 1 John 2:16). Notice that the devil only presented Eve with the “pride of life” (ye shall be as gods), but, as she gave consideration to the devil’s lie, she conjured up the lusts of the flesh and eyes on her own.
In his lengthy explanation to the Corinthians on how the spiritual gifts are at work within the Body of Christ, Paul declared: “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal [to bear together or at the same time20, for the common good21]” (1 Corinthians 12:7). As we consider this, there are at least three things that we must acknowledge concerning spiritual gifts: 1) they are given by the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 12:7), 2) they are given so that we might be spiritually strengthened and become like our Head, the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:12-16), and 3) they are significant because they are varied by the Spirit of God to fit with the role that He has identified for us within the Body (1 Corinthians 12:12-13). There is nothing haphazard about the distribution of spiritual gifts! As each of us seeks to abide in Christ (John 15:4; 1 John 3:24), we are individually connected to Christ so that we might effectively utilize the gift that we have received for the benefit of the whole Body; by the same token, we must not resist the gifting and role that are designed for us by our omniscient God – to do so would be to grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). “From whom [Christ] the whole body fitly joined together and compacted [held together] by that which every joint [connection – in the physical body, ligaments and sinew] supplieth [provides], according to the effectual working in the measure [or limit] of every [each one] part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:16).22 We are each limited in what we can do (a natural part of being human), yet, as we are joined to Christ, we are equipped, in accordance with our limitations, for the role that He has prepared for us. “For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14).
As we function within the Body, our focus is not to be on ourselves and how we can look out for “number one.” We have been gifted to function within the Body of Christ so that “the members should have the same care one for another” (1 Corinthians 12:25b) – literally: the members should care for the same [the Body] for the sake of one another.23 We have differing roles and spiritual gifts so that we can function effectively as a Body; we are not all eyes, nor are we all ears (1 Corinthians 12:17); we are to occupy the place that we have been given within the Body, and do so to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). This all becomes clearer if we consider Jesus’ words to the religious lawyer who sought to test Him: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40). The focus of our agape must first be upward toward God, then outward toward others. Modern philosophy would have us believe that we must learn to love ourselves before we can love others; the Scriptures declare: “For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church (ekklesia) …” (Ephesians 5:29). What could be more clear? The care that the Lord takes for His ekklesia, His called-out ones, is compared to how we take care of our own bodies. We work to preserve our lives and do those things that will make life pleasant and enjoyable. We do not need to learn to love ourselves, but we do need to learn how to love God and others (hence Jesus’ two commands that reflect the Ten Commandments: the first four clarify how we are to love God and the remaining six, how we are to love our neighbor).
Paul presents the contrasting situation to this self-aggrandizement, and that is lowliness of mind. Here is the opposite of an inflated self-esteem. The phrase used comes from a compound Greek word bringing together tapeinos meaning “not rising far from the ground” and phren, the mind of understanding.24 This is not a feigned humility, but one that comes from a clear understanding of who we are before God. Unless this awareness has penetrated our hearts, we might well be enamored by the words of Robert Schuller and James Dobson. When we are convinced that we are sinners, not because we have robbed ourselves or anyone else of esteem, but because we were born in sin (we are by nature the children of wrath – Ephesians 2:3), then we begin to recognize, to some degree, the full extent of the sacrifice that Christ made to buy us out of sin. Left to our own devices, we will sin – it is who we are; for all did sin and are lacking of the glory of the God (Romans 3:23, literal).25 When Adam sinned, the glory of God departed from him, for he now knew both good and evil (Genesis 3:5); to that point in time, Adam and Eve enjoyed full fellowship with God – they were pure and sinless before Him. With the entrance of sin, the glory departed, and every child of Adam has been born in that un-glorified state – a sinner (Romans 5:18a). However, God had prepared a plan for the redemption of mankind so that man might choose to be restored to the glory that was lost in the Garden of Eden. Jesus, God incarnate, became the central figure in mankind’s redemption, and, through His death and resurrection, He purchased salvation for everyone (1 Timothy 2:5-6). Foreshadowed in the sacrifices prescribed by God from Adam until the cross, faith in God’s Provision for our release from the bondage of sin has always procured salvation. Hebrews 11 plainly tells us that an active faith is pleasing to God, and that “without faith it is impossible to please him” (Hebrews 11:6). This One Who cried, “It is finished,” God raised from the dead and gave glory (1 Peter 1:21), to the extent that He is now seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven (Hebrews 10:12). From this, Paul taught the Corinthians about the resurrection of the bodies of the saints of God: “it is sown in dishonour (the body dies and is buried); it is raised in glory …” (1 Corinthians 15:43). On that day of resurrection, we will receive glorified bodies – that final step in our salvation; the restoration of the glory, which Adam lost, will be accomplished. However, it will not be our glory, but the glory of Christ Jesus, for our salvation will only be accomplished as we remain in Christ – He is our substitute so that we may receive the mercy and grace of God extended through Him. There will come a day when Jesus will “come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe” (2 Thessalonians 1:10). What we must not miss is that the word believe is in the present tense; therefore, we must endure, we must remain in Christ, and we must “hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end” (Hebrews 3:14). We must not be cavalier about God’s provision for our salvation; it is marvelous beyond description, and we must remain steadfast in the faith, lest we permit a heart of unbelief (faithlessness) to creep in and we wriggle free of Christ’s grip on us (Hebrews 3:12). This does not contradict Jesus’ words: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish [the Greek negatives ou and me along with the subjunctive mood of perish makes this the strongest negative possible in Greek,26], neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28). The highlighted verbs are all in the present tense (not an action in the past, but an ongoing reality that thereby holds the promise to never perish), and it is important to understand that these all support the concept of endurance and perseverance. Most notable is the promise that no one, or nothing, will ever be able to seize us out of the hand of the Lord – but that does not nullify the warning that we not give way to a heart of unbelief and remove ourselves from the Lord’s protective hand.
We must not forget that “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). The word not used here is the absolute form; there is absolutely nothing in us that contributes in any way to our salvation – it is entirely of God, and it’s a gift! If we hold a proper understanding of our salvation, then we will have little difficulty exemplifying a lowly humility toward our fellow members of the Body of Christ.
The charge here is that nothing is to be done out of selfish ambition or with the intent of making us feel good about ourselves. Lest we somehow miss this, Paul goes on to elaborate on what this means. The contrast is this: in lowliness of mind, we are to mutually regard others as surpassing ourselves. Jesus said that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:39); we have a natural, intuitive self-preservation – without thinking, we do those things that will preserve our lives; we have an inborn defense mechanism against anything that would seek to cause us harm. There is no suggestion here to set this aside, nor is there any suggestion to be a flag in the wind when it comes to the teachings of Scripture. To the Ephesians, Paul declared that Christ has given gifts unto us “for the perfecting of the saints … that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine …” (Ephesians 4:12,14). The gifting that we have received from the Spirit of God will make us steadfast and stable within the teachings of the Scripture – well able to stand against the false teaching that continually surrounds us. It is very clear from the example of Paul’s life, that he would not permit anyone to promote any teaching that did not line up perfectly with the doctrine that he had received from God (his letter to the Galatians is a good example of how vigorously he defended the truth). The thrust of this is that we are not to promote ourselves – this harkens back to the original deception into which Eve fell (Genesis 3:5-6; cp. 1 John 2:16). Notice that the devil only presented Eve with the “pride of life” (ye shall be as gods), but, as she gave consideration to the devil’s lie, she conjured up the lusts of the flesh and eyes on her own.
In his lengthy explanation to the Corinthians on how the spiritual gifts are at work within the Body of Christ, Paul declared: “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal [to bear together or at the same time20, for the common good21]” (1 Corinthians 12:7). As we consider this, there are at least three things that we must acknowledge concerning spiritual gifts: 1) they are given by the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 12:7), 2) they are given so that we might be spiritually strengthened and become like our Head, the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:12-16), and 3) they are significant because they are varied by the Spirit of God to fit with the role that He has identified for us within the Body (1 Corinthians 12:12-13). There is nothing haphazard about the distribution of spiritual gifts! As each of us seeks to abide in Christ (John 15:4; 1 John 3:24), we are individually connected to Christ so that we might effectively utilize the gift that we have received for the benefit of the whole Body; by the same token, we must not resist the gifting and role that are designed for us by our omniscient God – to do so would be to grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). “From whom [Christ] the whole body fitly joined together and compacted [held together] by that which every joint [connection – in the physical body, ligaments and sinew] supplieth [provides], according to the effectual working in the measure [or limit] of every [each one] part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:16).22 We are each limited in what we can do (a natural part of being human), yet, as we are joined to Christ, we are equipped, in accordance with our limitations, for the role that He has prepared for us. “For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14).
As we function within the Body, our focus is not to be on ourselves and how we can look out for “number one.” We have been gifted to function within the Body of Christ so that “the members should have the same care one for another” (1 Corinthians 12:25b) – literally: the members should care for the same [the Body] for the sake of one another.23 We have differing roles and spiritual gifts so that we can function effectively as a Body; we are not all eyes, nor are we all ears (1 Corinthians 12:17); we are to occupy the place that we have been given within the Body, and do so to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). This all becomes clearer if we consider Jesus’ words to the religious lawyer who sought to test Him: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40). The focus of our agape must first be upward toward God, then outward toward others. Modern philosophy would have us believe that we must learn to love ourselves before we can love others; the Scriptures declare: “For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church (ekklesia) …” (Ephesians 5:29). What could be more clear? The care that the Lord takes for His ekklesia, His called-out ones, is compared to how we take care of our own bodies. We work to preserve our lives and do those things that will make life pleasant and enjoyable. We do not need to learn to love ourselves, but we do need to learn how to love God and others (hence Jesus’ two commands that reflect the Ten Commandments: the first four clarify how we are to love God and the remaining six, how we are to love our neighbor).
Paul presents the contrasting situation to this self-aggrandizement, and that is lowliness of mind. Here is the opposite of an inflated self-esteem. The phrase used comes from a compound Greek word bringing together tapeinos meaning “not rising far from the ground” and phren, the mind of understanding.24 This is not a feigned humility, but one that comes from a clear understanding of who we are before God. Unless this awareness has penetrated our hearts, we might well be enamored by the words of Robert Schuller and James Dobson. When we are convinced that we are sinners, not because we have robbed ourselves or anyone else of esteem, but because we were born in sin (we are by nature the children of wrath – Ephesians 2:3), then we begin to recognize, to some degree, the full extent of the sacrifice that Christ made to buy us out of sin. Left to our own devices, we will sin – it is who we are; for all did sin and are lacking of the glory of the God (Romans 3:23, literal).25 When Adam sinned, the glory of God departed from him, for he now knew both good and evil (Genesis 3:5); to that point in time, Adam and Eve enjoyed full fellowship with God – they were pure and sinless before Him. With the entrance of sin, the glory departed, and every child of Adam has been born in that un-glorified state – a sinner (Romans 5:18a). However, God had prepared a plan for the redemption of mankind so that man might choose to be restored to the glory that was lost in the Garden of Eden. Jesus, God incarnate, became the central figure in mankind’s redemption, and, through His death and resurrection, He purchased salvation for everyone (1 Timothy 2:5-6). Foreshadowed in the sacrifices prescribed by God from Adam until the cross, faith in God’s Provision for our release from the bondage of sin has always procured salvation. Hebrews 11 plainly tells us that an active faith is pleasing to God, and that “without faith it is impossible to please him” (Hebrews 11:6). This One Who cried, “It is finished,” God raised from the dead and gave glory (1 Peter 1:21), to the extent that He is now seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven (Hebrews 10:12). From this, Paul taught the Corinthians about the resurrection of the bodies of the saints of God: “it is sown in dishonour (the body dies and is buried); it is raised in glory …” (1 Corinthians 15:43). On that day of resurrection, we will receive glorified bodies – that final step in our salvation; the restoration of the glory, which Adam lost, will be accomplished. However, it will not be our glory, but the glory of Christ Jesus, for our salvation will only be accomplished as we remain in Christ – He is our substitute so that we may receive the mercy and grace of God extended through Him. There will come a day when Jesus will “come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe” (2 Thessalonians 1:10). What we must not miss is that the word believe is in the present tense; therefore, we must endure, we must remain in Christ, and we must “hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end” (Hebrews 3:14). We must not be cavalier about God’s provision for our salvation; it is marvelous beyond description, and we must remain steadfast in the faith, lest we permit a heart of unbelief (faithlessness) to creep in and we wriggle free of Christ’s grip on us (Hebrews 3:12). This does not contradict Jesus’ words: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish [the Greek negatives ou and me along with the subjunctive mood of perish makes this the strongest negative possible in Greek,26], neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28). The highlighted verbs are all in the present tense (not an action in the past, but an ongoing reality that thereby holds the promise to never perish), and it is important to understand that these all support the concept of endurance and perseverance. Most notable is the promise that no one, or nothing, will ever be able to seize us out of the hand of the Lord – but that does not nullify the warning that we not give way to a heart of unbelief and remove ourselves from the Lord’s protective hand.
We must not forget that “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). The word not used here is the absolute form; there is absolutely nothing in us that contributes in any way to our salvation – it is entirely of God, and it’s a gift! If we hold a proper understanding of our salvation, then we will have little difficulty exemplifying a lowly humility toward our fellow members of the Body of Christ.
4. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
The first phrase of this verse provides the basis for the second phrase. Literally, this reads: everyone not the things of yourselves to be considering.27 In our possession-obsessed society, we understand this to mean that we are not to look at what we own – house, car, lands, money, etc. The word look is the Greek skopeo (skop-eh’-o), which carries the idea of contemplating or directing one’s attention to.28 In essence, we are not to be consumed with ourselves; Paul used the imperative mood for the word look – this is not a suggestion but a command. Jesus said: “Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek [present tense, imperative mood] ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Luke 12:27-31).29 We are not to be consumed with ensuring that we are adequately looked after, for our Father in Heaven is very aware of all of our needs – the consuming passion of our minds is to be the kingdom of God. We will not learn of this kingdom by following men like Rick Warren who seek to build God’s kingdom on earth; our seeking must focus on the Word of God, for therein are the words of life.
On the other hand, I cannot lay back with the attitude that the Lord will provide me with everything that I need – that I don’t have to do anything. To the Thessalonians Paul declared: “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread” (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12). There is a balance between being obsessed with working, and laziness. We will automatically look after ourselves; therefore, we do not need to make the process of providing for our needs (or wants) the primary focus of our existence. If we would shift our focus from self-absorption to a love for the truth (Jesus said that He is the truth – John 14:6), then we would discover the abundant spiritual provision that God has for us.
The latter phrase of this verse also does not include anything for the materialistic mind; literally, it reads: but each also the things of others.30 Rather than being focused on ourselves, we are to turn our attention to those around us. If we consider the metaphor of the body used to describe our relationship with fellow believers, then we must recognize that all of the parts of a body must work together in order to be healthy. With Christ as our Head, and with our life-giving connection to Him (Ephesians 4:16), we are adequately prepared to provide service for the Body – there is no need for self-contemplation, for our needs are met by Christ – by looking upward, not inward. We have been equipped with, and by, the Holy Spirit according to our place within the Body, and the role that God has designed for us.
5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
This, too, takes the form of a command; this is not an option, or a suggestion for us to consider, and then either accept or dismiss. The word mind means to think in such a way.31 What Paul is referring to is what he has just delineated – namely, we are to regard one another in all humility and not be self-absorbed. This was the mindset of Christ; Paul then proceeds to outline how that was exemplified in the life of Christ.
6. Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
The first thing that must be noted is that what follows refers, in its entirety, to Christ Jesus – the Who is Jesus.
The first phrase begins to give us a glimpse into Who Jesus is in respect to God. The literal translation is: in the nature of God, He is existing.32 Form comes from the Greek word morphe (mor-fay’), and is used only three times in the NT. In Mark 16:12 we read: “After that he appeared in another form [morphe] unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.” Here it refers to how Jesus physically appeared to the two disciples walking to Emmaus. Jesus appeared but not so as to be recognized by them; Luke says “their eyes were holden [restrained] that they should not know him” (Luke 24:16).33 However, in the other two instances (in our verse and the one following), the word carries the thought of the nature, or essence, of Who Jesus is, rather than His physical appearance.34 The reason for this is very simple: God is a spirit (John 4:24), and it is understood that a spirit does not have a physical body. Here we have Jesus described as being God in His very essence. The word being, or existing, is in the present tense and active voice – Jesus presently exists in His very essence as God; He is not God because of the actions of someone else, no one made Him God – He is God and is existing as such.
As Paul penned these words, Jesus was in His glorified body at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. Does this mean that it is only in His glorified body that Jesus, in His very essence, is God? In His discussion with the Jews as to His identity, Jesus said: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). The Jews fully understood Jesus’ forthright declaration that He was God, for “they took up stones to cast at him” (John 8:59) because He identified Himself as being “I AM.” When Moses asked God who he should say sent him to the Israelites, God said: “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you” (Exodus 3:14). Jesus’ declaration to the Jews places His ever-present existence before Abraham, and He uses the same identifier (I AM) as Jehovah used with Moses. God is always in the present (there is no past or future with Him, He bears no such time restraints). “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord …” (Revelation 1:8); am is in the present tense – the Lord is in the present both at the beginning of time and at the end of time, and at all points in between. Just as we might look at a foot ruler, so God views time. Jesus, Who made this declaration to the Apostle John, is, in the very essence of His Being, God – from eternity past He is God.
Open theism denies God’s eternal, every-present existence, perhaps not openly, but the very premise for their position requires that God be restrained by time going forward. They hold that God knows the present and the past “with exhaustive definite knowledge and knows the future as partly definite (closed) and partly indefinite (open).”35 In other words, God does not know all of the future because man still has to make decisions that will impact the future, and God doesn’t know what man will decide. Interestingly, open theists hold strongly that God’s primary attribute is love; they also believe that He is learning along with man, He can make mistakes, and He will consequently change His plans to mesh with the decisions that man freely makes, without any influence from Him.36 Greg Boyd, ranked fourth most influential Christian scholar in 201037 and a promoter of this doctrine, claims that the God of open theism knows far more than the omniscient God of traditional theology. He sees God as having infinite intelligence, able to see the future as an infinite series of possibilities to which He holds a decided response for each one. They speak of God’s omniscience, but with a difference: “He knows EVERYTHING exactly as it is,”38 but not as it will be. Within their thinking, God’s omniscience is limited to what is past and present; as for the future, God is learning about it along with man; they place God within the confines of time along with man – the only difference is that God has infinite intelligence. When we speak of God being all-knowing, we understand that God is the ever-present One Who observes the span of time from the perspective of eternity. However, His omniscience does not make Him deterministic (i.e., men live out what God has predetermined), but simply that He knows all of the decisions that men will freely make and the consequences of those decisions. Calvinism makes God deterministic – all of men’s actions have been predetermined by God in the same way that it clings to all men being born predestined for either heaven or hell.
The priesthood of Jesus follows the pattern of Melchisedec, who was “without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth [present tense] a priest continually [eternally]” (Hebrews 7:3).39 The writer of Hebrews, through the inspiration of the Spirit of God, shows this statement to speak of the Lord Jesus Christ: “… Thou art a priest for ever [eternally] after the order of Melchisedec” (Hebrews 7:17, 21; cp. Psalm 110:4). God announced the One to come, through the Psalmist David, a thousand years before Jesus took on the form of man for the purpose of finalizing God’s plan of salvation. “[God] Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began [eternity before time] …” (2 Timothy 1:9).40 Jesus’ sacrifice for the redemption of mankind was prepared before time began; from eternity past, Jesus was our High Priest after the likeness of Melchisedec. “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman …” (Galatians 4:4); when the time was right in God’s schedule, Jesus, in His very essence as the eternal God, entered this world to fulfill God’s plan for His everlasting priesthood on our behalf.
Paul continues – Jesus thought it not robbery to be equal with God. The word robbery speaks of grasping onto something; Jesus did not reckon His equality with God as something to be seized and held onto; the word includes the thought of some desperation. Not, used here, is the absolute form of the word – Jesus has absolutely no desperate grasp on His Godhood; it was not something to which He clung in the hope that He would not lose it. He is God; He has always been God, and always will be God. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8); He is the “Alpha and Omega, the first and the last …” (Revelation 1:11). This can only mean that the deity of Christ has never changed – it did not change when He took on the form of man; He is forever a member of the Godhead.
When Jesus healed a lame man on the Sabbath and told him to pick his bed up and walk, the Jews were incensed at this blatant violation of their Sabbath rules. “And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God” (John 5:16-18). The religious leaders of the Jews fully realized that Jesus declared Himself to be God, but were unwilling to accept Him as God because of what it would have meant to them. They would have had to rescind all of the detailed laws that they had added to the Law of Moses; they would have had to remove the burdens that they heaped upon their own people, yet would not so much as lend a finger to lighten their load (Luke 11:46). This great burden of minute laws placed upon the Jews could be laid at the feet of the Pharisees, the scribes and the religious lawyers; each of these were involved in the interpretation and instruction of the Law of Moses, and each loved to complicate the commands of God with their own rules for life. Jesus entered the scene and demonstrated a perfect application of the Law of Moses before the Pharisees, which exposed them as being charlatans. Frequently their accusations against Jesus involved a miracle that Jesus had performed, but which they would choose to ignore in favor of a violation of one of their own rules. In the case sited above, Jesus healed a man who had been lame for 38 years by telling him to “rise, take up thy bed, and walk” (John 5:8). The Pharisees completely ignored the fact that this man, who had been totally helpless for so long, was completely whole; they might not have known what to think about such a miracle, but they did know how to apply their version of the Law – and that is precisely what they did. Their great fear in all of this was that they would lose their influence over the people. At Jesus’ trial, Pilate recognized that the Jewish religious leaders sought His demise out of their fear of His growing popularity: “For he knew that for envy they had delivered him” (Matthew 27:18). Their control of the Jewish people depended upon keeping them in ignorance; Jesus “taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew 7:29) – the people recognized the difference. The difference was really quite simple: Jesus spoke the words of God as God; the scribes taught the words of God through their own legalistic grid, in order to maintain their superiority and control over their own people.
Evangelicals have slipped into the same ditch as the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day, except instead of promoting legalism, they promote liberalism. Jesus said: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted [to leave or abandon] the weightier [more important41] matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith [the essence for redemption]: these ought [it is necessary] ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone” (Matthew 23:23).42 Jesus did not condemn the Pharisees’ diligence in tithing of their herbs, but chastised them for neglecting the matters of eternal consequence; the Pharisees had created a theological framework by which they interpreted God’s Word for the people, and it was a grid of legalism. Evangelicals today have created a theological grid of their own – it is one of liberalism, where the terms essential to salvation have been redefined in an effort to broaden the narrow way and make it socially acceptable. Although claiming to uphold the important elements of the Gospel message, they have desecrated God’s Word and make their converts “twofold more the child of hell” than themselves (Matthew 23:15). Jesus still speaks with the same authority that He used in Galilee, but His Word today has been either shelved or decimated by the godless translators of corrupted texts; His name is The Word of God (Revelation 19:13); He is the eternal Logos – the Truth, and we must seek Him!
7. But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Paul has just clarified that Jesus is God, and now comes a contrast identified by the word but; he will now present Jesus in His manhood.
The words made of no reputation mean to empty;43 the phrase is he emptied himself.44 The next phrase tells us how He emptied Himself: He took on the form (morphe) of a slave (doulos). Being in nature and essence God, Jesus now also became in nature and essence a slave. Even though He did not cease to be God, He set His glory aside in order to identify with His creation, man. What must not be overlooked is that the words emptied (made of no reputation) and took are in the active voice – Jesus is the One Who emptied Himself; Jesus took on the form of a slave. He came willingly, with the intent of procuring complete redemption for mankind; this was not forced upon Him, but He came in accordance with the plan that He, as part of the eternal Godhead, had established before creation began.
The word form is used in the same way as in the previous verse; it refers to the nature or essence – Jesus took upon Himself the very essence of a slave (doulos). “And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant (doulos): Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:27-28). Jesus set the example of what it means to serve. However, in His case, the service was much more costly. “For scarcely [hardly] for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure [perhaps] for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet [still being] sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8).45 Slaves are generally regarded as property, and, although not as disposable as a piece of furniture, they were considered dispensable – hence, there were those who made a living through the buying and selling of slaves: slave traders. The eternal Son of God left the unimaginable glories of heaven with the express purpose of coming to earth to die for the sins of mankind. Keep in mind, man was not on good terms with God at this time – man was a sinner condemned to death, doomed to eternal separation from God. Jesus came “to give his life a ransom for many46” (Matthew 20:28); this ransom, the payment required for sin, was considered paid before the creation of the world (Revelation 13:8). Jesus said: “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me” (John 6:38); He came in the very essence of a slave to do the will of the Father – even while He remained fully God. We cannot begin to fathom the sacrifice that Jesus willingly made so that He could fulfill His eternal plan of redemption.
The last phrase says that Jesus was made in the likeness of men. Likeness is not the same Greek word as form; it does not speak to the nature and essence of Jesus but rather to Him bearing the resemblance of a man: His appearance was as a man.47 “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness [same Greek word] of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled [filled to the brim] in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4).48 The word likeness speaks of the appearance, the image, but not the essence; Jesus took on the flesh of man, but He was entirely without sin (not being born of Adam). “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus identified Himself with mankind; God became a man so that He might purchase man our of his sin. “Forasmuch then as the children [small children, as young as an infant just born] are partakers [koinoneo – to share in] of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise [in the same way] took part [became a partaker] of the same; that through death he might destroy [katargeo – put an end to] him that had the power [dominion or control] of death, that is, the devil; And deliver [to set free] them who through fear of death were all their lifetime [living (verb)] subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved [under obligation49] him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to [with] God, to make reconciliation [appeasement50] for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:14-17). Jesus, physically, became a descendent of Abraham so that He might, in mercy, stand between a holy God and sinful man. Inasmuch as He is God, He can identify with God; because He became man, He can reach out to men and bring reconciliation with God – “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus …” (1 Timothy 2:5).
The priesthood of Jesus follows the pattern of Melchisedec, who was “without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth [present tense] a priest continually [eternally]” (Hebrews 7:3).39 The writer of Hebrews, through the inspiration of the Spirit of God, shows this statement to speak of the Lord Jesus Christ: “… Thou art a priest for ever [eternally] after the order of Melchisedec” (Hebrews 7:17, 21; cp. Psalm 110:4). God announced the One to come, through the Psalmist David, a thousand years before Jesus took on the form of man for the purpose of finalizing God’s plan of salvation. “[God] Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began [eternity before time] …” (2 Timothy 1:9).40 Jesus’ sacrifice for the redemption of mankind was prepared before time began; from eternity past, Jesus was our High Priest after the likeness of Melchisedec. “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman …” (Galatians 4:4); when the time was right in God’s schedule, Jesus, in His very essence as the eternal God, entered this world to fulfill God’s plan for His everlasting priesthood on our behalf.
Paul continues – Jesus thought it not robbery to be equal with God. The word robbery speaks of grasping onto something; Jesus did not reckon His equality with God as something to be seized and held onto; the word includes the thought of some desperation. Not, used here, is the absolute form of the word – Jesus has absolutely no desperate grasp on His Godhood; it was not something to which He clung in the hope that He would not lose it. He is God; He has always been God, and always will be God. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8); He is the “Alpha and Omega, the first and the last …” (Revelation 1:11). This can only mean that the deity of Christ has never changed – it did not change when He took on the form of man; He is forever a member of the Godhead.
When Jesus healed a lame man on the Sabbath and told him to pick his bed up and walk, the Jews were incensed at this blatant violation of their Sabbath rules. “And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God” (John 5:16-18). The religious leaders of the Jews fully realized that Jesus declared Himself to be God, but were unwilling to accept Him as God because of what it would have meant to them. They would have had to rescind all of the detailed laws that they had added to the Law of Moses; they would have had to remove the burdens that they heaped upon their own people, yet would not so much as lend a finger to lighten their load (Luke 11:46). This great burden of minute laws placed upon the Jews could be laid at the feet of the Pharisees, the scribes and the religious lawyers; each of these were involved in the interpretation and instruction of the Law of Moses, and each loved to complicate the commands of God with their own rules for life. Jesus entered the scene and demonstrated a perfect application of the Law of Moses before the Pharisees, which exposed them as being charlatans. Frequently their accusations against Jesus involved a miracle that Jesus had performed, but which they would choose to ignore in favor of a violation of one of their own rules. In the case sited above, Jesus healed a man who had been lame for 38 years by telling him to “rise, take up thy bed, and walk” (John 5:8). The Pharisees completely ignored the fact that this man, who had been totally helpless for so long, was completely whole; they might not have known what to think about such a miracle, but they did know how to apply their version of the Law – and that is precisely what they did. Their great fear in all of this was that they would lose their influence over the people. At Jesus’ trial, Pilate recognized that the Jewish religious leaders sought His demise out of their fear of His growing popularity: “For he knew that for envy they had delivered him” (Matthew 27:18). Their control of the Jewish people depended upon keeping them in ignorance; Jesus “taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew 7:29) – the people recognized the difference. The difference was really quite simple: Jesus spoke the words of God as God; the scribes taught the words of God through their own legalistic grid, in order to maintain their superiority and control over their own people.
Evangelicals have slipped into the same ditch as the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day, except instead of promoting legalism, they promote liberalism. Jesus said: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted [to leave or abandon] the weightier [more important41] matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith [the essence for redemption]: these ought [it is necessary] ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone” (Matthew 23:23).42 Jesus did not condemn the Pharisees’ diligence in tithing of their herbs, but chastised them for neglecting the matters of eternal consequence; the Pharisees had created a theological framework by which they interpreted God’s Word for the people, and it was a grid of legalism. Evangelicals today have created a theological grid of their own – it is one of liberalism, where the terms essential to salvation have been redefined in an effort to broaden the narrow way and make it socially acceptable. Although claiming to uphold the important elements of the Gospel message, they have desecrated God’s Word and make their converts “twofold more the child of hell” than themselves (Matthew 23:15). Jesus still speaks with the same authority that He used in Galilee, but His Word today has been either shelved or decimated by the godless translators of corrupted texts; His name is The Word of God (Revelation 19:13); He is the eternal Logos – the Truth, and we must seek Him!
7. But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Paul has just clarified that Jesus is God, and now comes a contrast identified by the word but; he will now present Jesus in His manhood.
The words made of no reputation mean to empty;43 the phrase is he emptied himself.44 The next phrase tells us how He emptied Himself: He took on the form (morphe) of a slave (doulos). Being in nature and essence God, Jesus now also became in nature and essence a slave. Even though He did not cease to be God, He set His glory aside in order to identify with His creation, man. What must not be overlooked is that the words emptied (made of no reputation) and took are in the active voice – Jesus is the One Who emptied Himself; Jesus took on the form of a slave. He came willingly, with the intent of procuring complete redemption for mankind; this was not forced upon Him, but He came in accordance with the plan that He, as part of the eternal Godhead, had established before creation began.
The word form is used in the same way as in the previous verse; it refers to the nature or essence – Jesus took upon Himself the very essence of a slave (doulos). “And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant (doulos): Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:27-28). Jesus set the example of what it means to serve. However, in His case, the service was much more costly. “For scarcely [hardly] for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure [perhaps] for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet [still being] sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8).45 Slaves are generally regarded as property, and, although not as disposable as a piece of furniture, they were considered dispensable – hence, there were those who made a living through the buying and selling of slaves: slave traders. The eternal Son of God left the unimaginable glories of heaven with the express purpose of coming to earth to die for the sins of mankind. Keep in mind, man was not on good terms with God at this time – man was a sinner condemned to death, doomed to eternal separation from God. Jesus came “to give his life a ransom for many46” (Matthew 20:28); this ransom, the payment required for sin, was considered paid before the creation of the world (Revelation 13:8). Jesus said: “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me” (John 6:38); He came in the very essence of a slave to do the will of the Father – even while He remained fully God. We cannot begin to fathom the sacrifice that Jesus willingly made so that He could fulfill His eternal plan of redemption.
The last phrase says that Jesus was made in the likeness of men. Likeness is not the same Greek word as form; it does not speak to the nature and essence of Jesus but rather to Him bearing the resemblance of a man: His appearance was as a man.47 “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness [same Greek word] of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled [filled to the brim] in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4).48 The word likeness speaks of the appearance, the image, but not the essence; Jesus took on the flesh of man, but He was entirely without sin (not being born of Adam). “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus identified Himself with mankind; God became a man so that He might purchase man our of his sin. “Forasmuch then as the children [small children, as young as an infant just born] are partakers [koinoneo – to share in] of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise [in the same way] took part [became a partaker] of the same; that through death he might destroy [katargeo – put an end to] him that had the power [dominion or control] of death, that is, the devil; And deliver [to set free] them who through fear of death were all their lifetime [living (verb)] subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved [under obligation49] him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to [with] God, to make reconciliation [appeasement50] for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:14-17). Jesus, physically, became a descendent of Abraham so that He might, in mercy, stand between a holy God and sinful man. Inasmuch as He is God, He can identify with God; because He became man, He can reach out to men and bring reconciliation with God – “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus …” (1 Timothy 2:5).
The religious Jews could not think of Jesus as being anything more than just a man, and absolutely refused to accept His deity. Evangelicals, for the most part, will accept the deity of Christ. Even Robert Schuller, that great fountain of heresy, included the following in his statement of faith for the Crystal Cathedral: “Jesus Christ is fully God, and the only begotten Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary.”51 We must exercise caution when it comes to taking such high sounding words at face value. Very often, within the life of a leader such as Schuller, the statements are drafted to follow mainstream Evangelicalism lest they immediately be branded as a heretic; or, often the faith of the leader does not remain steadfast, and what they once held as truth, they have since repudiated, but conveniently neglected to update their declared basis for faith. Just as often, terms are redefined along the way so as to provide freedom of expression; liberal theologians will use many of the same terms as Fundamentalists, but they do not mean the same thing – we must be cautious. John commanded us: “Beloved, believe not [do not be persuaded by] every spirit, but try [examine, prove, scrutinize] the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).52 Jesus commanded: “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15). We must exercise caution as we face anyone who professes to be a Christian, and we must make the time to examine what they say, what they do, and with whom they associate, according to the unchanging Word of God. The prerequisite for this examination is that we are right with God ourselves; if we hold a skewed view of the Scriptures, it will only follow that our assessment of others will likewise be skewed. We must do much more than simply read God’s Word; “Study [to exert one’s self, give diligence] to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing [to cut straight; to teach the truth directly and correctly] the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).53 This will only happen if we make time for the Word of God and permit the Spirit of truth to open our understanding to God’s truth (John 16:13). We must not give place to theological grids by which to interpret the Scriptures, lest we fail to rightly divide the Word of Truth.
Jesus came, fully God and fully man; it is because of this that He was qualified to bring redemption to mankind.
8. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
The word fashion speaks of Jesus’ outward appearance. We have seen that He was in His very essence God (v. 6); we’ve seen Him add to this the heart of a slave and the body of a man (v. 7). The word used here rounds out His manhood – in all aspects, He appeared to be a man; looking at Him, you would not have noted anything that would have told you that He was the eternal God in the flesh. As Isaiah begins perhaps his most notable Messianic passage, he declares: “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant [sapling or young plant], and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form [outline or appearance] nor comeliness [splendor]; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty [view, as in what is seen] that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2).54 Jesus took on the form of a baby – He did not come as a full-grown man; He was a young, living Plant growing out of an arid, lifeless place. This is a word picture of God taking the form of man on this sin-drenched earth; He was life in the midst of death. Jesus, eternal God, was, by all appearances, man – and so the religious leaders of His day refused to believe that He was anything more than simply a man; they focused exclusively on where He violated the laws that they had added to what God had given to Moses, so that they would not have to bow before Him and acknowledge Him as their God.
We might be highly critical of these religious leaders – how could they see the miracles that Jesus did and hear the wisdom of His discourses, without knowing that He was much more than just a man? Today the focus may have changed, but the result is the same. We, too often, are bound by our traditions (whether things that we do or believe – it matters not); they become the focus of our thinking and living, and we miss the more important matters of justice, mercy and faith (Matthew 23:23). We might speak loudly of what is right, of the need to show compassion to the downtrodden, and of our conviction for the truth of the Word of God, but our lives, like the Pharisees of old, may well raise questions as to the depth of our proclaimed convictions. If it comes to a choice between a favored tradition or view, and a clear declaration in the Word of God, which will we choose? Does expediency play a part in our choice? Are we influenced by the convenience, or inconvenience, of what God’s Word is stating? Are we selective in our Biblical obedience; do we pick and choose which commands of God that we will obey? If we firmly believe that the Word of God is truth, and if we are committed to that Truth, then there is no question as to what we must do – we must always obey the Scriptures ahead of our traditions and long-held beliefs. The Pharisees refused to see the deity of Jesus by directing their attention to the maintenance of their own theology; if we refuse to obey a life-altering, or theology-shifting, truth in Scripture, we are no better than the worst Pharisee. Our love (agape) for the truth (wherein is salvation – 2 Thessalonians 2:10), which is a love that springs from an act of the will and not the emotions, must be greater than our own discomfort at having to change how we think or how we conduct our lives. “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good [commendable], and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (James 4:17);55 what could be more commendable than obedience to God’s Word? How great is our commitment to the truth of God’s Word? If we only obey the Scriptures when they do not impinge upon our routine of life, then we do not hold a proper view of the Word of God. “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves” (2 Corinthians 13:5a).
Jesus, eternal God, set His glory aside to take on the body of a man, and, having done so, He humbled Himself. The eternal plan of God required more than Jesus simply taking on the flesh of mankind. From the day of man’s sin in the Garden of Eden, God demonstrated that the shedding of blood was necessary for the remission of sin, for “without shedding of blood is [absolutely] no remission [forgiveness of sins]” (Hebrews 9:22b).56 Jesus humbled Himself even further and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
The word obedient comes from the idea of giving ear to someone or to be submissive.57 Jesus came on a very specific mission from the Father; “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me” (John 6:38). He was attentive to say all that the Father told Him (John 12:49-50); there was a plan in place for the salvation of man’s soul, and Jesus was very careful to follow that eternally devised plan (2 Timothy 1:9; Revelation 13:8).
Jesus’ obedience to the will of the Father led Him unto death. Unto means as far as or until.58 Within many modern translations, this particular phrase has been rendered as to the point of, which would indicate, up to the point of, but not including death.59 This interpretation easily makes room for the swoon theory, which claims that Jesus never really died – He simply lost consciousness for a while. If we consider the sacrifice that Jesus (being eternally God) made for us, His submission to death would be the capstone or pinnacle (or the depth, depending on your perspective) of His sacrifice. Other applications of this particular word in Greek always include the object to which it refers; for example, Matthew 13:30 – “Let both grow together until [same Greek word] the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” It would make no sense to let the tares grow, and then, just before harvesting the grain, to walk through the field and remove them (thereby trampling and destroying the good grain); it was the harvest-time (the time when everything is cut) when the tares are cut and bundled separately from the good grain. The use of the word until shows that the tares will be attended to during the harvest operations; the word until includes the object (the harvest). It was at the moment of Christ’s death that the veil of the temple was torn from top-to-bottom signifying that He had opened the way into the Holy of Holies (Mark 15:37-38; Hebrews 9:24). Paul is underscoring here that Jesus (both human flesh, albeit without sin, and eternal God) fulfilled the plan of God, which was established before man was even created.
However, He not only humbled Himself to be obedient to death, in fulfillment of the plan for mankind’s redemption, but it was death on a cross. Considered by many to be one of the cruelest forms of punishment ever devised, frequently preceded by whippings, where death, itself, often took many hours. The victim’s demise would come by way of suffocation – the pain experienced in lifting the body, to get a breath, became greater than the need for breath, or there simply was no strength left to lift the body. If death came too slowly, the legs would be broken with an iron club, thereby eliminating the ability to lift the body for a breath, and hastening suffocation. However, what we must not miss is that Jesus did not succumb to suffocation: “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost [He breathed out]” (Luke 23:46); Matthew says that He let go the spirit (Matthew 27:50); John writes that Jesus delivered His spirit to another for keeping (John 19:30).60 In each case, the verb is in the active voice – Jesus was the One Who took the action of relinquishing His breath. He was not a victim of Roman crucifixion. From the cross He declared, “It is finished,” and then He released His breath (John 19:30); His mission to that point was now complete. The Greek word translated as it is finished is used only twice in the NT; just before the above declaration we read: “Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished [same Greek word]” (John 19:28). In both cases, the word is in the perfect tense, which describes a completed action with ongoing results, and passive voice: God’s plan was being fulfilled.61 Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is a one-time action – planned from before the beginning of time and foreshadowed numerous times by the sacrifices of the OT, but His sacrifice was made only once. The writer of Hebrews declares that “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many …” (Hebrews 9:28).
The Roman Catholics do not accept this marvelous truth (one of many areas where they have seriously departed from the Scriptures). This should not be entirely surprising since they grant their traditions equal weight with the declarations made by God in His Word.62 They have ascribed to their popes the ability to speak words that they claim are unalterable, and equal in strength to the Scriptures. According to the Vatican II Council, which closed in 1965: “We believe in the infallibility enjoyed by the Successor of Peter when he speaks ex cathedra as shepherd and teacher of all the faithful, an infallibility which the whole Episcopate also enjoys when it exercises with him the supreme magisterium [authority to teach].”63 Their teaching, as it pertains to the one-time sacrifice that Christ made on the cross for our sins, has become convoluted through being intermingled with their own customs. Within their traditions (and also those of many Reformation denominations), the celebration of Christ’s sacrifice is called the Eucharist (which comes from the Greek word for thanksgiving).64
“In truth, the Eucharist performs at once two functions: that of a sacrament and that of a sacrifice. Though the inseparableness of the two is most clearly seen in the fact that the consecrating sacrificial powers of the priest coincide, and consequently that the sacrament is produced only in and through the Mass, the real difference between them is shown in that the sacrament is intended privately for the sanctification of the soul, whereas the sacrifice serves primarily to glorify God by adoration, thanksgiving, prayer, and expiation. The recipient of the one is God, who receives the sacrifice of His only-begotten Son; of the other, man, who receives the sacrament for his own good. Furthermore, the unbloody Sacrifice of the Eucharistic Christ is in its nature a transient action, while the Sacrament of the Altar [another name for the Eucharist] continues as something permanent after the sacrifice, and can even be preserved in monstrance and ciborium” (emphasis added).65
“In truth, the Eucharist performs at once two functions: that of a sacrament and that of a sacrifice. Though the inseparableness of the two is most clearly seen in the fact that the consecrating sacrificial powers of the priest coincide, and consequently that the sacrament is produced only in and through the Mass, the real difference between them is shown in that the sacrament is intended privately for the sanctification of the soul, whereas the sacrifice serves primarily to glorify God by adoration, thanksgiving, prayer, and expiation. The recipient of the one is God, who receives the sacrifice of His only-begotten Son; of the other, man, who receives the sacrament for his own good. Furthermore, the unbloody Sacrifice of the Eucharistic Christ is in its nature a transient action, while the Sacrament of the Altar [another name for the Eucharist] continues as something permanent after the sacrifice, and can even be preserved in monstrance and ciborium” (emphasis added).65
However, there is more involved than simply a need to celebrate the Eucharist over and over. Toward the end of 1968, Pope Paul VI published what has been called The Credo of the People of God, a reworking of the Nicene Creed for today. Included within this creed is the following:
“Christ cannot be thus present in this sacrament except by the change into His body of the reality itself of the bread and the change into His blood of the reality itself of the wine, leaving unchanged only the properties of the bread and wine which our senses perceive. This mysterious change is very appropriately called by the Church transubstantiation. Every theological explanation which seeks some understanding of this mystery must, in order to be in accord with Catholic faith, maintain that in the reality itself, independently of our mind, the bread and wine have ceased to exist after the Consecration, so that it is the adorable body and blood of the Lord Jesus that from then on are really before us under the sacramental species of bread and wine, as the Lord willed it, in order to give Himself to us as food and to associate us with the unity of His Mystical Body” (emphasis added).66
Therefore, from their own words, it is clear that the Roman Catholic Church sacrifices the Lord Jesus Christ over and over again in their celebration of the Eucharist. We know that this is contrary to Scripture because it explicitly states that Christ died once, and only once, for the sins of mankind (Romans 6:10; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Peter 3:18). What the Catholics practice is in violation of the Word of God, but wholly in keeping with their traditions – even though they might proclaim that their traditions are given equal weight with the Scriptures, their practice tells another story. This significant error originated with their literal view of the Scriptures describing the Lord’s last meal with His disciples. “And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many” (Mark 14:22-24). They fail to read a little farther where Jesus clarifies that the cup contained grape juice, not His blood: “Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God” (Mark 14:25). Incredibly, a passage that uses figurative language, they take literally, and those that speak plainly of Christ’s single sacrifice for mankind are spiritualized away to make room for their traditions.
However, let us not gloat over the failure of the Roman Catholics to see through their many errors when the plain text of Scripture makes it so clear that their practices are wrong. Evangelicals are not immune to this virus. Evangelical tradition dictates that when a group of believers becomes large enough, they must meet in a building (whether owned or rented), they must draft a constitution, they must be registered with the government so that they can issue tax receipts, they must have a pastor, or pastors, to provide the spiritual leadership, and they must elect a board of elders to provide governance for their group. This happens over and over again; it doesn’t matter whether the group is Baptist, Alliance, Evangelical Free, Pentecostal – the identity makes no difference – the process will basically follow the same plan. Where do you find the basis for this tradition? You might think that it comes from Scripture, but therein is the rub. There is no foundation for any of this from Scripture; it is simply tradition leading the way. Is all tradition wrong? No, obviously not. However, when Scripture is set aside, without a backward glance as to how we, His people, should function as a group, this is not only a serious oversight, but a significant failure on our part. Christ, eternal God, took on the body of man, thereby becoming the perfect Lamb of God, able and willing to die a cruel death on a cross for our salvation from sin; surely we should consider what He might desire for our gatherings and be willing to set our traditions aside in favor of His guidance.
9. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
The word wherefore
“Christ cannot be thus present in this sacrament except by the change into His body of the reality itself of the bread and the change into His blood of the reality itself of the wine, leaving unchanged only the properties of the bread and wine which our senses perceive. This mysterious change is very appropriately called by the Church transubstantiation. Every theological explanation which seeks some understanding of this mystery must, in order to be in accord with Catholic faith, maintain that in the reality itself, independently of our mind, the bread and wine have ceased to exist after the Consecration, so that it is the adorable body and blood of the Lord Jesus that from then on are really before us under the sacramental species of bread and wine, as the Lord willed it, in order to give Himself to us as food and to associate us with the unity of His Mystical Body” (emphasis added).66
Therefore, from their own words, it is clear that the Roman Catholic Church sacrifices the Lord Jesus Christ over and over again in their celebration of the Eucharist. We know that this is contrary to Scripture because it explicitly states that Christ died once, and only once, for the sins of mankind (Romans 6:10; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Peter 3:18). What the Catholics practice is in violation of the Word of God, but wholly in keeping with their traditions – even though they might proclaim that their traditions are given equal weight with the Scriptures, their practice tells another story. This significant error originated with their literal view of the Scriptures describing the Lord’s last meal with His disciples. “And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many” (Mark 14:22-24). They fail to read a little farther where Jesus clarifies that the cup contained grape juice, not His blood: “Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God” (Mark 14:25). Incredibly, a passage that uses figurative language, they take literally, and those that speak plainly of Christ’s single sacrifice for mankind are spiritualized away to make room for their traditions.
However, let us not gloat over the failure of the Roman Catholics to see through their many errors when the plain text of Scripture makes it so clear that their practices are wrong. Evangelicals are not immune to this virus. Evangelical tradition dictates that when a group of believers becomes large enough, they must meet in a building (whether owned or rented), they must draft a constitution, they must be registered with the government so that they can issue tax receipts, they must have a pastor, or pastors, to provide the spiritual leadership, and they must elect a board of elders to provide governance for their group. This happens over and over again; it doesn’t matter whether the group is Baptist, Alliance, Evangelical Free, Pentecostal – the identity makes no difference – the process will basically follow the same plan. Where do you find the basis for this tradition? You might think that it comes from Scripture, but therein is the rub. There is no foundation for any of this from Scripture; it is simply tradition leading the way. Is all tradition wrong? No, obviously not. However, when Scripture is set aside, without a backward glance as to how we, His people, should function as a group, this is not only a serious oversight, but a significant failure on our part. Christ, eternal God, took on the body of man, thereby becoming the perfect Lamb of God, able and willing to die a cruel death on a cross for our salvation from sin; surely we should consider what He might desire for our gatherings and be willing to set our traditions aside in favor of His guidance.
9. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
The word wherefore