Does Philippians 2 Support a Trinitarian View of God?
One more thing before I start. I like to outline scripture with a simple indenting method. Detailed phrases are indented just beyond the root phrase it modifies. Nothing very formal or ridged, just something to slow me down and cause me to think about why each phrase was added to the Word of God. If you get nothing else from this discussion, I certainly hope you can agree that this is a GREAT STUDY AID. 🙂
If,
then,
there is any encouragement in Christ,
if any consolation of love,
if any sharing of spirit,
if any tender affections and compassions,
The above demonstrates a classic if/then statement. The if has several parts to it.
IF:
- there exist any encouragement that can be experienced from knowing Christ
- there exist any consoling/comforting feelings associated with receiving the love of Christ
- there exist sharing/participation/joining/fellowship with the Spirit of God
- there are any advantages of having/receiving compassions for/from those who name the name of Christ
Then:
what?
make my joy full
in that YOU |
are of the same mind |
and | being joined together in soul,
have the same love, |
|
Paul is saying: If you believe that these “if-things” are true, that they can be realities in your life … then, make his joy full, (remember that Paul’s joy is wrapped up in their joy) by experiencing these things:
- “having the same mind” (repeating the if-phrase of knowing the encouragement of Christ)
— “having the same love” (repeating the if-phrase of being comforted / consoled by the love of Christ)
— “being joined together in the Spirit” (repeating the if-phrase of sharing / fellowshipping / participating in the Spirit of God)
holding the one thought in mind,
doing nothing
out of contentiousness
or
out of egotism,
but
with lowliness of mind
considering that
the others are superior to YOU,
Hummmmm … “Holding the ‘one thought’ in mind”? That might be a good word-for-word translation, but I’m not sure this English wording allows us to easily understand what was meant. If so, let me ask: What is the “one thought” that we should hold onto in our mind? Anyone know?
Other translations say things similar to: “Have the same mind”. Again, I ask: “What same mind”? I think everyone agrees that no matter how you word it, the instruction is to have the same mind-frame, the same mind-set, the same attitude … the same one that Paul has been talking about since the beginning of chapter two. I.e. to hold onto the fact that Christ loves us, gave Himself for us, and to let that soak in to the point that it comforts us; and to rest in that mysterious “joining to”, “fellowship with”, “sharing in” the Spirit of God; and to recognize those things are true for others who also have aligned themselves with Christ, and to love them because God has brought them, as well as us, into His holy, precious, family. We are to live with this mindset, with this attitude — with joy accepting accepting these things and trying to fully grasp them.
Q. If we really believe these things, and fully accept them — living fully in this same mindset, what detailed changes will that have in the way we live?
A. I’m glad you asked, the answer follows in the next set of verses:
keeping an eye,
not
in personal interest
upon just YOUR own matters,
but also
in personal interest
upon those of the others.
Wow! This was probably a new train of thought for most! This is going beyond being personally moral in our own lives … these are instructions for us to seriously desire the absolute best for others in the body of Christ — this is the kind of love that God produces in the hearts of those who have met God!
One of the best examples that demonstrates this would be a parent’s heart’s desires for his/her own children … We want our own children to have a better life than us. We want them to grow closer to God than we will. And it would greatly please us if they lived a life that pleased God, that God loved them, and they experienced that love, and rested in, that love! I’m praying for them to grow up with that understanding, and reality. I’m trying to teach them to search after God, to have a heart for God. I believe every believer who has children understands this example. But Paul is saying this is how we should be concerned with everyone in the body of believers, this is the heart we should have for them.
Next, after we fully understand the instruction and encouragement, we are given the supreme example of this mind-set, this heart, this attitude …
Keep this mental attitude
in YOU
that was also in Christ Jesus,
Again, Paul is showing that the greatest example of this mind set was/is displayed by Christ Jesus!
A recap of this paragraph would be: a challenge to decide if spiritual things are true, to realize they are true, to strive to live in the truth of those things, and to see that this was the case in the mind set of Christ.
Details of this in the live of Christ is given below:
who,
although he was existing in God's form
[ … an omitted very controversial
phrase goes here … ]
he
emptied himself
and
took a slave’s form
and
came to be in the likeness of men.
Okay … we have now reached the verse where there exist a great controversial phrase. But for right now, due to the distraction of the controversy, may I continue to trace the flow of thought by leaving it out for the current discussion? In just a moment, we will examine the phrase and possible meanings for it, and attempt to place it back in.
After reading the above details of how this mind set of Christ was demonstrated, we are left baffled! There is only one response … we simply say, “Wow!” If there was any doubt of what Paul meant by the “same mind” before, we should be crystal clear by what he means by now! Paul is saying that Jesus was thinking about us, was motivated to bring about our good, was looking after our best interest in performing each of these actions!
There are two ways to read over this list of things that Jesus went through, with a mind set on looking out for our best interest, for us:
(1) Just read over it and be impressed
‑or-
(2) To view these things and be so humbled with the love of Christ about us that we are brought to tears with great humility!
Is there any wonder that we see that God will cause everyone to bow the knee in a supreme act of acknowledgment that will ultimately bring God glory?
So, Jesus existed in the form of God. This is a fact that everyone agrees on. And yet, he held us in view, and gave up this glorified form For Us. He:
- He emptied Himself of His form of God, for us!
— He took a slave’s form for us!
— He came as a servant in the likeness of men for us!
— He, who was life Himself, humbled Himself to the point of a human death for us!
— He, not only died, He died a cruel death of disgrace for us
More than that,
when he found himself in fashion as a man,
he
humbled himself
and
became obedient as far as death,
yes,
death on a torture stake.