Showing posts with label Philippians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philippians. Show all posts

Philippians 2:7-8 Emptied himself

Philippians 2:7-8 (KJV)  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Trinitarians argue this means Jesus somehow gave up his God nature, or hid from it, or some other variation of the dual nature philosophy. This is a classic example of reading into the text from your biased viewpoint. A plain reading of the verse simply shows is that Jesus did not come to the world in his own name. He did not blow his own horn, which he could have being the king of Israel and God's anointed Messiah. 

Instead he acted with all humility. To serve, not to be served. 

Paul is teaching the church that we should be like Christ. See the previous verses. 

Philippians 2:5 (KJV)  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

This would not be much of a teaching if the following verses referred to giving up or hiding a divine nature. The whole passage is about humility and obedience.

Philippians 2:5-6 - who, being God....

Philippians 2:5-6 (KJV)  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

Many translations leave out the "form of God" and make it read "who, being God"

Now you need to ask yourself, why would they do that? The Greek word is morphe (form) and its clearly there in the text.

It's the same idea as image of God. An image cannot, by definition, be the original.

Morphe means outward appearance. Look at the below...

Mark 16:12 (KJV) After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.

Here Jesus appears in "another form" [morphe] to the two travellers. No trinitarian would assert Jesus changed his essential nature. He changed his outward appearance so they wouldn't recognizer him.

Morphe is also used several times in the Septuagint where it clearly means outward appearance. (Job 4:15-16, Isa 44:13, Dan 3:19)

Also note the compound words in the NT made from morphe that clearly refer to outward appearance or countenance. Morphosis (2 Tim 3:5), metamorphoomai (Matt 17:2, Mark 9:2, 2 Cor 3:18)

μορφῇ
morphē
Strong's Concordance
morphé: form, shape
Original Word: μορφή, ῆς, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: morphé
Phonetic Spelling: (mor-fay')
Definition: form, shape
Usage: form, shape, outward appearance.

Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 3444: μορφή
μορφή, μορφῆς, ἡ (from root signifying 'to lay hold of', 'seize' (cf. German Fassung); Fick, Part i., p. 174; Vanicek, p. 719), from Homer down, the form by which a person or thing strikes the vision; the external appearance: children are said to reflect ψυχῆς τέ καί μορφῆς ὁμοιότητα (of their parents),

Statement of faith

 I believe in the one and only true God (John 17:3). The God of Israel who's name is Yahweh, also known as The Father, who sent Jesus an...