Active Obedience

Jesus was obedient to the Father in every way. What does this say about the nature of the second person of the Trinity and his relation to the Father?

Before we get into Philippians 2:8, let's set the table once again. Persecution is coming to the church at Philippi in the form of opposition to the gospel. Paul wants them to stand united and hold fast to the truth of the gospel—the foundation of Christian teaching laid down by the apostles. In order to foster this unity, it is necessary that the Philippians practice humility and selflessness. The prime example Paul offers them as far as humility goes is the example of Jesus himself who, though he was very God of very God, did not think it necessary to exploit that fact, nor use it to his advantage, but rather humbled himself and took on flesh.

God took on flesh—that's what's called the incarnation. He became human. Listen to the words again of the Athanasian Creed I quoted a week or two ago:

[“For this is the true faith that we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son, is both God and man. He is God, begotten before all worlds from the being of the Father, and he is man born in the world from the being of his mother, existing fully as God, and fully as man with a rational soul and a human body, equal to the Father in divinity, subordinate to the Father in humanity. Although he is God and man, he is not divided, but is one Christ. He is united because God has taken humanity into himself. He does not transform deity into humanity—he is completely one in the unity of his person, without confusing his natures.”]

That's what Paul reiterates in the first clause of verse 8, where we see the humanity of Christ:

Philippians 2:8a ESV - and being found in human form

Here Paul uses the same Greek word that he used above in verse 6 when he said Jesus was in the form of God. Remember that? We sussed that out last week and saw how in classical Greek usage Paul was saying that Jesus was in very essence, God—very God of very God. Here he says the same thing about Jesus's humanity. He was human, human in every sense of the word—very human of very human.

This opening clause of verse 8 is a reiteration of what was said at the end of verse 7:

Philippians 2:7b ESV - being born in the likeness of men.

God did not become man by morphing into something else. The fullness of deity added humanity to his nature. The second person of the Trinity added humanity to his person without diminishing his deity. And having already humbled himself to that extent, he humbled himself even further by obeying.

Philippians 2:8b ESV - he humbled himself by becoming obedient

…Paul says. Imagine that God became obedient. Seriously. Stop and meditate on that. God…was obedient. Obedient to whom? Obedient to God.

Now, we must be careful here. There's an error which some people make and it's something that has even crept into some modern evangelicalism. We don't want to make that error. The error is called subordinationism. Subordinationism is the idea that the Son has always been subordinate to the Father. The truth is that the Son has never been subordinate to the Father. They are co-equal and co-eternal. But neither has the Son ever been insubordinate to the Father. The Father and the Son are co-equal in power and authority ontologically (now there’s a five dollar word). That is, in the essence of their being.

In the economy of redemption, however, and in the covenant of redemption, the Son submitted to the Father and took on flesh and was perfectly obedient to the Father in every way. He humbled himself by becoming obedient…

Philippians 2:8c ESV - to the point of death

And we will get to that tomorrow.