Sometimes the Bible teaches us through sustained theological logic, as in the Book of Romans, and other times through poetic rhythms and parallelisms, as in the Book of Psalms. Sometimes it teaches us through both, combining the theological with the poetic, resulting in a passage that is both beautiful and profound. The Bible is richly diverse in its teaching methodology. The passage before us has been referred to as the Carmen Christi, the hymn of Christ. Its "rhythms, parallelisms, lexical links and other features," says Silva, highlight the passage's "strong poetic qualities."1 It may even be a hymn of the church that predates this epistle which the Apostle Paul inserted into his presentation to assist his theme. Yet, it is also a theologically rich text, carrying us deeply into the doctrines of the incarnation and atonement, into the nature of the one who both "emptied Himself" and was "obedient to the point of death."

In neither case is the Apostle presenting poetry for poetry's sake, or theology for theology's sake. He writes to strengthen his argument for the unity of the church. Church unity requires shared theological convictions to be sure (1:27-2:2). But theological unity cannot be sustained without humility. Over the years we've seen any number of people who share the Westminster doctrines who cannot work together, or even remain in the same church. Mature doctrine needs mature character if unity is to be maintained. The exhortation to self-effacing and self-sacrificing humility in the preceding verses (2;3,4) is now strengthened by an appeal to the example of Christ. His selfless sacrifice is presented as the pattern for our own. We are to "follow in His steps" (1 Pet 2:21).

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, (Phil 2:5)

"Have this attitude," says the Apostle Paul, this "thought," this "mind" (ESV), the same verb as was used twice in 2:2 ("same mind . . . intent on one purpose"). "Have this frame of mind, this outlook, which was first found in Christ Jesus."

"In you" (v. 5) means "among yourselves" (ESV), or "in your church fellowship," which was, as you may remember, harassed by strife and arrogance. The ethos of the church is to be that of humility as seen in Christ. Humility is to be the pervasive outlook, the characteristic virtue. The church, according to the Apostle Paul, "must share His spirit, and be controlled by the pattern of self-effacement and humility which His incarnation and cross supremely exemplify," says Martin.2 We are to be gentle and humble, as He was (Mt 11:29); we are to walk in the same manner as He walked (1 Jn 2:6); we are not to be served but to serve (Mk 10:45); we are to wash one another's feet (Jn 13:12-17); we are to love one another (Jn 13:24); we are to suffer as He suffered (1 Pet 2:21-25). Jesus' exemplary humble service is illustrated by the Apostle Paul in 1) the incarnation, and, 2) the atonement. Through these themes we learn what it means to have the "attitude" which was in Christ Jesus.

Incarnation

The incarnation itself was an extraordinary example of divine condescension and humble service. There is a great deal of complex discussion surrounding verses 6-8. So we want to be careful not to lose the forest for the trees. The overall point is clear enough. The Apostle's emphasis is upon the great stature which was Christ's by right, and which He surrendered for the sake of becoming incarnate. Nevertheless, let's go through it word by word. The Apostle Paul says,

who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, (Phil 2:6)

A contrast is being set up by the Apostle. "Although" introduces an unexpected conclusion, one which is surprising and unanticipated. We might use this sort of construction to say something like, "Although Mr. Jones is the richest man in the world, he drives a 10-year-old car." Although Christ Jesus was the eternal Son of God (and you'd expect Him to exercise all the prerogatives of the godhead), He in fact surrendered those prerogatives or powers or privileges in order to save. The incarnation itself, the fact of becoming a man, was an unparalleled act of humble service. The strongest terminology is used to underscore this point. B. B. Warfield, in his fabulous sermon preached in the Sunday afternoon chapel service at Princeton Theological Seminary, says the Apostle Paul uses words "than which no others could be chosen which would more explicitly or with more directness assert the deity of the person who is here designated by the name of Christ Jesus."3 "Existed" or "being" (huparchon) points back to the pre-temporal existence of Christ. Jesus Christ "existed" before His birth in Bethlehem, before His conception in the womb of the Virgin Mary, even before time. The verbal tenses point "to indefinite continuance of being," the eternal relationship between Father and Son.4 In relation to God, "existed" would mean "being from all eternity."5 "Form" (morphe), says Muller, points to his divine nature and it "denotes the inner being as it actually and concretely realizes itself in the individual."6 It "must apply to the attributes of the Godhead," says Lightfoot.7 It indicates, adds Vincent, "that expression of being which is identical with the essential nature and character of God and which reveals it."8

Warfield points out that the Apostle Paul is borrowing from the popular concepts of his day, which reduced everything to matter and form. "Matter" designated the "bare material" out of which a thing was made (e.g. the steel of a steel sword). "Form" designated "the body of characterizing qualities which constitute what it is" (e.g. the swordishness of a sword, i.e. those characteristics which make it a sword and not a knife, a gun, a tank, etc.).

The "matter" of God, then, according to Warfield, would be His ‘bare spiritual substance."9 God is Spirit, therefore His "matter" is spirit. The "form" of God is all that distinguishes God from other spiritual beings. It is that sum of qualities "which constitute Him God, and without which He would not be God."10

To say that Jesus Christ "existed in the form of God," is to say, continues Warfield, that "He had all those qualities which make God God, the presence of which constitutes God, and in the absence of which God does not exist. He who is ‘in the form of God,' is God."11 Modern scholars have pointed out that morphē can have a broader range of meaning than earlier commentators recognized, ranging from outward appearance to substance. Yet most commentators today still see it as indicating the essential nature of God.12

Yet, He became Man.

. . . did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, (Phil 2:6b)

Christ "existed in the form of God," yet "did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped." "Equality with God" means, according to Muller, "‘to exist in a manner equal to God.'"13 "Grasped" (harpagmon), "cling to," hold onto, insist upon, indicates Christ does not regard equality as "a prize which must not slip from His grasp, a treasure to be clutched and retained at all hazards," says Lightfoot. Paul is perhaps alluding to Genesis and man's wish to "be as God" (Gen 3:5). Adam "grasped" and in doing so, lost the image of the Maker. Christ, though, accepts a position lower than the angels, and does not grasp, and "because of the suffering of death was crowned with glory and honor" (Heb 2:9).14 Martin explains that Christ could have claimed honor through His unique position within the Godhead - the glory and honor of His office. But instead He chose to be exalted through suffering. Adam attempted an "act of robbery," as God's son (Lk 3:38), made a little lower than God (Ps 8:5). Jesus faced a similar temptation, yet unlike Adam, He did not fail. "He did not," says Hendriksen, "count his existence-in-a-manner-equal-to-God something to cling to."15 It was not a "privilege to be retained."16 Silva renders the sense, "He did not regard being equal with God as something to use for human advantage."17

So then, Christ, knowing the will of the Father, and the work of redemption which He is to accomplish, does not cling to, insist upon, demand, something that in fact is rightfully His. Although having the status of God, He did not insist on its recognition; although having the powers of God, He did not insist on exercising them.

Further,

but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. (Phil 2:7)

Paul says Christ "emptied" Himself (kenosen) literally means to "empty" or "strip."18 Warfield translates it, "He made no account of Himself," language which recalls the Apostle's, "though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor" (2 Cor 8:9). Silva defines kenosen as "to nullify, make of no effect." He renders the thought, "He made Himself nothing."19 But it should be noticed that this emptying is elaborated not in terms of losing something, but of gaining. The so-called kenotic theory of a few generations made the mistake of understanding the incarnation as an emptying or divesting of Christ of His divine nature and powers. The emptying described by the Apostle is not a subtraction, but an addition. The "form of God" adds the "form of a servant." "Taking" (lambon) is an aorist participle, denoting simultaneous action. It is a paradox. "He emptied Himself by taking something to Himself." The sense, then, is "He emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant."20

"Form" (morphe again) in relation to "servant," says Warfield, indicates he took "not the appearance, mere state and circumstances, or mere work and performance, but . . . all these essential qualities and attributes which belong to and constitute a being ‘a servant'."21 Thus he was not play acting the servant's role. He truly was a servant. As one in the "form" of a servant, says Warfield, He takes "an actually servile nature, as well as . . . a subordinate station and a servant's work."22

Line follows upon line, as the Apostle Paul continues, "being made in the likeness of man." "Being made" is literally, "becoming," in the likeness (homoiomati) of man, a term which, according to Zerwick, "indicates simply that in every respect he was like a man."23

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Phil 2:8)

"Appearance" (schema) also points to His human nature. "Being found in appearance as a man." The idea of changeableness and instability is sometimes attached to it (1 Cor 7:37; 2 Cor 11:13-15). "Schema," says Hendriksen, "points to his or its external, accidental, and fleeting being or appearance."24 According to Zerwick, it "refers to outward appearance."25

Warfield understands the Apostle Paul's point to be that Jesus appeared to be only a man. Yet there was more to Him than that!

His humanity was real and complete; but it was not all - He remained God in assuming humanity, and therefore only appeared as man, not became only man."26

Jesus did not at all come as we might have expected. He didn't come in royal robes with scepter in hands, thousands upon thousands attending upon Him. But He came as a common man, a doulos, a servant, born in a stable, a man who was supported by women during His ministry, who, unlike the foxes and birds, had nowhere to lay His head. "I am in the midst of you as one who serves" (Lk 22:27). Muller summarizes, "He took the form of a servant while he retained the form of God."27 Calvin adds, "Hence he laid aside his glory in the view of man, not by lessening it, but by concealing it," as a servant.28

We find in this passage all the basics of the doctrine of the Trinity as found in our creeds. They speak of Christ as being "of one substance with the Father" (Nicea, 325 AD), and of two unconfused, unchangeable, indivisible, and inseparable natures, "truly God and truly man" (Chalcedon, 451 AD). The Apostle Paul says Christ was both in the form of God and the form of a servant (and therefore truly both), in the likeness of man (and yet always more than a man). "The three clauses imply respectively the true divine nature of our Lord (morphe theou), the true human nature (morphe doulos), and the externals of human nature (schēmati nos anthrōpos).29

Every cult that comes down the pipe denies this doctrine. Perhaps above any other doctrine this is the one over which sects stumble. The doctrine of the Trinity provides a criteria by which we may judge the orthodoxy of any group we encounter. Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and Moonies, among others, are not Christian because they are not Trinitarian. A group cannot be non-Trinitarian and still be Christian.

Yet as important as Trinitarian doctrine is, this is not the point. His primary concern is not with the abstract theological conception of Christ as God, though He tells us much that proved crucial for the church's later theological reflection. Rather his concern is to rivet in our minds the identity of the One who carries out this ultimate act of self-sacrifice. This is one who had all the prerogatives of the Godhead - omnipotence, glory, and blessedness. This is One who, in submitting to the humiliation of the cross, says Warfield,

Had in full possession all those characterizing qualities which taken together, make God that all-holy, perfect, all-blessed being which we call God."30

Yet He doesn't insist upon recognition or honor or power. He has it coming. It is rightfully His. But He doesn't demand it. He doesn't cling to it. He willingly surrenders it. Calvin says that herein lies the difference between Christ's humiliation and our own. He gives up what is rightfully his. Paul just wants us not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought.

Christ's humiliation consisted in his abasing himself form the highest pinnacle of glory to the lowest ignominy: our humility consists in refraining from exalting ourselves by a false estimation. He gave up his right: all that is required of us is, that we do not assume to ourselves more than we ought.31

The point is humility. Jesus provides an example of humility. He took the lowly position. We are to do the same. We need not demand recognition. We need not demand honors. We need not demand titles and position and power. We can meekly, simply, humbly serve.

Atonement

The incarnation, necessary as it was, and exemplary as it was, was not an end in itself. The humility of the incarnation is compounded by the humiliation of the atonement. The one who is in the form of God and the form of a servant, who is both truly God and truly man, practices service even to the point of death, the worst kind of death. What was the goal of His coming? Death on a cross.

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Phil 2:8)

"He humbled Himself." This is the point. It links us with verse 3 and our need to practice "humility of mind." This is what Jesus did. To what degree? "Even death on a cross." "No less than the death of the cross," as Silva renders it.32 The Apostle Paul repeats himself, "no doubt to emphasize the extent and depth of Christ's humiliation."33

Residents of this Roman city would have despised the cross as punishment. As Roman citizens, they legally could not be crucified. For a Jew it means that Christ was cursed of God (Deut 21:23; cf. Gal 3:13). The cross was a stumbling block for the Jews (1 Cor 1:23). How could the Messiah be cursed? Being attacked from below (Satan), about (man), and above, "God dropped upon Him the parlor of darkness."34 Jesus went to the fullest extreme in serving others. He goes to the point of death. Warfield again captures the point of the passage as it contrasts "form of God" with "form of a servant," and in so doing.

measures the extent of our Lord's self-denying grace by the distance between equality with God and a public execution on a gibbet.35

Identify the distance between equality with God and death on a cross, and one has identified the "attitude" which is the Christian virtue which preserves unity in the church.

How am I to respond to a need? Meet it. How am I to respond to a social snub? Ignore it. How am I to respond to those who are unkind to me? Let it pass. I am to regard them as more important than myself. I am to practice self-denying service to the point of death itself. That's what Jesus did for us. In turn, that is what we are to do for others. I cannot allow an offense to deny me the servant's role. I cannot indulge in petty disputes. I cannot indulge self-indulgence. There will be unity in the church only when we learn to give up our "rights" to a prescribed form of treatment from others, our rights to certain comforts and benefits, and learn, instead, to be humble and serve even those who would nail us to a cross.

Most of us want to marry and live in suburbia and own a house, two cars, a dog and 2.1 children. We expect this. We see it as a "given," if not a right. We want to have high paying jobs, electronic entertainment, and exotic vacations. We want to be active in the church, to be sure, but have a nice, comfortable life. Ours is a very small vision. It is not what Jesus did.

Who is willing to live a life of heroic discipleship? Who, if not I, is going to serve in the inner cities? Who, if not I, is going to serve in Africa or Asia or Latin America? Who is going to give up high paying salaries in the United States in order to serve in the ministry? Christ gave up the comforts as well as the prestige He had in heaven in order to do a dirty work. We are called to serve. We are called to sacrifice. This is the way of harmony in the church. With minds focused on service, the church goes forward in unity.

This sounds difficult - and it is. It was difficult for Jesus too. He "endured the cross, despising the shame" (Heb 12:2). On the eve of His trial and execution in the garden of Gethsemane He sweat drops of blood and pled with the Father three times that if there was any other way, to please let that cup pass from Him (Lk 22:42,44). The horror which His service involved was a real horror. "Never did a man fear death as He did," said Luther. He was truly man and it was not easy. There was nothing convenient, comfortable, or pleasurable about His service, the very service which provides the example for our own. This is the "attitude" which was in Christ Jesus, and is to be in us as well. It is through humiliating, costly service that the kingdom of God moves forward as one.