Philippians 2:6 states that Jesus esteemed that ‘the being equal with God’ was not an act of seizing. We must not at this stage make unproven assumptions about this statement We must rather understand what “to be equal with God” means in Scriptural terms.
In the writings of the Church Fathers two assumptions were made about the phrase “to be equal with God.” First, that “to be equal with God” meant the same as ‘that he was equal with God’; that the ‘being equal’ referred to what might be called an ‘equality of person’, or that, in Trinitarian terms, the second person of the Trinity, God the Son, was eternally coequal with the first person of the Trinity, God the Father. Second, that ‘the being equal’ was the same as ‘equality’ (the NIV translation). These two assumptions can be demonstrated time and again from the comments on and paraphrases of Philippians 2:6 in the writings of the Fathers.
To address the second point, the Spirit could have used the single word ‘equality’ (isotes of 2 Corinthians 8:14) rather than the three words ‘the being equal’ which it did use. But it did not do this, because the meaning to be expressed could not be accommodated by the single word ‘equality’, the use of which would have produced a different meaning. This difference can be seen by considering the first point. The use of the adjective ‘equal’ is very significant, a significance obviously lost if the noun ‘equality’ is substituted for it Had God wished to make a statement about equality of person the word ‘equal’ would have been masculine and singular in form, as it often is in translations and paraphrases in the Fathers, to refer to Jesus who is masculine and singular. In fact the word’ equal’ is neuter (neither masculine nor feminine) and plural. It cannot therefore refer to equality of person nor to absolute equality. The verse actually asserts that Jesus thought it not robbery to be ‘equal things’ with God. What ‘things’ these are must be established expositionally.
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Author: Neil Mullen
Keywords: Jesus is God, Trinity, Trinitarian, Jesus was God, God the Son, Incarnation, God incarnate, God made flesh, God in the flesh, Form of God, Jesus became a man, god man, God became a man, incarnate, eternal son, equal with God, equality with God, equality
Bible reference(s): John 5:18-19, John 5:30, Philippians 2:6-7
Source: “Philippians 2:6-11—A Study in History and Exposition,” The Testimony, Vol. 56 No. 662, February 1986, pp. 39-40.
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