Chapter 2

The title of this chapter is occupation with Christ. The outline is four simple paragraphs.

Paragraph one: The function of occupation with Christ, verses 1-4.

Paragraph two: The object of occupation with Christ, verse 5-11.

Paragraph three: Progress of occupation with Christ—the advance to ultra-super-grace, verses 12-16.

Paragraph four: Three illustrations of occupation with Christ, verses 17-30.

Verse 1 – “If” is a conditional particle e)i, it introduces the protasis of a first class condition. The conditional clause is divided into two parts. The first part, the “if” clause is called the protasis, and the following clause is called the apodasis. The conditional clause, then, becomes very important for the interpretation of the Scripture. The part contained in the protasis is called supposition, which is why it begins with the word “if.” The second part of the clause containing the statement based on the supposition is called apodasis. Conditional clauses are classified on the basis of the attitude they express toward reality. This is a first class condition, and the protasis of the first class condition presents supposition from the viewpoint of reality—if and it is true. The second class condition is the condition of unreality—if and it is not true. The third class condition is the potentiality—if, maybe yes and maybe no. The fourth class condition expresses a desire in the probability—if, I wish it were true but it isn’t. All of the “ifs” found in verse 1 are statements of reality, even though they appear to be some form of a potential. The way in which the first class condition is identified in the Greek is simply by the particle e)i—any tense, any mood in the protasis.

“therefore” – the words there be in the KJV is certainly implied but it is not in the actual text. “If therefore” – the inferential particle o)un is the next word, it connotes an inference from what has preceded, namely a short dissertation on ultra-super-grace given in chapter one, verses 28-30.

“any consolation in Christ” – this phrase includes an enclitic indefinite pronoun tij (which is anything but indefinite), plus the nominative singular subject from the noun paraklhsij. It does mean consolation, however consolation has changed its meaning since the translator used it in this passage. More up to date and in keeping with the Greek word is the English word “encouragement.” The encouragement comes from the divine logistical support between super-grace and ultra-super-grace. “Therefore if there is any type of encouragement”—and there is. The phrase “in Christ” is very important—e)n plus the locative of Xristoj, used for the point of salvation where logistical support begins for the believer. This phrase portrays the principle of the baptism of the Holy Spirit whereby the believer is entered into union with Christ, the means of the formation of the royal family of God. We cannot change our union with Christ. Union with Christ is the basis for logistical support in time. This is the great encouragement which was designed in eternity past, a part of the divine decrees. God is obligated by His own plan of grace to provide, to sustain, to plan for the royal family of God.

Then comes a second “if” – a conditional particle e)i introducing a second protasis of a first class condition; “any comfort” – this includes, again, the indefinite pronoun tij, which means any type of comfort; and with that is the nominative subject paramuqion, which means encouragement, especially alleviation or consolation—“if there is any consolation.” Then comes the ablative singular of source from the noun a)gaph—“from love,” that is, occupation with Christ and a relaxed mental attitude. The word for love here is referring to category #1 type of love, the principle of occupation with Christ which provides encouragement. The relaxed mental attitude from doctrine is a part of the contribution of category #1 love, logistical support from God.

The third “if” in this verse is a conditional particle e)i introducing the third part of the protasis of the first class condition. This is a supposition from the viewpoint of reality.

“any” is an indefinite pronoun tij. It is not indefinite, it has a specific category in mind; “fellowship” – the nominative singular subject from the noun koinwnia, which means here “partnership”—“if there is any partnership.”

“of the Spirit” is a genitive of relationship from the noun pneuma, a reference here to God the Holy Spirit—“with the Spirit.” Partnership with the Spirit is the result of being filled with the Spirit on the part of the advancing believer.[1]

“if any bowels” – this is not a reference to anything physiological, it refers to something in the soul: splagxnon = emotions. This word is never used in the New Testament for that physiological portion of the anatomy called “bowels.” It is emotion responding to something which has the highest priority: doctrine in the right lobe. When emotion responds to doctrine—doctrine which the believer has in his own soul— it supports the believer. When a woman responds to a man she supports the man; when the emotion of the soul of a believer responds to doctrine it supports the believer—“if there is any emotional response to doctrine [and there is].”

“and mercies” – o)iktirmoj means compassion, grace in action and therefore mercy. It is in the plural and should be translated “and resultant mercies [or grace in action].”

Translation: “Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ [and there is], if there is any comfort from love [occupation with Christ; and there is], if there is any partnership with the Holy Spirit [and there is], if there is any emotional response to doctrine and resultant mercies [grace function in action; and there is].”

The apodasis deals with the principle of occupation with Christ in verse 2. Occupation with Christ and sharing God’s happiness are two sides of the same coin.

Verse 2 – the command. “Fulfil ye” – aorist active imperative of the verb plhrow. It generally means to fill up, to make full, to complete, to finish, to bring to an end. Here it means to bring to completion, and it is a challenge to move toward the final objective—ultra-super-grace. This is the command to get out into the most intensive battlefield in the angelic conflict, the no-man’s land between super-grace and ultra-super-grace. The aorist tense is a culminative aorist which views the event of crossing no-man’s land in its entirety but looks at it from the standpoint of its existing results. The active voice: the super-grace believer is commanded to produce the action of the verb. The imperative mood is a command to all super-grace believers to move out of the periphery and advance. Reason: If you stay too long in the perimeter of super-grace you will start to go backwards. If you are not moving forward you are going to start moving backwards.

“my joy” – accusative singular direct object from xara, used here for God’s perfect happiness or ⁺H. With it is the possessive genitive singular from the personal pronoun e)gw. E)gw in the possessive genitive is saying in effect, ‘Follow me’—‘my ⁺H’, and he is referring to it not as the blessing of paragraph SG², which it is, but as logistical support as he moves across no-man’s land.

Principle

1. Divine happiness in the believer is intensified at the ultra-super-grace attainment.

2. This is a command to the super-grace believer to advance to the next objective—ultra-super-grace.

3. ⁺H is not only the blessing of super-grace but is also the logistical support for the super-grace believer crossing no-man’s land.

4. ⁺H, along with occupation with Christ, is the key to advancing to ultra super-grace; it is the basic principle of support.[2]

“that” is the conjunction i(na which introduces a final clause. A final clause is one which denotes a purpose, a goal, an objective of one sort or another. It is

translated “that” or “in order that.”

“ye be likeminded” – present active subjunctive from the verb fronew. If there is one thing we cannot be it is all believers being likeminded as the word is used today. No two believers think alike and no two believers have reached the same point of spiritual maturity. So there are tremendous variations in thinking. Therefore the result here of being likeminded requires some amplification. Fronew means to think, and it doesn’t mean to be likeminded. It just means to think. If there is one thing that all believers who are positive are required to do, it is to think, to concentrate. The accusative neuter singular from the intensive pronoun a)utoj is also involved, it emphasises doctrine resident in the soul of the super-grace believer. It is also referring to the super-grace believer at a certain stage: when he is crossing no-man’s land to the final objective—ultra-super-grace. This is the attributive use of a)utoj and we translate it “the same thing”—“that you might be thinking the same thing.” This is not identical thinking but the same category of things is involved. The customary present tense denotes what habitually occurs among super-grace believers. The active voice: the super-grace believer produces the action by thinking doctrine which is resident in his own soul. The subjunctive mood linked with the conjunction i(na denotes the purpose, the aim, the objective in crossing no-man’s land. The whole point is that no one can advance in the Christian life by doing. The whole realm of the devil’s philosophy today is to get believers to work. The more believers work the less time they have for the true function of spiritual growth. You only grow by thinking; it is the thought that makes or breaks the believer.

“having” – the present active participle from the verb e)xw which means to have or to have and to hold. The present active participle here has strong linear aktionsart. The present tense is the present of duration, denoting what has begun in the past and continues into the present time. The active voice: the super-grace believer produces the action of the verb through occupation with Christ or maximum category #1 love. The participle is circumstantial for being in no-man’s land.

“the same love” – logistical support. The accusative singular definite article is used as a demonstrative pronoun, plus the accusative singular direct object from the intensive pronoun a)utoj, plus the accusative singular direct object from a)gaph, used here for occupation with the person of Christ because it must be related to doctrine or thinking. This is the strongest kind of love and it is a thinking love—category #1 love, occupation with the person of Jesus Christ.

“of one accord” – the nominative masculine plural from the noun sumyuxoj [yuxoj = soul; sun (m) = together with], it is translated “with one accord” but in modern English it should be “soul rapport” or “united in soul.”

“of one mind” – the accusative singular definite article plus the numeral e(n, plus the present active participle for that same verb for mental attitude thinking, fronew. It means “thinking the one thing,” which is an idiom for “intent on one’s objective.” The one objective on which the believer should be concentrating is ultra-super-grace. The present tense is tendencial for what is purposed. The active voice: super-grace believers out in no-man’s land produce the action—concentrating on the objective. The participle is circumstantial for a believer in no-man’s land.

Translation: “Bring to completion my happiness [⁺H], that you might be thinking the same thing, having the same love [occupation with Christ][3], united in soul, concentrating on the same objective.”

Verse 3 – we begin to note the possibilities of failure. There is a warning against failure to utilize logistical grace in crossing no-man’s land. The word “nothing” is actually the first word in the verse—the accusative neuter direct object from the adjective mhdeij. It is used as a substantive here, a noun, and the accusative says it is the direct object of a verb, but there is no verb stated. However, this is what is called the elliptical idiom and it demands the present active imperative from the verb poiew, and it should be translated “do”—“Do nothing.”

“through strife” – a prepositional phrase, kata plus the accusative singular from the noun e)riqeia, derived from a verb e)riqeuw which is an Attic Greek word meaning to do the work of a day labourer, to conduct one’s self like a day labourer. A day labourer in the ancient world wsas a person who worked for a day’s wages and was paid off at the end of the day. The noun which comes from this verb means that day labourers had to be properly handled, they had to be under a system of discipline. If they did not have authority over them then they started bickering among themselves, and they did not work, they merely started fighting and bickering. So e)rqeia came to mean to have the attitude, the manner, or the disposition of a day labourer. This meant labourers are under the authority of bosses who keep down petty quarrels which might erupt among those who are working. The meaning of this word came to mean contentiousness. It actually says here, “Do nothing motivated by contentiousness.”

“or vainglory” – a negative disjunctive particle, mhdh which means “nor”, and with it another prepositional phrase, kata plus the accusative of kenodocia, which means conceit, excessive ambition, and comes to mean “ambitious pride.” Pride plus predilection for strife eliminates the provision of logistical grace as the believer is crossing no-man’s land. Then he falls into reversionism, discipline, and eventually the sin unto death.

“but” is the adversative conjunction a)lla, it always sets up some kind of a contrast. Here it is between the failure to utilize logistical support in crossing no-man’s land and the other situations that support the believer as he moves along.

“by lowliness of mind” – the instrumental of means from the definite article used as an immediate demonstrative to emphasise grace orientation; plus the instrumental of means from the noun tapeinofrosunh. This noun was first used by Plato to designate the state of mind which submits to divine order in the universe and does not impiously exalt self. This is grace orientation as the antithesis of arrogance or pride—“but by means of grace orientation.”

“let each one esteem” – present active participle of the verb e(geomai. The word means to find an expert as a guide to take you over a battlefield, to show you the ruins, to take you through the museum, which is how the word was originally used. It means to guide, to think, to consider, to regard, to be in the hands of an expert. Here it is used for logistical grace as the means of providing the grace thinking. The customary present tense denotes what habitually occurs when super-grace believers are crossing no-man’s land to ultra-super-grace. The active voice: the super-grace believer produces the action of the verb. The participle is the imperative use of the participle. Also with it is the object of the participle used as an imperative, the accusative plural from a reciprocal pronoun, a)llhlon—“each other [members of the royal family].”

“better” – present active participle from u(perexw. This is not lack of confidence, this is lack of pride. The present active participle means to be “better than.” The customary present denotes what habitually occurs with a grace-oriented person. He is totally free from pride and also has great confidence, but his self-confidence is not linked with arrogance and therefore he is completely relaxed. The active voice: the super-grace believer produces the action. This is a concessive participle, translated “as better than.”

“than themselves” – the ablative of comparison from the reflexive pronoun e(autoj—“than himself.”

Translation: “Do nothing motivated by contentiousness nor ambitious pride; but by means of grace orientation be considering each other as better than himself.”

What does this mean?

1. This is the true principle of sensitivity and thoughtfulness of others based on grace thinking.

2. Hypersensitive believers are subjective about themselves and insensitive of others.

3. Out of this comes a principle: You cannot build your happiness on your own arrogance.

4. Therefore this hypersensitive person is like carborundum (used to polish diamonds) under narcissus. He has a façade of sweetness and light, of piousness, and underneath is hardness.

5. This person is going to be demanding as long as he/she lives, and totally insensitive to the one he/she makes demands of.

6. On the surface these people appear attractive but underneath they are hard, cruel and arrogant, selfish, implacable, demanding. You can never satisfy such persons. They are unteachable.

Verse 4 – no one ever crosses no-man’s land without being highly objective in his soul. If anyone has a tendency toward subjectivity doctrine must knock it out.

No ultra-super-grace believer is subjective. Verse 4 warns against being pinned down by evil. Subjectivity is always a form of evil. The subjective believer is totally aware of himself and his problems but he is totally indifferent to the feelings and the problems of others.

“Look not every man on his own things” is an incorrect translation. It actually begins with the negative mh which is a particle, it denotes here a qualified negation. With it is the accusative plural direct object from the definite article ta, which in the neuter gender refers to circumstances, personal affairs, modus operandi. Next is e(autwn, in the genitive form here. It is the possessive genitive plural from the reflexive pronoun; then the nominative plural from the adjective e(kastoj, used as a substantive and as the subject. The verb is the present active participle from skopew, which means here to regard, though it generally means to look out for, to notice or to respect. The customary present is for what should be expected of a super-grace believer out in no-man’s land. The active voice: the super-grace believer crossing no-man’s land to ultra-super-grace produces the action of the verb. The participle is, again, an imperative participle, with the negative mh is the imperative of prohibition—“Every one of you should not only be regarding his own personal interests [in the advance] …”

“his own personal interests” – ta e(autwn e(kastoi. That is “each ones things of themselves” which is an idiom for “his own personal interests.” By personal interests is meant the perpetuation of positive volition toward doctrine as the means of receiving logistical support while crossing no-man’s land. Doctrine keeps feeding the fires of occupation with Christ. Doctrine keeps ⁺H intensified in order to meet the various adversities in no-man’s land. Remember that the super-grace believer must not only respect the privacy of others but at the same time he must be very thoughtful of those advancing with him toward the objective.

“but” – a strong adversative conjunction which sets up a contrast, a)lla, between the super-grace believer concentrating on reaching ultra-super-grace and at the same time being thoughtful of other believers so as not to hinder their advance to the same objective; “also” is the adjunctive use of kai and this should be translated “but also.”

“every man” is not found in the original MSS. It should say here, “but also one of the things of others”—ta e(terwn e(kastoi again, the accusative neuter plural direct object definite article, ta; the possessive genitive plural from e(teroj, used for other super-grace believers advancing, plus e(kastoj again in the plural, the adjective uses the substantive; it should be translated, “but also everyone advancing [to ultra-super-grace] the personal interests of others.”

Translation: “Every one of you [advancing to ultra-super-grace] should not only be regarding his own personal interests [in the advance] but also every one of you [so advancing] the personal interests of others.”

This means:

1. This is the principle of thoughtfulness for others who are super-grace believers. But this is specific to others crossing no-man's land with you to ultra-super-grace.

2. The pressures are intensive through no-man's land.

3. There are problems in the advance and all believers in this advance have their own problems. Therefore do not judge them, do not malign them, do not succumb to any form of subjectivity in crossing no man's land. In concentration on your advance remember others are advancing with you-be thoughtful of them.

Verses 5-11, the object of occupation with Christ. We see the challenge to the super-grace believer in verse 5. It reminds us that the Lord Jesus Christ while on earth had normal physical as well as unusual spiritual growth as he moved along in the spiritual life. The translation of this verse is not correct in the KJV. The first problem with it is found in the first four words of that translation — touto froneite e)n u(min. The very first word, touto, is the accusative neuter singular from the immediate demonstrative pronoun o(utoj, and the very fact that it is in the accusative case tells us there is something wrong with the English translation, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” because here is the object of a verb. The accusative case is used as the direct object and o(utoj as the demonstrative pronoun emphasises doctrine resident in the soul of the super-grace believer. The word “this” which is a demonstrative pronoun is the object of the verb, not the subject, and it does not modify a word called “mind” for the word “mind” is actually a verb and this is the object of the verb. The verb is the present active imperative of fronew. The word is used for objective thinking. The present active imperative is a command and the object of that command is the demonstrative pronoun in the accusative case. The present tense is a customary present denoting what habitually occurs when closing in on the ultimate objective of super-grace. The active voice: the super-grace believer produces the action. The imperative mood is a very strong command. “Keep on thinking” is the correct translation of the verb. Add the demonstrative pronoun and you have the word “this.” “Keep on thinking this” are the first four words of the corrected translation. The demonstrative pronoun refers to resident doctrine in the soul, so we can add: “Keep on thinking this doctrine.”

You cannot think in your soul with things that are outside of your soul. You cannot use the information in a textbook until it has been transferred into your soul where it is useable. You have to have information in your soul in order to be able to use it. “Keep on thinking this” means that you cannot think what is in the Bible, you can only think that portion of Bible doctrine which has been transferred to your soul. If it isn’t transferred to your soul you cannot think it.

Next is e)n plus the locative of the personal pronoun su, and it should be translated “within you.” “Keep on thinking this doctrine within you.” You can only think in terms of what is resident in your soul. All thought resident in your soul is broken down into vocabulary, so you must have vocabulary storage. But vocabulary alone will not do it. This vocabulary must be organised categorically so you also have in your right lobe categorical storage. To fulfill this command you must have e)pignwsij type doctrine in the right lobe of the soul. It has to be in the frame of reference and in the memory centre but this is impossible unless you have loaded up your vocabulary and your categorical storage areas. This is called sunhsij. Then you have norms and standards, called a conscience or suneidhsij. Then you have a launching pad where this same doctrine becomes sofia. And when it says “Keep on thinking this doctrine within you” it is referring to e)pignwsij, sunhsij, suneidhsij and sofia all functioning inside of your right lobe. The only way you get that type of information is from a pastor-teacher. You have to be taught academically under strict academic discipline, there is no other way to get it. Production in the Christian life is a bona fide function but as a result of growth, not the means. All spiritual growth is related to the daily function of GAP.

“Keep on thinking this doctrine within you.” We are not the first people to think these doctrines. They were thought by Moses when he reached super-grace. They were thought by Jeremiah, by Isaiah, by the apostle Paul, long before we lived on the face of the earth. And these doctrines were thought by Jesus Christ during the first advent.

“which” — the nominative neuter singular from the relative pronoun o(j, referring to doctrine resident in the soul. The antecedent for the relative pronoun is the personal pronoun su — “within you.” The word “was” is not found in the original, but implied. We have the implication of the imperfect active indicative of e)imi.

“also” is the adjunctive use of the conjunction kai. Then we have e)n plus the locative of Xristoj. This is how we happen to be royal family of God and what makes our life so meaningful. At the point of salvation everyone of us entered into union with Christ and became royal family of God forever. We are the royal family to complement our Lord’s battlefield royalty. Jesus Christ is royalty because He is God, and under that title He is called Son of God, and His royal family is God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ was royalty when He came in the flesh. He was born a Jew, the son of David. So He is Jewish royalty and His title is son of David, and He has a royal family beginning with David and Bathsheba. Then Jesus Christ became through the cross, resurrection, ascension, battlefield royalty. His title is King of kings and Lord of lords, but at the time that He received His battlefield royalty He did not have a royal family. But He has one now. You and I as believers in this dispensation are a part of the royal family of God. Every time we see this prepositional phrase in the New Testament it is a reminder to us that we are royal family, that we live in the palace forever, that God has special objectives for us in time and special blessings for time and eternity as royal family of God. We are to live like royalty, to think like royalty, to function like royalty, and therefore this wonderful phrase, “in Christ Jesus.”

Translation: “Keep on thinking this doctrine within you, which also was resident in Christ Jesus.”

Summary

1. This means that the super-grace believer, crossing no man’s land, is challenged by mental attitude. He must have a certain type of mental attitude and a certain type of motivation to reach the final objective. The greatest testing, the greatest pressure in life is out in no man’s land between super-grace and ultra super-grace. Therefore he must have a mental attitude like the mental attitude of our Lord Jesus Christ as he crossed no man’s land while He was on earth, facing greater pressure than we will ever know.

2. This means that the mental attitude of Jesus Christ was one of total grace orientation — total dependence upon logistical grace provided by God the Father.

3. The grace orientation of our Lord Jesus Christ included grace awareness, grace consciousness, grace dependence on the plan of God. He was aware of the plan of God, He knew it in His humanity through doctrine, He knew it in His deity, He was there with the Father when the decrees were ordained.

4. Jesus Christ in His advance to super-grace exploited to the maximum all of the doctrinal principles of logistical grace.

5. Therefore no believer can attain ultra super-grace apart from the same total exploitation of logistical grace.

6. This total exploitation demands more and more doctrine resident in the soul after reaching the super-grace objective which is the first stage of maturity. So there must be a continuation of the same academic discipline, the same positive volition toward doctrine that existed in the spiritual growth from salvation to the maturity barrier.

7. Therefore there can be no letup in the function of GAP, there can be no change in the doctrinal priorities. Doctrine must still be #1 priority in the life of the believer crossing no man’s land.

8. The perpetuation of the function of Gap in super-grace is absolutely necessary for the continuation of grace awareness, grace consciousness, and grace dependence on the plan of God.

9. The perpetuation of the function of GAP in super-grace demands occupation with Christ, sharing the happiness of God as the basic principles of the logistical grace support by which the believer crosses no man’s land in the face of both great angelic and human pressure. There is more direct attention from Satan when the believer crosses no man’s land than at any other time.

Verse 6 — the Lord Jesus Christ as He was before the incarnation. This verse answers the question: What was Christ like before the first advent, before the virgin birth and the incarnation. This question must be answered in order to understand the following verses, to see what happened at the incarnation, to see in effect what the humiliation of our Lord really was. Se we begin with the pre-incarnate Christ, Jesus Christ as He existed in eternity past.

“Who being” — nominative singular from the relative pronoun o(j referring to Jesus Christ before the incarnation, plus the present active participle of the verb u(parxw which means to exist. Here it means to preexist. “[Jesus Christ] who though he preexisted” is the corrected translation.

“in the form of God” — the preposition e)n plus the locative of sphere morfh. Morfh is minus the definite article, and the absence of the definite article emphasises the qualitative aspects of the essence of Jesus Christ before the incarnation. The essence of Jesus Christ before the incarnation is the essence of God. He was, is, always will be eternal God. Morfh refers to His divine essence. Morfh does not refer to the outward shape of a physical object but the inner essence of the object. Here we have a reference to the inner essence of Jesus Christ. We also have the possessive genitive singular from qeoj, the noun for God, also minus the definite article, emphasising again quality. “E)n morfh, “in the form,” is exactly the same as e)n a)rxh in John 1:1. In John 1:1 we have e)n a)rxh. In this passage we have e)n morfh. These two words are both the preposition e)n plus the locative, and both of them describe the preexistence of the Lord Jesus Christ. A))rxh means a beginning which was not a beginning. The quality of the beginning was no beginning at all. Here we have the essence emphasised; in John 1:1 we have the eternity emphasised. In eternity past Jesus Christ as God possessed all of the characteristics of divine essence and exercised all of the qualities of God. And since God cannot change this means that all of the time that Jesus Christ was a human being He was also undiminished deity. This cannot be changed.

The doctrine of the deity of Jesus Christ

1. Jesus Christ is eternal God. As a member of the Trinity He always existed, there never was a time when He did not exist. He is coequal and co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit — Colossians 1:15. In eternity past Jesus Christ had exactly the same essence as God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

2. The logical approach to the deity of Christ: The syllogism of deity. A syllogism is a logical formula consisting of two premises and a conclusion. Premise #1 is called the major premise, premise #2 is called the minor premise. The third line is the conclusion. But it is not quite that simple. In deductive reasoning you not only have a major premise and a minor premise and a conclusion but the major premise enunciates the general rule, the minor premise subsumes from that general rule a specific. And the subject of the major premise is the object or predicate nominative of the minor premise. While the predicate nominative or object of the major premise combines with the subject of the minor premise to form the conclusion. Illustration: Major premise: The Trinity is eternal. Minor premise: Christ is a member of the Trinity. Conclusion: The subject of the minor premise, Christ, and the object of the major premise, eternal, are put together — Christ is eternal. The Trinity is eternal, Christ is a member of the Trinity, Christ is eternal. Or, the Trinity is God, Christ is a member of the Trinity; Christ is God.

3. Scriptural documentation:

Micah 5:2 explains that the incarnate Christ born in Bethlehem is eternal God. This explains that the incarnate Christ born in Bethlehem is eternal God. “However as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you one shall go forth from me to be ruler of Israel; his appearance is from long ago, from the days of eternity.” That last phrase is Hebrew idiom saying that He is eternal God.

John 1:1-3 — “In a beginning which was not a beginning” — a wonderful phrase used to describe the reality for thinking doctrine. Neither rationalism nor empiricism will work in this case — “there always existed the Word, and the Word was face to face with God, and the Word was God.” The Word is a title for Jesus Christ. “This same one was in the beginning with God” — there never was a time when Jesus Christ did not preexist and coexist with God the Father. “All things came into existence through him [Christ] and apart from him nothing came into existence that has come into being.”

John 8:58 — “Jesus answered them [the Pharisees], A fact I communicate to you, Before Abraham came into being, I had always existed.” Jesus Christ while in the flesh was totally aware of His deity, He could not be anything else but. No item of His essence could be changed.

Romans 9:5 — The promises which belong to the fathers, and from whom is the Christ, according to the flesh, who is over all, God, blessed forever. Amen.” Jesus Christ is called “over all God.”

Titus 2:13 — Jesus Christ is called “the great God and our saviour.” He became humanity to be our saviour but before He became humanity, and during the course of His humanity, He was, always has been, there never will be a time when it is otherwise, Jesus Christ is eternal God.

Hebrews 1:8-10 — “But of the Son he says, Your throne, O God” — Jesus Christ is addressed as God by God the Father — “is forever and ever; and the righteous ceptre is the ceptre of his kingdom.”

1 John 5:20 — “And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding, in order that we might know him who is true; also we are in him who is true, and in his Son Jesus Christ. This one is the true God and eternal life.”

4. The pre-incarnate work of Jesus Christ. While whatever God did in eternity past before creatures existed, before the universe existed, some things are mentioned specifically. For example, the pre-incarnate work of Christ necessitates His preexistence and His deity. In eternity past He is said to be the creator of the universe by John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:10. So the fact that He existed before creatures and the fact that He is the creator of creatures indicates that He is God. The pre-incarnate work of Jesus Christ necessitates not only His preexistence but the actuality of His deity. 5. The doctrine of divine decrees makes a contribution. It actually proves that the deity of Christ is a reality and provides a further evidence for us. Christ is so identified with the divine decrees so as to be God in Psalm 2:7-9; 22:1-6; Psalm 40; Psalm 110.

6. The tetragrammaton is one of the titles for Jesus Christ: YHWH. Part of this which is the name by which He is revealed is the verb to be, and it is said to be the verb to be doubled: “I am that I am.” These are the letters that are used, some of it is on the verb to be. They did not put vowel points in the Hebrew and the Jews never pronounced this. We actually have a J and an H and a W and an H. This was a name too holy for the Jews to pronounce, so they used Adonai which is simply the same as Kurioj in the Greek, indicating that deity is involved. What they finally did was to take the vowel points of Adonai and put them in, and later generations began to pronounce Jehovah. There is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit and so there had to be another word for when they were referred to together, and this other word became Elohim. This is a plural word. The word echad was put in front of it to indicate that there is only one essence. When it says that God is one it refers to the fact that God is one essence, the essence box, but there are three persons who have this essence and therefore we have Jehovah used. Jehovah the Father is generally the initiator, and the revealed Jehovah who becomes the Angel of Jehovah is the Lord Jesus Christ, and Jehovah is also used for God the Holy Spirit. Usually there is somewhere in the context another word to indicate the Holy Spirit in the Hebrew — ruach. So the tetragrammaton is the sacred name for God with absolute existence being the criterion and the connotation. The tetragrammaton is assigned to Jesus Christ in enough passages to establish the deity of Christ. For example, Isaiah 9:6,7; 40:3; Jeremiah 23:5,6; Zechariah 12:10. The tetragrammaton, then, becomes a basis for demonstrating the fact that Jesus Christ is God.

7. The essence of God. The divine attributes of deity are all ascribed to Jesus Christ. The sovereignty of Jesus Christ as God is mentioned in Psalm 2:6; Matthew 28:18; Acts 2:36; 2 Peter 1:11; Revelation 29:16. This is conclusive in itself without any of the others being added. He is sovereign God. He has just as much sovereignty as the Father and as the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ also has the same holiness — righteousness and justice together: Luke 1:35; John 6:69; Hebrews 7:26. He is also said to possess the same love that the Father and the Spirit possess: John 13:1,34; 1 John 3:16. Jesus Christ as God is eternal life: Isaiah 9:6; Micah 5:2; John 1:1; 8:58; Colossians 1:16,17; Ephesians 1:4; Revelation 1:11. Jesus Christ is omniscient. He has always existed and He has absolute mentality: Matthew 9:4; John 2:25; 1 Corinthians 4:5; Colossians 2:3; Revelation 2:23. The principle involved in omniscience is that Jesus Christ is God in all of these. In omnipresence: Matthew 28:20; Ephesians 1:23; Colossians 1:27. In veracity, John 14:6; Revelation 3:7. All of these scriptures point out the fact that Jesus Christ has each one of these characteristics, any one of which demonstrates the fact that He is eternal God. When He came in the flesh there is the factor of humiliation but it does not mean that He suppressed His deity. He did not suppress His deity.

8. The theophanies — appearance of Jesus Christ before the incarnation. By contrast, a Christophany is a post-resurrection appearance of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has actually had four categories of appearances: theophany before the incarnation; the incarnation or first advent is also an appearance; Christophany, His appearance after His resurrection; the second advent is His final appearance for history in which He will be on the earth for a thousand years. Theophanies: Christ appeared as a man in Genesis 18, and 32:24-32. Christ has also appeared as a phenomenon of nature: the cloud of the Lord in Exodus 40:38; the pillar of the cloud in Exodus 33:9-23; the burning bush of Exodus 3:2ff; Acts 7:30; the Shekinah glory. The word “shekinah” is not found in the Bible. It merely means “residence,” and the glory that resided between the mercy seat and between the cherubs of Exodus 25:22 is the Shekinah glory. Christ also appeared as the angel of Jehovah, identified as God in may passages: Genesis 16:7-18; 22:11-18; 31:11ff; 24:7; 24:40; Exodus 23:20; 32:34; 1 Chronicles 21:15-19; Isaiah 63:9; Zechariah 1:12.13. Christ is always the visible member of the Godhead: John 1:18; after the incarnation He no longer appears as the Angel of Jehovah.

“thought it not robbery to be equal with God” is not a correct translation. We have three words here, the first of which is o)ux, one of the forms of the strong negative particle. This form is because we have a rough breathing in the next word a(rpagmon. These two words are a key, along with the verb h(ghsato. A(rpagmon is the accusative singular direct object from a very rare noun a(rpagmoj. It is found only in this passage. It means the activity of the verb which means to seize forcibly, to take by force. It is used for plundering, for rape, for taking something by violence. It is a verb of violence in its original use in the Greek language. The noun connotes here, however, taking up an attitude toward something which is available as prey, taking an attitude toward something which can be grasped. It is a chance to gain something suddenly by seizing it. There is no robbery here. Christ did not see equality with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit as seizing and appropriating by violence something he didn’t have. In other words, He didn’t have to steal something. He didn’t have to seize by violence His place in heaven, He always had it. He was always God. Deity was not something that He had to reach for, it was something He always had.

So to summarise the principle, Jesus Christ did not regard equality with God as a gain which He must not let slip through His fingers by becoming true humanity. He wasn’t losing anything.

We also have h(ghsato which is the aorist active indicative of the verb e(geomai which means the thinking of an expert. “A gain” is the accusative, so it is the object of the verb here. The verb is e(geomai, He did not think a gain to be seized. What is left out is “equality with God.” What this is actually saying is that He did not think equality with God a gain to be seized. He was equal with God, He was God, and therefore it wasn’t something he had to steal. The aorist tense of e(geomai is the culminative aorist, it views the attitude of the eternal and pre-incarnate Jesus Christ in its entirety but it emphasises the existing results in the incarnation, the hypostatic union, and the kenosis. Jesus Christ is eternal God, He is just as much deity as the first person and the third person of the Trinity, and therefore to become a member of the human race He didn’t think He couldn’t leave heaven because he might lose something, that if He became true humanity He would somehow be inferior, that somehow something would be stolen from Him. He didn’t have that attitude. He did not think equality with God a gain to be seized. The active voice: Jesus Christ as God in contemplating the incarnation produces the action. In other words, in the divine decrees of eternity past God the Father said, “The plan calls for you to go to the cross, become a member of the human race, and to provide eternal salvation for the human race, and at the same time to resolve the angelic conflict. Will you do it?” Answer: “I will.” The indicative mood is the reality of dynamic grace thinking of Jesus Christ prior to the incarnation.

Translation: “Who though he existed in the essence of God, he did not think equality with God a gain to be seized and held.”

The verb to be is the articular present active infinitive of the verb e)imi. This is strictly Attic Greek. The articular infinitive in the accusative is the substantive serving as the object of the finite verb. The definite article is in the accusative, it is the object of the verb. He did not think equality with God a gain to be seized.

“equal with God” is the predicate nominative from the infinitive and it indicates more than one person in the Godhead because it is plural. “Equal” is in the plural — isoj. Why is it plural? Because there is more than one person in the Trinity.

We also have the instrumental associative noun qeoj. Jesus Christ was always associated with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

Summary

1. Jesus Christ is God, coequal and co-eternal with the Father and with the Holy Spirit.

2. Being God and living in heaven Christ did not have the arrogant attitude of Satan. His deity was not a gain to be seized and held in such a way as to hinder the plan of God the Father. There is no plan of grace without the incarnation. There is no salvation without the incarnation.

3. Jesus Christ did not grab His deity and cling to it saying, No, No, No.

4. The omniscience and mental attitude of God the second person of the Trinity was positive toward the plan of God the Father even though it involved the humiliation of being made lower than angels, human race type, in fact the last Adam.

5. The mental attitude of Christ in submission to the Father’s plan of the first advent must become the mental attitude of the super-grace believer.

6. The super-grace believer must not regard paragraph SG² as a gain to be seized and held. In other words, you can’t stay in the R & R camp, you have to go back to combat. He must be willing to saddle up and move out, and go back to the fight.

Verse 7 answers the question: What was the person of Christ during the first advent?

The doctrine of the virgin birth

1. The virgin birth refers to the only birth in human history, namely the incarnation, whereby no sex was involved. Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit, therefore born apart from human copulation. In this way Christ came into the world without the imputation of Adam’s sin and without the old sin nature.

2. The necessity for the virgin birth. It is based on the fact that the old sin nature is passed down to each member of the human race through the human father. This is because man sinned in cognisance while the woman sinned in ignorance — 1 Timothy 2:14. Because the woman was deceived in the fall the old sin nature is passed down through the man in copulation. The virgin Mary was not immaculate, she had an old sin nature, she had the imputation of Adam’s sin. The virgin birth is the only way to be born into the human race apart from spiritual death and to be qualified to bear the sins of the world. Jesus Christ had to enter the human race apart from the sin nature and the imputation of Adam’s sin. So to qualify for saviourhood He had to enter the world under the saviourhood of the virgin birth.

3. The first prophecy of the virgin birth is found in Genesis 3:15,16. “And I will put hostility between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed; he [the seed of the woman, Christ] shall crush your head [Satan], and you [Satan] will crush his heel [at the cross]. Unto the woman he said, multiplying I will multiply your pain in pregnancy; in sorrow you shall bear sons; and to your right man you will have the strongest desire, therefore he shall rule over you.” Strongest desire is a response. The woman was designed to respond to her right man. The man will always rule the woman where there is right man, right woman.

The human race is divided into two conflicting camps. The historical phase of the angelic conflict includes the seed of the Satan, the unbeliever; the seed of the woman, the believer influenced by doctrine. These angelic forces are divided and so is the human race. The human race is divided by John 3:36. While the woman lost out in the garden because she rejected the authority of her right man, as well as the authority of Jesus Christ, she regains through receiving Christ as saviour plus her daily function of GAP. All of this is prophesied in the childbearing passage in Genesis 3:16.

4. The Jewish prophecy of the virgin birth — Isaiah 7:14. It begins with an inferential conjunction laken, “therefore.” The conclusion is the fact that God the Father will provide a sign or a miracle beyond depth or beyond height — verse 11, Isaiah had offered such a miracle as a sign of divine deliverance and it had been refused. So Isaiah says God will give you a sign that has great theological implications.

“he shall give [as a blessing]” is the qal imperfect of the verb nathan, the verb to give in the Hebrew. It is used here as a jussive. The jussive expresses a command, a wish, advice, or a blessing. Here it is a blessing.

“a sign” — oth, which here means a supernatural manifestation.

“Behold a virgin” — the word for virgin, ha almah. Almah does mean two things. It means a virgin and it can also means simply a young woman without questioning whether she is a virgin or not. The word is not conclusive here but it is correctly translated as “virgin.” The reason is because in Matthew 1:22,23 we have the Greek equivalent parqenoj which means a virgin, not a young woman. “shall conceive” — qal perfect of harah. The perfect tense is used here to indicate the reality of this fact. It is going to happen and so it is put in the past tense, the perfect tense of the Hebrew. This is called a prophetic perfect to indicate the fact that it is so certain to happen that it is regarded as already past.

Then we have an inferential waw plus the qal active participle from the verb jalad, and this means “consequently bearing a son.” The word “son” fulfills Isaiah 9:6.

“and shall call his name Immanuel [God with us].”

Translation: “Therefore the Lord himself [God the Father] will give you a sign [supernatural manifestation]; Behold, the virgin shall be pregnant, consequently bearing a sin, therefore you will call his name Immanuel [God with us].”

The title implies virgin birth, hypostatic union, impeccability of the last Adam, the son of David, the Son of God. All of these great doctrines of Christology are related and all of them depend upon the virgin birth.

5. The historical fulfillment of the virgin birth — Matthew 1:19-25.

6. The result of the virgin birth — John 1:14, “The Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us (and we beheld the glory, the glory as of the unique one from the Father), full of grace and full of doctrine.”

The doctrine of metamorphisms

Metamorphisms is derived from a Greek verb, metamorfow, and it means a change of form. Sometimes it means to transform. The verb can be used for an outward visible transformation, like Jesus being transfigured on the Mount of Transfiguration — Matthew 17:2. It can also be used for inner, invisible transformation, as in Romans 12:2. However, the theological connotation has to do with a striking change of form or thought or action. There are six metamorphisms in the Bible.

a) Innocent man in the garden became a sinner and spiritually dead — Genesis 3:6. Man who was not a sinner, who was free from evil of any kind, did not have an old sin nature, was not spiritually dead, and he had opportunity of making a choice, positive or negative. His positive volition would be to refrain from the plan of Satan called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Good and evil are the invention of Satan, works and evil the invention of Satan, the manifestation of his genius. All man had to do was to stay away from that one tree. Positive signals kept man in the state of innocence but once man went negative toward doctrine, which is going negative toward God, then he went positive toward Satan’s plan, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and ate from the tree. The result was the first metamorphism. Man who was innocent became a sinner, man was changed in that moment.

b) Genesis 3:16; 1 Timothy 2:15. The woman who before the fall did not have a womb received a womb and became a child bearer. There were no children in innocence.

c) Eternal God, the second person of the Trinity, became the man Christ Jesus — Hebrews 10:5-10. The baby cannot talk, but the deity of Christ carries on a conversation with God the Father.

d) Sinful man through faith in Jesus Christ becomes regenerate, born again, a member of the family of God. This causes the spiritually dead to become alive unto God — Titus 3:5.

e) This is a temporal metamorphism of the royal family of God in time, the daily function of GAP changes the believer from a spiritual baby to a mature believer.

f) An eternal metamorphosis, the royal family of God in eternity having a resurrection body minus the old sin nature, minus human good, minus the lake of fire.

The key to all of the metamorphisms is the same key in the virgin birth, it is the change is Jesus Christ from eternal God to the hypostatic union.

The doctrine of the hypostatic union

1. Definition.

a) In the person of the incarnate Christ [Incarnate means the God-Man; Christ means God, but the God-Man is represented by the word incarnation] are two natures inseparably united [The first nature is God; second nature: true humanity] without mixture or loss of separate identity [This means the deity remains deity and the humanity remains humanity. Even though they are inseparably united they are not blended], without loss or transfer of properties or attributes, the union being personal and eternal.

` b) In other words, since the incarnation Jesus Christ is true humanity and undiminished deity in one person forever.

c) Jesus Christ is the God-Man, different from God in that He is mankind, different from mankind in that He is God.

d) Jesus Christ, therefore, is the unique person of the universe. As God he is infinitely superior to man and angel, as humanity He is now superior to all angels and all other forms of human life.

e) The pre-incarnate person of Christ was deity, coequal with the Father and with the Holy Spirit. The post-incarnate person of Christ includes both undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever.

f) Through the virgin birth Jesus Christ was born without an old sin nature, without the imputation of Adam’s sin. In His humanity Jesus Christ was trichotomous, having a true body, a true soul, and a true human spirit. In His deity He retained all of the essence of the Godhead.

2. Biblical documentation of the hypostatic union: Compare John 1:1-3 which describes the deity of Christ with John 1:14. Remember that “only-born one” is the fact that when God the Father gave the spark of life to Jesus Christ He was the only person ever born and ever given the spark of life who did not have an old sin nature. Romans 1:3-5 — “...born the seed of David according to the flesh, who was demonstrated the Son of God by means of power, according to the Holy Spirit, by the resurrection from the deaths [plural].” Christ was resurrected from two deaths, spiritual death and physical death. Romans 9:5 — “...from whom is Christ, according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever.” He is flesh and God. 1 Timothy 3:16 — “And by consent of all, great is the mystery doctrine with reference to godliness: the unique one [Jesus Christ as eternal God] became visible by means of the flesh [Jesus Christ is true humanity], the same one [Christ in hypostatic union] was vindicated by means of the Holy Spirit, observed by angels, proclaimed among the nations, became the object of faith in the world, taken up into the place of glory.” Hebrews 2:14 — “Since therefore children share blood and flesh, he also himself [Jesus Christ] in the same manner took hold of the same flesh and blood, in order that he through spiritual death might neutralise and destroy the one having the ruling power of spiritual death, that is, the devil.” Philippians 2:5-11.

3. The incarnate person of Christ includes His deity. Jesus Christ is eternal God. He is coequal with the Father and with the Holy Spirit and His deity was never diminished at any time during the incarnation, nor at any time because of the hypostatic union. The incarnation does not diminish or destroy His deity, therefore the doctrine represents Christ as undiminished deity forever.

4. The incarnate person of Christ is also true humanity. That means He has a body, a soul, a human spirit. Because of the virgin birth Christ was born without the old sin nature and without the imputation of Adam’s sin. When God the Father gave the spark of life to Jesus Christ it is the only case on record where both human life and spiritual life occurred simultaneously with life at birth.

5. In hypostatic union the two natures of Christ are united without transfer of attributes. The attributes adhere to their corresponding natures. The essence of His deity cannot be changed — Hebrews 13:8. In other words, the infinite cannot blend in and become finite; the infinite cannot be transferred to the finite. To take from God a single attribute of His deity would destroy His deity and to take from the humanity of Christ a single attribute of His humanity would destroy His humanity, so they never leave one and go to the other.

6. No attribute of divine essence was changed by the incarnation. In fulfilling the Father’s plan for the first advent certain attributes of deity were not manifest but they were there. This does not imply that they were surrendered or destroyed, as per the false doctrine of Kenosis.

7. Therefore the union of divine essence and the human nature of the incarnate Christ must be considered as two things: hypostatic and personal. It is a hypostatic union, it is a personal union. Hypostatic is the Greek noun u(postassij transliterated. It means standing under, substance or essence, or taking a thing on one’s self. Jesus Christ was eternal God, there never was a time when he wasn’t God, He took upon Himself true humanity — Hebrews 1:3. Hypostatic refers to the whole person of Christ as distinguished from His two natures. When certain things occur we analyse it on the basis of His deity of His humanity. Deity does not become humanity, that would destroy humanity; humanity does not become deity, that would destroy deity. So the attributes of His humanity remain the attributes of His humanity and the attributes of His deity remain the attributes of His deity but He is one person with two natures inseparably united forever. The personal part of the concept refers to the emergence of a unique person. As God Jesus Christ is coequal with the Father and with the Holy Spirit but He is different from them because He is true humanity. As true humanity Jesus Christ is superior to all members of the human race but He is different from the human race in that He is God.

8. The false interpretation of the hypostatic union. There is a false implication that the deity of Christ is possessed by the humanity of Christ or that the deity of Christ indwelt the humanity of Christ. Furthermore, the union was more than harmony or sympathy which is the view of liberalism. All the false concepts either say that Jesus Christ was humanity and not God, Jesus Christ was God and not humanity after the first advent, or that the deity of Christ indwelt the humanity of Christ. This is all false. The true fact: It is personal. Divine and human natures have been combined in one hypostatic union forever.

9. Therefore Jesus Christ, the God-Man, has one hypostassis or essence forever.

a) The attributes of both divine and human natures belong to the person of Christ. They are united but not compromised or changed.

b) The characteristics of one nature are never attributed to the other. The characteristics of the deity of Christ are never attributed to the humanity of Christ. The characteristics of the humanity of Christ are never attributed to the deity of Christ.

c) This means that during the first advent Jesus Christ could be simultaneously omnipotent and weak. He could be omniscient and ignorant. As a baby in the cradle He was ignorant, but He went all of the way to ultra-super-grace, “full of grace and doctrine” — John 1:14. He was omnipresent in His deity but He was always located in one place at a time in His humanity.

10. The necessity for the humanity of Christ. Four principles:

a) Jesus Christ had to become a member of the human race to be our saviour — Philippians 2:7,8; Hebrews 2:14,15.

b) He had to become true humanity to be our mediator, for the mediator is defined as being equal with man and God, the two parties in the mediation. Jesus Christ is mediatory because He is God; equal with God. Jesus Christ is also true humanity, and that is why there is only one mediator — Job 9:2,32,33; 1 Timothy 2:5,6.

c) A priest is a man who represent man before God so before Jesus Christ could be a priest He had to be true humanity — Hebrews 7:4,5,14,28; 10:5-14.

d) Jesus Christ had to be the son of David to fulfill the unconditional covenants to Israel, therefore He had to be born a true member of the human race, also the son of David — 2 Samuel 7:8-16; Psalm 89:28-37.

11. Everything verbally communicated by Jesus during the incarnation came from one of three sources: His deity, His humanity, or from His entire person called the hypostatic union.

12. The categories of attributes that come out of point 11. This is related to the person of Christ who is God and man in one person forever.

a) The attributes which are true of His entire person. For example, saviour or redeemer. This is an attribute which is true of the God-Man, His whole person. Both natures are necessary for the function of saviour and redeemer. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” He said in Matthew 11:28, “Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” That was spoken from His entire person.

b) The attributes true only of His deity but the whole person is the subject. The subject is the entire person, the God-Man but the attribute given is true of His entire person. The whole person is the subject of John 8:58 but eternity is an attribute of deity and applies only to the divine nature.

c) The attributes true only of His humanity, but the whole person is the subject. John 19:28 — “I thirst.” Only the humanity of Christ could thirst, but He said “I thirst” and “I” is the God-Man.

d) The person of Christ is described according to His divine nature but the predicate of the human nature. Revelation 1:18, the deity of Christ is in evidence, yet Christ is described as the one who was dead. Death is only possible to the humanity of Christ. This classification disappears after the resurrection, ascension and session.

e) The person of Christ is described according to His human nature but the predicate of the divine nature — John 6:62. While the title Son of Man belongs to His human nature the predicate, ascending where He was before, describes the divine nature of Christ.

f) The person of Christ is described according to His divine nature but the predicate of both natures. John 5:25-27. Christ is described according to His divine nature under the title “Son of God.” However, Christ will execute judgement as the God-Man. The title Son of God specifically emphasises the involvement of the humanity of Christ so we have the person of Christ described according to His divine nature — Son of God, but the predicate of both natures. Christ will judge as the God-Man.

g) The person of Christ is described according to His human nature but the predicate of both natures — Matthew 27:46. Christ was speaking from His human nature. The sins of the world were being poured out upon the humanity of Christ, but He says “Why have you forsaken me?” The pronoun “me” has reference to the God-Man. So the person of Christ is described according to His human nature but the predicate of both natures “me” is the God-Man. So Christ was forsaken by God the Father and God the Holy Spirit because He was bearing our sins in His own body on the tree — in His human body. The same concept is found in John 5:22 where the Son of Man, the humanity of Christ, and the Son of God, the deity of Christ, will judge the world. But Christ spoke from His humanity when He said that the Father gives all judgment to the Son.

Verse 7 — “But” is the adversative conjunction a)lla, it sets up a contrast between the deity, a gain to be seized and held, and the sacrifice of the kenosis.

“made himself of no reputation”

“But made himself of no reputation.” We have a Greek phrase made up of two words, e(auton e)kenwsen. The accusative singular of e(autou, a reflexive pronoun which occurs with enough frequency to be very important. It is important here because it gives great emphatic position to a voluntary action of divine sovereignty in a very special way. The divine sovereignty of Jesus Christ is given tremendous emphasis. We think of the sovereignty of God in so many ways. Here we find the sovereignty of God involved in what might be classified as an act of humiliation. So the reflexive pronoun becomes extremely important. When the action of the verb is referred back to its own subject the construction is called reflexive. Jesus Christ Himself from His own deity and from the volition of His deity, known as sovereignty, made a decision to become true humanity. The greatness of this decision can never be overemphasised because our salvation, our very existence, and our eternal future are all based upon this decision.

There were actually two great decisions related to our salvation. The first is the decision of sovereign deity which is described in this passage — e(auton e)kenwsen, He deprived Himself of the proper function of deity. The second was the decision of His true humanity mentioned in Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42. The composite of all of these phrases indicates in a very forcible and important way the tremendous decisions involved in providing everything that we have right now.

With this reflexive pronoun we have the aorist active indicative of kenow. Kenow means to deprive one’s self of a proper function. It means, by the way, that you do it yourself. The aorist tense is a constantive aorist which states the incarnation or the first advent, views it in its entirety, gathers it into a single whole which is the function of the true kenosis. The active voice: Jesus Christ by a sovereign decision from His deity, as emphasised in the reflexive pronoun, produces the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal action from the viewpoint of dogmatic and absolute reality. The phrase says literally, that He deprived himself of the proper function of His deity. A second phrase is added to further explain what is involved in this kenosis:

“and took upon him the form of a servant” — the accusative singular direct object of morfh. There is no conjunction, it was used as a translator’s device. The word “form” comes first in this phrase, emphasising this word in a very unusual way. Morfh refers to inner essence or form. The next important word we will see is sxhma which means outer appearance. The third will be o(iwma which means overt appearance but not true inner nature.

There are many nuances to the connotation of morfh but generally it refers to inner essence which is perceivable in contrast to sxhma which connotes overt appearance, overt form, overt shape. We had the word morfh previously used in verse 6 for the essence of God. Jesus Christ was morfh of God in eternity past. Now it is used for mofh doulou, the inner essence of humanity whereas in verse 6 it was the inner essence of God. Put the two morfhs together and you have the hypostatic union: morfh God and morfh slave or servant. The absence of the definite article emphasises the high quality of our Lord’s slavery, the highest quality of a servant in all of history. We also have the descriptive genitive singular from the noun douloj which means a slave. It is also used for servant. So we have the principle of our Lord taking upon Himself the form of a slave.

“took” — the aorist active participle from the verb lambanw which means to receive. The aorist tense here is a constantive aorist, it contemplates the incarnation, the first advent, in its entirety. It starts at the point of the virgin birth and takes us all the way to the resurrection, ascension and session, and gathers it up into one entirety. This passage emphasises the cross, and during that entire period our Lord was a slave or a servant. The active voice: the incarnate person of Jesus Christ produces the action of the verb. The participle is known as a complementary participle, it completes the idea of the action expressed in the main verb, kenow. It is also a temporal participle and therefore it should be translated: “But he deprived himself of the proper function of deity when he received the form of a servant.”

“and was made in the likeness of men” — it starts with a prepositional phrase and, again, there is no “and.” We have the preposition e)n plus the locative singular of o(moiwma. E)n plus the locative means “in,” and it should be “in likeness [overtly but not inwardly].” This is a synonym to e)ikwn which is the Greek word for image, likeness, form, appearance — on the outside but not on the inside. So the translation “in likeness” means that Christ had a true physical body, fashioned like any male physical body, but He did not have on the inside a sin nature. Inwardly the true humanity of Jesus was impeccable. The essential difference between Christ and the other members of the human race, then, was impeccability.

With this a a descriptive genitive plural of a)nqrwpoj which means mankind. The absence of the definite article calls attention to the high quality of the true humanity of Christ. Jesus Christ is the highest quality from the standpoint of kenosis and the standpoint of impeccability. There is also, the aorist active participle from the verb ginomai. The dramatic aorist states the present reality of the incarnation with the certitude of a past event. The Greek idiom is a device for emphasis on doctrine which has been understood and correlated. The active voice: Jesus Christ produces the action of the first advent. The participle is complementary, it is used to complete the idea of the main verb, kenow.

Translation: “But he deprived himself of the proper function of deity, when he had received the form of a servant, although he had been born in the likeness of mankind.”

The doctrine of Kenosis

1. The origin of the doctrine. It is derived from kenow used in Philippians 2:7 — “he deprived himself of the proper function of deity, when he had received the form of a servant, although he had been born in the likeness of mankind.” The verb in context means to deprive Himself of the proper function of His divine essence.

2. Definition. Christ voluntarily took on Himself the form of mankind in order to redeem man from sin, to reconcile man to God, and to propitiate God the Father. All of these purposes were accomplished at the cross. In fulfilling the mission of the first advent Jesus Christ did not exercise His divine attributes to benefit Himself or to provide for Himself or to glorify Himself.

3. The false concept of Kenosis.

a) The relative divine attributes of Christ were surrendered during the incarnation.

b) Denial that Christ had a real body or His body was made of a heavenly substance instead of human flesh.

c) Denial that the incarnation involved any humiliation — the blasphemy of the Lutheran church since the time of Melanchthon.

d) The kenotic theologians who hold that the Logos [Jesus Christ] though retaining His divine self-consciousness and His imminent attributes — holiness, love and truth — surrendered His relative attributes which are omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence.

4. The objections to these false doctrines of Kenosis. There are three basic ones:

a) It is impossible to surrender and attribute without changing the character or the essence to which that attribute belongs.

Five principles:

i) To rob light of its various colours would change the character of light.

ii) To rob God of any attribute would destroy His deity.

iii) If Christ did not possess all the attributes of divine essence then He did not possess true deity.

iv) Since attributes belong to the essence it is impossible to subtract any attribute without destroying the essence of God.

v) The fact remains that during the incarnation Jesus Christ was God, undiminished deity without any change. The incarnation and hypostatic union did not change any attribute of deity.

b) There is no logical basis for distinguishing between relative attributes and absolute attributes as being more or less essential to deity. Absolute attributes imply the necessity for relative attributes.

The absolute attributes of the essence of God are three: Spirituality of God, the infinity of God, the perfection of God. Under the spirituality of God we have His life and personality; under the infinity of God we have His self-existence, immutability and unity; and under the perfection of God we have His holiness, truth and love.

The relative attributes: First of all, those related to time and space: eternity and immensity. Secondly, those related to creation: omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence. Thirdly, those related to moral beings: veracity and faithfulness which involve truth, mercy and goodness which involve His love, justice and righteousness which involve His holiness.

The principle: If one category of attributes is necessary for deity it logically follows that other categories of attributes are likewise essential.

c) The purpose of the Gospel of John is to prove the deity of Christ, that He remain in status quo during His incarnation and during His humiliation of the incarnation. His omnipresence continued while in the flesh, as illustrated by John 1:48; 3:13.

5. The fact of the true humiliation of the incarnation. There is a false doctrine of humiliation and there is a true doctrine. The false doctrine of humiliation goes with the false doctrine of kenosis; the true doctrine of humiliation goes with the true doctrine of kenosis.

In taking on Himself the form of man the Lord Jesus Christ veiled His pre incarnate glory. The glory of Christ was veiled but never surrendered. On the Mount of Transfiguration the glory was revealed, and at Gethsemane instantaneously there was a flash of His glory which knocked over the soldiers trying to seize Him — John 18:6.

The union of Christ in unglorified humanity is a necessary factor in His humiliation. There was humiliation. While the deity of Christ was united to perfect humanity He was still subject to temptation, distress, weakness, pain, sorrow, and limitation. This is humiliation for undiminished deity. This continued until His resurrection.

From His own free will Jesus Christ did not use His relative attributes of omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence. These attributes were not surrendered but voluntarily restricted in keeping with the Father’s plan for the first advent. During the first advent Christ therefore gave up the independent exercise of certain divine attributes in living among men with their human limitations. Christ depended on the power of the Holy Spirit or the power of the Father in the performance of all miracles and all extra-natural phenomena. He depended upon maximum doctrine resident in His soul for all normal functions of His humanity.

6. The true doctrine of Kenosis.

During the incarnation Jesus Christ was both undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever. Therefore as undiminished deity He did not surrender His divine attributes or empty His deity, as per the blasphemies of the false kenosises. However, Christ voluntarily restricted the independent use of these attributes of deity in compliance with the Father’s plan. This was the great issue in the three unique temptations of Jesus Christ. They were unique because no one else has ever been tempted that way: rulership of the world; gone without food for forty days and then tempted to turn stones into bread — this was a legitimate temptation with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ because it dealt with the use of His relative attributes independently of God the Father. He did not so in Matthew 4:1-10. Therefore Christ did not exercise His divine attributes for His own benefit or His own glory. He did not give up His deity but He gave up the independent exercise of His deity. To execute the Father’s plan for the first advent the humanity of Christ relied on logistical grace, just as we do, plus the ministry of the Holy Spirit, plus Bible doctrine resident in His soul.

Consequently the independent exercise of His deity and the independent exercise of His divine attributes was “not a gain to be seized and held so that the Father’s plan for the first advent would be neutralised” — the corrected translation of Philippians 2:6. Therefore Christ voluntarily took upon Himself the form of a servant in order to redeem man from sin, to propitiate God the Father, to reconcile man to God. In fulfilling the mission of the first advent Jesus Christ did not exercise His divine attributes to benefit Himself, to provide for Himself, to glorify Himself.

7. The factors of kenosis. Christ gave up the outward appearance [sxhma] but not the essence [morfh], the inner essence of God. Therefore Christ took upon Himself the likeness of mankind [o(moiwma a)nqrwpoj]. For this reason He prayed for glorification of His true humanity in John 17:5. Jesus Christ had not emptied His deity or His divine glory but at this point He had not yet achieved the strategic victory of the angelic conflict. Therefore in John 17:5 Jesus was praying for victory for His humanity, not for the restoration of His divine glory; and He was not asking for God the Father to give Him back His essence.

8. Part of the kenosis is the sustaining ministry of the Holy Spirit.

The doctrine of divine essence

1. Definition.

a) “Essence” is derived from the Greek adjective, sometimes used as a substantive, o)usia. It is derived from one of the participial forms of e)imi, “to be,” but it doesn’t mean “being,” it means “substance.” Therefore substance means inner nature, true substance, intrinsic nature, the qualities or the attributes of a person — invisible in many cases, also manifest in some.

b) Essence implies the existence or being. Essence, therefore, refers to the qualities [here] or attributes of God — being, qualities, attributes.

c) At no point does the believer feel his limitations more than when confronted with the responsibility of accurately recognising the essence of God. And yet it is revealed to be understood.

d) Since God is a spirit His attributes or qualities are invisible. They are spiritual. They are invisible to human perception through empiricism or rationalism. This is where only exegesis clarifies.

e) The believer is totally dependent upon divine revelation from the canon of scripture to understand the invisible, immaterial, unlimited essence of God.

f) Super-grace Moses was commanded to remove his shoes because he stood on holy ground when confronted with the essence of God — operation burning bush. g) The doctrine of divine essence recognises the existence of the Godhead in three persons, each person of the Trinity having identical essence or attributes.

h) Therefore God is one in essence, three in persons. There are three separate and distinct persons but they all share one identical essence.

i) The oneness of God and/or the glory of God refers to His essence or character — John 10:30.

j) All the attributes of divine essence are resident in God but all are not manifest at the same time — as illustrated by light.

2. The correlation between essence and the Trinity. The fact that God exists in three separate and distinct persons is documented by such passages as Isaiah 48:16; John 10:30 cf. Psalm 110:1; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 Peter 1:2. Remember that each member of the Godhead is a separate person but each member of the Godhead has identical essence or attributes. So the scripture emphasising essence always declares that God is one. That does not mean one person, that means one essence. “One” is a numerical adjective, it must have a modifier. It modifies the essence of God, not the persons of God.

3. The concept of divine personality.

a) The personality of man is due to the fact he is made in the image of God.

b) Man’s personality is based on the essence of man’s soul — his self-consciousness, his mentality, his volition, emotion.

c) There are many people in the human race but all have the same essence. Therefore mankind is one but has many personalities in mankind.

d) While, mankind is possessed of the essential elements of personality and is capable of their normal exercise within a limited sphere, God is the embodiment and the source of these essential elements which He exercises in the sphere of infinity and to a limitless degree.

e) Almost every page of the Bible asserts the personality of God. (For category #1 love you must become aware of God’s personality)

f) For example God designs and executes and empowers. That is personality.

g) God speaks of Himself as “I,” therefore He is self-conscious and eternally Himself.

h) God thinks; God makes decisions; God feels. The person and substance of God is the superstructure of His divine essence. God is a personality; God has attributes.

4. The attributes of God.

a) Those qualities and perfections which belong to God are termed attributes.

b) Essence is the being which is attributed to God since these charactersitics are eternally and inherent in Him.

c) Since the grace of God and the work of God are manifestations of His essential qualities or attributes it is important to understand the essence of deity or divine attributes to understand the thoughts and functions of God.

d) The difficulty of the study of divine essence is that it brings the finite human mind into constant contemplation and concentration on the infinite.

e) There are two categories of divine attributes. i) The absolute. These are intransitive, primary, and incommunicable; ii) The relative. These are transitive, secondary, and communicable.

A) Absolute attributes:

i) Spirituality.

a) The true theistic concept of the universe is that the universe is composed of material and immaterial.

b) Matter is material but God is immaterial — John 4:24 — in contrast to all living creatures who are both material and immaterial. Human beings are material and immaterial — 2 Corinthians 4:7.16.

c) God is life; God lives — Jeremiah 10:10; 1 Thessalonians 1:9. God does not possess life as we do but He is life. All life is from Him but not of Him as pantheism claims.

d) The eternal life of God is imparted through Jesus Christ to all who believe in Jesus Christ — John 3:36; 5:24; 10:10; 14:6; 20:31; 1 John 5:11,12.

e) God is also personality. He not only lives but He is a person — Exodus 3:14. Personality connotes both self-consciousness and self-determination. There is the true concept of personality.

f) God recognises Himself to be a person and as such He acts rationally.

g) Animals are conscious but not self-conscious. Animals have determination but not self-determination.

h) Man is a person possessing to a limited degree self-consciousness and self-determination, but God is infinite personality.

i) His absolute will and absolute perfection characterise both His design and execution — Ephesians 1:9,11.

j) God is to an absolute degree all that constitutes personality. He is Himself, He knows Himself to be beyond comparison with any other being.

ii) Infinity.

a) By infinity is meant that God is without boundary or limitation, uniting those perfections which belong to His own character. They all coalesce to His essence but they are without boundary or limitation.

b) God cannot tempt; He cannot sin.

c) God cannot be complicated with ignorance nor absurdities.

d) God may be self-limited as in the case of the incarnate Christ in the hypostatic union under kenosis. God’s infinity is intensive rather than extensive: infinite energy and power — Psalm 8:3.

e) Infinity characterises all that God does — His holiness, His love, His veracity.

f) The divine motive is for His own glory, not His self-praise. God recognises His glory and claims it in the interests of absolute truth.

g) Because of this fact all things exist, as per Exodus 33:18; Psalm 19:1; Isaiah 6:3; Matthew 6:13; Acts 7:2; Romans 1:23; 9:23; Hebrews 1:3; 1 Peter 4:14. God’s glory was before all creation — John 17:5.

h) Infinity involves three characteristics: self-existence, immutability, and unity.

Self-existence:

1. God exists eternally unsustained by Himself or any other source. God cannot be better or worse because of His character.

2. Jehovah or the tetragrammaton means the self-existing one.

3. God’s existence is unalterable. He is the cause of all existence outside of Himself.

Immutability:

God is unchanging; God cannot change. God cannot, again, be better or worse. The problem is that anthropomorphic representations of God in the scripture are misunderstood. The really represent the perfect attitude of God toward variations in man or in history in human language so man can understand God’s policy. Immutability is consistent with God’s freedom and His ceaseless activity. God is free to do anything according to His own essence and therefore salvation is not God’s second best but a part of His eternal purpose.

Unity:

Jehovah our Elohim is one Jehovah — Deuteronomy 6:4. There is one perfect absolute spirit, says Isaiah 44:6; John 5:44; 17:3; 1 Corinthians 8:4. Unity only applies to divine essence, not to the persons.

iii) Perfection

The intellect, character and affections of God are perfect. Divine perfection involves truth, love and holiness. Take for example truth. This is not merely veracity to other beings. God is true to Himself, to His own being, to His own character. So truth as an attribute of perfect or is a part of perfection is the truth that God is true to Himself, His own being, His own essence, His own character. Man says, “I speak the truth,” but God says, “I am the truth” — John 14:6. God does not hold the truth as being acquired, He is the truth from eternity past. In God every truth and every form of knowledge dwells in absoluteness. Therefore the dogmatism of Bible doctrine. This absolute guarantees the genuineness of divine revelation — Deuteronomy 32:4; 1 John 520; John 6:32; 15:1; Hebrews 8:2.

Also a part of His absolute perfection is love. Like all the attributes love belongs to God’s being. We may acquire love for persons and by growing in grace to the point of super-grace love for God is acquired. But God does never acquire, never attain love; He always was love. God is love regardless of having any object to love.

Holiness. God is absolute holiness from all eternity — Exodus 15:11; 19:10-16; Isaiah 6:3. This holiness is required of men — 2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 4:7. God’s holiness is maintained by His will, it is His unchangeable self. His holiness includes righteousness and justice. The two of them together make up His holiness which is His perfection.

B. Relative attributes:

i) Eternity and immensity (related to time and space).

a) Eternity applied to God means that He has always existed and always will exist, totally apart from time.

b) God is not subject to time for He is the cause of time, the origin of time — Deuteronomy 32:40; Psalm 90:2; 102:27; 1 Corinthians 2:7; Ephesians 1:4; 1 Timothy 1:17.

c) Both time and space but without substance are both objects of His creation. Time and space were created even though they do not have substance.

d) God is not in time but time is in God — another way of saying God is the origin of time.

e) God transcends all creation, including time.

f) God is logical, therefore He does not need to be chronological — Romans 4:17.

g) Time which is finite has both succession and duration.

h) Eternity, which is infinite, has duration only. Time has a line of procedure while eternity is a circle reaching into infinity.

Immensity:

a) God is not subject to space. Like time, God created space.

b) God cannot be more or less than He is.

c) God is the cause of space — Romans 8:29.

d) In relation to space God is both imminent and transcendent.

e) Omnipresence is the term descriptive of space in relationship to God; immensity is the term descriptive of God’s relationship to space.

f) Since God is the creator, the cause of space, if space were defined in boundaries God would exceed those boundaries to infinity.

ii) Creation: In relationship to creation there are three charactersitics of His essence — omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence.

Omnipresence:

a) God is personally present everywhere. The whole of God is in every place.

b) This is not pantheism since pantheism denies the person of God.

c) God in the total of His essence, without diffusion, expansion, multiplication or division penetrates and fills the universe. That is omnipresence. Psalm 139:7,8; Jeremiah 23:23,24; Acts 17:27.

d) God is also free to be local, as in the mountain with Moses or in the holy of holies, the Shekinah glory between the angelic creatures. He is free to become flesh and tabernacle among us, as per John 1:14.

Omniscience:

a) God is all-wise. He knows perfectly and eternally all that is knowable whether actual or possible — Psalm 147:4; Matthew 10:29; Psalm 33:13-15; Acts 15:8; Hebrews 4:3; Psalm 132:9; Matthew 6:8; Malachi 3:16; Matthew 10:30; Isaiah 46:9,10; Isaiah 44:28.

b) There are three categories of divine knowledge or omniscience. First there is there is the eternal concept of His knowledge — Acts 15:18. Secondly, His knowledge is incomprehensible — Romans 11:33. Thirdly, His knowledge is wise — Ephesians 3:10.

c) Every detail of creation in history is in God’s mind at all times.

d) Therefore the future is as perspicuous to God as the past.

d) God foreknows the future. Since events take place according to His councils He foreknows. But God’s foreknowledge is not predetermination. He knows but doesn’t interfere with volition.

e) God foreknows the functions of every free will. He foreknows what will be the choice of other beings.

f) Likewise He may determine their choice by gracious influence — Bible doctrine.

g) God’s knowledge is not subject to development, reasoning, regretting, or foreboding.

Omnipotence:

God is all-powerful, infinitely able to do all things which are the object of His power within the range of His holy character or essence. However, He will not make right wrong, nor will He act foolishly — Isaiah 44:24; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Ephesians 1:19-21; 3:20; Hebrews 1:3. If God is limited at any time it is because of a self-limitation consistent with His own essence. God can do all he wills to do but He may not will to do all he can do.

iii) Related to moral beings:

Veracity and faithfulness: God is infinite perfection in truth and faithfulness.

Truth: God honours doctrine resident in the soul of the believer with spiritual growth. That’s why you cannot grow by witnessing, by praying, by doing things.

Faithfulness: God provides divine logistics to support the believer on earth during his period of growth.

Mercy and goodness: Mercy is grace in action, infinite love and action toward the object of His divine affection, therefore the other side of God’s category #1 love — His love toward us instead of ours toward Him. God’s judgments are perfect, demanding perfect righteousness. So God is not only absolute good in contrast to the policy of Satan, which is evil, but He is justice and righteousness; infinite holiness acting toward others. His righteousness is perfect and therefore demands perfect righteousness. His judgments are perfect demanding perfection. Principle: Justice administers the penalty which righteousness demands.

In righteousness is the divine love for holiness revealed. In justice is the divine hatred for sin revealed. God is not arbitrary in any way. Holiness demands holiness, righteousness demands righteousness. God’s nature therefore cannot change. He must demand holiness and punish both sin and evil as long as He is what He is. His penalties are not vindictive but vindicating. With unchangeable sin and evil there is unchangeable condemnation and judgement, but in grace God provides through salvation all which he demands, and through rebound sin is handled for the believer.

5. Other divine characteristics.

The freedom of God. God must be consistent with Himself; God cannot compromise His essence. The incarnation was the only way the free will of God could provide salvation for man.

The affection of God. This is related to the subject of anthropopathisms — ascribing to God a human characteristic which He really does not possess but it explains divine policy in terms of human attitude. For example. God repents. God doesn’t really change His mind — Genesis 6:6. The hatred of God — Romans 9:13; the anger of God in Romans 1:18; the scorn of God in Psalm 2:4; the benevolence of God in Romans 8:32; the compassion of God in Lamentations 3:33; the long-suffering of God; the happiness of God. The authority of God.

Three principles involved in this paragraph

5. The soul is the battle ground of the angelic conflict. There are two forces fighting for the soul of every believer. The force representing God is Bible doctrine and the force representing Satan is good and evil. Evil is the great genius of Satan and evil is a thought. Doctrine is the thinking of God; evil is the thinking of Satan, and there is a struggle for the soul between doctrine and evil.

a. A person is said to be brilliant or to possess a high IQ because of his ability to accumulate information in his left lobe. Human IQ is based upon getting information in the left lobe. You can be tested on that information and give it back but it is never over in the right lobe where it counts.

b. The rapid accumulation of information in the left lobe is called in the Bible, gnwsij. Both unbeliever and believer are considered brilliant if they could accumulate a lot of gnwsij, but it is only when this information becomes e)pignwsij that it is useful.

c. However, gnwsij or knowledge in the left lobe cannot be applied to life or any facet of life. Therefore smart people are often stupid. What you accumulate in the left lobe is not meaningful at all, it is what you have in your right lobe that counts.

d. However, a little bit of knowledge in the right lobe [e)pignwsij] is worth a vast amount of information in the left lobe, for it is only the information you have in your right lobe that orients you to life and that makes you move in any direction in life.

e. In the Bible the right lobe is called kardia, translated heart. This is the only place where thought is turned to action, to dynamics, where it produces advance. Thought does not produce in the left lobe, only in the right lobe. Knowledge in the heart, therefore, makes the unbeliever practical. It gives him a lot of common sense and often makes him very wise in life.

f. Knowledge in the believer’s heart advances him spiritually, gives him maximum application of doctrine to experience. The secret to spiritual growth

is not in doing things, even legitimate things, it is in what you think in your right lobe.

g. Bible knowledge is called doctrine. The residence of doctrine in the soul determines both spiritual growth and glorification of Jesus Christ. But it must be the residence of Bible doctrine in the right lobe.

h. The humanly brilliant person can accumulate maximum doctrine in the left lobe—gnwsij or knowledge.

i. This knowledge can be repeated or parroted to others but it has no meaning, no application, and is not a source of growth in the spiritual realm nor source of success in the realm of unbelievers. Both the person who has acquired such knowledge and those who hear it are impressed, and many conclude that here is a great spiritual giant. But such is not the case.

6. It is spiritual IQ which counts in life—doctrine in the right lobe.

a. Spiritual IQ is the sum total of understanding of doctrine—e)pignwsij.

b. Doctrine must reside in the right lobe under four categories found in the scripture. There must be e)pignwsij, and this goes into the frame of reference, the memory centre, and into the vocabulary—you have to have a technical vocabulary to understand technical things. Therefore there is a vocabulary storage and a categorical storage, and that is called sunhsij in the Greek—working knowledge. When e)pignwsij gets into the conscience and develops norms and standards, that is called suneidhsij. Then, when it gets out on the launching pad and is used, that is called swfia or wisdom.

c. Knowledge of doctrine does not produce growth and glorification of Christ, but understanding of doctrine produces growth and glorification of Christ.

d. You cannot teach what you know, you can only teach what you understand.

e. Verses 12-16 teach us that you cannot grow spiritually on what you know, you can only grow spiritually on what you understand. There are two negatives in spiritual growth. You do not grow spiritually by what you do and you do not grow spiritually by what you know. You only grow spiritually by what you understand.

f. Furthermore, you cannot glorify Christ by what you know, you can only glorify Christ by what you understand.

g. Doctrine which remains in the left lobe is vulnerable to instant destruction by evil.

7. The greatest malfunction in GAP is the failure to transfer doctrine from the left to the right lobe through the ministry of the filling of the Spirit, plus the acceptance of the authority of one’s right pastor.

a. Doctrine in the right lobe is the basis for all spiritual growth, the advance to maturity and the glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ.

b. In crossing no-man’s land between super-grace and ultra-super-grace there is the area of great vulnerability where the believer is in danger of ambush from reversionism and evil. He is vulnerable through failure to accept the authority of his right pastor and because of failure to transfer doctrine from his left lobe to his right lobe under the proper function of GAP, and also because of failure to utilise the continued and faithful provision of divine logistics.

c. This is why Pilippians 2:12 includes words such as obey—u(pakouw, aorist active indicative; then, work out your own salvation—work out is the present middle imperative[G. L. 1] katergazomai which means to be accomplishing your own preservation in danger; then that final phrase, with fear and trembling, which means reverence toward Christ and respect toward doctrine.

d. The soul continues to be the battle ground for the angelic conflict.

e. Doctrine which has not been transferred to the right lobe is subject to distortion and vulnerable to attack from evil.

f. The believer in crossing no-man’s land, therefore, is in grave danger from reversionism.

Verse 8 – the humble Christ. Christ suffered humiliation by the hypostatic union, all

the way from birth to the point of resurrection where glorification in His humanity began. It was a humiliation for undiminished deity to be in union with true humanity, even though it was impeccable and perfect humanity. The verse answers the question: What was the work of Christ during the incarnation?

“And being found in fashion as a man” – kai sxhmati e)ureqeij w(j a)nqrwpoj. This is an emphatic kai, and should be translated “In fact”; plus the locative singular from sxhma, for His outer or overt appearance, used here for Christ as He appeared to those who observed the crucifixion; it brings us to the cross. Then comes the aorist passive participle of e(uriskw, e(ureqeij. It means here to discover. The aorist tense is a constative aorist, it takes the occurrence of the cross and gathers it into a single whole, including the spiritual and physical death of Christ, the six hours our Lord was on the cross. The passive voice: Christ on the cross received the action of the verb. The concessive participle is very important, it will change our translation—“In fact, although having been discovered in outward appearance.”

“as a man” – the comparative particle w(j, indicating the manner in which the crucifixion proceeded. He was stripped naked and discovered in outward appearance to be a man. Plus the nominative singular from a)nqrwpoj, used here as a nominative of appellation emphasising the importance of Christ’s humanity on the cross. This is His humiliation; His humanity was His humiliation, and his humiliation was His humanity, and a)nqrwpoj indicates He was stripped naked on the cross, badly bruised (Isaiah 53, etc.).

“he humbled himself” – aorist active indicative from tapeinow. With it also the accusative singular direct object of the verb from the reflexive pronoun e(autou. The reflexive pronoun refers the action of the verb back on the subject. So this part is correctly translated in the KJV, except for its true meaning. The meaning will be derived from understanding more about the verb. This is a culminative aorist, it gathers the humiliation of Christ on the cross into one entirety but regards it from the standpoint of its existing results—spiritual death whereby Christ was judged for our sins and provided our salvation. For the perfect humanity of Christ to come into contact with our sins is maximum humiliation; bearing our sins on the cross, as per 1 Peter 2:24. He was impeccable and then suddenly He is bearing the sins of the world. He resisted every type of sin, every temptation that ever came to Him He resisted it, and suddenly every sin ever committed from Adam and Eve down to the end of time was poured out on Him, and that is His humiliation. That’s what is means when it says, “he humbled himself.” The active voice: Jesus Christ produced the action of the verb in the three hours of His spiritual death. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal action of salvation from the viewpoint of absolute and dogmatic reality. What does it mean to humble Himself? It means that here is the perfect person bearing the sins of the world.

“and” is not found in the original.

“became” – aorist active participle from ginomai. This is an instrumental participle (very rare), it indicates the means by which the action of the main verb is accomplished. The main verb: “he humbled himself.” He humbled Himself by becoming obedient. So ginomai is translated “by becoming obedient,” not “and became.” The instrumental participle is translated by the word “by.” The aorist tense is the constative aorist, it gathers into one entirety the obedience of the humanity of Christ to the authority and the plan of God the Father by taking the sins of the world on Himself: he was judged for our sins on the cross. The active voice: Jesus Christ produced the action of the verb by bearing our sins.

“obedient” is the predicate nominative (ginomai takes the nominative case) from u(phkooj, which becomes the supreme illustration of the recognition of the Father’s authority and the Father’s plan for the incarnation. Recognition of the Father’s authority led to this action. Gethsemane is a good illustration of the intensity of the temptation prior to the cross. Recognition of the Father’s authority led to the action of bearing our sins on the cross. In other words, the action of redemption, reconciliation and propitiation, the action whereby the work of Christ becomes the coin of the realm. So instead of saying redemption, reconciliation and propitiation every time, the word blood, taken from the animal sacrifices, is used. The coin of the realm for salvation is blood, the blood of Christ. Salvation is free because it is paid for by the coin of the realm.

“unto death” – the adverb mexri denoting degree or measure. It is used as an improper preposition with the genitive singular of qanatoj. It should be translated, “to the point of death.” He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. Death here is in the singular, but it’s in the plural that it refers to both spiritual and physical death. Death in the singular here refers to spiritual death only—“to the point of [spiritual] death.”

“even the death of the cross” – the enclitic particle de is a transitional conjunction to insert an explanation. It should be translated “that is”; plus the genitive of apposition, qanatoj in the singular, referring to His spiritual death (after which He was still talking). This is anartharous construction, i.e. without the definite article it emphasises the unique quality of this spiritual death—Christ was bearing our sins; plus the adverbial genitive of place, stauroj—“cross.” This actually occurred at a place, and that is why Christ had to become true humanity.

Translation: “In fact, although having been discovered in outward appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of [spiritual] death, that is, the death of the cross.”

Verse 9 – we now see the exalted Christ in contrast to the humiliated Christ. “Wherefore” is an inferential conjunction, dio, composed of the preposition dia plus o(j, the relative pronoun. Literally, it is translated “Because of which,” but it comes to mean “Therefore” as an inferential conjunction. There is also the adjunctive use of the conjunction kai, denoting that the inference is obvious and self-evident; “God also” – the subject: the nominative o( qeoj, translated “the God”—“Therefore also the God.”

“hath highly exalted him” includes the object of the verb on the accusative singular, the intensive pronoun a)utoj. The intensive pronoun always gives great emphasis on the person involved, and it denotes the Lord Jesus Christ seated at the right hand of the Father after His resurrection and ascension. With this is the verb, the aorist active indicative of u(peruyuow, correctly translated “exalt.” It means to raise someone to the loftiest heights, to exalt supremely, to exalt to the maximum. The aorist tense is a constative aorist, it contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety. The action of the verb includes resurrection, ascension and session. The active voice: God the Father produces the action of the verb in the exaltation of the person of Jesus Christ after He was in the grave for three days. The indicative mood is declarative, indicating the reality of the resurrection, ascension and session of Jesus Christ. “Therefore also the God [the Father] has exalted him to the maximum.”

“and has given him” – aorist active indicative of xarizomai. The word means to give freely, to give graciously, to give as a favour, to grant, to bestow a favour upon someone. Here it means “and he has bestowed on him.” This is a culminative aorist which views the resurrection, ascension and session in its entirety but emphasises the existing results. It shows the result of the resurrection, ascension and session. Active voice: God the Father produces the action. The indicative mood is declarative, viewing the action of the verb from the viewpoint of reality. And again there is the dative singular, this time, indirect object from the intensive pronoun a)utoj, emphasising the uniqueness of the person of Jesus Christ as He is seated at the right hand of God the Father.

“a name” – the word “name” is the correct translation for the accusative singular direct object, plus the definite article, but the noun here is o)noma. It is true that this means “name,” and that is the primary meaning of this particular noun, but it also connotes “name” in the sense of rank. Sometimes it is even used for personality—“and he has bestowed on him [the unique Christ] the rank.”

“which is” – the accusative definite article used as a relative pronoun; the verb to be is understood but does not occur; “above every name” – u(per plus the accusative from the adjective paj and the noun o)noma—“which is above every rank.”

Translation” “Therefore also, the God [the Father] has exalted him to the maximum, and has bestowed on him [Jesus Christ] the rank which is above every rank.”

Part of our Lord’s victory in the angelic conflict is the resurrection, ascension and session, at which He receives battlefield royalty.[4]

Verse 10 – “That” is the conjunction i(na which denotes a final clause, indicating a purpose, an aim, or an objective” “In order that.”

“at the name of Jesus” – e)n plus the locative of o)noma, which can mean rank, name, or personality. This time it means “in the presence of the person.” Also, the possessive genitive of I)hsouj, referring to the Lord Jesus Christ by His human name, meaning saviour—“In order that in the presence of the person of Jesus.”

“every knee” – nominative neuter singular from the adjective paj, plus the nominative of the noun gonu—“knee.” This refers to the first action of the resurrection body after the Rapture of the Church. The word “knee” is interesting because it is in the singular, which means down on one knee.

“should bow” – aorist active subjunctive of the verb kamptw. The reason why so much emphasis is placed upon genuflecting is because at this time we will be in a resurrection body and we will know Him even as we are known. Therefore the soulish part where Bible doctrine is stored will be up to scratch with everyone; everyone will have maximum doctrine, therefore maximum appreciation of what is occurring at the Rapture of the Church. Consequently, because of the conditions of ultimate sanctification, the mental conditions involved, the maximum doctrine in the soul at that time for everyone, the genuflecting is a correct posture as a result of what is in the soul. The aorist tense is a constative aorist, it contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety. It takes the occurrence of the Rapture of the Church and resultant genuflecting of the resurrection body before Jesus Christ, and regardless of its extent of duration it gathers it up into a single whole. In other words, from the time of the Rapture of the Church, all of the way through operation genuflect, it is all gathered up into one constative aorist. The active voice: the royal family of God produces the action of the verb. The subjunctive mood used with the conjunction i(na is called a subjunctive of objective, a subjunctive of purpose, in this particular clause. It emphasises the relationship between the subjunctive mood and the future indicative. The future indicative is a variation of the aorist subjunctive, which we have here, and often as far as morphology is concerned in the Greek they are exactly the same. In the early Greek the future indicative and aorist subjunctive were used interchangeably, and therefore the subjunctive here has the connotation of something in the future, rather than something that may or may not occur. This is not the usual potential subjunctive, therefore it is recognised with i(na as being a definite factor—“every knee shall bow,” there is no question about it, no potentiality here; this is a purpose related to the Rapture of the Church for the entire royal family of God.

“of things in heaven” – incorrect. Here is a possessive genitive plural from e)pouranioj. The point here is that it is plural, and it goes with “every knee” (singular). It is “every knee of the heavens shall bow.” So this genitive plural is not “of things in heaven” at all. The genitive has to modify something and it goes back to the knee—“every knee of the heavens.” In other words, everyone who makes it to heaven at the Rapture—all of the Church Age believers. This verse actually summarises the entire royal family of God composed of all Church Age believers.[5] The reason that the word “heavens” is in the plural is because of the immensity of space, and while we simply translate it “every knee of heaven shall bow” it is actually in the plural and indicates the vastness of space.

Next we have a “both and,” a repetition of kai kai—“both in earth,” an appositional genitive masculine plural from e)pigeioj, which means “the ones on earth.” It refers to the royal family who are alive when the Rapture takes place. These believers are living on earth and they are designated in 1 Corinthians 15:54 as mortals taking on immortality.

“and things under the earth” – incorrect. This is an appositional genitive plural from the compound kataxqonioj [kata = under; xqon = earth], and it is translated “the ones under the earth.” It refers to all members of the royal family who die before the Rapture occurs. The emphasis is on their bodies which are placed under something—under the surface of the sea but generally under the earth. They are described in 1 Corinthians 15:54 as this corruption shall take on incorruption.

Translation: “In order that in the presence of the person of Jesus every knee of heaven shall bow, both the ones on earth [believers alive at the Rapture], and the ones under the earth [believers who die before the Rapture occurs].”

Verse 11 – “And” is the transitional use of the conjunction kai; “every tongue” – nominative feminine singular from the adjective paj, which means all of us are going to acknowledge our Lord, and the nominative feminine singular subject glwssa. Interestingly enough, the resurrection body will have a tongue!

“should confess” – this is not confess, it is the aorist middle subjunctive from e)comologew and it means to acknowledge. This is a reference to the verbal acknowledgement of the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. This will be the acknowledgement of the royal family, all of whom will recognise the headship of Christ in resurrection body. The aorist tense is a culminative aorist, it views the genuflection of the Rapture in its entirety but it emphasises the results in the verbalising of doctrine resident in the soul—a specific doctrine which everyone will be cognisant of at that time, i.e. the unique royalty of Jesus Christ. The middle voice is an indirect middle, it emphasises the agent—the royal family of God in resurrection body—as producing the action of the verb at the Rapture. The subjunctive mood indicates the purpose or the objective as the compliment of the conjunction i(na. The subjunctive here emphasises, again, the relationship between the subjunctive mood and the future tense.

“that” – the conjunction o(ti, used here after verbs of perception to indicate the content of the thought; “Jesus Christ is Lord” – kurioj I)hsouj Xristoj. Kurioj is the title of our Lord’s royalty. The entire title is King of kings and Lord of lords, and kurioj is often used simply to indicate the royalty of Jesus Christ—His royalty in hypostatic union at the right hand of the Father, the royalty that brought about the Church Age, the royalty that makes us in union with Christ royal family forever. I)hsouj is the human name of our Lord, it means saviour. Xristoj brings in the fact that He has another type of royalty in His humanity: Jewish royalty from birth. He is Jewish royalty from birth; He is battlefield royalty from resurrection, ascension and session; and both of these titles of royalty are tied into His human name, indicating that both titles are related to His humanity. Notice that this is an anartharous construction which means no definite article, and the absence of the definite article emphasises the uniqueness of the hypostatic union.

All members of the royal family of God will have their priorities straight under these conditions. The point is that when we acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ it is going to glorify someone. The plan of God in a certain phase is concluded, the formation of the royal family of God is over with the big genuflect in the sky and the acknowledgement of the royalty of Jesus Christ.

“to the glory” – the preposition e)ij plus the accusative of doca means literally, “resulting in the glory.”

“of God the Father” – descriptive genitive qeoj, appositional genitive pathr, referring to the first person of the Trinity. The phrase is anartharous emphasising the qualitative aspect of both God the Father and anything that comes from Him. The fact remains that God is perfect, therefore His plan is perfect; and the Father is the author of the plan.

Translation: “And every tongue shall acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, resulting in the glory of God the Father.”

Verse 12 – if ever there was a verse which has been misunderstood and misapplied it is this verse.

“as ye have always obeyed” – we have a comparative adverb, kaqoj. The point is, whether Paul was present or absent, they were hearing or reading his doctrine and were always obedient. The word always is pantote which has to do with consistency of getting doctrine. It is an adverb of time, and it means today they go to Bible class, tomorrow they go, the next day they go, and the next, and so on.

The verb is u(pakouw, and this is the key to everything. It does mean obedience but it means obedience in a very special sense. It means recognition of the authority of the pastor and therefore applying that recognition from the right lobe by attendance. The aorist tense is a constative aorist contemplating the action in its entirety. It takes the Philippian recognition of Paul’s authority and gathers it into one entirety so that every epistle of his they read and every time he comes they are there. Active voice: the positive Philippians produced the action of the verb, recognition of Paul’s authority and concentration on his message. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal action from the viewpoint of reality.

“not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence.”

Principle

1. Since Paul was an apostle and had a teaching authority over all local churches before the canon of scripture was completed and circulated his authority was just as important in his absence.

2. While the Philippians did not have face-to-face teaching they still learned more from Paul than from their pastor Epaphroditus.

3. This was not because Epaphroditus had failed but because Paul was the greatest Bible teacher of the Church Age.

4. Note the principle: The believer’s right teacher does not have to be present for the believer to grow through his ministry.

5. Believers have advanced spiritually without face to face teaching.

6. Both Paul and Epaphroditus are in Rome but the Philippians continue their advance. Face to face teaching from one’s right pastor is obviously the easiest way to advance but in the absence of one’s right pastor the believer can still advance to super-grace.

7. Therefore, while face-to-face teaching is desirable it is not necessary for spiritual growth.

8. The Philippians have letters from Paul, but believers today have many other sources.

“work out” – here is where we run into a problem, the present middle imperative of katergazomai. This sword does not mean to work out. Sophocles gave

us the real meaning of this, the first one who used it. He used the word in the sense of overcoming all opposition, to subdue. And in the Koine Greek it changes meaning slightly, it means to accomplish or bring about something, and often in the context, where there is a danger—to accomplish something where danger exists is the meaning. It is a perfect word to express combat activity, being a professional soldier in combat. This verse means and says, “be accomplishing your objective” or “advancing in your objective under pressure and danger.” It does not mean to work out salvation. The present tense is a descriptive present to indicate what is now going on. The Philippians believers are advancing professionally. The middle voice is the intensive or dynamic middle which emphasises the part taken by the agent in the action of the verb. The agents: super-grace “B” Philippians believers. The imperative mood of permission in which the command signified by the imperative complies with the personal desires of the recipients. The Philippians want to advance, they want doctrine.

“your own salvation” is the accusative singular direct object from the definite article plus the accusative singular direct object from swthria, used for no-man’s land. It means to be preserved in a place of danger, often deliverance from impending disaster—which is where it gets the meaning of salvation. When you believe in Christ you are delivered from the impending disaster of the last judgment. But it actually means preservation in danger—“be accomplishing your own preservation in danger.” This is an idiom which is tantamount to a command: Be advancing to ultra-super-grace.

Next we have the preposition meta plus the genitive of foboj. While foboj means fear it also means reverence and respect. It is used here for the believer as he is now moving across no-man’s land. He is to do so with foboj—occupation with the person of Jesus Christ. It is respect directed toward Christ.

Then we have a second word, tromoj, which means quivering or trembling but here comes to mean respect. The respect is toward Bible doctrine.

Translation: “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, be accomplishing your own preservation in danger [be advancing] with reverence [toward Christ] and respect [toward Bible doctrine].”

Verse 13 – the logistical support for the advance to ultra-super-grace. “For” is the explanatory use of the conjunctive particle gar. It actually indicates the role of God the Holy Spirit in the function of logistical support. With it is the present active indicative of the verb e)imi. The present tense is a static present representing a condition perpetually existing—“For it keeps on being [it always is].” God the Holy Spirit is always involved in every step in the advance. The active voice: God the Holy Spirit produces the action. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal idea from the viewpoint of absolute, dogmatic reality. The believer is supported and sustained by the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

The next phrase is a predicate nominative from the anartharous qeoj, referring here to the third person of the Trinity. The absence of the definite article calls attention to the fact that God the Holy Spirit, even though He is numbered as the third person in the Godhead, has the exact same essence as the Father and the Son. The mechanics include the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the function of GAP. Not only does the Holy Spirit transfer the information into the left lobe, but under the filling of the Spirit it is transferred to the right lobe.

“which worketh in you” – the articular present active participle of e)nergew. It means to be at work or to work inside, it means to be effective in its intransitive meaning. “For it is [the Holy Spirit] God who is at work in you.” The present tense is a retroactive progressive present denoting what was begun in the past at the point of salvation and continues into the present time. The active voice: the indwelling Holy Spirit produces the action of the verb. The participle is circumstantial for the logistical support. The prepositional phrase which follows indicates the member of the Trinity involved—e)n plus the locative plural of su, meaning all believers.

Then we have the phrase “both, and”—the repetition of kai, and with it the present active infinitive of qelw, “to will.” It connotes both a wish of desire and a wish of purpose or result. Hence, it means to purpose and it has the connotation of motivation. The present tense is pictorial, presenting to the mind a picture of crossing between super-grace and ultra-super-grace in the process of occurrence. The active voice: the super-grace believer produces the action of the verb. The infinitive is of intended result, when the result is indicated as fulfilling a deliberate objective—reaching ultra-super-grace, hence it blends purpose and result. It requires strong motivation from the indwelling presence of God the Holy Spirit to cross between super-grace and ultra-super-grace. This motivation must be constantly fed from maximum doctrine resident in the soul. Here, again, is the sustaining ministry of God the Holy Spirit in the function of GAP in motivating the believer to remain under doctrine—“both to purpose [motivation] and to do [execution].”

“of his good pleasure” – a prepositional phrase, u(per plus the ablative of e)udokia. E)udokia (strictly a Koine Greek word) is the key here because in the ablative with u(per it means above and beyond his good pleasure.” It originated out of the necessity to find an equivalent of the Hebrew word ratson which means delight, acceptance, approbation, favour, grace, will, pleasure. It did not occur in Attic Greek and in this passage it indicates both the will and the pleasure of God.

Translation: “For it is God [Holy Spirit] who is at work in you both to will [motivation] and to do [execution] above and beyond his will and good pleasure.”

Verse 14 – opposition to the advance to ultra-super-grace. “Do” is the present active imperative of poiew. It means to do, but in the present active imperative it should be “Keep on doing.” The present tense is a futuristic present, it denotes what has not yet occurred in crossing between super-grace and ultra-super-grace but is regarded as so certain that in thought it is regarded as already coming to pass. So this may be regarded as a pictorial present depicting what is in the process of occurrence—super-grace believers following Paul toward ultra-super-grace. The active voice: super-grace believers produce the action of the verb. This is the believer who has cracked the maturity barrier and is crossing no-man’s land toward ultra-super-grace. The imperative mood is a command to cross no-man’s land to ultra-super-grace status.

“all things” – accusative plural direct object from the adjective paj, and it is related to crossing no-man’s land. This means everything that is necessary to keep moving, to keep closing in on the objective. “All things” means to utilize food, shelter, clothing, transportation, to forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, to keep coming to Bible class.[6]

“without murmurings and disputings” – the adverb xwrij is an improper preposition. (When an adverb is used as a preposition, that is improper) With this is the genitive plural of goggusmoj, which connotes sullen discontent, complaining, criticism. It is a sloppy, evil mental attitude. We translate it, “without complaints.” The next word is also a part of the prepositional phrase—dialogismoj, referring to argumentation, trying to undermine someone’s authority. Polibius used dialogismoj for thinking or reflecting. In the Septuagint of Psalm 55:5, where it is hooked up with a formula for evil thought. Hence, in the New Testament is does connote evil thinking resulting from the combination of being under the influence of evil or tempted by evil and hooking it up with a brand of carnality known as pride or arrogance.

Translation: “Keep on doing all things [advancing] without sullen discontent and argumentations [which undermine authority].”

Verse 15 – the historical impact of ultra-super-grace. “That” is the conjunction i(na, used for a final clause to denote a purpose, an objective. This use after the present imperative is rare in the Attic Greek but is constantly used in the Koine Greek—“In order that.”

“ye may be” – aorist middle subjunctive from the verb ginomai. It means to become. The aorist tense is a culminative aorist, it views ultra-super-grace status in its entirety but it emphasises its existing results in the area of historical impact: “In order that you yourselves might become.” The middle voice is the direct middle in which the agent, the ultra-super-grace believer, participates in the results of the action. The agent is related to the action with a reflexive connotation, for the results of the action are referred to the agent with strong reflexive force. In other words, no one ever reaches ultra-super-grace without having definite historical impact. The ultra-super-grace believer has blessing by association, not only while he is alive but after he has died. The subjunctive mood of the verb ginomai is a potential subjunctive and goes with the conjunction i(na to denote a divine goal or objective. This is the historical impact of the ultra-super-grace believer.

Historical impact is first stated by a predicated nominative plural—“blameless.” It is a compound adjective, a)memptoj [a = negative, not; memfomai = to find fault, to censor, to blame], “not blamed, faultless.” It refers to the believer in ultra-super-grace. It does not mean that he doesn’t sin. We must distinguish between sin and evil. Evil has a source—the right lobe, thought. Sin originates with the old sin nature. They have a different source, and while mental sins and verbal sins often overlap into evil, or are the motivation or the result of motivation and evil, evil and sin are different just as sin and crime are also different. Crime often involves sin. All people are sinners but not all people are criminals. Sin was judged on the cross, and recovery from sin and/or carnality is as quick as naming the sin to God; but such is not the case with evil. Evil is not confessable and evil has no instant recovery. The quickest recovery from evil and reversionism ever made was the apostle Paul who in two years made the recovery from his Jerusalem reversionism. Timothy made a quick recovery from his Ephesians reversionism, but generally people do not make that rapid recovery, and this is the great danger and challenge to the Christian life—evil. The believer in ultra-super-grace is free from evil. No believer can have historical impact and be in a state of reversionism because in the state of reversionism he is under the influence of evil. The ultra-super-grace status, by the way, is insulation against both reversionism and evil. When the believer is in ultra-super-grace he has maximum occupation with Christ and the intensification of divine happiness. Under these conditions he is free from sin and evil. So the word “blameless” is simply used to indicate the ultra-super-grace status of total freedom from evil. This is the greatest freedom in life.

“harmless” – what is harmless today? Not much of anything! People try to be harmless by being sweet to others. Being sweet is sometimes one of the most harmful things that can happen to other people. To be sweet to some people is to be harmful. To be sweet and soft on communism is harmful; to be sweet to criminals is harmful. There are certain kinds of people who are bullies and have no respect for any authority unless it is backed by force, and to be sweet to such people is totally destructive. Here we have the ascensive use of kai, which means “even.” The word “harmless” is a predicate nominative plural from the compound adjective a)keraioj [a = negative; kerannumi = to mix drinks, to dilute good wine with water and therefore to cheat, to charge the full price for the wine and therefore deceive the customers], which means not a huckster, not diluted. In other words, it is pure and not diluted with evil. So this is not the word “blameless” at all, it means “no evil”—“even innocent of evil.” It means to be full of doctrinal integrity.

“the sons of God” – a reminder of the family, but more so of the discipline of the family, tekna qeou: the predicate nominative plural from teknon which means a child in relationship to parents, but it means a child under discipline, under the authority of parents. We do not have the adult word here which is often used for the royal family, the word u(ioj. The royal family is not in view here so much as the believer under the authority and discipline of God. We advance under the discipline and authority of God in phase two. Failure to take in Bible doctrine means discipline for reversionism. The genitive of relationship from qeoj indicates the “parent” source. God Himself is like a parent, and as long as we are on this earth we are like children.

“without rebuke – another predicate nominative, a)mwmoj [a = no/negative; mwmoj = disgrace to society]—“not a disgrace to society.” This word was used for sacrificial animals being unblemished. It also means harmless in the moral or establishment sense. Since morality[7] is a part of establishment it refers to establishment orientation: believers who are patriotic, pro-military, pro-police and against the criminal, anti-communist. Believers are under the laws of establishment just as are unbelievers, and therefore they have an establishment obligation in he field of morality and patriotism.

“in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation” – the adverbial accusative of time from the adjective mesoj, meaning literally, “in the middle of.” The accusative can be used to indicate a point of time the same as the locative case can. However, duration or extent of time is not possible in the locative and therefore the accusative is used for a point of time. It is a part of a continuous period implied in this context by historical generations. In other words, evil exists in every generation, says the adverbial accusative of time. Plus the descriptive genitive from the adjective skolioj, which means crooked, unscrupulous, dishonest; hence a generation under the influence of evil, not influenced by the laws of divine establishment or by Bible doctrine. A person influenced by evil is dishonest; a generation influenced by evil is crooked or dishonest. The word “perverse” is the connective kai plus the perfect passive participle from the verb diastrefw. It means to make crooked, to become misshapen, to be perverted or depraved. It means all of those here because the principle deals with the influence of evil—“and perverted.” Plus the descriptive genitive singular from the noun genea, meaning “generation.”

“among whom” – preposition e)n plus the locative plural of the relative pronoun w(j. The relative pronoun has an antecedent, the negative generation under the influence of evil. By negative generation is meant “reversionistic.” Reversionism originates from two areas of negative volition: rejection of the laws of divine establishment; rejection of Bible doctrine.

“ye shine” – here is where the super-grace believer comes into the picture. The present middle indicative from fainw, which means to shine or to give light. The present tense is a customary present, it denotes what habitually occurs in the historical impact of super-grace or ultra-super-grace believers. This is also a static present for the perpetual impact of the mature believer on his generation of history. All mature believers, whether they realise it or not, have a definite impact on history. The middle voice is an indirect middle in which the agent (mature believer) produces the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative for the historical reality of historical impact of the mature believer, not only in his own generation but often other generations as well.

“as lights” – the relative adverb w(j sets up a comparative particle for analogy to the historical impact of the mature believer to his own generation. The nominative plural from the noun fwsthr, which means a light-giving body. This is a nominative of appellation which emphasises the impact on history of the mature believer. To give light you must have light. The light is Bible doctrine, and the light is reflected or given out by the mature believer. Therefore he has historical impact. So here is the radiance of maximum doctrine resident in the mature believer’s soul.

“in the world” – the preposition e)n plus the locative of kosmoj, referring to the devil’s world. To be a light-giving body you must also be a light-containing body. To be a light-containing body you must take in Bible doctrine every day. No body can give light until it contains light. Light is analogous to Bible doctrine and the believer must have Bible doctrine resident in the soul to radiate that doctrine in the devil’s world.

Translation: “In order that you yourselves might become blameless [faultless, not censored by God for reversionism], even innocent [full of doctrinal integrity; not influenced by evil], blameless [from the standpoint of establishment, morals, patriotism], sons of God in the middle of a crooked [rejection of establishment] and perverted [under the influence of evil] generation, among whom you [mature believers] keep shining as light-giving bodies in the world [the devil’s domain].”

Principle: This is the historical impact of the mature believer on his own generation.

Verse 16 – the mechanics of the advance to ultra-super-grace. Remember that no-man’s land is a place of great testing; that when you leave the super-grace perimeter you are advancing across the most difficult stage of your spiritual life. In the advance to ultra-super-grace we get down to what is really important, not only in this final push in getting there, but in any advance in any stage of the Christian life.

“Holding forth” – present active participle from the compound word e)pexw [e)pi = the preposition ‘upon’; e)xw = to have or possess] which means to hold on, to hold fast, to give attention to, to aim at, to focus on. All of these really mean concentration. “Concentrate on” is the meaning here. “Be concentrating on” is the present active participle here. The present tense is retroactive progressive present or the present tense of duration, it denotes what has begun in the past [daily function of GAP] and has continued into the present time. It takes the believer at the point of his salvation, with his positive volition toward doctrine, and sees him GAPing it one day, the next, the next, and finally breaking through the maturity barrier and reaching super-grace. He is now approaching the final target which is ultra-super-grace. The one characteristic that follows him all of the way through is the daily function of GAP. The active voice: super-grace believers produce the action of the verb in crossing no-man’s land between super-grace and ultra-super-grace. The participle is used as the imperative mood.

“the word of life” is the object of the verb, the accusative singular direct object from logoj. Logoj or word is used because the basic meaning of logoj is doctrine or thought. Thoughts come from words, and so it means doctrine or thought. It becomes a synonym for teaching, as it 1 Timothy 4:16. Also, the possessive genitive singular from the noun zwh, “life.” But it must be understood that life here is used in the sense of a means of sustenance. The “word of life” is the sustaining of the super-grace believer in his terrible journey across no-man’s land. It doesn’t mean just any doctrine; it means a person sets out across no-man’s land, the greatest period of pressure, the period of greatest deception, when all of the problems designed to cut the believer off begin. You only get through no-man’s land the same way you got to no-man’s land—daily function of GAP. Bible doctrine here is called “the word of life.” It is the Word that sustains life. Furthermore, for the super-grace believer who advances across no-man’s land to the objective there is waiting for him a decoration—the crown of life, a decoration which has with it blessings of an intensified nature in time that are beyond description, and blessings in eternity that are beyond description. Cf. James 1:12.

“that I may rejoice in the day of Christ” – or literally, “in order that I may have a basis for boasting with reference to the day of Christ”— the preposition e)ij, plus the accusative of kauxhma, the word for boasting, and the dative singular of possession from the personal pronoun e)gw, e)moi, a rather unusual use of it—the dative of possession (usually the genitive). The dative of possession in Koine Greek becomes a very strong Greek idiom which has no exact equivalent in English. It is a particular interest particularised to the point of ownership. The possessive dative is a very unusual type of dative and it should be translated here with the connotation that Paul has a personal interest in every member of his congregation reaching ultra-super-grace, and that they stay up with him in his interest in the objective—“in order that to me a basis for boasting” is the literal translation. This is an idiom which means in the English, “that I may have a basis for boasting.” Then a second prepositional phrase, e)ij again with the accusative of h(mera, another purpose connotation, plus the genitive of reference from Xristoj—“with reference to the day of Christ.” This is also an anartharous construction, there are no definite articles in the Greek, which emphasises the high quality of this day. Not only does the genitive of reference point to the uniqueness of the day in history but the lack of any definite articles points to the extreme high quality.[8]

“that” is the conjunction i(na which introduces a final clause, denoting a purpose, objective, goal. Paul’s objective is the crown of glory for leading positive believers under his ministry all the way to ultra-super-grace. 1 Timothy 4:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:19, 20; 1 Peter 5:4. (No pastor-teacher can lead his congregation past the point of his own spiritual growth) –“in order that.”

“I have not run in vain” – aorist optative indicative from the verb trexw, which means to run. Running, however, is used as an analogy for advancing to maturity in the spiritual life. The aorist is a culminative aorist, it views the advance to maturity but regards it from the viewpoint of existing results—reaching ultra-super-grace. In other words, Paul broke the maturity barrier and advanced to ultra-super-grace. The active voice: Paul produces the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative for the historical reality of Paul’s attainment of maturity. This is a prepositional phrase, e)ij plus the accusative of kenoj, which basically means “empty.” It also connotes “without results,” or “without profit,” which is really the connotation here, or “for not profit.” While Paul has reached ultra-super-grace himself his objective as a communicator of doctrine is to bring members of the royal family along with him. Paul will run in vain unless he brings his congregations to the same spiritual status which he himself enjoys. Therefore he talks about running[9] in vain.

“neither laboured” – this includes the negative conjunction o)ude which means “nor” here, “nor have worked hard, struggled,” the aorist active indicative of kopiaw, which means to struggle, to work very hard to the point of exhaustion. The aorist tense is a culminative aorist, it views Paul’s study and teaching in its entirety but it regards it from the viewpoint of existing results. The results are the attainment of ultra-super-grace on the part of many of his congregation. The active voice: Paul produces the action.

Translation: “Be concentrating on the world of life; that I might have a basis for boasting with reference to the day of Christ [Rapture, with emphasis on the judgment seat of Christ], that I have not run in vain, nor worked hard for no purpose.”

Verse 17 – “Yea, and if,” a)lla e)i kai. A)lla is the adversative conjunction used before an independent clause to indicate that the preceding paragraph is regarded as a settled matter. There is nothing more dogmatic in the concept of spiritual growth than the fact that the daily function of GAP produces maturity. Nothing else will do it. All growth comes from the intake of Bible doctrine. The next word e)i is used to introduce a first class condition. The two words together mean “But if [and it is true].” Plus the ascensive use of the conjunction kai, translated “even.” So the corrected translation is “But even if.”

“I be offered” – present passive indicative of the verb spendw. It means to offer a libation, a drink offering, to make a libation or a drink offering of one’s self by expending one’s life and energy in the function of studying and teaching. In 2 Timothy 4:6 this same verb is used for Paul’s dying grace, but here it is a reference to his sacrifice of energy and time being poured out in the ministry of studying and teaching. So Paul says, “But even if I am being poured out as a libation [1^st class condition: And I am].” The present tense is a descriptive present to indicate what is now going on. The passive voice: Paul receives the action of the verb by being poured out as a drink offering to the ministry of doctrinal teaching. The indicative mood is declarative for the reality of Paul’s life being devoted to the sacrifice of study and teach, study and teach.

“sacrifice and service of your faith” – e)pi th qusia. E)pi as a preposition take three different cases: plus the genitive emphasises contact, translated on, at, by, before; plus the locative emphasises position, translated over, on, or before; but plus the accusative emphasises motion or direction, translated on, up to, or over it. We have e)pi plus the locative here and it emphasises position. The pastor must pour his life out on the altar of sacrifice. Qusia does not mean sacrifice, it means a sacrifice on an altar. What is the altar? It is study, study, study. God uses prepared men, and a prepared pastor is one who has prepared himself academically, in life under the will of God, and he is now ready to study and doing a little teaching in between. The altar is study and teach. This should not be misunderstood. It is no strain to be a pastor. The word “service” continues the prepositional phrase, the locative of leitourgia, used for service performed by an individual for the state, but he performs this service free of charge. It isn’t a job he has to do in order to live, he does it because he is so motivated to do it that he does it without being paid by the state. This service was generally performed by a wealthy or successful person. Principle: Paul is spiritually wealthy and materially wealthy. Because a pastor is on the altar he has to have a source of income totally apart from a regular job, because he has this responsibility before the Lord. This noun was used in the Septuagint also for the priestly function of services at the altar, but it was used for the Levitical priesthood.

There is also a genitive singular of reference from pistij, translated “faith.” While that is one meaning it is not really the most common meaning in the New Testament. The most common meaning is what is believed—Bible doctrine. The genitive singular of reference is used here for what is believed. Plus a possessive genitive plural from the personal pronoun su, indicating doctrine resident in the soul of the super-grace Philippian believers. So far: “But even if I am being poured out as a libation on the altar of sacrifice [study] and service [teaching] with reference to your doctrine.” Someone has to present the doctrine so that the believers can grow.

Principle

1. The pastor or communicator of doctrine must live an abnormal life—qusia, sacrificial. He is married to Bible doctrine. His devotion, time and energy belongs to the ministry of studying. As a result of his studying he has a service—teaching. Everything else in the life of the pastor-teacher is secondary to his studying and teaching.

2. No member of the royal family of God with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher should function as a pastor unless he is willing to devote his life to being on the horns of an altar—studying and teaching.

3. The motivation for becoming a libation on the altar of studying and teaching is found in logistical support—occupation with Christ, sharing God’s ⁺H, and always having enough temporal things so that time can be devoted to study.

“I joy” – the present active indicative of xairw. It means to possess God’s ⁺H. The present tense is a static present, it represents a condition assumed as

perpetually existing in a mature pastor. Every pastor who cracks the maturity barrier has continual ⁺H. The active voice: the mature communicator, Paul, produces the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal action from the viewpoint of reality—“I keep in having inner happiness.”

“and rejoice with you all” – the connective use of the conjunction kai plus the present active indicative from sugxairw. Ordinarily this word means to congratulate [sug is the preposition sun, “with”; xairw, the verb to rejoice or have happiness with]. The meaning of a word is determined by its usage, and the Koine word here means to congratulate—“and congratulate” is what Paul says. This is the aoristic present for punctiliar action in present time. The active voice: Paul produces the action of the verb. He is congratulating the Philippians congregation on the daily function of GAP, resulting in staying right behind him, right on his heels. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal action from the viewpoint of reality, namely the Philippians right behind Paul. The words “you all” is the dative plural indirect object from the adjective paj—“all.” The dative of indirect object indicates the believers in whose interest maturity is attained; the dative plural indirect object from the personal pronoun su—“all of you.”

Translation: “But even if I am being poured out as a libation on the altar of sacrifice and service with reference to your doctrine, I keep on having inner happiness, and congratulate you all [who are right behind me].”

Verse 18 – “For the same cause also.” The enclitic particle de is used as a transitional particle without any contrast intended, so it is translated “now.” The accusative singular direct object from the definite article to and the attributive use of the intensive pronoun a)utoj means “the same reason,” and the adjunctive use of the conjunction kai which means “also”—“Now the same reason also” is the correct translation. The phrase cannot be properly translated without some verb inserted to clarify the accusative of direct object—“do ye joy.” What Paul is saying is, “Now you also have inner happiness for the same reason.” The words “do ye joy” is the present active indicative of xairw which means to have inner happiness. The retroactive progressive present denotes what was begun in the past when the Philippians reached super-grace and continues into the present time. The emphatic use of the nominative plural of the personal pronoun su refers to the Philippians. “The same reason” means because of Paul’s faithfulness in studying and teaching. This has resulted in the fact that they now have ⁺H.

“and rejoice with me” – the emphatic use of kai should be translated “indeed” or “truly,” but in modern English, “in fact.” Plus the present active indicative of sugxairw, which doesn’t mean to rejoice with. The meaning of a word is determined by its usage, and the usage is “congratulations,” or to congratulate. The indicative mood is a potential indicative of obligation. This means the English word “ought” should be added. There is great emphasis on “me”—dative singular indirect object from the personal pronoun e)gw.

Translation: “Now you also have inner happiness for the same reason; in fact you ought to congratulate me.”

The Philippians would not be this far along were it not for the fact that they were positive toward Paul’s doctrinal ministry of teaching. No believer advances in phase two without a pastor-teacher.

Principle

4. Here is the relaxed mental attitude of a mature believer who is getting ready to give the command, again, “follow me.”

5. Having reached super-grace and out in the middle of no-man’s land they are congratulating each other.

6. The Philippian believers who are now sharing the happiness of God in super-grace are congratulating Paul, and Paul who has led them there and whom they have followed so faithfully is congratulating them.

7. Mutual congratulations are based upon the principle that all spiritual advance comes through Bible doctrine, not through doing.

Number two pastor is Timothy, verses 19-24.

Verse 19 – “But I trust” is the word e)lpizw, generally translated “hope.” Here as a present active indicative it is a little stronger than that, it means to

anticipate. The enclitic particle de is used as a transitional particle without contrast intended—“Now I anticipate.” The present active indicative of e)lpizw is a future present, it denotes an event which has not yet occurred but is regarded as so certain that in thought it is contemplated as already coming to pass. This changes the meaning of e)lpizw from hope to the connotation of anticipation. The active voice: produces the action. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal action from the viewpoint of reality.

“in the Lord” is the prepositional phrase e)n plus instrumental of kurioj I)hsouj, translated literally, “by the Lord Jesus.” We have to add something—“by the grace of the Lord Jesus.”

“to send” – aorist active infinitive of pempw, The aorist is constative, it contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety. A major move is about to be taken, Paul is going to make a major personnel change in transferring Timothy from Rome to Philippi. The active voice: Paul as an apostle has the authority to make these personnel changes. The aorist infinitive denotes that which is eventual and particular, while the present infinitive indicates a condition or a process. This is the infinitive of intended result in which the results indicated are the fulfilment of a very deliberate objective. This is a blending of purpose and result. “Now I anticipate by the grace of the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you”—dative plural indirect object from the personal pronoun su, “to you.” The dative of indirect object indicates that Timothy is sent as an interim pastor for the benefit of the Philippians and to bring them up to date on some doctrines they need immediately to get them into ultra-super-grace. So this indicates that Timothy at the time of writing was himself in the mature status of super-grace. The anartharous construction of the prepositional phrase emphasises the highest rank, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Prince-Ruler of the Church.

“shortly” is not quite correct. This is the adverb of time taxewj, and the correct translation is “without delay.” Paul does not want to leave the local church at Philippi without a pastor or doctrinal teaching during the critical time of crossing no-man’s land. There are more pressures, ambushes, problems of good and evil, more distractions, more counter-attacks from reversionistic believers at this stage of spiritual growth; therefore he feels that it is expedient without delay to dispatch Timothy to Philippi.

“that” is the conjunction i(na which introduces a purpose clause. It denotes the purpose that he has in mind for the Philippians, a congregation whom he dearly loves.

“I also may be of good comfort” – that doesn’t sound like a purpose for the Philippians but more like a purpose for the apostle Paul. But in reality, as goes the Philippians so goes the tranquillity of Paul. The people that can really upset you are the people that you really love. Paul’s tranquillity is definitely tied up with the Philippian congregation. Kagw e)uyuxw is the phrase, it includes the contracted form of the adjunctive kai plus the personal pronoun e)gw [kagw], and the present active subjunctive of the compound e)uyuxew [e)u = good; yuxh = soul]. To have a good soul means to have tranquillity of soul, to be encouraged or to have courage, or to be glad, or to be of a cheerful disposition: “that I also may have tranquillity of soul” is the corrected translation. The present tense is an aoristic present for punctiliar action in present time, in contrast to the aorist which connotes punctiliar action in past time. The aoristic present sets forth the event as now occurring. Because Paul is getting concerns that there might be some problems in Philippi he is sending Timothy immediately. The active voice: Paul produces the action of the verb. He is possessing tranquillity of soul because he is taking the proper steps to make a personnel adjustment for the benefit of the Philippians. The subjunctive mood is combined with the conjunction i(na to denote a purpose—to send Timothy ahead to Philippi.

“when I know” is the aorist active participle of ginwskw which means to know. The culminative aorist views Paul’s knowledge of the Philippian status quo in its entirety but it emphasises the existing results. Paul at this point has tranquillity. The participle is a temporal participle.

“your state” – ta peri u(mwn, is an idiom. This is the accusative plural indirect object from the definite article ta, plus the preposition peri, plus the genitive plural from the personal pronoun su. Literally, “the things concerning you.” This is a Greek idiom for “your status quo.”

Translation: “Now I anticipate by the grace of the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you without delay, that I also may have tranquillity of soul when I know your status quo.”

Verse 20 – “For” is the explanatory of the conjunctive particle gar, so we know that the verse is an explanation: “I have” – present active indicative of e)xw. The present tense is a descriptive present, it indicates what is now going on. Timothy is the only qualified person to send at that time. The active voice: Paul produces the action by doing the right thing: having a personnel pool and having only one person qualified. The indicative mood is declarative representing the action of the verb from the standpoint of absolute dogmatic reality.

“no man” – accusative singular direct object from the adjective o)udeij which means “no one.” This doesn’t mean that his personnel pool is empty but it means that there is only one qualified person.

“likeminded” – accusative singular direct object from the compound adjective i)soyuxoj [i)so = equal; yuxw = soul], equal-minded or rapport in the sense of having common sense, knowing what to do. Paul implies that Timothy has advanced as far as himself at this time in that he is in super-grace and that they have a rapport of maturity and an equality of spiritual growth.

“who will naturally care for your state” – a very long clause in the Greek. It begins with a qualitative relative pronoun o(stij which emphasises the fact that at the moment of writing Timothy is the highest quality person in the personnel pool of Paul. “Who because of his spiritual maturity” is the meaning of the qualitative relative here. The adverb with this, gnhsiwj, means born in wedlock, legitimate, reliable, genuine. Here it means genuine. The accusative plural direct object from the definite article ta, plus peri, plus the genitive plural from the personal pronoun su, and it means again status quo. Plus the future active indicative of the verb merimnaw, which means to be concerned, to care for, to be concerned about. The future tense is a predictive future, it predicts an event which is expected to occur in the near future. The active voice: Timothy will produce the action. The indicative mood is declarative for dogmatic reality.

Translation: “For I have no equal soul [comparable spiritual growth], who because of spiritual maturity will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.”

Principle

1. God uses prepared people. Timothy at this point in AD 62 is the prepared person.

2. Many men with the gift of pastor-teacher are not qualified to serve as a pastor in the local church because they are not prepared.

3. Some are not prepared academically.

4. Some are not prepared from the standpoint of life—mentally immature.

5. Some are not prepared from the standpoint of self-discipline.

6. Some are not prepared from the standpoint of the proper exercise of authority.

7. Some are not prepared because of arrogance, ambition, power lust, approbation lust.

Verse 21 – “For all” is o(i pantej gar. The first word in the English is “For,” but it is the third word in the Greek sentence. The first word is the nominative

plural definite article, then the nominative plural from paj [pantej]—“the all for” in its word order. But we say in English, “For they all.” The definite article is used for a personal pronoun. This is a reference to the reversionistic believers of Rome. It is a change of subject from the wonderful relationship between Paul and the Philippians. From the very outset the church at Rome was a reversionistic church. This is a reference to the fact that the church at Rome was made up of reversionistic believers, negative toward doctrine, under the influence of evil.

“seek” – present active indicative of the verb zetew. This is a retroactive progressive present, it denotes what has begun in the past and continues into the present time on the part of the Roman church in contrast to the Philippian church—“keep seeking.” The active voice: the reversionists under the influence of evil produce the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal action from the standpoint of reality.

“their own” – accusative plural direct object from the definite article meaning “the things,” plus the genitive of reference plural from the reflexive pronoun e(autou. Literally this would be translated “the things of themselves.” This is a Greek idiom and you cannot literally translate an idiom in the Greek. It means “there own interests.” “For they all keep seeking their own interests [self-gratification].” So there is a concentration on evil and there is a concentration in reversionism which is a negative one, a bad one. This is where many of the hang-ups and syndromes of life occur. They occur simply because people are concentrating on their own pleasure, their own happiness, their own satisfaction to the exclusion of everything else.

“not the things which are Jesus Christ’s” – o)u ta Xristou I)hsou. The strong negative o)u, “not,” plus the definite article ta in the plural, “the things,” plus the genitive from Xristoj and genitive of I)hsouj, “Christ Jesus.” This is a descriptive genitive indicating that happiness and blessing in life, plus capacity for life and concentration in life, all belong to one person, “Christ Jesus.” When you neglect Bible doctrine you are ignoring the Lord Jesus Christ. So we translate this, “not the interests of Jesus Christ.”

Translation: “For they all [reversionists] keep seeking their own interests, not the interests of Christ Jesus.”

The interests of Christ Jesus puts Bible doctrine before everything else; it is the number one priority.

Principle

1. Number one priority in life for the believer must be Bible doctrine. Only the daily function of GAP, resulting in cracking the maturity barrier, can produce in the life of any believer “seeking the interests of Christ Jesus.”

2. The interests of Christ Jesus can only be served by the mature believer.

3. When the believer seeks the interests of Christ Jesus he continues to take in doctrine until the saturation of inculcation results in that maturity which serves the best interests of Christ.

4. At this point the believer is not only in a state of glorifying Christ in history but becomes the beneficiary of 5 categories of blessing under his own paragraph SG².

5. Reversionism and evil hinder the royal family of God from serving the interests of Christ Jesus.

6. Good and evil is not only Satan’s policy as the ruler of this world but his greatest weapon against the believer in the angelic conflict.

7. When the reversionistic believer seeks his own interests he becomes vulnerable to the lies prevarications of pastors who do not study and teach.

8. He is equally led astray by various categories of evil and legalism because they appeal to his arrogance.

9. The believer who seeks his own interests is vulnerable to the subtleties of arrogance. The only protection from arrogance is Bible doctrine in the soul.

Verse 22 – having set up a great contrast between two churches he now advocates one more time why he is sending Timothy. “But ye know” – the enclitic particle de which sets up a contrast between the reversionists of Rome and super-grace Timothy. Plus the present active indicative of the verb ginwskw which means here to come to know, to perceive, to realise. The Philippians have had Timothy before and they have responded to Timothy as a pastor. The present tense is a perfective present, it denotes a continuation of existing results. The active voice: the Philippians believers produce the action of the verb, they have come to know and respect Timothy’s ministry. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal idea from the viewpoint of reality.

“the proof of him” is incorrect. This is the accusative singular direct object from the noun dokimh which denotes the quality of being approved, and therefore it means character. With it is the possessive genitive singular from the intensive pronoun a)utoj. The possessive connotation of this possessive pronoun means his very own character.

“that, as a son with a father” – why did they respect Timothy? Was he the Bible teacher that Paul was? No, but he was willing to be as long as Paul lived a student of his doctrinal teaching and he never got away from what Paul taught, he was the perfect disciplined person. This phrase begins with the conjunction o(ti to indicate perception, something that the church at Philippi had noticed about Timothy. The word “as” is a comparative particle, w(j. The word for “son” is not u(ioj, it is teknon, a child in relationship to the discipline of his father. A better translation of teknon here is really a “student.” Pathr in the singular means “father” but it also means “academic ruler” here in the sense that as long as Paul lives Timothy always took his teaching, never deviating from his teaching. Even when he went into reversionism it wasn’t because he deviated from his teaching, it was because he failed to follow the advice of Paul and apply discipline in his congregation. So it should be, “as a student with reference to his father [teacher].” The great pastors and teachers are those who never go out and undermine the source of their spiritual growth.

“he hath served with me in the gospel” – aorist active indicative of douleuw which means that he has been a slave. This means to serve as a slave. The constative aorist contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety. Both Paul and Timothy are slaves of Jesus Christ. The active voice: Timothy is producing the action. The indicative mood is declarative for the historical reality of a dogmatic conclusion. The fact remains that every pastor is the slave of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“with me” – sun plus the instrumental of e)gw; “in the gospel” – e)ij plus the accusative of e)uaggelion, often used, not simply for the gospel as evangelising people but for the entire ministry of teaching the gospel. The point is that it starts with salvation and that’s why we have, right from the Bible, the gospel ministry. It doesn’t mean that all you have to do is give the gospel but it means that that is where the ministry of the pastor begins. The word “gospel” is used to remind all of us of our entrance into God’s plan. But in effect the pastor does not have a ministry to you until you have been evangelised, and so at the point of your evangelisation is where the pastor’s ministry begins.

Translation” “But you have come to know his character as a student with reference to a teacher, who has served with me in reference to the gospel.”

Verse 23 – “Him therefore” is touton men o)un. Touton is the accusative singular direct object from the demonstrative o(utoj, called the immediate demonstrative. It calls attention with special emphasis to Timothy as a mature believer. We can translate this near demonstrative “This one,” with special emphasis on Timothy as the man most qualified in Paul’s personnel pool to be transferred to Philippi. The next word, men, is an affirmative particle, often non-translatable, used frequently in the Classical Greek, generally used correlatively with other particles, like de. It is used here with the demonstrative to mean “This one.” The inferential enclitic particle o)un denotes an inference from what is preceded and is correctly translated “therefore.” In the English we usually say “Therefore” first. “Therefore him” is the way that the demonstrative is actually emphasised. Since “him” is an accusative and a direct object, obviously between therefore and him it is necessary to insert a verb: the present active indicative of e)lpizw. Here it means “expectation” with a nuance of counting upon. So we translate it “I expect.” The present tense is a futuristic present, it denotes the fact that Timothy has not yet been sent to Philippi but the dispatch to Philippi is so certain as to be regarded as already coming to pass. The indicative mood is a potential indicative of obligation. Altogether it is translated “Therefore I expect.” Not a complete sentence, so “Therefore I expect him.” But that isn’t good enough, there has to be some kind of an infinitive or subjunctive to go with it—here, the aorist active subjunctive of pempw, “Therefore I expect to send him.” The culminative aorist of pempw views the action of sending Timothy to Philippi in its entirety, but it emphasises the existing results. Philippi will have an interim pastor to take care of the church until Epaphroditus returns. The active voice: Paul produces the action of the verb. The subjunctive mood is the potential subjunctive used to denote Paul’s purpose in sending Timothy ahead.

“presently” is incorrect. It is the adverb e)cauthj and it means “immediately.”

“so soon as I shall see” – the comparative particle w(j, “as soon as,” plus the particle a)n which introduces an indefinite temporal clause. It isn’t translated, it just indicates that this is one of those signals that this is an indefinite temporal clause coming up. It is also used for 3^rd class conditions in the protasis. It here helps to translate w(j “as soon as.” Next comes the aorist active subjunctive from a)foraw [a)po = preposition of ultimate source; o(raw = to see] which means to see from the ultimate source, to look away, to fix one’s eyes on something—“as I see how things go with me” is the corrected translation of the idiom. This is a dramatic aorist, it states what has just been realised or is on the point of being accomplished. Active voice: Paul is producing the action. The potential subjunctive indicates that just as soon as it is cleared up whether Paul is going to be released or not he is going to dispatch Timothy.

“how it will go with me” is ta peri e)me which is an idiom. The word ta is the accusative plural definite article, translated “the things.” Peri = “concerning.” E)me is the object—“the things concerning me” which is the Greek idiom for “my status quo.”

Translation” “Therefore I expect to dispatch him [Timothy] immediately, as soon as I determine my status quo [or, ‘as soon as I see how things turn out here’].”

Verse 24 – “But I trust,” the enclitic particle de used as a transitional conjunction, generally translated “now,” and is used to insert an explanation at this point; plus the perfect active indicative of peiqw which means to obey, to be convinced, to have confidence. This is the intensive perfect, it denotes completed action with emphasis on existing results. The active voice: Paul produces the confidence. The indicative mood is the reality of this characteristic of Paul.

“in the Lord” – e)n plus the locative of kurioj means occupation with Christ. Paul is occupied with Christ and therefore possesses confidence. Occupation with Christ is viewed here as the logistical support of super-grace.

“that” is the conjunction o(ti stating the content of Paul’s thinking.

“I also myself” – the conjunction kai is “also,” the nominative singular of the intensive pronoun a)utoj emphasises the identity of Paul as a super-grace believer taking his occupation with Christ. He has confidence in doctrine and he is occupied with the Lord. He has the logistical support of the living Word, the logistical support of the written Word, and therefore he has maximum confidence.

“shall come” is the future active indicative of e)rxomai, meaning that he himself will before he does come face to face with this congregation. The future tense is predictive for an event expected to occur in the future.

“shortly” is an adverb, taxew, which means “soon.”

Translation: “Now I have confidence in the Lord that I myself also shall be coming [to you] soon.”

Paul would soon be released from prison and will be free to make a fourth missionary journey, but he will also make an inspection tour throughout all of the churches and he will come face to face with the Philippians.

Verse 25 – Epaphroditus was a plugger and he was totally free from jealousy. He had no hang-ups and was not competing with anyone.

“Yet I suppose it necessary” starts with the enclitic conjunctive particle de, used as a transitional conjunction without any contrast intended here. It is used to insert an explanation regarding the Philippians own right pastor at the present time. “Yet is really “Now.” “I suppose” is aorist active indicative of the verb e(geomai. The word means to be an expert, to be such an expert in the subject that you can act as a guide. This word is found in some lexicons to be defined as a guide. It doesn’t mean that at all, it means to be an expert, but it just so happens that an expert is always guiding people. It means to be an expert in such a way that one becomes a guide, or that one’s opinion is important. Therefore it also means to think, to regard, to consider. “Now I consider.” The aorist tense is a culminative aorist, it views the action of the verb in its entirety—Paul’s thinking, planning—but it emphasises the result of sending Epaphroditus back to Philippi. The active voice: Paul as the apostle produces the action of the verb. He is returning Epaphroditus. The indicative mood is declarative, it represents the verbal action from the viewpoint of reality. Then comes the accusative singular direct object from the adjective a)nagkaioj. This means “proper.” This has to do with God’s will for Epaphroditus to get back to his own congregation at this point. He has been ill and it is time for him to come back. A plugger is never appreciated until he is gone. Paul considered this a matter of integrity, a matter of divine will, and “proper” is simply another way of stating it.

“to send to you” – aorist active infinitive of pempw. The aorist tense is a dramatic aorist, it states what has just been realised and is on the point of being accomplished. Enough time has elapsed so that Epaphroditus is now appreciated for what he is—a plugger. A plugger is always a stable person, a consistent person. He may be a little slower but he gets there, he keeps right on going. The active voice: Paul as the apostle makes the personnel change. This is the infinitive of purpose expressing the aim of action denoted by the finite verb. The prepositional phrase is the preposition proj plus the accusative plural of su, indicating all of the Philippian congregation. This can mean “face to face” or “with you.”

“Epaphroditus” – accusative singular direct object from the proper name, E)pafroditoj [us is the Latin suffix; os is the Greek suffix. The Greek and Latin languages at this time were exact equivalents], meaning ‘belonging to Aphrodite [Venus in Latin].’ It means “belonging to the goddess of love.” But what is wrong with that is that his name is an idiom: his name is “Handsome.” “Now I consider it proper to send Epaphroditus face to face with you.”

For smoother English, add the relative pronoun w(j plus the present active indicative of e)imi at this point, “who is” [these words do not occur but are implied as needed in the English]—“who is.”; “my brother,” the appositional accusative or the double accusative singular, a)delfoj is the word, correctly translated “brother.” With it is a possessive genitive singular from the personal pronoun e)gw. It indicates that Epaphroditus is a fellow-believer, not a relative. No one functions in the plan of God apart from regeneration and salvation. Brother is used to indicate that we are now in the royal family, as of the point of salvation.

“and companion in labour” – this indicates that not only is he royal family but a special category of royal family, a communicator of doctrine. The adjunctive use of the conjunction kai should be translated “also.” With it is an appositional double accusative singular from the compound noun sunergoj [sun = with; ergoj = work], which means to work with. E)rgon also means “duty, office, work, action, production,” hence together in duty. It means here that “we are in the same duty profile.” They are fellow communicators of doctrine: Paul has the gift of apostleship; Epaphroditus has the gift of pastor-teacher.

“and fellow soldier” – the accusative singular (and still part of the double accusative) direct object from the compound noun sustrapiwthj [sus – together with; stratiwthj = solder], which means fellow soldier or comrade in arms, emphasising the fact that service and discipline are involved in teaching Bible doctrine. The communication of doctrine, whether it is an apostle or pastor-teacher, must first recognise the authority of Jesus Christ, the living Word, who can provide and has provided the doctrine for the Church Age. Then the recognition of what He has provided—the canon of Scripture.

“but” – the enclitic particle de is used as a conjunction of contrast. This is not a strong contrast and should be translated “that is”; “your messenger” – a possessive genitive plural from the personal pronoun su. That possessive genitive is very important because this means that the Philippians church have their very own communicator, it belongs to them. Then a double accusative again, direct object from a)postoloj which means apostle when it is applied to Paul or one of the eleven who were carry-overs from the Jewish Age. But that isn’t what the word means. It means highest-ranked one. Why does Paul use these military terms? These terms that denote authority and rank? Because the Philippians congregation is by and large retired military personnel and they understand these things, and to further add to every generation whether they know anything about military or not, the local church runs on authority.

“and he that ministered” – incorrect. This is part of that same double accusative direct object. The noun is leitourgoj, used for a person of great wealth who performs a public duty at his own expense’ plus the ascensive of the conjunction kai. Put together it is, “that is you highest ranked one, even your super-grace minister.” And by minister is meant one who communicates doctrine.

“to my wants” – this is the crowning part of this verse because it indicates that Epaphroditus is going to make some kind of a contribution to Paul’s ministry totally apart from that money. There is a genitive singular of reference from xreia, “with reference to my needs.” Here is a spiritual need. The large monetary offering took care of all of his material needs and will for the rest of his life, while the personal presence of and fellowship with Epaphroditus took care of a very definite need in his life, a spiritual need—companionship, a fellow human being with whom he can talk. The need is rapport. Mature believers need encouragement and companionship when crossing no-man’s land.

Translation: “Now I consider it proper to send Epaphroditus face to face with you, who is my brother, also my co-worker and comrade in arms; that is, your highest-ranked one, even your super-grace minister sent with reference to my need.”

Verse 26 – a statement of love: “For he longed after you all.” This begins with the temporal conjunction e)peidh, used in the causal sense as well as the temporal, and it means “Since” or “Because.” The present active participle of e)pipoqew is a term of love and it means to have an extreme desire for someone—“Because he was longing for.” It is longing in the sense of a very strong soul love. The present tense of duration denotes what was begun in the past and continues into the present time. The active voice: Epaphroditus produces the action toward the Philippians, his congregation. The participle is a part of the periphrastic imperfect, formed with the present participle and the imperfect of the verb e)imi. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal idea from the standpoint of reality.

Principle: a pastor always falls in love with a positive congregation. His love is not on the basis of personal rapport, it is based upon those who come under his ministry and listen to the teaching of the Word of God. The key to this love is positive volition toward doctrine.

The word e)imi in the imperfect tense is a progressive imperfect of description, it represents a process which has been going on in the past and is still continuing according to the present participle.

The accusative plural direct object from the adjective paj, and with it the pronoun su, refers to all of the Philippians who have advanced to super-grace—“you all.”

“and was full of heaviness” – the connective kai simply carries on the concept that his love was intensified at a certain point: “full of heaviness,” present active participle of a)dhmonew, which means to be depressed, to be in anxiety. But it also means to be distressed or concerned, as here—“and since he was distressed.” The word “since” comes from the fact that this is a causal participle, it denotes the ground for the main verb. The aoristic present tense for punctiliar action in present time indicates the fact that the concern is temporary at this moment. The active voice: Epaphroditus is producing the action of the verb because of his deep and abiding love for his congregation.

“because that ye had heard” – dioti indicates that this is the reason he is concerned. The interesting thing here is that he doesn’t want his congregation to be unhappy about anything; His congregation had been very unhappy because they had heard that he was dying. It is true that he was dying and now it is a source of embarrassment to him and concern that his dying would in any way inconvenience them. He had the true attitude about death from his own great spiritual growth. He knew that he was going to die and be absent from the body and face to face with the Lord. Therefore, during his critical illness he was not concerned about his dying because he was in dying grace. What was bothering him was that he was causing anyone any unhappiness. He was totally thoughtful of others as an expression of his love. He was a person who had no hang-ups of any kind. The aorist active indicative of a)kouw indicates that a report had come concerning his critical illness. The aorist tense is an epistolary aorist in which the writer places himself in the viewpoint of the readers (the Philippians) who have heard about the terrible illness of Epaphroditus. The active voice: the Philippians produced the action by hearing the rumour that Epaphroditus, their pastor, was dying in Rome. The indicative mood is declarative for the historical reality of the rumour.

“that he had been sick” – the conjunction is o(ti, used here after verbs that denote any kind of mental or sense perception, or the transmission of such perception through verbal report, as in this case. The aorist active indicative of the verb a)sqenew indicates a very serious illness. It means not only to be ill but to be losing strength in that illness. In other words, to be dying. This is an ingressive aorist which contemplates the action of the verb at its beginning. Epaphroditus in producing the action had become critically ill in Rome.

Translation: “Because he was longing for you all, and since he was distressed because you had heard that he had become critically ill.”

Verse 27 – “For indeed” is the explanatory use of the conjunction gar plus the emphatic use of the conjunction kai. Kai is used here in one of its most unusual ways—emphatic. So it should be translated, “For in fact [or, really, or truly].”

“he was sick” – aorist active indicative confirming the fact that he was critically ill of the same verb again, a)sqenew. This time, however, it is the constative aorist which gathers up the critical illness of Epaphroditus into one entirety. The active voice: Epaphroditus was critically ill, he was dying. The indicative mood is the confirmation of the fact. What they heard was a rumour, the rumour was a fact.

“nigh unto death” – accusative singular direct object from the adjective paraplhsioj, used as an adverb, and it simply means he nearly died; plus the dative singular of reference from qanatoj. An adjective used as an adverb, plus a noun in the dative case, is an idiom—“he was so ill that he nearly died” is the way we translate that idiom into English. There is no verb in the idiom but it takes a verb in the English to bring out the true meaning.

“but” introduces the adversative conjunction a)lla which sets up a contrast between Paul’s helplessness to heal Epaphroditus and God’s power that delivered him; “God” – o( qeoj, refers to God the Father who actually healed Epaphroditus. There is no question as to who performed the healing, it was God, not Paul. God still had a purpose for his life, and the fact that Paul did not heal Epaphroditus anticipates the approach to the post-canon period of the Church Age in which the temporary gifts—like healing, tongues, miracles, apostleship—were all discontinued.

“had mercy” – aorist active indicative from e)leew which means mercy or grace in action. In this case mercy is the logistical grace in action. The aorist tense is a culminative aorist, it views that action of the verb in its entirety but emphasises the result. In this case there is the mercy of God, grace in action, in its entirety, but the emphasis is on the result which will be the divine healing of Epaphroditus. The active voice: God the Father produces the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal action from the viewpoint of reality. God Himself stepped in to heal Epaphroditus.

“on him” – accusative singular direct object from the intense pronoun a)utoj—this same person. The intensive pronoun always emphasises something great in a person. In this case he was a mature believer, a plugging pastor with true greatness of divine viewpoint in the eyes of God.

“and not on him only” – the strong negative o)uk and the accusative singular direct object from the intensive pronoun a)utoj, “him.” The transitional use of the conjunctive particle de is followed by monoj, which means “only”—“and not only on him.”

“but on me also” – a)lla sets up a strong adversative conjunction. Paul and Epaphroditus are together in Rome, their rapport is phenomenal. Epaphroditus has been a spiritual blessing to Paul, even as Paul has been to Epaphroditus. To take out Epaphroditus would leave Paul desolate at this point.

Principle

Paul makes it very perspicuous and lucid that the miracle of healing is directly from God and not from Paul’s gift of healing. In fact, Paul’s gift of healing has been removed. Paul was given the gift of healing to establish the fact that he was an apostle.

Both the gift of healing and miracles were used to establish Paul’s authority as an apostle. They have now been discontinued since Paul’s authority is well established by the epistles that have been accepted into the canon.

“lest” – i(na mh is literally, “that not,” but it is an idiom meaning “lest”’ “I should have” – aorist active subjunctive of e)xw, ‘I should have and hold.’ This is a dramatic aorist, it states a present reality with the certitude of a past event. It is used to state what has just been realised. Paul, in crossing no-man’s land to ultra-super-grace, has been under maximum pressure. The death of Epaphroditus would have been a terrible, for Epaphroditus has been such a phenomenal blessing to him. The active voice: Paul produces the action of the verb. The subjunctive mood goes with the conjunction i(na to indicate a purpose clause.

“sorrow” – accusative singular direct object from luph, referring to the potential death of Epaphroditus when he was critically ill; “upon sorrow” – preposition e)pi plus luph—“lets I should have sorrow stacked [mounted] upon sorrow.”

Translation: “For as a matter of fact he was so ill that he nearly died: but God had mercy on him; and not only on him, but also on me, lest I should have sorrow stacked upon sorrow.”

The trend of temporary gifts

1. The meaning of temporary gifts: A temporary spiritual gift was designed to provide order and authority in the early church. The canon of scripture for the New Testament for the Church had not been written. There had to be order and authority before the canon was completed and circulated. These temporary gifts included apostleship, tongues, the interpretation of tongues, miracles, healing, prophecy.

2. Paul as an apostle possessed all the temporary gifts to establish his authority as an apostle and Bible teacher in the early Church.

3. As a part of his authority Paul had the gift of healing. In Acts 19:11,12 any person who was ill and even touched Paul was healed.

4. It is obvious at this time [A.D. 62] that Paul no longer possesses the gift of healing or miracles and can do nothing for Epaphroditus.

5. It is also obvious that the gifts of healing and miracles had been permanently removed from Paul, for later on [A.D. 67] he could not heal Trophimus—2 Timothy 4:20.

6. The reason: Once the authority of the apostle was permanently established his temporary spiritual gifts, used as credit cards, were removed.

7. Temporary spiritual gifts were designed to establish the authority of apostles, evangelists, prophets and pastors before the New testament canon was completed and circulated. But once the New Testament canon was completed and circulated [A.D. 96] all temporary gifts were withdrawn and have not functioned since the first century.

Verse 28 – the comparative adverb of spoudaioj, which means “with haste.” Generally that is the correct meaning, but here with the comparative it has

special urgency. So it should be translated “with special urgency.” The special urgency is that the Philippians are about ready to break into ultra-super-grace and therefore their pastor must be returned to them for that purpose. The inferential enclitic particle o)un is translated “therefore.” Here it is used in the historical narrative to resume a subject after some interruption. This is the resumption from verse 25 where Paul mentioned for the first time that he is sending back Epaphroditus. However the translation of this particle is a little different here. Since the meaning here is not truly inferential but the resumption of a subject it should be translated “so as has been said.” The aorist active indicative of pempw, the verb to send, is next. The aorist tense is a dramatic aorist used for a result which is on the point of being accomplished. The active voice: Paul produces the action of the verb by returning Epaphroditus to his own right congregation. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal action from the viewpoint of reality. The object of the verb is the accusative singular direct object from the intensive pronoun a)utoj. The intensive pronoun emphasises the identity of Epaphroditus. Literally, “So as has been said, I have sent him with special urgency.”

“that” is the conjunction i(na, it introduces a final clause—“in order that.”

“when you see him again” – the aorist active participle of o(raw. It means to stare, to take a panoramic look, or to keep looking. The ordinary verb for seeing is blepw, it means just a glance. When Epaphroditus gets back they are going to stare a bit, because now they really appreciate him. This is an epistolary aorist in which the writer, Paul, places himself in the viewpoint of his readers, the Philippian congregation, to state an event which is future to him, and he knows that this is what they will do. The active voice: the Philippians congregation will produce the action. They love and appreciate him so much now that they will just keep staring, they will be so happy to have him back. This is a temporal participle and it should be translated “when you see him again.” The accusative singular direct object of the intensive pronoun a)utoj again emphasises Epaphroditus. The adverb palin expresses his return—“again.”

“ye may rejoice” – aorist passive subjunctive of xairw, the expression of ⁺H. The aorist tense is a culminative aorist, it views the action of the verb in its entirety but emphasises the result—intensified happiness. The passive voice: the Philippians believers receive the action of the verb, the intensification of their happiness. The subjunctive mood is the potential subjunctive, it implies a future reference and is qualified by the element of contingency—here, simply one of purpose expressed. The subjunctive goes with i(na which introduces this clause. Intensified happiness is the result of reaching the final objective.

“and that I” – ‘and I’ is a combination of the conjunction kai and the pronoun e)gw—kagw. It emphasises that there is no self-consciousness and no inner subjectivity among these great communicators of the early century. The first person singular pronoun is the Biblical term for the self-consciousness of the soul. They were not only aware of their existence but they properly related their existence to God through grace. Therefore they have no qualms about using the words, “I, me, my.” Plus the predicate nominative masculine singular from the comparative of the adjective a)lupoj, which means “less anxious” here. The verb here is the present active subjunctive of e)imi, the verb to be. The present tense of the verb is a futuristic present, it denotes an event which has not yet occurred but which is regarded as so certain in thought that it is contemplated as already occurring. Already the apostle is relieved of his anxiety, just knowing that Epaphroditus will return to the Philippian church. The active voice: Paul will produce the action of the verb in the near future when Epaphroditus returns to the congregation at Philippi. The subjunctive mood is potential, it implies a future reference and is qualified by the element of contingency—“that I may be less anxious.” The comparative use of the adjective here implies that Paul, now approaching ultra-super-grace, will never be free from pressure. But all pressure intensifies the blessing of ultra-super-grace, so don’t feel sorry for him.

Translation: “So as has been said, I have sent him with special urgency, in order that, when you see him again you might have intensified happiness and I may be less concerned.”

Verse 29 – “Receive him therefore in the Lord.” The first word is a present active imperative from a compound verb prosdexomai [proj = face to face; dexomai = to throw your arms around, face to face]. It means to welcome with open arms. It also means to receive with submission and expectation. The present tense is a customary present, it denotes what habitually occurs or may reasonably be expected to occur when a congregation assembles under the teaching ministry of its right pastor. The active voice: the Philippians congregation will produce the action of the verb by recognition of Epaphroditus’s authority. The imperative mood is the imperative of permission in which the command given by the apostle complies with the desires of the congregation; therefore not a direct command but a permissive command. They are willing and anxious for Epaphroditus’s return. The conjunction o)un here is strictly inferential to introduce the result of the inference, and it is translated “therefore.” The prepositional phrase is e)n plus the locative of kurioj—“in the Lord.” The definite article does not occur in the Greek, this is anartharous, calling special attention to the high quality of the Lord as the Prince Ruler of the Church. “Therefore receive him with submission and expectation in the Lord.”

“with all gladness” – meta plus the genitive singular of the adjective paj is correctly translated “with all.” But the noun xara is generally translated “joy,” but it is ⁺H or happiness—“with all happiness,” or “associated with all happiness.”

“and hold” – present active imperative of e)xw, and with the adjunctive use of kai should be translated, “also be holding.” This is a static present tense representing a condition as taken for granted. They are mature believers, they will hold him in the highest honour, they will concentrate on his ministry because he is going to bring them all the way through to ultra-super-grace. The implication is that by the time Epaphroditus reaches Philippi he will have arrived at ultra-super-grace and he will lead them in. The active voice: the congregation will produce the action of the verb. The imperative mood is a direct command.

“such” is the accusative plural direct object from the correlative adjective toioutoj, a qualitative concept, ‘such a high quality type’ is what it means. It has an attributive connotation.

“in reputation” – incorrect. This is the double accusative plural from the adjective e)ntimoj, which means “in honour.” But it is stronger than that. Because it is a double accusative and because it is a verbal adjective it is translated “in highest honour.”

The ingredients of a good congregation

1. A good congregation identifies its right pastor, and then gets under his authority—because it is not going to like everything he says! Being under his authority means taking some things that are not pleasant. You have to know who your right pastor is and stay with him.

2. Submission to his authority in teaching and church policy.

3. A good congregation has consistent positive volition toward doctrine.

4. A good congregation has stability, it avoids distractions to public assembly in the daily function of GAP.

5. A good congregation has objectivity, poise, good academic discipline under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit.

6. A good congregation has thoughtfulness of others, recognition of the privacy of the priesthood of others. Therefore avoidance of mental attitude sins, verbal sins, which intrude upon the privacy of someone else. It fulfils the principle of live and let live.

7. A good congregation follows the pastor in his spiritual advance, cracking the maturity barrier when he cracks the maturity barrier.

8. Through spiritual growth and progress a good congregation comes to be blessed of God in time. And they are relaxed about their blessings, they are occupied with Christ, they share the happiness of God, they have capacity for life.

9. A good congregation means a highly decorated pastor in eternity. These decorations glorify Jesus Christ forever.

Verse 30 – “Because” is the causal conjunction o(ti; “for the work of Christ” – dia plus the accusative from e)rgon. Dia plus the accusative also means “on account of.” E)rgon means “business.” Then a descriptive genitive singular of the proper noun Xristoj—“Because on account of the business of Christ.”

“he was nigh” – aorist active indicative of e)ggizw, which means near. But with the prepositional phrase it has to be translated, “he came close to.” The aorist tense is an ingressive aorist, it contemplates the action of the verb at its beginning. The active voice: Epaphroditus produced the action. He was critically ill. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal action from the viewpoint of reality.

“unto” is an adverb of time—mexri. However the adverb is used as an improper preposition, and the object of the preposition is qanatoj—“death.” It should be translated here, “to dying.”

“not regarding” – the aorist middle participle of a compound verb (with the negative), paraboleuomai. This is a gambling term [para = beside; balw = to throw], and it means to throw down beside the money, the dice. But it is a little stringer than that, it means to gamble. He gambled his life. The constative aorist gathers into one entirety the illness of Epaphroditus which brought him to the point of dying. The middle voice is an indirect middle in which Epaphroditus as the agent produced the action of the verb. The participle is temporal. It should be translated, “when he had gambled his life”—dative singular indirect object from yuxh, which means “soul.” A true gambler is a person who has cognisance of the game, he understands all the principles involved. He is a scientific person! And he doesn’t show what he is thinking. Epaphroditus was sick. He knew that going to Rome was a gamble and that the percentages could go either way. Yet, knowing the fact that he might never come back he went ahead and handled it. It doesn’t mean he risked his life as such, but he gambled his life. Only the Lord could change the trend for him.

Then we have i(na, which introduces a final purpose clause, denoting the objective. With it is the aorist active subjunctive from the compound verb a)naplhrow [a)na = again and again; plhrow = to fill up a deficiency]. So to fill up a deficiency again and again means to fulfil a contract, to make complete, to fill a gap, to take over the part in place of someone who is absent—“that he might make up for you.” He was with Paul and again and again he filled up the deficiency of the absence of these people. The dramatic aorist states a present reality with the certitude of a past event. The idiom is a device for emphasis here, it is used for a result that has just been accomplished. Epaphroditus made up for the absence of the Philippians. The active voice: Epaphroditus produced the action of the verb. The subjunctive mood used with i(na introduces the concept of objective or goal.

“your lack” – u(sterhma does not means deficiency as such, but it means lack of fellowship, social life. They loved Paul very dearly also, and Paul loves their presence.

“of service” – a descriptive genitive from leitourgia. This word has been previously used for the ministry of Paul to the Philippians—study and teach, feeding the flock. But here it is reversed, the flock has a ministry to Epaphroditus and it is the warmth and love which they give to him. This is the service. Since the congregation cannot all come and spend time with Paul they have sent their best representative. This is not a rebuke or a censor but is an expression of love for the Philippian believers. The lack here is not money, they have spent a large amount. But their personal presence is not there and this is what he is mentioning. Yet, Epaphroditus did the job beautifully, taking up the slack for their personal presence not being there.

“toward me” is proj plus the accusative of e)gw, and it should be “face to face with me.”

Translation: “Because on account of the business of Christ he came close to dying, when he gambled his life, in order that he might make up for your lack of service to me.”

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[1] See the Doctrine of Spirituality.

[2] See the Doctrine of Happiness.

[3] See the Doctrine of Occupation with Christ.

[4] See the Doctrines of Resurrection, Ascension and Session of Jesus Christ.

[5] See the Doctrine of the Royal Family

[6] See the Doctrine of Motivation

[7] See the Doctrine of Morality.

[8] See the Doctrine of the Rapture

[9] See the Doctrine of Running.

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[G. L. 1]pressed