Jesus Christ

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Paul states that Jesus has power to subject everything to himself, implying that there is no POWER or AUTHORITY that can resist him or thwart his purpose. By this same power, Paul says, Jesus will transform our bodies to correspond to Christ’s glorious body. Thus it is quite clear that, at least as far as Paul is concerned, Jesus IS God Almighty.

Let us now summarize Paul’s TEACHING on the PERSON of Christ:

1. Paul’s statement that the Church or believers are IN Jesus refers to believers having intimate fellowship with Christ. Yet the only way for Christ to have fellowship with all true believers is if he is omnipresent and omniscient.
2. Likewise, for Christ to be able to bestow grace upon all believers implies that he is omnipotent, having inexhaustible means at his disposable.
3. Jesus guides and directs the acts and travels of believers, which once again shows that he is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient.
4. Jesus is God’s Son.
5. Jesus is Sovereign Lord in the Sense of being Yahweh.
6. Jesus is God over all.
7. God’s Holy Spirit is also Jesus’ Holy Spirit, the Spirit belongs to the Son as well.
8. Jesus is the Agent and Sustainer of creation to whom all things belong.
9. Jesus is the preexistent ROCK who provided for Israel during their desert wandering.
10. Jesus died, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven.
11. More than five hundred witnesses saw the resurrected Christ.
12. Jesus saves believers through his death and resurrection.
13. Jesus will return to the earth from heaven where he will save his people from God’s wrath while bringing judgment upon the unbelievers.
14. God will resurrect the DEAD through Jesus, meaning that Jesus will raise the dead as God’s agent.
15. The OT Day of Yahweh is the Day of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Day in which Christ returns to usher in the universal resurrection and judgment. Thus Jesus is doing what the OT says Yahweh shall do at the end of the age.

(Continued)

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With all these foregoing points in mind, I want to conclude my discussion of Pauline Christology by citing the following hymn:

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though being [huperchon] in the FORM of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the FORM of a servant, being born in the LIKENESS of men. And being found in HUMAN FORM, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point
of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11)

In this hymn, Paul refers to Christ as a PREEXISTENT figure who, even PRIOR to taking on HUMAN form, had ALREADY EXISTED in God’s FORM, having the VERY NATURE of God. The hymn celebrates Christ’s willingness to SET ASIDE his DIVINE glory and rights in order to become a SLAVE so as to accomplish God’s PURPOSE of dying a shameful death on the cross.

After having accomplished God’s purpose, Christ was exalted from a state of humility to the highest position of AUTHORITY in all reality. He is given the AUTHORITY which he ALREADY HAD by virtue of BEING God IN NATURE, but which he VOLUNTARILY SET ASIDE. The AUTHORITY he HAD, and WHICH he THEN RECEIVED AGAIN AFTER HAVING RELINQUISHED it...IS the AUTHORITY of YAHWEH or LORD. This is what the hymn means when it says that Christ was given a name above all names, NAME here BEING EQUIVALENT to AUTHORITY, that he was given the authority which is above all other authorities and rule:

“and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, [far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”] (Ephesians 1:19-21)

The hymn even quotes an OT text referring to the sovereignty and supremacy of Yahweh to highlight this point:

"Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: ['To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.'"] (Isaiah 45:22-23)

(Continued)

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Paul is essentially saying that bowing the knee before Jesus and confessing him as Lord is actually a fulfillment of what Yahweh said would happen in the Isaiah text just cited.

Most think that Paul wrote but did not create these lines; they are probably a prePauline hymn that the Philippians knew and that Paul may have taught them at the time of his first visit.

Notice the parallel between form of God and form of a slave. To be in the form of a slave is to be a slave; likewise, to be in the form of God is to be God. Having a slave’s form means to be a slave, having God’s form means to be God in nature. As the late NT scholar William Barclay put it:

"… It is not doubtful that Paul thought of Jesus Christ in terms of God. He says of Jesus that he was in the form of God. (Phil. 2:6). He then goes on to say that Jesus was found in human form (Phil. 2:8, RSV), where the AV renders that he was found in fashion as a man. The RSV somewhat misleadingly translates two Greek words by the English word form, whereas the AV correctly distinguishes between them. In the first instance the word is morphe, which means THE UNCHANGING AND UNCHANGEABLE ESSENTIAL NATURE of a thing; the second word is schema, which means the changing and altering external form of a person or a thing. For instance, a man has always the unchanging morphe of manhood; that is what he essentially is; but he will have
different schemata, different outward forms, in babyhood, childhood, youth, maturity and old age. A tulip, a rose, a chrysanthemum, a marigold, a daffodil, a delphinium all have the same morphe, the same essential nature, for they are all flowers; but they have very different outward schemata, outward forms. Paul says that Jesus was in the morphe of God; that is to say, the essential nature of Jesus IS THE SAME AS THE ESSENTIAL NATURE OF GOD; but he says that Jesus was found in the schema of a man; that is to say, he temporarily took the form of manhood upon him. The NEB renders the Greek well here. In translating the word morphe it renders the passage: 'The divine nature was his from the first.' In translating the word schema it says that he was 'revealed in human shape.' This passage leaves us in no doubt that Paul believed that the nature of Jesus is the nature of God.”

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A.T. Robertson noted:

Being (uparcwn). Rather, "existing," present active participle of uparcw. In the form of God (en morph qeou). Morph means the essential attributes as shown in the form. In his preincarnate state Christ possessed the attributes of God and so appeared to those in heaven who saw him. Here is a clear statement by Paul of the deity of Christ. A prize (arpagmon). Predicate accusative with hghsato. Originally words in (-moß) signified the act, not the result (-ma). The few examples of arpagmoß (Plutarch, etc.) allow it to be understood as equivalent to arpagma, like baptismoß and baptisma. That is to say Paul means a prize to be held on to rather than something to be won ("robbery"😉. To be on an EQUALITY with God (to einai isa qeoi). Accusative articular infinitive object of hghsato, "the being equal with God" (associative instrumental case qewi after isa). Isa is adverbial use of neuter plural with einai as in Revelation 21:16. Emptied himself (eauton ekenwse). First aorist active indicative of kenow, old verb from kenoß, empty. Of what did Christ empty himself? Not of his divine nature. That was impossible. He continued to be the Son of God. There has arisen a great controversy on this word, a Kenosiß doctrine. Undoubtedly Christ gave up his environment of glory. He took upon himself limitations of place (space) and of knowledge and of power, though still on earth retaining more of these than any mere man. It is here that men should show restraint and modesty, though it is hard to believe that Jesus limited himself by error of knowledge and certainly not by error of conduct. He was without sin, though tempted as we are. "He stripped himself of the
insignia of majesty"

This then is doubtless a hymn of the early church. In the 19th century some thought that an editor added the hymn; now scholarly opinion agrees that Paul quoted it and that the hymn is thus older than the letter…

The foregoing conclusively shows that Paul believed Jesus Christ is YAHWEH GOD who set aside his AUTHORITY in order to become a MAN...only to receive it AGAIN after perfectly accomplishing God's purpose of DYING and then RISING again to immortal glory. [Sam Shamoun]

Marchello

More bible quotes that prove not one damn thing. And don't get caught up on the word "prove". You've not enlightened either. Just babbled into the fan. Which leaves you covered in piss.

Holy ************ that is spam.

Originally posted by Capt_Fantastic
More bible quotes that prove not one damn thing. And don't get caught up on the word "prove". You've not enlightened either. Just babbled into the fan. Which leaves you covered in piss.

***N/A

Marchello

Originally posted by Alliance
Holy ************ that is spam.

*** 💃

Marchello

Marchello are you talking to yourself......I sorry but I won't read such long pages.

*["You live life only once."]

***Those who live life ONCE will DIE TWICE...those who DIE ONCE will LIVE TWICE.

Marchello

💃 ❌

Originally posted by debbiejo
Marchello are you talking to yourself......I sorry but I won't read such long pages.

***I'm sorry to hear that...but, of course, I realize that you don't have a long attention span. However, I'll try to accomodate you at a later date.

Marchello

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
Geek Mythology

But there is no better mythology then Christian mythology. Jesus and twelve guys and only one girl among them. 😱

"That he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures,
And that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me."
I Corinthians 15:4-8

* you're a Buddhist, right? stick to Buddhism so you will not embarrass yourself with your silly opinions... 😉

Originally posted by peejayd
* you're a Buddhist, right? stick to Buddhism so you will not embarrass yourself with your silly opinions... 😉

I assumed your aim would be to convert him. You gave up on him already? That's not very Christian of you 😛

* not my intention... i'm not forcing anyone... he's wrong about Jesus only having 12 male followers and 1 female... 😉

Originally posted by Marchello
***Thank you my dear Sister -in-Christ Jesus!

Soon our Beloved will return for us...for He NO LONGER hangs from a cross for us in His humiliation...but is RISEN FROM THE DEAD. When He RETURNS He will come as LORD OF LORDS and KING of KINGS [to the glory of God the Father]...and will CRUSH the necks of His ENEMIES [rejectors] and make them His FOOTSTOOL [Psalm 110:1].

Marchello

Kiss the sun lest he be angry and all that? Sorry but all that talk of neck crushers seems rather unJesus like. And it applies to the people who didn't believe yes?

***Ignorance is NOT a TERMINAL [even if it is WILLFUL]...however, STUPIDITY is.

Marchello

So when is your funeral? Sorry, couldn't help myself.

Neither ignorance nor stupidity is terminal when a person has an open mind and is prepared to learn. However when one is as closed minded and so unwilling to listen to others views, such as you are, then you are in trouble.

Ignorance is one thing. Willful ignorance and clinging desperately to it and using it offensively against those prepared to learn is another entirely.

***You FEAR the Bible for you CANNOT refute it and are IMPOTENT in your arguments against it...and it reveals WHO and WHAT you really ARE...a SINNER who does NOT want to REPENT of his SIN before God...and WARS against God...to wit: "For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a DISCERNER of the THOUGHTS and INTENTS of the heart. Neither is there any CREATURE that is NOT manifest in His sight: but ALL things are NAKED and OPENED unto the EYES of Him with whom we have to do" [Hebrews 4:12,13].

You must have a different version to me. I fear no book. A book is neutral - neither evil or good. It is only the consumer that makes it live. I haven't found anything in the Bible that makes it sing as it apparently does for you (but then I am well balanced so...) The thing people need to understand - religious people of a certain type - is that people who don't believe aren't being stubborn. They haven't been shown the truth and then willingly turn away. No. They have heard the claims and found them without truth. They might have found truth in another religion, or with humanity. They are Atheists of Muslims or Hindus or Buddhists.

Understand these people aren;t evil. They aren't misguided. Your religion does not speak to them. It does not touch them. They go where it does. They go where they see the truth. If your God is so IMPOTENT that he can't make his people see his "love" then he needs to OPEN his EYES and see that people don't see Truth in the Bible. And they are right in not seeing truth there.

***You have a FILTHY mouth!...I suggest [for your own well-being] that you TEMPER your mouth...for someday someone may put his arm down your throat and pull out your tonsils. Too, we don't need that kind of "talk" on this board or any other board...for that kind of "talk" reveals the CHARACTER of the one that uses it: "...how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the ABUNDANCE of the HEART the MOUTH speaketh. A GOOD man out of the GOOD treasure of His HEART bringeth forth GOOD THINGS; and an EVIL man out of the EVIL treasure bringeth EVIL things" [Matthew 12:34,35].

Way to not respond to the question of why God created the tree in the first place and put it in reach if he didn't want Adam and Eve to eat from it.

By the same token you never quote the Bible (which is a source) so what is the logic in that?

It is a two-way street pal. You bellyache over the fact that we don't quote other sources other than the Bible (which is untrue), but yet you quote everything but the Bible. You can't see the hypocrisy and contradiction in your complaint? I have seen other Christians (including myself) quote sources other than the Bible so to charge Marchello with not doing so is a lie. Now, if you have quoted the Bible then disregard what I have said and let the games (as it were) begin.

A source of questionable historical and and moral value with validity based on faith? There is good reason the Bible should serve only as an innitial source surrounded by other sources to support its claims. But that is the kicker - it has very few other texts supporting it.

***You're one sick puppy! The only satisfaction that you are acquainted with is "self-gratification." Too, your're a coward and hide behind the anonymity of the internet...the only place you can get ANY recognition for ANYTHING. Guys like you COULDN'T "make out" if you had a pocket full of hundred dollar bills in a house of ill repute. I wonder why the Administrater of this board permits guys like you to make these kind of comments to women on this board. You're FILTH...pure FILTH!

Ok..... by any chance to you only eat raw turnips? And are related to someone called Whiteadder? (Yes, I am referring to Blackadder's puritan Aunt and Uncle here.)

Originally posted by peejayd
"That he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures,
And that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me."
I Corinthians 15:4-8

* you're a Buddhist, right? stick to Buddhism so you will not embarrass yourself with your silly opinions... 😉

You have been lied too; Christianity is just a religion, no different from any other religion. You will never see Jesus return, remember that when you are an old man.

* same as yours, Buddhism is also a religion no different from any other... i believe in the Christianity written in the Bible, not the self-professed "christians" nowadays...

* i believe Jesus will return, and when he does, i know you will remember me... 😉

Mr. Marchello,

You took me, to a dozen of pages for just a single question. Yet, you'd never answered it.

You know what, it's not a question to me if Jesus existed "in the form [MORPHE] of God". Because He truly was in the form of God. You implied earlier that the MORPHE used in that particular passage refers to the "inner essence or reality" which is... ACTUALLY not.

The natural essence of God is Spirit. I know you know that. If we take MORPHE as the "essencial nature" which is applied to Christ, He should have appeared or existed as Spirit too. But He's not. The MORPHE, therefore, does not refer to the "inner essence" of Christ but rather His "outward appearance". So when we say Jesus existed in the "form of God", it would simply mean He existed similarly to God's certain qualities or attribute which is clearly seen in Jesus' external attributes. That's the very reason why MORPHE is used there. It is not to refer to the "inner essence" because God's and Jesus' "essential nature" is distinct to each other.

Yet, you still cited that MORPHE is used as "inner essence or reality" that's why I asked you and still am asking you to...

Show me other verses that used MORPHE to prove your allegations that it is indeed referring to "inner essence or reality" and I'll show you Biblically that it is used to refer to "outward appearance".

An honest answer directs me to the answer... not to useless bunch of pages.

Originally posted by peejayd
* same as yours, Buddhism is also a religion no different from any other... i believe in the Christianity written in the Bible, not the self-professed "christians" nowadays...

* i believe Jesus will return, and when he does, i know you will remember me... 😉

You fail to understand what I am talking about. You claim that your religion is special, I do not make that claim about my religion. You are waiting for a dead man to return, I clearly understand that Buddha is dead, and am not waiting for anyone to return. Believe what you wish, but answer me this one question: If your religion is so true, then why do you need to attack other people for believing differently?