“considered equality with God not something to be grasped at.” After saying that Christ was in the form of God, Philippians 2:6 goes on to say that Christ “considered being equal with God not something to be grasped at.” Translated that way, the phrase is a powerful argument against the Trinity. If Jesus were God, then it would make no sense at all to say that he did not “grasp” at equality with God because no one grasps at equality with himself. It only makes sense to compliment someone for not seeking equality when he is not equal. Some Trinitarians say, “Well, he was not grasping for equality with the Father.” That is not what the verse says. It says Christ did not grasp at equality with God, which makes the verse nonsense if he were God.
Referring to Jesus,
Philippians 2:6 says, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage.” The King James Version (KJV) puts the verse this way: “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” The difference in wording here is due to the differing interpretations of the Greek word
harpagmon, which can be literally translated as “robbery” or “plunder.”
However, given the fact of Jesus’ deity, it’s probably better and more theologically accurate to understand the word as meaning “a thing to clutch” or “something to hang on to at all costs.”
What the apostle Paul is saying in
Philippians 2:6 is that Jesus did not try to “hang on to” or “clutch” His uniquely divine status and role as the Son of God in His incarnation. Rather,
He willingly let go of that and “emptied himself” (
Philippians 2:7, ESV)
in order to fulfill His Father’s will in becoming human.
Philippians 2:6 is a part of a larger passage (
Philippians 2:5–11) that highlights Jesus’ humility as He emptied Himself and became human. The passage has a rhythmic and poetic nature, and Bible scholars believe it to be an early hymn Christians used to confess and affirm Jesus’
divinity. Paul uses this poem as a call to believers to imitate Christ’s humility and service in their relationships with one another. In other words, Paul wanted them to act Christlike by being humble in their fellowship.
It is important to note that, while Jesus did not think it robbery to be equal with God in His incarnation, He did not cease being God. Jesus is fully God and one with the Father (
John 8:58;
10:30). He has always existed from eternity past. In fact,
Philippians 2:6 hints at Jesus’ eternal preexistence in saying that He always existed in the “form of God” (see also
John 1:1,
14). (follow along in Got Questions....
IOW... as part of the plan for humanity's salvation, our Savior needed to be flesh and blood for a time.
Now, as you mentioned the third part of the Godhead above...
Christ is and always has been the eternal Word of God, Who was and is and is to come the Almighty. In essence, form, character, and attributes He is fully God, and He remains the God of all gods and Light of all lights. The Son of God does not simply resemble God, but He is equal with the Father; equal in every aspect of His deity, His majesty, and His character. Christ is the incarnate Word, and the Word was made flesh and tabernacled among the people that He Himself had created; and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
Christ was and is and always will remain an equal member of the triune Godhead. He has and will always remain equal with the Father, which is an eternal status that can never be altered.
But for a time, He chose to lay aside the heavenly position that he had enjoyed with the Father for all eternity, and enter into His own creation as a member of the human race so that as Man, He could redeem the human race from their sin, and restore them into a right relationship with God, by faith.
Christ was not only equal with the Father in PERSON, but He was also equal with the Father in POSITION. Christ was positionally equal with the Father, but He chose to lay aside the eternal glory that He shared with the Father, for a time, and take upon Himself the form of a servant.
Although still fully God in Person, Christ chose to lay aside His glory POSITIONALLY. He set aside His heavenly garments of glory and dressed Himself in lowly humanity, in selfless humility, and gracious condescension, and He did it for our sake. It was on our account that Christ willingly set aside His heavenly position and His eternal glory so that by faith, we could be redeemed from slavery to sin and the penalty of death.
Because He was willing to lay aside His glory for us, we have been returned into fellowship with God and positioned in HIM through time and into eternity - by faith. Although Christ existed in the form of God, in essence, element, character, and attributes, He did not consider His great position of glory to be grasped hold of and held onto forever, for to do so would have rendered humanity forever separated from God.
Christ is equal with God in Person,
but He was willing to give up His heavenly position for a time because a race of fallen men needed to be redeemed, and there was no one else able to pay the price of sin for the lost and dying race of humanity.
And so for your sake and for mine, the Son of God Who existed in the form of God from eternity, did not regard equality with God to be a thing to be grasped and held onto, but laid it aside. He set aside His positional glory for your sake and for mine, to be born to die for our sins so that we might be reborn to live with Him in the glory that He enjoys with the Father, from all eternity.
Source:
https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/philippians-2-6
