What did Paul mean?

[Elijah John]

who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped

For debate:

What did Paul mean when he said Christ was "in the form of God"?

-Aren't we all made in the image of God?
-Did Paul believe that Christ was God? Or that Christ was God in disguise?

[onewithhim]

who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped

For debate:

What did Paul mean when he said Christ was "in the form of God"?

-Aren't we all made in the image of God?
-Did Paul believe that Christ was God? Or that Christ was God in disguise?

What "form" are humans in? We are physical beings, in the form of our original parent, Adam.

What form is God in? He is of spirit form. "God is a Spirit." (John 4:24) Therefore the "form" that Jesus was in and is in now is spirit. That is all it means. Angels are also spirit beings. They, too, are in the "form" of God.

Paul did not believe that Christ was God. If one reads any of his introductions to his letters to the various churches, one can discern that "God" and "Jesus Christ" are two distinct persons.

[2timothy316]

Paul did not believe that Christ was God. If one reads any of his introductions to his letters to the various churches, one can discern that "God" and "Jesus Christ" are two distinct persons.

Not only two distinct persons but two distinct levels of position. One being under the direction of the other. One being glorified and one glorifying the other. If Jesus "did not count equality with God" then Jesus is the lesser.

Simple terms.-
What the Bible is teaching: 1+1=2
What the trinity doctrine teaches: 1+1+1=1.

[Tart]

[Replying to 2timothy316]

Can not God be made up as separate distinguished parts, logically?

One Atom= Neutron + Proton + Electron
1=1+1+1 (yet the units are different)

Im getting all mathematical

did you know that 180 = Pi = 3.14... Logically valid

[2timothy316]

[Replying to 2timothy316]

Can not God be made up as separate distinguished parts, logically?

Parts are not people...I see what you did there.

God can't be three people, no more than you can be 3 distinct people.

Jehovah God is not made of atoms so your analogy doesn't apply. Atoms are no where near as complex as a being that can take the 'measurements of the heavens with a span of his hand.' - Isaiah 40:12

[ttruscott]

who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped

For debate:

What did Paul mean when he said Christ was "in the form of God"?

-Aren't we all made in the image of God?
-Did Paul believe that Christ was God? Or that Christ was God in disguise?

Form refers to His essential nature, image refers to our created nature of personhood with a free will, imhCo...

...(2) The word "form" (which, except for a casual use in Mark 16:12, is found only in this passage of the New Testament) is to be carefully distinguished from "fashion." There can be no doubt that in classical Greek it describes the actual specific character, which (like the structure of a material substance) makes each being what it is;

This acceptance of form as essential being is often found.

Then, when St. Paul tells us that Christ Jesus, being first in the form of God, took the form of a servant, the meaning must be that he possessed originally the essential attributes of Deity, and assumed in addition the essential attributes of humanity. He was perfect God; he became perfect [ly human.]

...a lacuna seems to have ended this paragraph with a lost word but a general acceptance of the meaning of form is suggested.

[bluethread]

I personally think that Paul is referring to Adonai taking human form. However, I do no think that the point of this passage is to establish that in detail. It is pointing out that Yeshua is our example and if anyone had a right to be dictatorial, it would have been He. Regardless of whether one thinks that Yeshua merely lived an exemplary life, or He was in fact Adonai, it should be agreed that Paul believed we should live lives of servitude and not privilege.

[imhereforyou]

who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped

For debate:

What did Paul mean when he said Christ was "in the form of God"?

-Aren't we all made in the image of God?
-Did Paul believe that Christ was God? Or that Christ was God in disguise?

The fact that people have to try to figure out what a dead man meant to begin with is troubling (say what you mean and mean what you say, as the saying goes).
Trying to deduce what is 'meant' from a multiple-edited text written in another language can be fun, but ultimately futile as we will never know what he 'meant' as he's not here to ask.

[onewithhim]

[Replying to 2timothy316]

Can not God be made up as separate distinguished parts, logically?

One Atom= Neutron + Proton + Electron
1=1+1+1 (yet the units are different)

Im getting all mathematical

did you know that 180 = Pi = 3.14... Logically valid

No. The Scripture says that the Father only is "God." When the Scripture refers to "God," it is referring to the Father alone. Jesus always called his Father "God," and his disciples called only the Father "God." God is not spoken of in the Scriptures as three persons. It is always the Father.

"There is actually to us one God, the Father." (I Corinthians 8:6)

[onewithhim]

I personally think that Paul is referring to Adonai taking human form. However, I do no think that the point of this passage is to establish that in detail. It is pointing out that Yeshua is our example and if anyone had a right to be dictatorial, it would have been He. Regardless of whether one thinks that Yeshua merely lived an exemplary life, or He was in fact Adonai, it should be agreed that Paul believed we should live lives of servitude and not privilege.

I see that people have a hard time believing that Christ can be anything but (1)a mere man or (2)God. One or the other. There is indeed a third choice: Christ was the Son of God, from heaven, and was not a mere man, nor was he God.