Commentary on the Epistle to the Philippians · John Calvin

009 - Verses 5-11

·24 min

Paul's words are taken slowly. Calvin begins with the command that the same mind be in believers which was also in Christ Jesus, and from that summons he moves into the doctrine of Christ's humiliation, where the one who is in the form of God does not clutch equality as if it were theft, but submits himself to abasement. The distinction is held firmly. To be in the form of God is not to seem divine only in outward appearance, but to possess the true majesty of God, while taking the form of a servant marks a real assumption of our nature for the work of service and obedience. He lingers over the terms. The phrase 'made himself of no reputation' is treated as a voluntary lowering, not a loss of deity, and the later language of likeness and fashion shows that Christ was brought down to the common condition of mankind without ceasing to be what he was. Nothing is left loose. Calvin insists that the passage is speaking of the manner in which Christ showed himself in the world, and not of a phantom or a merely apparent humanity, so outward abasement and true divine identity remain together without contradiction. Marcion does not survive this reading. The Marcionites are dismissed for drawing childish conclusions from similarity of condition, as if likeness in outward manner could cancel reality of nature, when the point is precisely that Christ was truly man and yet unlike mere man. Scripture is then pressed into service. Romans, Corinthians, Matthew, and Isaiah are summoned to show the same pattern: Christ suffers in the weakness of the flesh, comes to minister, is named the servant, and displays the image of God even while bearing a servant's condition. The argument keeps tightening. Calvin also notes that genomenos is taken as meaning appointed or constituted, which lets him say that Christ was brought to the level of humanity in appearance and conduct, not stripped of the glory that belonged to him. A bad allegory is rejected. The attempt to make this verse speak of purgatory is refused, because Paul is not describing a temporary cleansing fire, but the humiliation and exaltation of Christ in relation to judgment and final manifestation. The end of the sentence matters. When Paul says that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father, Calvin reads the clause as a statement that the Father's majesty shines through the Son, so divine honor is not divided but displayed. The whole section stays doctrinal. It ends with a severe and ordered Christology that answers objections, defines its terms, and keeps the glory of God before the reader at every turn.

As heard by us

A disciplined reading of Christ's humiliation that keeps doctrine and doxology joined.

Calvin treats Philippians 2:5-11 as a disciplined account of Christ's humiliation: the one in the form of God does not hold on to equality, but takes servant-form, true humanity, and outward abasement while remaining truly man.

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Why you'd press play

You want a slow, text-bound reading of Philippians 2:5-11, with Calvin pressing Christ's humiliation and exaltation rather than smoothing it into a quick gloss.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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