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It depends on what the meaning of sinless is.

SD: “ Could he [jesus] have sinned?
Godrulz: “I believe He could have, but did not…” link

You claim:

What do you mean by YHWH?

Heb 4:15

[Making Himself Equal with God by John MacArthur] “Jesus further outraged the unbelieving Jews by taking for Himself the covenant name of God, "I am" (Yahweh). That name was so sacred to the Jews that they refused to even pronounce it, lest they take it vain (cf. Exod. 20:7). In John 8:24 Jesus warned that those who refuse to believe He is Yahweh will perish eternally: "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." (The word "He" is not in the original Greek.) Later in that chapter "Jesus said to [His hearers], 'Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am'" (v. 58). Unlike many modern deniers of His deity, the Jews knew exactly what He was claiming, as their subsequent attempt to stone Him for blasphemy makes clear (v. 59). In John 13:19 Jesus told His disciples that when what He predicted came to pass, they would believe that He is Yahweh. Even His enemies, coming to arrest Him in Gethsemane, were overwhelmed by His divine power and fell to the ground when Jesus said "I am" (John 18:5-8).

All of the above lines of evidence converge on one inescapable point: Jesus Christ claimed absolute equality with God. Thus He could say, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30); "He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me" (John 12:45); and "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (14:9-10). And thus we can conclude that "in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9), and we can worship Him accordingly as "our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus" (Titus 2:13)…” Full text: Making Himself Equal with God

Why don’t you answer basic questions?

No man is without sin (1 Ki 8:46; Ec 7:20). Christ alone was without sin (2 Co 5:21; Heb 4:15; 7:26; 1 Jn 3:5).

When we agree, you can be sure I'll tell you that we are in agreement (Eph 4:14). Stop cozying up to Christians and pretending that you are one of them (Ga 5:9). "There must be added to those conditions the inner and always unforced "yes" or "no" by which the person responds to the situation..." Full text

"Sinless means that Jesus never sinned. Hairless means that someone does not have hair, not that they never did have hair or that they may never have hair in the future...[A]nd your accusation that my view makes Jesus a sinner is patently false..."

Your Jesus is not the Jesus of scripture (Eph 4:14, 2 Pe 2:1). My Jesus is indivisible from the godhead (Jn 1:1-3). Your "Jesus" will never get past Jn 1:1-3 like every cult and every 'ism.

"... [Y]ou don't understand theological debate and are relying on emotion, not intellect."

"I am skimming over the rest of your post because you are ignoring my clear answers to your circular questions..."

"Get back to me when you get a thinking cap instead of just goose bumps or quoting better teachers than yourself..."

Are you infallible?

Support your claims with more than your good looks.

Support your claims

with scripture (Ac 17:11).

See:

The Incarnation of the Triune God Philippians 2:6-11 by John MacArthur Pt 1

5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Php 2:5-8

[The Incarnation of the Triune God Philippians 2:6-11 by John MacArthur] "...[L]ook at the end of verse 6, "He did not think it was something to be grasped to be equal with God." Now what does that mean? Listen to this. Satan was a created angel. Satan was created by God, he was inferior to God, he was less than God. But in Isaiah 14, he said, "I will...I will...I will...I will...I will," five times and the substance of what he was saying was "I will be like...whom?...God." Satan thought it something to be grasped at to be equal with God. He thought it something to seize, something to grasp at. Jesus didn't. Why? He was already equal to God. There was nothing for Him to seek. There was nothing for Him to grasp. He is in contradistinction to Satan.

Second way to approach it, the verb that is used there means to clutch or to snatch or to grasp tightly. And it can also be interpreted this way, "He thought it not something to cling to," not so much that He didn't have it and He snatched it, but that He had it and He might lose it, so He clutched it. But Jesus didn't hang onto this thing fearing He would lose it. Why? Because He was essentially God and could never cease being God. So it wasn't something He had to snatch to get and it wasn't something He had to hang onto to keep. Do you see? It is a classic statement affirming that Jesus is God in His inner nature. So much so that He didn't seek it. And so much so that He never feared He'd lose it. He's God. That is the great heart and soul of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But then this, verse 7, "But He--the Authorized said--made Himself of no reputation." The Greek says this, "He emptied Himself," kenoo from which we get the theological term "the kenosis," the self-emptying. He emptied Himself. The verb means to pour out everything until it's all gone. He poured out Himself. He emptied Himself. He divested Himself. He rendered up.

Now what is this saying? Well, what I pointed out in the very first statement I made, as you begin to move through the steps of the incarnation, first of all the Lord Jesus Christ abandoned a sovereign position. The sovereign position is affirmed in verse 6 and the abandoning of it is in verse 7. Now notice that I did not say He abandoned His deity. He did not give up His deity. He did not give up His divine attributes. He abandoned the position. He could never give those things up, they were His essential being. And if He ceased being God, He would be no one. And God could not cease anyway for He's eternal..." The Incarnation of the Triune God Philippians 2:6-11 by John MacArthur

Response to comment [from pinko commie]: "Jesus himself denies that he himself is good..."

You weren't expecting an argument from GodRulzRandomThoughts

were you? 2 Pe 2:1

And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments [Matt. 19:16–17].

"Notice how this young man approaches the Lord Jesus. He addresses Him as Good Master. He is willing to concede that He is good, and probably the enemies of Jesus would not have gone that far.

“Why callest thou me good?” I am sure you can see what our Lord was after. When He said, “There is none good but one, that is, God,” He was saying in effect, “If you see that I am good, it is because I am God.” He is directing his thinking so that he might accept Him as the Christ, the Son of God." McGee, J. Vernon: Thru the Bible Commentary. electronic ed. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1981, S. 4:105

5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Php 2:5-8

“…[W]hat then did He [jesus] give up? What did He pour out? What did He empty out? Some people have tried to say He emptied out His deity. That's ludicrous because then He would cease to exist, that's who He was. He could never lose that. Some writers put it, I think, this way, He stripped Himself of His privilege. He gave up the insignias of His majesty and so forth.

But let me put it to you very simply. I can tell you in the New Testament what He gave up because the New Testament tells us exactly what He gave up. First of all, He gave up His glory. He gave up the manifestation of His glory. He gave up the radiance of His eternal effulgence and brightness, the full manifestation of all of His attributes in glory. That's why in John 17:5 He says, "And now, Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was." Give Me back the glory which I once had. Which means at that point He didn't have it. He veiled His glory in human flesh. He set aside the full expression of His glory.

Secondly, He gave up His honor. He gave up His honor. Isaiah 53 says, "He was despised. He was rejected." The New Testament tells us He was hated, He was mocked, He was spit on. His beard was plucked. He was defamed. He was dishonored. He was discredited. He was accused. He was murdered. He gave up His honor clearly. And the prophet Isaiah said in His despising and rejecting there was no beauty in Him that men should desire Him.

Thirdly, He gave up His riches. Second Corinthians 8:9 says, "He who was rich for our sakes became...what?...poor that we through His poverty might be made rich."

Fourthly, He gave up His favorable relation to the Father. And He did that only in a moment of time when He died on the cross and said, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" But He lived with the anxiety of coming to that point through all His life.

He also gave up His independent exercise of authority. He said, "I will do only that which the Father shows Me. My meat is to do the Father's will. What the Father says I will do. What I see the Father I will do." In other words, He gave up His independent exercise of divine authority. He gave up His very special relationship to God. He gave up His riches. He gave up His honor. He gave up His glory. He emptied all of those things out and yet He continued to be God. It wasn't that He lost any of His divine attributes, it is that He chose not to use them, that He gave up the prerogative, or the privilege, of using them.

Was He still God? Yes, that's who He was. It's a deep mystery, people, by the way, and I can't fathom it all. John Milton wrote, "That glorious form, that light insufferable He laid aside and here with us to be forsook the courts of everlasting day and chose with us a darksome house of mortal clay." He was God, but He gave up all His privileges. Boy, does that say volumes about His character? Does that say volumes about His love?

A reporter was interviewing a successful job placement counselor who had put people in positions and they had succeeded so well. He had such a high rate of success that the reporter said, "What's your secret? How do you evaluate people? How can you really find out what a person is like?"

He said this, "If you want to know what a person is like, don't give him responsibilities. Give him privileges. You give him responsibilities and most everyone will fulfill responsibilities if you intimidate them enough or pay them enough. But if you want to find out the real character of a person, give him a privilege. A person with real character and real selflessness and real leadership will use his privileges to help others and to build the organization. A lesser man will use his privileges only to promote himself."

Jesus had all the privileges of glory and He had no obligation to us. He was equal with God. And yet it says so much about His character that He chose to use His privileges to build the Father's Kingdom and to reach lost sinners.

So, like a king who takes off his robes of majesty and puts on the garment of a beggar, the Son of God abandoned a sovereign position, second point, He accepted a servant's place. He accepted a servant's place. Back to verse 7, "He took upon Him the form of a servant." When He became a man He didn't become a king as a man, or a great ruler, or great leader, or great master, He became a servant. The moment that He divested Himself of His robes of majesty, He donned the servant's apron. This is exactly as the Old Testament prophet had said, Isaiah 52 verse 13 said He would be a servant. Hebrews 10, "I'm come to do Thy will, O Father..." Full text: The Incarnation of the Triune God Philippians 2:6-11 by John MacArthur

What do you mean by God-Man? Jn 1:1-3

Christ’s nature is immutable (Ps. 16:10, Isa 11:4, 5, Mal 3:6).

5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Php 2:5-8

[The Incarnation of the Triune God Philippians 2:6-11 by John MacArthur] “…[N]otice again in verse 7 that He wasn't just acting like a servant. He wasn't just pretending to be a servant. He wasn't just playing the part of a servant. He really became a servant. Verse 7, "And being...look at this...in the form, or having taken upon Him the form," and there's the word morphe, He took on Him the inner essential nature of a servant. He became a real servant, a true servant, a genuine servant. Luke 22:27, "I am in the midst of you as one who serves," He said. Mark 10:45, "The Son of Man is come not to be served but to serve and give His life a ransom." John 13, the disciples had dirty feet and He put on a towel and He washed their feet. And then He said the servant is not greater than His lord.

We see Him in service all the time. And the ultimate act of service when He died on a cross to save sinners. He served His Father. His Father invited Him to come into the world as a servant to work out the plan of redemption, and He willingly became that servant. So, truly He abandoned the sovereign position and accepted a servant's place.

Thirdly, He approached a sinful people. He approached a sinful people. In His perfection He was willing to be a servant to the Father. In His perfect harmony with the Father He was willing to be a servant. That service meant that He had to approach a sinful people. He had to enter this sin-cursed planet. He had to render His service here on this earth. He couldn't do it from outer space. He couldn't do it from the edge of heaven. He had to come into this world and He had to touch sinful man at his own level. So that abandoning a sovereign position and adopting or accepting a servant's place meant approaching a sinful people.

Look again at verse 7. "He was made in the likeness of men and found in fashion as a man." That was the only way it could be done. He had to become a man. By the way, it says in the Authorized "was made in the likeness of men." The word "was made" is probably not the best translation. It is a participle of the verb ginomai, ginominos(?) which means "becoming." He was becoming in the likeness of men. And the idea there is not that He was created then, but that He always was God but He became a man. He preexisted as eternally as God is eternal. He wasn't made then. He was then becoming a man. He had always been in existence. So the proper use of that verb indicates a change, becoming something. And it is saying that Jesus who always was in the form of God was becoming in the likeness of men. And it was a process. He was born and He grew in wisdom and stature. He was becoming in the likeness of men.

By the way, the word "likeness" is so important. The first part of the word is the word homo which means "the same," homogeneous, something that is the same. And what it's saying is He was becoming the same as men. He was in every sense in the sameness as men. He was a genuine man. He had the essential attributes of humanness. He wasn't just God in a shell, He was fully man, in all parts and dimensions, a genuine man with real humanity. He had everything that all men have except for one thing...what was it? Sin. But that doesn't mean He wasn't a man. Adam was a man before he was a sinner. And you and I will be glorified men throughout all eternity when our sin is put behind us. And there are times in our lives when we're not sinning. So to be a man does not necessarily mean you must sin. And Christ did not. The Bible is clear, He was without sin, but He was no less a man. In fact, if I may be so bold to suggest, He was all that a man could be that we could never know a man to be because of His sinlessness.

So, He was a genuine man. He was fully man in the essence of His humanity, at the deepest point. He was man.

But go to verse 8. He also was found in the fashion of a man. Not only was He a genuine man and deeply and truly in His nature all that a man is, but He also took on the outward form of a man. And here's the word schema, the fashion of man. He didn't come into the first century with a twentieth century outfit, talking a twentieth century language. He didn't drop like some visitor from outer space. He was born of a Jewish mother. He lived in a little village of Nazareth. He ate the way they ate. He talked the language they talked. He transported Himself the way they did. He wore the clothes they wore, took care of Himself the way they took care of themselves. He ate what they ate. He drank what they drank. In other words, He took on the scheme of their life, the customs of their culture.

So by personal experience, He adapted to the outer manifestation of the time in which He lived. He was man at the deepest part of His nature. And He adapted to man in that climate and that culture and that time and experienced all of their experiences, fully God, fully man. The mystery of the incarnation and sinless all the while.

Don't think of Jesus as less than fully human. He was fully human. Did people come into this world through the natural process of birth, through the womb of a mother? So did He. Had others been wrapped in swaddling clothes? So was He. Had others grown up? So did He. Did others have brothers and sisters? He did. Did others learn a trade and work? So did He. Were other men at times hungry and thirsty and weary and asleep? So was He. Were others grieved and angry? So was He. Did others weep? So did He. Did others rejoice? So did He. Were others destined to die? So did He. Did others suffer pain? So did He. Were others loved and hated? So was He. He was a man in the form and the fashion..." Full text: The Incarnation of the Triune God Philippians 2:6-11 by John MacArthur

"In other words, you're saying Jesus deliberately lied to us in the Gospels when he said no one was good, except God. Nice try but it won't wash to those who can read Jesus' words for themselves without any Monday Morning quarterback explanations needed."

He didn't lie.

"Mt 19:17 Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One. Jesus was not disclaiming His own deity, but rather teaching the young man that all but God are sinners. This young man’s most serious spiritual defect was his reluctance to confess his own utter spiritual bankruptcy...

...Mt 5:3 Blessed. The word lit. means “happy, fortunate, blissful.” Here it speaks of more than a surface emotion. Jesus was describing the divinely-bestowed well-being that belongs only to the faithful. The Beatitudes demonstrate that the way to heavenly blessedness is antithetical to the worldly path normally followed in pursuit of happiness. The worldly idea is that happiness is found in riches, merriment, abundance, leisure, and such things. The real truth is the very opposite. The Beatitudes give Jesus’ description of the character of true faith. poor in spirit. The opposite of self-sufficiency. This speaks of the deep humility of recognizing one’s utter spiritual bankruptcy apart from God. It describes those who are acutely conscious of their own lostness and hopelessness apart from divine grace (cf. 9:12; Luke 18:13)."
lit. literally
MacArthur, John Jr: The MacArthur Study Bible. electronic ed. Nashville : Word Pub., 1997, c1997, S. Mt 5:3

5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Php 2:5-8

[The Incarnation of the Triune God Philippians 2:6-11 by John MacArthur] "...I think it's the Christmas carol "Away in a Manger" that says, "The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, but little Lord Jesus no crying He makes." You mean to tell me that because He was God He didn't cry? All babies cry. It isn't necessarily a sign of sin. He cried when He was a man, why can't He cry when He's a baby? "Hast thou been hungry, child of mine? I, too, have needed bread. For forty days I tasted not till by the angels fed. Hast thou been thirsty? On the cross I suffered thirst for thee. I've promised to supply thy need, my child, come to Me. When thou art sad and tears fall fast, My heart goes out to thee, for I wept o'er Jerusalem, the place so dear to Me. And when I came to Lazarus' tomb, I wept. My heart was sore. I'll comfort thee when thou dost weep till sorrows are all o'er." Sure He wept. He was human in all the fullness of humanness.

So He abandoned the sovereign position. He took a servant's place. He approached a sinful people. He became one of us. Paul Harvey tells a very beautiful story that illustrates this truth.

It was Christmas eve in the midwest. There was a man who had been in a family where his wife and his children were Christians but he was not. And he rejected it. He sat home that Christmas eve in front of the fire. It was cold out and the snow was blowing. His wife and the little children had gone to the chapel in the nearby village for a Christmas eve service to honor the Christ they loved. He sat by the fire reading the paper.

All of a sudden he heard a loud and repeated thumping. He thought someone was banging on the door. He went to the door and opened it but found no one was there. By the time he got settled back into his chair, he heard it again and again. And he was bewildered as to what was causing it until he realized that something seemed to be smashing against the window. And so he went to the drapes and he pulled the drapes aside and to his amazement, a flock of birds was flying into the window. A snowstorm, you see, had blown in. And the birds had been caught away from their shelter and they couldn't find their way back. They couldn't fight the wind. They saw the lighted window and the warmth of the light had attracted them. And they were literally flying into the glass trying to get to the light to get warm. They would freeze to death, you see, if they didn't find some shelter.

Well, the man who had refused to go with his family to the Christmas eve service because he had no interest in the Christ of Christmas was all of a sudden very compassionate for these poor birds. And so he wondered how he could help them. And so he opened the door and went out in the cold and tried to chase them away so that they wouldn't kill themselves against the window. And then he ran to the barn and he threw the doors open and he whistled and he shooed them and did everything he could to get them to fly to the barn, they wouldn't do it. He even went so far as to take some corn and some bread and make a big trail from the window to the barn. And they wouldn't follow it.

In frustration, he said to himself, "If I could just communicate with them. If I could just tell them that I don't want to hurt them, that there's warmth and there's shelter and that they'd need to stop beating themselves to death against the glass. But I'm a man and they're birds and we don't speak the same language. Oh, if I could just become a bird, I think I could tell them."

And then it hit him. And in that moment, said Paul Harvey, the whole meaning of Christmas dawned on that man. Mankind had been beating itself to death against the barrier that kept him from the warmth of God's love until somebody became a man and told us the way.

That's the Christmas story. He who was fully God, did not cling to His privileges but laid them aside, became a servant and approached a sinful people..." Full text: The Incarnation of the Triune God Philippians 2:6-11 by John MacArthur

"You're not reading the words as they stand but are making up an interpretation that can only come from one lying. In effect you are calling Jesus a liar as you won't accept his very words and want to twist them backwards to mean their opposite so that it fits Paul's gospel and not Jesus' words. Of course Paul will back up Paul's theology and that is why you have to go to the Source and not the usurper apostle infecting Christianity with his own ideas."

"Mt 19:16-22. A man who was young (v. 20), wealthy (v. 22) and a ruler (Luke 18:18; perhaps of the Sanhedrin) came and asked Jesus, Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life? This ruler was not asking how he could earn salvation. Instead, he wondered how he could be assured of entering Messiah’s kingdom. He wanted to know what “good thing” (work) would demonstrate that he was righteous and therefore qualified for the kingdom. Jesus replied, There is only One who is good, namely, God. Perfection is required (Matt. 5:48; cf. 19:21); therefore one must be as good as God. He must have God’s righteousness, which comes through faith in Him (Rom. 4:5). Perhaps Jesus then waited for a response from the ruler to see if he would affirm his belief that Jesus is God, that Jesus, being one with the Father, is good (agathos, “intrinsically good”).

When the man did not reply, Jesus indicated that life (i.e., life in God’s kingdom) can be entered only if one gives evidence that he is righteous. Since the official standard of righteousness was the Law of Moses, Jesus told the man to obey the commandments. The ruler was perceptive for he immediately asked, Which ones? Other standards of righteousness were being promoted by the Pharisees, who had added to Moses’ commandments far beyond God’s intention. The young man was in effect asking Jesus, “Must I keep all the Pharisees’ commandments?” Jesus replied by repeating several of the commandments from the second table of the Law, the 5th through the 9th commandments forbidding murder . . . adultery, stealing, giving false testimony, and also the positive command to honor one’s parents (Ex. 20:12-16). Jesus did not mention the 10th commandment (Ex. 20:17) concerning coveting, but He did add the summary statement, Love your neighbor as yourself (cf. Lev. 19:18; Matt. 22:39; Rom. 13:9; Gal. 5:14; James 2:8).

The young man affirmed he had kept all these things, but he still sensed a lack (Matt. 19:20). Whether he had truly kept these commands, only God knows. The young man believed he had and yet he knew something was missing in his life. Jesus put His finger on his problem when He told him to go, sell all his possessions and give to the poor, and he would then have treasure in heaven. Such mercy toward the poor would demonstrate inner righteousness. If he were righteous (based on faith in Jesus as God), he should have given his wealth to the poor and followed Jesus. But instead, the man . . . went away sad (lypoumenos, “grieved or sad to the point of distress”; cf. 14:9; 18:31) for he had great wealth. His unwillingness to relinquish his wealth showed he did not love his neighbor as himself. Thus he had not kept all the commandments, and he lacked salvation. Nothing more was written about this young man; probably he never left all and followed Jesus. He loved his money more than God, and thus he violated even the first commandment (Ex. 20:3)."

v. verse

cf. confer, compare

i.e. id est, that is

Walvoord, John F. ; Zuck, Roy B. ; Dallas Theological Seminary: The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL : Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 2:64

Is GodRulzRandomThoughts still with us or did he leave to sharpen his horns? 2 Pe 2:1

"...[H]aving abandoned the sovereign position, having accepted a servant's place, having approached a sinful people, He then adopted a selfless posture...He adopted a selfless posture. Verse 8, "He humbled Himself." O, people, what a statement...what a statement! Do you ever think about the humility of Christ? I mean, I see Him and there He is as a little boy or a young man and He's helping Joseph make a yoke in the carpenter shop to put on some oxen that He had created. I mean, He's washing the feet of twelve disciples and He it was who designed their brains. He's hungry and it was He who created the universe. The place of humility. He adopted a selfless posture...utterly selfless.

For us He did this, people. Humility is the theme of Christmas...humility. Filthy stable. Our family was in one this summer in the bottom of a barn, ankle deep in the mire and the filth where never the light of day or the sun shone, foul stench that nauseated you, almost gagged you...humiliation.

St. Augustine wrote so beautifully of His humility, so beautifully. "The word of the Father," he said, "by whom all time was created was made flesh and born in time for us. He without whose divine permission no day completes its course, wished to have one of those days for His human birth. In the bosom of His Father He existed before all the cycles of the ages. Born of an earthly mother, He entered on the course of the years on that very day. The maker of man became man that He ruler of the stars might be nourished at the breast, that He the bread might be hungry, that He the fountain might thirst, that He the light might sleep, that He the way might be wearied in the journey, that He the truth might be accused by false witnesses, that He the judge of the living and the dead might be brought to trial by a mortal judge, that He justice itself might be condemned by the unjust, that He discipline personified might be scourged with a whip, that He the foundation might be suspended on a cross, that He courage incarnate might be weak, and He security itself might be wounded, and He life itself might die." Humility.

And how humble? Look back at verse 8. "He humbled Himself." How far did it go? Well, certainly He became mortal but it went beyond that. He also became obedient unto death. You see, it was an act of obedience. He learned obedience, Hebrews 5:8 and 9, by death. The greatest act of obedience to the Father was in dying, that was God's will. And even in the garden when He said, "O Father, let this cup pass from Me," the humanness was crying out against dying, the deity was crying out against sin bearing and yet He said, "Not My will but Thine be done." He was obedient to death. He didn't just become mortal, He died. That's the worst that man can ever ever endure...all the way to the grave.

And He didn't just die, either. Look at the end of verse 8, "Even the death of the cross." It's one thing to die, it's infinitely beyond that to die the death of the cross. The ancient writers used to say that to die on a cross is to die a thousand times before you take your last breath. The pain is excruciating, unimaginable. The suffocation of the organs when the body is suspended by four great wounds is more than you can believe. The pain, the fiery pain pulsing through the body is more than we can conceive. It was a painful death.

And it was a shameful death. It was reserved for the vilest and most wicked of criminals. And you hung suspended in space, naked before the gaping gazing mocking throng. It was a cursed death. God Himself had said, "He that hangs on a tree is cursed." It was a lonely death. There was no companionship, even God was gone. And I wonder so often as I hear the words "Still, O soul, the sign of wonder of all the ages see; Christ thy God, the Lord of glory is on the cross for thee."

Incomprehensible humility. But what's so marvelous is that even in His dying, even in His dying, even in such abject depth of human suffering, He still wielded the power of God to redeem the human race. In His dying He could do that..." Full text: The Incarnation of the Triune God Philippians 2:6-11

"So you close your ears to truth and post more verbiage to make Jesus into a liar."

Jesus isn't a liar.

"We Must Love Christ Supremely (Matt. 19:16–26)

Each of the first three Gospels records this event. When we combine the facts, we learn that this man was rich, young, and a ruler—probably the ruler of a synagogue. We can certainly commend this young man for coming publicly to Christ and asking about external matters. He seemed to have no ulterior motive and was willing to listen and learn. Sadly, he made the wrong decision.

The event seems to develop around several important questions.

“What good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” (vv. 16–17) The man was obviously sincere, though his approach to salvation was centered on works and not faith. But this was to be expected among the Jews of that day. However, in spite of his position in society, his morality, and his religion, he felt a definite need for something more.

But our Lord’s reply did not focus on salvation. He forced the young man to think seriously about the word good that he had used in addressing Jesus. “Only God is good,” Jesus said. “Do you believe that I am good and therefore that I am God?” If Jesus is only one of many religious teachers in history, then His words carry no more weight than the pronouncements of any other religious leader. But if Jesus is good, then He is God, and we had better heed what He says.

Why did Jesus bring up the commandments? Did He actually teach that people receive eternal life by obeying God’s Law? If anyone could keep the commandments, he certainly would enter into life. But no one can keep God’s Law perfectly. “Therefore by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the Law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20). Jesus did not introduce the Law to show the young man how to be saved, but to show him that he needed to be saved. The Law is a mirror that reveals what we are (James 1:22ff)."

Wiersbe, Warren W.: The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1996, c1989, S. Mt 19:16

We were not redeemed by corruptible things but by the precious blood of Christ (1 Pe 1:18).

[The Incarnation of the Triune God Philippians 2:6-11 by John MacArthur] “There was a battle fought long ago. The story came back to the king of one soldier who had a sword, who had single-handedly destroyed the enemy. And the king said to one of his soldiers, "Bring me that sword. I want to see such a sword that can do such damage."

The soldier got the sword and brought it in. Gave it to his majesty and he looked it over and he said, "Take it back. This is but an ordinary sword."

The soldier said, "Your majesty, you should see the arm that wields it."

You look at Jesus Christ and you see His humanness.

So, what do we see then? What is the Christmas story? The Lord Jesus Christ abandoned the sovereign position, accepted a servant's place, approached a sinful people, [and] adopted a selfless posture. That's the Christmas story.

But there's one more thought…He ascended a supreme prince...What was God's reaction to this? And what should be ours?

God's reaction, first, in verse 9: "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him and given Him a name, or a title, or a position, or a rank that is above every other name, or title, position, or rank." God lifted Him up. And, people, listen to me. That is a great classical spiritual truth. Jesus said it Himself in Luke 14:11, "He that humbleth himself shall be...what? Exalted." And that is the spiritual truth that we must learn. When we humble ourselves, God will lift us up and exalt us. And that's exactly what happened. He humbled Himself and He was exalted. He then becomes the supreme illustration of this Kingdom principle: you sink to the depths of selfless sacrificial humiliation and God will lift you to the heights of glory.

We see that in the Beatitudes. We see that all throughout the teaching of Christ and the Apostles. Humility, then exaltation. Humility, then exaltation. Jesus in His baptism is humbled. He's baptized by John. And in humility He identifies with the sins of His nation. But in exaltation, the voice of God bursts out of heaven, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."

We see Him in the temptation. He's humbled 40 days without eating. He's being buffeted by Satan. He's fasting in repentance, again identifying the sins of the nation. In humility, He trusts the Father to take care of Him and never uses His power to meet His own needs. And then in glorious exaltation, when the time is done, the Father dispatches the angels who come and feed Him. In humility, He publicly proclaimed to His disciples that He was going to die. And a moment later He's in a mountain with them and He pulls His flesh back and they see His glory. We see Him on the cross in humility and then He bursts from the grave in exaltation. And that's the pattern. Humility, then glorification. God exalted Him.

That was God's reaction. God exalted Him and God gave Him a name above every name. Why? Verse 10. "In order that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow." Every knee...now we come to us and to all the other creatures. Every knee to bow. Every knee in heaven...who would that be? That would be the holy angels and the redeemed saints who have already gone to heaven. Everyone in earth...that would be all the living. And under the earth...the demons and Satan and all that host. All the creatures in heaven, in earth, and under the earth, all of them are to bow to that exalted name. He is, says Ephesians 1, far above all principalities and powers, far above all other names, given a supreme place, the prince of God." The Incarnation of the Triune God Philippians 2:6-11

"So you close your ears to truth and post more verbiage to make Jesus into a liar."

Jesus isn't a liar.

"[Mt 19] Chapter summary. Jesus has taught that the way of greatness for citizens of God’s kingdom is to live in the community of faith so as to preserve each believer’s responsiveness to Christ. Now, in incident and teaching, Matthew explores futile pathways to greatness that religious people sometimes take. The Pharisees and their questions represent the way of legalism and self-righteousness (19:1–14). And a rich young man represents the way of a self-serving philanthropy (vv. 15–30). It’s so easy for religious people to feel that discipleship is practiced by rigid adherance to do’s and don’ts, or by an enthusiastic commitment to doing good—and so to miss the simple pathway of love Jesus describes in Matthew 18...

...In search of eternal life (Mt 19:16). The young man’s question reveals his motivation. He does good to others “to get eternal life.” God’s children are to do good to others because we value and care for them as God does. This rich young man’s benevolence was self-serving. As such he is as far from the kingdom as the self-righteous Pharisee..."

Richards, Larry: The Bible Reader's Companion. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1991, S. 621

[The Incarnation of the Triune God Philippians 2:6-11 by John MacArthur] "Notice that [Jesus is] given a name above every name. You say, "What is that name?" Very clear, in verse 10, the name of Jesus, that all that is embodied in that name, all that is embodied in who He is, He is unequalled, the Savior, the Lord of the world and the universe. And at that name every knee should bow.

And you know something? Every knee will bow. That's right. Every knee will bow. If not in adoration, in judgment, right? If not in worship, in condemnation. Every knee will bow...even Satan will be cast into the pit forever. He'll bow the knee to the authority of Christ.

But look at verse 11 and bring it to personal response. Verse 10 encompasses the broad picture--every knee should bow. Verse 11 comes down to the individual--"Every tongue should confess Jesus Christ as Lord to the glory of God the Father." Every living thing, every living creature in this world will confess Jesus Christ as Lord. The demons and the damned, the redeemed, the holy angels, all will bow, all will confess sooner or later. The issue is when. If you wait until the judgment, it's too late. But if now you confess Jesus as Lord, you enter in to His Kingdom, His salvation.

Romans 10:9 and 10 says, "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, believe in thine heart God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be...what?...saved." This is the message of the gospel. Jesus Christ is Lord. That's what we're saying. He is God. He is in the form of God. He is God of very God with all the attributes of God, come into the world with all the fullness of humanness. He became the servant. He humbled Himself. He died, even dying on a cross. And in the midst of that death, purchasing our salvation. God approved and God lifted Him back up and exalted Him. And then God calls to all the created universe and says, "Bow the knee and confess His Lordship." And if you won't now, you will someday...but then it will be in judgment and condemnation. Now or later...the choice is yours.

You can bow the knee now in adoration and love. You can confess Him as Lord now and enter into the joy of salvation forever. Or you can resist and say no and someday you'll bow the knee because you'll be forced and you have no choice and you'll be condemned. Our prayer is that you'll confess Jesus as Lord. What greater Christmas gift than that? And to receive eternal life. Why be a fool? What kind of fool would reject that? Incomprehensible.

But is there a message for Christians here? Most of us are Christians. Is there a message for us? For sure. You want to know something? This passage was written for Christians. That's right. The passage was not written for unbelievers. It was written for Christians. How do you know that? Because this whole passage is just an illustration of another principle. Go back to verse 5. The whole passage simply illustrates another principle. And what is the principle?

Verse 3, "Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves." Don't look on your own things, but on the things of others. "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being..." and then you go into the passage.

What is Paul saying? Be humble. Be selfless. Be lowly. And if you need an illustration, then let this mind be in you which was in Christ who was something and became nothing that God might make Him something again. He is a living illustration to the believer. If you will humble yourself, God will exalt you.

You know, people often ask around Christmas time, I guess, what is the Lord trying to tell me? What is the point of Christmas? I think the point of Christmas is right here. Christmas, there's no better time in the year than to teach us the illustration of the lesson of humility. The character of Christ, He was unselfish. He was humble. He was condescending. And Paul is challenging the church to that perspective. An attitude of a willingness to suffer, to be humiliated, to be selfless, to be sacrificing, so that God can lift us up. And the thing we need to learn, people, is not to always be asserting ourselves, defending ourselves, pushing ourselves up, but to be humble and selfless. That is the message of Christmas to us.

Listen to the words of Paul Reese(?). "For us Christians," says Paul, "there is no place where the principle of effacing self in behalf of others appears so impressively as it does in Jesus Christ. He is God giving Himself away, yet remaining God. He is God putting off a sovereign's vesture for a beggar's rags. He is God rising from His bench where He sits as judge and going to the gallows for the criminal. He is God impoverishing Himself, beggaring Himself, exposing Himself to evil, spite and spittle, never sparing Himself until He has made the rude cross on Jerusalem's hill the sign and the sum of His utter self- giving." Great statement.

And what is he saying to us? "Let this mind be in you." That is the message. Be humble this Christmas. Be selfless. Reach out to somebody else in need. Jesus did.

Benjamin Warfield, the great theologian, said this: "We see Him among the thousands of Galilee, anointed of God with the Holy Spirit and power, going about doing good with no pride of birth, though He was a King; with no pride of intellect, though omniscience dwelt within Him; with no pride of power, though all power in heaven and earth was in His hand; no pride of station, though the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in Him bodily; no pride of superior goodness, but in lowliness of mind, esteeming everyone better than Himself. He healed the sick. He cast out the devils. He fed the hungry. And everywhere He broke to men the bread of life though He Himself went without. We see Him everywhere offering to men His life for the salvation of their souls. And when at last the forces of evil gathered thick around Him, walking alike without display and without dismay, the path of suffering appointed for Him and giving His life at Calvary that through His death the world might live."

Selfless...selfless. That's the message for us, the message of humility..." Full text: The Incarnation of the Triune God Philippians 2:6-11

Response to comment [from a "Christian"]: "...[S]erpent: few will read or respond to long posts...there are many great authors (unlike you two) if we want to read long writings."

Ad hominem.

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin (Heb 4:14-15).

Did the second person of the trinity add the sin of humanity to his existence or did God decide that he would not stand by as human beings suffered--he would descend to share in their suffering.* It’s easy to watch people suffer from afar. The toughest part of ministry is suffering with and for those you love.

"Deity added humanity in the one person of Christ, the God-Man..."

What do you mean by God-Man? Jn 1:1-3. Did deity add the sin of humanity or did deity add humanity yet without sin? Heb 4:15.

"Being human does not make one sinful...."

Sin entered into the world by Adam (Ge 3:6,7; Ro 5:12). All men are conceived and born in sin (Ge 5:3; Job 15:14; 25:4; Ps 51:5). All men are shaped in sin (Ps 51:5). Scripture concludes all under sin (Ga 3:22). No man is without sin (1 Ki 8:46; Ec 7:20). Christ alone was without sin (2 Co 5:21; Heb 4:15; 7:26; 1 Jn 3:5).

"Are you denying His humanity?"

No. The second person of the trinity became a man yet without sin (Heb 4:15).

You have been asked this question repeatedly yet you fail to answer:

Is he indivisible from the Godhead? Jn 1:1-3, Heb 1:3. What other member of the Godhead could sin? link

"Temptation without the possibility of yielding (will/intellect=person) is not genuine."

"…[T]here must be added to those conditions the inner and always unforced "yes" or "no" by which the person responds to the situation..." Full text

"STP, johnw, Nick M., sozo, etc. now SD? What did I ever do to her/him/it/them?"

You misrepresented the nature and character of God (Jn 1:1-3). You are not a Christian. You are a cultist (2 Pe 2:1).

"I am traditional in my Christological views."

No you're not.

Understand the spirit of antichrist (1 Jn 4:2-6).

See:

The Jesus test, the gospel test, and the fruit test

"Here is some food for thought as to why we should reject Augustinian 'original sin' theories (SD hangs around Calvinistic sites too much)..."

Strawman Poisoning the well.

I reject Augustine. I reject Calvin. You have been advised of this repeatedly.

"SD keeps thinking that being human=being sinful..."

[15 Words of Hope 2 Corinthians 5:21 by John MacArthur] "The Bible makes it clear, first of all, that all people are sinners by nature and by action. In fact, all people are sinners from birth. And thus all people are born alienated from God who is holy, cannot look upon sin, cannot fellowship with sinners. That alienation because of sin prevents us from knowing God. He is too perfectly holy to have anything to do with sinners, except to reject them.

Now the result of that rejection, the result of that alienation in time is Godlessness. The result of it in eternity is hell. So this alienation in to which every human being is born is indeed a serious issue. It means that everybody lives their life without God and if they die in that condition, will spend their eternity without God in torment..." Full text: 15 Words of Hope 2 Corinthians 5:21

"...Jesus had a human body, but was sinless..."

SD: “ Could he [jesus] have sinned?
Godrulz: “I believe He could have, but did not…” link

Sin entered into the world by Adam (Ge 3:6,7; Ro 5:12). All men are conceived and born in sin (Ge 5:3; Job 15:14; 25:4; Ps 51:5). All men are shaped in sin (Ps 51:5). Scripture concludes all under sin (Ga 3:22). No man is without sin (1 Ki 8:46; Ec 7:20). Christ alone was without sin (2 Co 5:21; Heb 4:15; 7:26; 1 Jn 3:5).

"Gnosticism would teach that the flesh is sinful."

You're projecting again (Eph 4:14). "All of the Gnostics in the early church propounded the first heresy that He emptied Himself of His deity..." Full text: Phil 2:7 J. Vernon McGee

"Rom. 1-3 does not support SD theories..."

Who cares what theories I have. What does God say?

See:

Romans J. Vernon McGee

Response to comment [from a Christian]: "I'm not saying Jesus is the liar, serpentdove, I'm saying all of you who have swallowed Paul's remaking of Jesus into a Perfect Man without ever having known the guy is false Christian teaching as Jesus himself pointed out."

Sounds like you can agree with GodRulzRandomThoughts on something. 2 Pe 2:1

SD: “ Could he [jesus] have sinned?
Godrulz: “I believe He could have, but did not…” link

Jesus lived the perfect life that neither you nor I could.

[Jesus' Death Shows Us How to Live 1 Peter 2:21 by John MacArthur] "...The Bible tells us that He was the perfect person, the perfect man, that He knew no sin, that He was without sin, that He committed no sin, that He was holy, that He was innocent, that He was undefiled, that He was separate from sinners and that whatever a man could be He was. And so in life He is the perfect example. In fact the Bible says that looking at His life we are to be holy as He was holy. We are to be pure as He was pure. We are to be gentle as He was gentle. We are to be wise as He was wise. We are to be humble as He was humble. We are to be obedient to God as He was obedient to God. We are to be serving as He served. We are to be from the world as free as He was free from the world..." Full text: Jesus' Death Shows Us How to Live 1 Peter 2:21

When does Born Again Happen?