“Every Knee Will Bow”
The Meaning of the Universal Acknowledgement of Christ
In Philippians 2:9-11
Introduction:Philippians 2:9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Frequently in popular preaching and teaching—even by Calvinists—I have heard this passage interpreted to mean something like this: Every knee will bow to Jesus either voluntarily now or by force in the last day. So make your choice to bow voluntarily and savingly now. I have long questioned this approach to the passage and in recent days more careful reflection has served to confirm me in taking a different approach to the passage. I suspect that this approach is often accompanied by insensitivity to the doctrine of the new earth and the idea that in the redeemed world every knew will bow in adoration and love of God’s majestic Son.Let me hasten to say that an approach to Phil. 2:9-11 such as I have described above is not wholly alien to the teaching of Scripture.
The Scripture does, indeed, sometimes speak of the wicked bowing before the Lord and acknowledging His authority in judgment and in a way that does not necessarily connote their salvation (Psa. 72:9; Isa. 49:26; Micah 7:15-17). Universal language, however, (like that found in Phil. 2:9-11) may also be used of the scope of redemption. There is a prophetic universalism which predicts a day of universal salvation.
This language does not imply an absolute (or each-and-every) universal salvation which extends to every child of Adam. It rather means that the salvation accomplished by the Messiah is nothing less than the salvation of the entire world, though not of every man in it. It emphasizes the corporate character of redemption in which all the nations find salvation and come to inhabit the new earth created by the work of Christ. Calvinists (who insist on this with regard to other passages where universal language is used) should be the first to recognize this possibility. They necessarily and properly interpret many passages with regard to the work of Christ in exactly this way when they defend the doctrine of particular redemption.There are five considerations that convince me that it is in this way that Philippians 2:9-11 ought to be understood. To see these arguments click on the link:Every Knee Will Bow
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