Muslim apologists are fond of pitting the Lord Jesus
against his blessed Apostle Paul by quoting from the Gospels and Paul’s letters
to show how their teachings supposedly contradict each other. One example of an
alleged contradiction which these polemicists are fond of bringing up is Paul’s
claim in Philippians 2:6-7 that Christ voluntarily set aside his divine status
in order to become a slave, which supposedly contradicts Jesus’ own words in
John 8:42 that he hadn’t come on his own initiative or desire.
In light of this assertion we are going to carefully
examine the words of the Lord Jesus and his inspired emissary to establish that
there is no genuine contradiction between them. Rather, this is nothing more
than another sad and desperate attempt by Muslim apologists to distort God’s
revealed truth in order to pit the Holy Bible against itself.
God sends forth His Son
Here we are going to see that both Christ and his blessed
servant affirm that Jesus is God’s Son whom the Father sent to fulfill his will
of saving believers from their sins.
Jesus
“For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given
all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the
Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”
John 5:22-23
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one
who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come
down from heaven, not to do My
own will, but the will
of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all
that He has given Me I lose
nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the
will of My Father, that everyone who beholds
the Son and believes in Him will
have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” John
6:37-40
“Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would
love Me, for I proceeded forth
and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.’” John 8:42
“do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world,
‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?”
John 10:36
Paul
“For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the
flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness
of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the
flesh… He who did not spare
His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also
with Him freely give us all things?” Romans 8:3, 32
“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born
of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem
those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because
you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying,
‘Abba! Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son;
and if a son, then an heir through God.” Galatians 4:4-7
Christ willfully humbled Himself to die
for the salvation of sinners
In this section we shall now how Jesus and Paul also
perfectly concur that Christ wasn’t forced to come against his will, but
willingly accepted to come out of his love for his creation in order to redeem
it by his vicarious death on the cross.
Jesus
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His
life a ransom for many.”” Mark 10:45 – cf. Matthew 20:28
“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”” Luke 19:10
“For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the
one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who
serves.” Luke 22:27
“This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that
one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came
down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the
bread also which I will
give for the life of the world is
My flesh.”” John 6:50-51
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life,
and have it abundantly. I am the good
shepherd; the good shepherd
lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired
hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf
coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He
flees because he is a hired
hand and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good
shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the
Father knows Me and I know the Father; and
I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep,
which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My
voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves
Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No
one has taken it away from Me, but
I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down,
and I have authority to take it up again. This
commandment I received from My Father.” John 10:10-18
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one
another, even as I have
loved you, that you also love one another. By this all
men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:34-35
“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you;
abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide
in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These
things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. This is My
commandment, that you love one
another, just as I have loved
you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay
down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do
what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the
slave does not know what his master is doing;but I have called you friends,
for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.” John
15:9-15
Paul
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
though He was rich, yet for
your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become
rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I
who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live
by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up
for me.” Galatians 2:20
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and
walk in love, just as
Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a
sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” Ephesians 5:1-2
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset
as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with
God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a
servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
Philippians 2:5-8 NIV
“It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.” 1 Timothy 1:15
“For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who
gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.” 1 Timothy 2:5-6
“looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and
Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify
for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.” Titus
2:13-14
Concluding Remarks
With the foregoing in perspective, it should now become
quite apparent what the Lord Jesus meant when he stated that he had not come on
his own initiative. His point wasn’t that he didn’t willfully come to the earth
in order to save sinners. Rather, his point was that his choice to come down
from heaven wasn’t something which was in direct opposition to his Father, an
act which went against his Father’s desires, since this was a decision which
was in perfect agreement with the Father’s will. As such, there is no conflict
between the message of Christ and his servant Paul, but perfect harmony and
consistency, which is what we would expect seeing that the Apostle was inspired
by the Spirit of the risen Christ to speak and record the revelation which God
wanted to pass on to the Churches:
“which things we also speak, not in words taught by human
wisdom, but in those taught by
the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.” 1 Corinthians 2:13
“If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him
recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord’s commandment. But
if anyone does not recognize this,
he is not recognized.” 1 Corinthians 14:37-38
“since you are seeking for proof of the Christ who speaks in me,
and who is not weak toward you, but mighty in you… For this reason I am writing
these things while absent, so that when present I need not use severity, in accordance with the authority which the Lord
gave me for building up and
not for tearing down.” 2 Corinthians 13:3, 10
“For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for
the sake of you Gentiles—if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s
grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation
there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By
referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery
of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to
the sons of men, as it has now
been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to
be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the
body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of
which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was
given to me according to the working of His power.” Ephesians 3:1-7
So much for this desperate Muslim polemic.
Unless noted otherwise, all biblical quotations taken from
the New American Standard Bible (NASB).
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