Philippians 3:20,21 — All Things Subjected To Jesus

By Ronald R. Day, Senior

Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also wait for a Savior, the Lord, Jesus Christ;
Philippians 3:21 who will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things to himself.– World English Bible translation.

Philippians 3:21 is often presented by trinitarians as proof that Jesus is “all-powerful.” Evidently, the phrase “according to the working whereby he is able to subject all things [literally, "the all"] to himself” is being imagined in some manner to read that Jesus is the Almighty Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The “working” that Paul refers to includes the authority and power that the unipersonal God of Jesus has given to Jesus, through the holy spirit. (Matthew 28:18; John 5:25-29,36) The basis of the working of the resurrection in the last day is the work that Jesus performed in providing the ransom sacrifice. (Romans 5:15-19; 1 Corinthians 15:21,22; 1 Timothy 2:5,6) Nevertheless, all the works given to Jesus, and "the all” that Jesus' God has subjected to Jesus (Ephesians 1:3,17-21; Philippians 2:9-11), excludes Jesus' being the Most High, the one God from whom are all. — 1 Corinthians 8:6; 15:25-27.

There is nothing in Philippians 3:20,21 that means that Jesus is the One who is the Almighty or that Jesus is the Most High, or that Jesus is Jehovah. There is certainly nothing to give any indication that Paul thought that Jesus was a person of the Most High.

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