“9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2:9-11, KJV).
1. SOME Christians love to say that God can ONLY get perfect praise when people freely CHOOSE to praise Him. IF people do NOT choose to praise God then such praise is NOT perfect praise. Praise of God must NOT be coerced out of people OTHERWISE if it IS coerced then it is NOT perfect praise.
However, many Christians when shown Philippians 2:11 which states that EVERY tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord makes some of these Christians abandon this whole idea that God wants free praise that is not coerced.
And they postulate,
2. That the phrase in Philippians 2:11 which speaks of EVERY tongue shall confess Jesus Christ to be Lord means that everyone who is not “saved” will be COERCED by God [made to say “uncle” so to speak] when Christ is victorious over all of the earth.
If one holds that the “every” in every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord is every person who has ever lived then one must either argue that God either DOES GET perfect praise from people who are forced to praise him OR one must conclude that God likes praise that is LESS than perfect sometimes and does NOT require perfect praise all the time.
To those who would argue that Philippians 2:9-11 involves a future where God will force the UNsaved to praise him and yet this forced praise will not save the UNsaved, then I must ask why would God need such [if we accept such premise] forced praise out of the mouths of the UNsaved?
A response from an Eternal Torturing Advocate is:
I think that the interpretation of this passage depends upon one’s perspective. While it states “every knee,” I don’t think this is exactly what you might think it is. I would refer you to Revelation 1:17 in which St. John writes:
“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: ‘Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.'”
Now here we have John, who by tradition is the same John who knew Jesus personally, falling as if dead at the mere sight of the glorified Christ. He wasn’t forced to fall, but he was simply overwhelmed by the sight. When Paul states that “every knee should bow, in heaven and earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” it is this type of reaction I think he is talking about. God will not force people to bow, but when confronted with God in all His majesty, they will simply be overwhelmed. In the Old Testament, we are given many examples of the effect God’s angels had on men, even those who followed Him. How much more majestic and awful (in the sense of inspiring awe), is God Himself?
The above explanation is of course based on the supposition that we’re dealing with the end here, but nowhere is this stated in Philippians 2. In fact the passage is dealing with Christ being sent to earth the first time. Thus, the operative word in the Philippians 2:10-11 is should. This is, I think, quite different from will, which it seems you take it to mean. Thus, the passage is stating that God sent Jesus Christ to earth with the intention that every knee should bow, but fully realizing that not every knee would bow.
Duane
A Scriptural and reasonable response to the above:
According to Webster’s Dictionary, the word “should” is the past tense of “shall.” Now that is a much stronger term, isn’t it? “Every tongue SHALL confess….” Much stronger in this form. However, it is true, in the English language, we do use the word “should” in a weaken form, that is to say, sometimes we use it as a substitute for the word “ought.” “I really ought to buy a new pair of shoes, but I think I will wait.”
So then, in what manner should we take this construction? Considering that the Bible declares the outcome of this passage, the answer is quite clear. In Revelation 5 we see a picture of the outcome of Jesus’ work on earth:
“11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; 12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. 13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” (Rev. 5:11-13, KJV)
Please note, this Scripture is taken from the King James Bible, which of all translations, gives LEAST glory to Jesus Christ. And even in this translation, it is made quite plain EVERY creature in heaven, on earth, AND UNDER the earth was praising Jesus. We don’t find the dishonoring forced knee bending some Hell-fire advocates inject into the picture nor the falling down like dead men as our Eternal Torture advocate would have us believe. We find adoration from every creature in the universe. The elders ALSO fell down and it wasn’t as in Revelation 1:17. They were WORSHIPPING!
“And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.” (Rev. 5:14)
The Scriptures declare that no one can say, “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3). The above Scriptures simply attest to the plain statement found in 1 Cor. 15:22 “In Adam, all died, in Christ SHALL all be made alive.” The same all who died in Adam (which is all of us) SHALL be made alive in Christ. And when anyone is made alive in Christ, they can’t help but worship Him.
The above Scriptures are very positive statements the strength of which the planter of doubts wishes to weaken to rob us of our faith. There are just simply too many Scriptural proofs that make it plain that Jesus is Savior of the whole world, not just a piece of it for Satan to destroy the faith of those who truly DO have the faith OF Jesus. “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:2). If it is YOUR faith in Jesus on which you stand, the accuser surely has grounds on which to defeat you. If it is the faith OF Jesus from which the reader was born, then Satan may weaken your faith in the following Scriptures for a season, but eventually the Holy Spirit will draw you back onto solid ground…the faith OF Jesus, and away from your own faith which is but sinking sand.
See also: Do You Believe All In The Bible? for more scriptural references.