Eternal Subordination of the Son: The Basics, Part III

In our continuing examination of the doctrine of the eternal subordination of the Son to the Father, we conclude the biblical/theological case today with a look at two key issues: the submission of the Son in eternity past and His submission in eternity future. Once again, this synopsis draws heavily on Bruce A. Ware's 2006 ETS paper as referenced in the first two parts (Part I, Part II) of this series.

1. The Pre-Incarnate Son submitted to the Father in eternity past. John's gospel mentions 40 times that Jesus was sent by the Father to accomplish His mission of redemption. A number of these instances indicate that the Father's sending of the Son took place in regard to the pre-incarnate Son. John 3:16-17 provides one example: that the Father sent the Son into the world indicates the sending took place prior to the incarnation itself. John 6:38 also demonstrates that Jesus obeyed the will of the One sending Him, who is, of course, the Father.

Writes Ware: "Clearly, the Father both consecrated the Son for the very mission he planned for him, and then he sent the Son into the world to fulfill what he had designed. For this to be meaningful, we must understand both the consecration and sending of the Son as happening prior to the incarnation and thus in the design and purpose of God in eternity past."

The Synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) confirm, though in less detail, that the eternal Son is under the authority of the Father. Synoptic texts include Matt 28:18-19, Mark 13:32, Matt 11:27, Luke 10:22, Luke 7:8. Peter also references Christ as having been foreknown by the Father before the foundation of the world in 1  Peter 1:20-21, with foreknowledge meaning "to choose beforehand for a purpose," Ware argues.

2. The Son will submit to the Father in eternity future. At least 15 New Testament references speak of Christ as sitting on the Father's right hand. As Wayne Grudem points out in his excellent book Evangelical Feminism & Biblical Truth (Multnomah, 2005), these have their background in Psalm 110:1 and show that the risen and exalted Son, while being fully God and equal in essence to the Father, sits in a position that represents his own acknowledgement of the Father's greater authority.

Another key passage which demonstrates the future submission of the Son to the Father is 1 Cor 15:24-28, where Paul addresses Christ's future reign over all things, when everything in heaven and earth is put in subjection to his feet.

Of this text Ware writes: "The Son has his position over all of creation, bringing everything into subjection under his own feet, only because the Father has given all things to the Son. The Son, then, shows himself as the supreme victor and conqueror of all, including the conqueror of death itself, only because the Father has given him this highest of all callings and roles. In full acknowledgment of the Father's supremacy, the Son displays his submission to the Father by delivering up the now-conquered kingdom to the Father, and then, remarkably, by subjecting himself also to his Father. Though all of creation is subject to the Son, the Son himself is subject to the Father."

Tomorrow, Gender Blog will bring forth numerous witnesses from church history who have espoused the doctrine of the eternal subordination of the Son.

For further study:

• Christopher Cowan, "The Father and the Son in the Fourth Gospel: Johannine Subordination Revisited," in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, March 2006. Available here.
• Peter R. Schemm, Jr., and Stephen D. Kovach, "A Defense of the Doctrine of the Eternal Subordination of the Son," in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Sept. 1999. Available here.