Imitating the Incarnation

B.B. Warfield’s 1893 sermon “Imitating the Incarnation,” delivered at Princeton Theological Seminary and later anthologized in The Savior of the World (1919) and The Person and Work of Christ (1950), is a cornerstone of Reformed devotional thought. Drawing from Philippians 2:5–8, Warfield unpacks Christ’s kenosis—the voluntary self-emptying of the divine Son who, though equal with God, assumed the form of a servant and embraced the cross. Far from treating this as abstract doctrine, Warfield presents the Incarnation as the ultimate ethical model: believers are called not merely to admire Christ’s humility but to imitate it, cultivating a mindset of radical, other-centered love.

Its lasting impact stems from its seamless integration of theological precision with practical discipleship. Warfield avoids moralism (reducing Christ to a mere example) and mysticism (emotional imitation without doctrine), insisting that true humility flows from union with the Savior. This vision has shaped generations of Reformed believers, challenging them to embody self-sacrificial love in daily life. In essence, Warfield declares: to grasp the Incarnation is to live it—a call as urgent today as it was over a century ago.