1If therefore there is any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion, 2make my joy full by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; 3doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself; 4each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.
5Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus, 6who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, the death of the cross. 9Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name, 10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth, 11and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
14Do all things without complaining and arguing, 15that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without defect in the middle of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world, 16holding up the word of life, that I may have something to boast in the day of Christ that I didn’t run in vain nor labor in vain. 17Yes, and if I am poured out on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18In the same way, you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
19But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered up when I know how you are doing. 20For I have no one else like-minded, who will truly care about you. 21For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ. 22But you know that he has proved himself. As a child serves a father, so he served with me in furtherance of the Good News. 23Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it will go with me. 24But I trust in the Lord that I myself also will come shortly.
25But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier, and your apostle and servant of my need, 26since he longed for you all, and was very troubled because you had heard that he was sick. 27For indeed he was sick nearly to death, but God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow on sorrow. 28I have sent him therefore the more diligently, that when you see him again, you may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful. 29Receive him therefore in the Lord with all joy, and hold such people in honor, 30because for the work of Christ he came near to death, risking his life to supply that which was lacking in your service toward me.
Working Out Your Salvation
Philippians 2 Part Four
Working Out Your Salvation
12 So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
In recent years, I have met believers who maintain that as new creations in Christ, we have no real duty to strive to “do better” to live a life of holiness. They claim this for several reasons. First, they claim that since the Bible says we’ve been made holy (sanctified), then we essentially are sinless. They don’t use those words, but that is the essence of what they are saying. This is a very dangerous teaching because it insinuates that grace results in no need to exert any effort to live in a manner worthy of our calling (Ephesians 4:1). If we don’t need to do something to live in a manner worthy of our calling, why does Paul tell us to do so?
These sweet Christians are mired in the misunderstanding that words can be used in different ways. When I say I love salmon and I love my wife, I am saying two very different things. The word sanctification is used in various ways in scripture. When scripture tells us that we are sanctified in Christ, it is speaking to the fact that we have been justified (1 Corinthians 6:11), meaning our sins have been paid for on the cross and we have been “set apart.”. Jesus took the penalty of our sin on Himself. Secondly, they maintain that it is too stressful to have to “strive for” holiness, and that it somehow runs counter to the whole business of sanctification and grace. This “striving” is indeed work, but it is fundamentally the work of surrender. Paul tells the saints in Rome, “present your bodies as a living sacrifice.” This means giving up your own agenda and asking God to replace it with His agenda.
This second type of sanctification is what Paul is talking about when he says to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. It is the exhortation to engage in sanctified (holy) living actively. This exhortation is repeated in John 2:27, John 14:15, James 1:22, Romans 6:22, and many others. I think “working out your salvation with fear and trembling” is succinctly stated in Colossians 1:10. Paul urges, “So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fulling pleasing to him; bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Walking in a manner is not something you are, but something you do. And, you and I can only do this successfully in and through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The beautiful part is that as you choose to walk worthy of your calling, God will enable you and empower you to do so. Paul adds that as you work out this salvation with fear and trembling, it will be God who is working in and through you to do that which pleases Him. Don’t get hung up on this. Don’t overthink it. This is not an admonition to work for your salvation. It is an admonition to consciously move out of the way and let God have His way with you. He desires to work in you as He wills for His good pleasure.