work out your salvation

Growing Together

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12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but 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.

14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me. – Philippians 2:12-18 ESV

Paul has just provided the Philippian believers with a vivid portrait of Christ, intended as an illustration of what he means to think like Christ thinks. Paul wants them to have the same attitude or outlook on life that Christ did. For Paul, Christ was the consummate example of humility and selflessness – even though He was God. When faced with the divine plan that required His incarnation and, ultimately His crucifixion, Jesus didn’t cling to His divine status or deem Himself as beneath His royal status as the Son of God. He understood that it was His holiness and worthiness that, when joined with human flesh, would make Him the acceptable sacrifice for the sins of mankind. Jesus humbled Himself, willingly and completely, obeying the will of His Father – all the way to the point of an excruciating and humiliating death on the cross. And He did it all out of love for sinful mankind.

And it was that selfless, sacrificial love that Paul wanted the Philippian believers to emulate. It was what he wanted for each and every congregation he had helped to start. He told the Ephesians:

Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. – Ephesians 5:2 NLT

And he expanded on this idea when writing to the Colossian believers:

Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. – Colossians 3:12-14 NLT

Notice that Paul is describing an emulation of Christ that shows up in tangible, visible expressions. When Paul speaks of having the mind of Christ, he is not describing some cognitive, intellectual exercise. It is an internal attitude that should result in external actions. Which is why Paul tells the Philippians to “work out your own salvation.” That phrase, “work out” is a single word in the Greek which means, “to do that from which something results.” Paul is not teaching salvation by self-effort. But he is clearly expecting the believers to whom he is writing to put energy and effort into living out the salvation freely provided to them by Christ. The New Living Translation puts it this way: “Work hard to show the results of your salvation.” 

The salvation provided by Christ’s selfless sacrifice of His life was intended to be truly transformational. It didn’t just provide a change in legal status, from guilty and condemned to justified and forgiven. It was meant to result in our ongoing sanctification or transformation into the very character of Christ. Our salvation, provided free of charge by the grace of God alone through faith alone in Christ alone, is meant to produce in us a righteousness that mirrors that of Christ. Remember what Paul told the believers in Philippi in the opening chapter of this letter.

May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation – the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ – for this will bring much glory and praise to God. – Philippians 1:11 NLT

That was Paul’s ongoing prayer for them because it was God’s ongoing will for them. Their coming to faith in Christ should result in them becoming increasingly more like Christ. And Paul tells them that their efforts to produce the fruit of their salvation should be accompanied by fear and trembling. And Paul explains what he means by this when he follows it up with the word, “for.” It can be read as “because” and is followed with that which should motivate our fear and trembling: “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (Philippians 2:13 NLT). It is the work of God. So, if it is a high priority to Him, it should be to us. And the knowledge that God is personally working in and among us should produce in us a reverence and awe that drives us to cooperate with His efforts on our behalf. Otherwise, we will find ourselves working against the will of God for our lives.

And that brings up an important point. This is a corporate message from Paul that is addressed to the entire Philippian congregation. While there are certainly personal applications we can glean from Paul’s words, he intended them for the body of Christ in Philippi, not individual believers. So, when Paul says, “God is working in you,” he is speaking of the church as a whole. God is attempting to create in them the same sense of unity that He and the Son share. In fact, this was the very thing Jesus prayed for in the garden just hours before His arrest and trials.

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” – John 17:21-23 ESV

Remember, Paul has been addressing the need for unity in the church. He has expressed his desire that they be of “the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind” (Philippians 2:2 ESV). And now, he is calling on them to allow their salvation to produce the very character of Christ among them.

But what does that look like in real life? Well, Paul chooses to describe what it doesn’t look like. It won’t be marked by grumbling or disputing. There will be no bickering or backstabbing. In other words, it will be free from disunity. Getting along will be a high priority because the body of Christ is to reflect the very character of Christ. Which brings us back to the model of Christ’s own life: Humility, obedience, selflessness, and sacrifice.

And Paul provides a few positive examples of what Christlikeness should look like in the church: Blamelessness and innocence. Paul is not suggesting perfection or sinlessness. But he is calling for the body of Christ to live with its sins confessed so no one can point a finger of blame. And he is encouraging them to exhibit an innocence or moral purity that gives the outside world no cause to cast dispersions on their witness or the name of Christ. And the impact the church has on the unbelieving world is clearly Paul’s concern here. Notice that he calls on the Philippian congregation to be “children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15 ESV). The blemish to which he refers is a potential stain on their corporate witness due to disunity and internal conflict. It was King David who wrote: “How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony!” (Psalm 133:1 NLT). And it was Jesus who said, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (John 13:35 NLT).

Paul makes a personal appeal to the Philippians, asking them to hear what he is saying and to do it for his sake, out of love for him. Like a proud father, he wants to be able to look back on his work among them and know that it was not in vain. He longs to see the fruit of righteousness in their lives. What would devastate Paul would be a church that started strong and ended poorly. To see the church in Philippi devolve into a community dominated by selfish and self-centered individuals would bring shame to Paul as a missionary of the gospel. But it would also denigrate the redemptive work of Christ.

That is why Paul pleads with them to “Hold firmly to the word of life” (Philippians 2:16 NLT). He wants them to cling to the message of the gospel, which includes not only their salvation, but their ongoing sanctification, and their future glorification. They were not to forget that God was working in their midst, transforming them into a bright, shining light that was intended to shine the glory of God into the darkness of Philippi.

Paul was willing to die, to see his life poured out as a drink offering to God. But he wanted his life to have made a difference. He deeply desired to know that the church in Philippi would embrace the mind of Christ and pursue the character of Christ – together. And if their pursuit of Christlikeness brought suffering and sacrifice, Paul wanted them to rejoice with him in the privilege of serving God through obedience to His will – following the example of Christ Himself.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Our Faithful God.

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Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. – 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 ESV

In this prayer, Paul cuts straight to the chase. He asks that God would do what only He can do: To sanctify them completely. In other words, that God would complete His work of making them holy and conformed to the image of His Son. Paul spoke of this same confidence in his letter to the believers in Philippi: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6 ESV). Paul’s desire was that God continue His sanctification process in their lives. At because he knew and believed his God to be faithful, he was confidence that his prayer would be answered. Our sanctification, just like our salvation, is a work of God. He must do it. We cannot make ourselves more holy or Christ-like. Any attempt on our part of behavior modification will always fall short. We must always recognize and rest in the fact that our transformation is a divine activity in which we play a role, but one that is totally dependent upon God. Earlier in his same letter to the Philippian believers, Paul encouraged them to “Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear” (Philippians 2:12 NLT). Their primary effort would be focused on obedience and reverence for God. Our job, as believers, is to listen to what God has to say, and then to do it. We must revere Him and respond obediently to Him as our God and Father. And we are never to forget that our pursuit of holiness is a Spirit-empowered endeavor. Peter puts it this way: “So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, ‘You must be holy because I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:14-16 ESV). Don’t miss what Peter says, “you must live as God’s obedient children.” We must develop a habit of listening to our heavenly Father, because we know He loves us and knows what is best for us. Obedience comes with trust. But trust is built from learning to obey. When God reveals His will for us and we obey it, we learn the invaluable lesson of faithful dependence upon Him. No matter how much we may disagree with what He may be asking us to do, we do it faithfully. And that act is an integral part of the process of our sanctification.

It is interesting that Paul’s prayer includes the request that God would keep them blameless in spirit, soul and body. In other words, that they would be completely, wholly holy. Paul speaks of a holistic holiness that touches every part of their being – inside and out. A kind of holiness that would impact the way they live both internally and externally. Paul’s not looking for mere external conformance, but desires to see true heart change accompanied by real lifestyle change. But again, Paul wants us to remember that without God’s help, none of this is possible. For Paul, nothing could be more ridiculous than for a believer to attempt to sanctify themselves. Listen to what he wrote to the Galatian church: “How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?” (Galatians 3:3 NLT). Great question, and one we should be asking one another on a regular basis. The sad fact is, we all regularly attempt to make ourselves holy. We try to work out our salvation, but we leave out the part about “deep reverence and fear.” We forget that we need His help and so we end up trying to achieve holiness in our own strength. And it always leaves us worn out and wondering what it is that we are doing wrong or not doing enough. But our God is faithful. He who save us also sanctifies us.

Now, here’s the catch. God may not transform us in quite the way we expect or desire. He may choose to use difficulties and disappointments. He may allow heartache and loss to enter into the equation. At times, He may allow brokenness in order to eliminate pride and self-sufficiency. When all is said and done, God will have been at work. He will have had His way and seen that His will was done. You can rest in that fact. He will surely do it. So why wouldn’t we pray this same prayer for our loved ones, our friends, and fellow believers? His desire for us is our sanctification. Should our desire for one another be any different?

Practice Does NOT Make Perfect.

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Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. – 1 John 3:7 ESV

There is a dangerous misconception within the church today that seems to believe that if we can increase the amount of good things we do while we eliminate our bad behaviors, we will become more holy. It works out something like this:

More good behavior – bad behavior = Holiness

It sounds so logical. It seems to make sense. But is it biblical? There is no doubt that believers in Jesus Christ are expected to live lives that are markedly different than those of the lost. The writer of Hebrews tells us to “Strive for … the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14 ESV). Paul told Timothy to “flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness” (2 Timothy 2:22 ESV). This was a recurring theme for Paul. “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness” (1 Timothy 6:11 ESV). Peter wrote: “be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish” (2 Peter 3:14 ESV). He also said, regarding himself, “ I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me” (2 Peter 3:12 NLT). Paul encouraged the believers in Philippi, “Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear” (Philippians 2:12 NLT). But the danger comes when we think that our growth in spiritual maturity is somehow up to us. Yes, we have a role to play, but ultimately, our holiness is the work of God, just as our salvation was.

The key is dependence. John writes, “And now, little children, abide in him” (1 John 2:28 ESV). That word “abide” means to remain or be kept. John is echoing the words of Jesus Himself. Over in his gospel, John recorded a lesson from the lips of Jesus where he taught about the vine and the branches. He used horticultural imagery to drive home a point about our need for dependency on Him. “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5 ESV). A branch abide in or remains attached to the vine. It is kept by or maintained by the vine. In and of itself, the branch can do nothing. Apart from the vine, the branch is useless and, ultimately, fruitless. The same thing is true of us. We can do nothing apart from Jesus. He is the one who produces fruit in us and through us. The branch cannot bear fruit apart from the vine. We cannot bear fruit apart from Jesus and the Spirit that lives within us. When Jesus says, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:8 ESV), He is letting us know that fruitfulness is a sign that we belong to Him. The very fact that our lives produce fruit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control – is evidence of our abiding relationship with God. John puts it this way: “everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him” (1 John 2:29 ESV). We are children of God, therefore, we should act like children of God. It is part of our spiritual DNA. We have His Spirit within us. And while “what we will be has not yet appeared” (1 John 3:2 ESV), we are His children right here, right now. That’s why we don’t practice sinning. That’s why John wrote, “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him” (1 John 3:6 ESV). Continual, habitual sinning is anti-Christ. It is abnormal for someone who claims to be a child of God and has the Spirit of God living inside him. Which is why John says, “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God” (1 John 3:9 ESV). He doesn’t say we DON’T sin. He says we can’t keep on sinning. It is against our nature. But the key is abiding. It is an attitude and lifestyle of constant dependence upon God. Our future perfection has nothing to do with self-effort. But it has everything to do with Spirit-dependence. Peter reminds us, “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3 NLT). Our very ability to “practice” or do righteousness is proof that we are children of God. Our good deeds are like a spiritual paternity test that reveals who our true Father really is. Jesus said of the Pharisees, “For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44 NLT). Their actions revealed their real father. And the same thing will be true of us. But we must abide. We must remain attached to and dependent upon Christ for all that we need. He not only saved us, He is sanctifying us, and “we know that when he appears we shall be like him because we shall see him like he is” (1 John 3:2 ESV).

Philippians 2:12-18

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Shining Brighter Together.

Philippians 2:12-18

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish though you live in a crooked and perverse society, in which you shine as lights in the world. – Philippians 2:14-15 NET

According to Paul, our lives should reflect the reality of our salvation. Jesus didn’t just reserve us a permanent place in the life to come. He provided a means by which we can experience abundant life in this life – right here, right now. He has placed His Spirit within us so that we have no excuse if our lives fail to reflect our new nature. But some of us are a bit surprised when we learn that living the Christian life is hard work. I’m not quite sure where we got the impression that becoming a Christ-follower was going to be easy. It certainly wasn’t for the disciples, Paul, or any of the members of the early church. Paul was brutally honest about the high call to commitment required of all believers. He told the Philippians, “Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear” (Philippians 2:12b NLT). A more familiar translation of that passage might be, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Either way you look at it, there is a clear responsibility given to the believer to do his or her part in the process of sanctification. While it is true that we can no more sanctify ourselves than we can save ourselves, there is still a vital part that we are to play in the process of our transformation into Christ-likeness.

One of the key words left out in the New Living Translation’s reading of this passage is the word, “therefore” that appears at the very beginning of verse 12. It is the Greek word hoste, a word of transition that means, “now then.” It ties the verses to come with the ones that just preceded it. Paul had just finished talking about the mind of Christ. His was an attitude of humility, service and sacrifice. And as a result of His life of obedience, even unto death, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor. He is worthy of honor and glory. His name is above all other names. He is the Lord of all – the one who all will eventually recognize and kneel before. As a result of that fact, Paul tells the Philippians, their behavior should be different. They should want to put every effort into seeing to it that their salvation, placing their trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior, will produce fruit. Paul tells them to work out their salvation, not work for it. There’s a huge difference between those two phrases. Believers are to eagerly put effort into the cultivation of their new life in Christ. Paul told Titus, “all who trust in God will devote themselves to doing good” (Titus 3:8 NLT). As always when reading the letters of Paul, we must constantly remind ourselves to keep the content within its context. Paul is writing to the church – the corporate body of believers in Philippi. He has been telling them to not live selfishly, focusing on their own interests, but instead they were to focus on the needs of one another. They were to love one another and work together with one mind and purpose. Paul is still addressing the body of believers. He is calling the church to display the reality of their salvation through tangible acts of kindness, compassion and love.

When Paul tells them to “do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish though you live in a crooked and perverse society, in which you shine as lights in the world,” he is speaking to the entire body, not just to individuals. This passage is a call to Christ-like community. We shine the brightest as believers when we do so together, not alone. The Christian life is to be a corporate experience, not a solitary one. We are children of God together, not just individually. How sad it is when our earthly children can’t get along. Think about how much it saddens you as a parent when your own children can’t seem to get along. How much more so for God when His adopted children, who have been given so much, fail to love another and live in harmony with one another.

Paul tells his readers to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. There should be a real sense of awe, reverence and legitimate fear in the lives of all believers when they consider what Christ has done for them. Paul describes Christ as being in the place of highest honor. He has the name that is above all other names. One day all men will kneel before Him, acknowledging His Lordship. The day is coming when every tongue in heaven and on earth will confess that He is the Lord. As believers, because of what has happened in our lives as a result of Christ’s work on the cross, we know exactly who He is right now. So we should pursue our own personal sanctification and that of the corporate body of Christ with a sense of awe, reverence and fear – for what He has done and what He is doing in our midst. Our lack of love and unity is a slap in the face of Christ Himself, reflecting our disdain for His sacrificial death on our behalf. Our failure to live as lights in the world discredit His redemptive work on the cross, giving the world the impression that His death was ineffectual. So because of who Christ is and what He has done, we should work out, pursue, and make as our highest priority, our ongoing transformation into His likeness. And nowhere does our Christ-like character show up best than in the community of fellow believers.

Father, Your Son has done so much for us, the least we can do for Him is to pursue our transformation into His likeness with a vengeance. Forgive us for making our transformation into His image a low priority, allowing too many other things to distract us. You have called us to be lights in this world, shining out and illuminating the darkness around us as we live out our lives in love and unity. We shine so much brighter when we shine together. Show us how to work out our salvation together. Show us how we can continue to grow in Christ-likeness together, not just alone. Amen.

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org