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Philippians 2:12-18
!
I. Introduction
Whenever I have been in the city on a particularly messy day, like a melting day in March, and I come home after dark, there is a problem.
As long as I am in the city and the street lights are bright, there is no problem.
But as soon as I leave the city and it is dark all around, I suddenly realize that the headlights on my van are not working very well.
They are dirty and therefore don’t illuminate where I am going very well at all.
As Christians, we are called to be the “light of the world” as Jesus says in Matthew, but if our lives are dirty, covered with disobedience or the mess of the world, how can we shine as lights?
Have you ever been plunged into darkness because of a power failure?
You stumble about in the dark, carefully trying not to walk into a door or trip on something you left on the floor, until you find the flashlight.
You turn it on expecting light to illumine your path, but find that the battery is almost dead and the flashlight does not help you.
As Christians, we need God’s help in order to shine as lights.
A few weeks ago, we noticed that Philippians 1:27-2:18 is a unit in which the primary theme is the proclamation of the gospel.
The content of this section has three ideas that support this primary theme.
One is that we should not be afraid if, as we shine as lights, we are being opposed.
Suffering for our faith is a normal part of the Christian life and we should expect it and allow God to help us in it.
The second idea is that if we are going to shine brightly, we need to be one in the body of Christ.
Unity is essential for a clear signal to be sent into the world.
The third idea, introduced in 1:27 is, as The Message says, “live in such a way that you are a credit to the Message of Christ.”
This morning, we want to examine this third idea as it is presented in Philippians 2:12-28.
Let us read these verses.
As he addresses the readers, he addresses them as “my dear friends.”
He is not berating them, but out of a pastoral heart, he is appealing to them to live in a worthy manner.
!
II.
Work Out Your Salvation
The word “therefore,” which begins this section, makes a connection with what has just preceded.
A few weeks ago, we examined the example of Christ who was selfless and humble as He gave himself for our salvation.
The call to obedience is anchored in the obedience of Jesus Christ.
!! A. Obedience
In verse 12, there is a call to obedience.
This call is repeated twice.
First of all he says “as you have always obeyed” and then repeats the same idea when he says, “work out your salvation.”
These are the same idea, but we need to be careful that we understand what is meant by this idea.
There has been some confusion about the meaning of the phrase, “work out your salvation.”
What we need to be very clear about is that it does not say, “work for your salvation.”
Salvation is not something that we receive by the work that we do.
Our sins are forgiven and we are saved from eternal death as a gift from God, which is given to us when we believe.
Faith is not a work, it is a way of stopping work and trusting that God has accomplished our salvation.
Salvation becomes ours as we believe that God has given it to us.
Rather, it says, “work out your salvation” which means that when we have become believers, we ought to continue to learn what it means to live as a Christian.
Gordon Fee has two important things to say about this.
First of all, he says, “it is an ethical text, dealing with ‘how saved people live out their salvation’…” In other words, living the Christian life is a path of discovering what it means to live for God.
The idea of “work out” suggests that it is a process of learning, a process of growing in a relationship with God.
The question we must never stop asking is, “How can I live a life which glorifies God?”
The other thing Fee says is, “for Paul faith in Christ is ultimately expressed as obedience to Christ, not in the sense of following the rules, but of coming totally under His lordship, of being devoted completely to him.”
What that means is that “working out our salvation” does not mean making a list of rules we should follow as Christians.
That leads us back into bondage and back into legalism.
Instead, it means absolute surrender to Jesus Christ as the one who rules in our life.
It is a relationship guided by the Spirit of God.
It is, not a commitment, but rather a surrender to Christ.
As we read on, we discover that striving to live in a way which fits with our calling as Christians is to be done “with fear and trembling.”
What does that mean?
What is it that we could be afraid of?
If I think of living the Christian life as God wants me to, there are several things I fear.
I fear the world around me which can have a negative influence on me.
If I am appropriately afraid of the influence of the world, I will be very careful not to let it influence me.
I also fear the evil I am capable of.
I know my own heart and that I can easily fall into sin.
If I have an appropriate fear of my own tendencies, I will build a relationship with God and I will build safeguards into my life which help me not to stumble and fall.
I also fear God because I know that He is the Lord and ultimately the judge.
I do not think that this fear should terrorize us because we know the grace of God, but it should lead us to live our whole life with a proper respect for God and lead us to live in awe of Him.
Another aspect of “working out your salvation” is given in the words of Paul when he says, “not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence.”
Paul had been with this church and when he was, they had grasped the gospel and had begun to follow Christ faithfully.
But Paul was now not with them and he is encouraging them to follow Christ faithfully as they had previously even though he is not there to encourage them.
As we follow Christ, it must also be something we do even when other Christians are not keeping an eye on us.
If we are only faithful Christians when other Christians are watching, or when we know that we have to be an example, then we have not really caught the life and power of our relationship with Christ.
Paul’s comment encourages a life of faith lived with integrity at all times.
They are to do it not for him, “when I am present” but for God, “even when I am absent.”
A leader is important as a prompter, but we must grow beyond dependence on a leader or anyone else and learn to depend on God alone.
So using the imagery of light which I mentioned at the beginning, we have responsibility to keep the lens clean, because as the next section tells us, the battery will never become weak.
!! B. God Works In You
What an encouragement this next verse is to us as we are to walk in faithfulness, especially when we know our weakness and the fear of the Lord.
The verse has power as it says, “it is God who works” The one who is helping us and working in us is God.
Although we need to make an effort and learn and grow, God is at work.
Although the Word of God is our guide and helps us understand God’s truth, God Himself is at work.
Although the fellowship of believers is a great encouragement and a wonderful help to keep us accountable, God, our creator and redeemer is at work.
God is the one who empowers our obedience.
He gives us what we need to help us obey.
The text points to two ways in which this happens.
First of all, God gives us the will to do what is right.
If God did not do this, we would not think about our actions very much.
If God did not do this, we would not listen to our conscience.
One of the most powerful things that happens when we become Christians is that God gives us a new heart.
It is that new heart that is turned towards God that is the first evidence that God is at work in us “to will.”
Furthermore, whenever our conscience bothers us, God is also at work in us.
When we sense the prompting of the Spirit, after we have sinned, we have evidence that God is in us “to will.”
But God also supplies power “to act.”
Whenever we have the ability to do the things that are right, it is God who has given us this power.
But, I can hear the objections – “that is a nice Scripture, but it doesn’t work for me.”
That is the voice of discouragement.
It may be the voice of disobedience.
It may be the temptation of Satan to bring you down.
The very fact that we have a bad conscience is God at work.
The fact that we feel bad about sin is God at work.
The desire to change that behaviour is God at work.
Another encouragement that God is at work comes when we take a long term view of things.
Often as we look at a week or a month or a year, we may not see much change, but if we look over a longer period, 10 or 20 years, we will see a difference.
Whenever we become discouraged about persistent sins, we need to yield them to God once again because God is at work in us.
Whenever we feel distant from God, we should trust Him anyway because He is at work in us.
He does this, as the text says, “according to his good purpose.”
God is at work in us first of all because it pleases Him to make us into new creatures.
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