Sunday, January 24, 2010
GOD IS WORKING IN YOU
Phil. 2:13
This morning we come to Phil. 2:13. But we can’t study verse 13 by itself. Every verse fits in a context, and that truth is most obvious with this verse, because it begins with the word “for.” You could translate it just as easily “because.” Read verses 12 and 13 together: “Wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for (because) it is God who works in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Did you catch that? Work out your own salvation, because it is God who works in you.
Last week we focused on verse 12. From that verse, we emphasized the fact that God commands us to work out our own salvation. God expects us to work out in daily life the implications of the salvation He has given us. God has worked it in; now we are to work in out. Remember that there are three aspects to salvation. We were saved in the past; that is justification. When we were justified, we were forgiven of our sins, the righteousness of Christ was imputed to us, and it was all by grace through faith. We are being saved in the present; that is sanctification. We are continually being set apart to God. We will be saved in the future; that is glorification. The time is coming (and coming soon) when we will see our Lord face to face. All sin and sorrow will be gone. Yes, that will be glory. Now in this continuing process of sanctification, we are to work out our own salvation. We realize that justification was only the beginning. Now we are to work, labor, toil to bring our salvation to completion. This was true of Paul himself, the one who said at the end of his life, “I have fought the good fight; I have finished my course; I have kept the faith” (II Tim. 4:7). As we look for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ (Tit. 2:13), we work to be set apart more and more to our Lord.
Now when we hear those last few statements about working and laboring to be like Christ, something about that makes us a little bit uncomfortable, doesn’t it? Well, it should. Those statements are absolutely biblical. That is exactly what Paul tells us to do. Nevertheless, they make us feel a bit uncomfortable. Why is that? It is because it isn’t the whole story. How can we work out our own salvation? Who are we? On the one hand, we can say, “We are new creations in Christ Jesus” (II Cor. 5:17). But on the other hand, if only God could save us, who are we to think that we can work out our own salvation?
I. God Is Working In Us
The solution is in verse 13. “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Yes, work out your own salvation, because it is God who works in you. You can do it because God is working in you. God not only worked the salvation in us in that we were justified, but He is continuing to work within us. We must not give the impression that God justified us, but we are the ones who sanctify us. And that brings us back to the question with which we began last week: Who is responsible for our sanctification? Who is responsible for this continual process of setting us apart to God? Is it our responsibility? Or is it God’s responsibility? We will deal more with that question, but first let’s look a little more closely at verse 13. We focused on verse 12; now let’s focus on verse 13.
“It is God who works in you.” Just think about that for a moment. It is God who works in you . Who is this God who is working in us?
Gen. 1:1… “In the beginning God…”
Gen. 1:3… “And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.”
Ex. 3:13-14… "And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? 14. And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."
Ps. 2:1-5… "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2. The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, 3. Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 4. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. 5. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure."
Ps. 11:4… “The Lord is in his holy temple , the Lord’s throne is in heaven; his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.
Ps. 90:2… “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”
Ps. 96:3-5… "Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. 4. For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods. 5. For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens."
Is. 6:1-3… "In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory."
Is. 40:12-18… "Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? 13. Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? 14. With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding? 15. Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. 16. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. 17. All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. 18. To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?"
Is. 45:18… "For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else."
Is. 46:9-10… "Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10. Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:"
Hab. 2:20… “But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”
Rom. 11:33-36… "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 34. For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? 35. Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 36. For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen."
Rev. 1:8, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."
Rev. 15:3-4… "And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. 4. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest."
O God, who is like you? But you are working in me! The God who created the universe is working in you. The One who is over all and controls all history is working in you. The God who is all powerful, all knowing, and present everywhere at the same time is working in you. The God who will reign forever and ever without rival is working in you.
Notice what Paul says here. He does not say, “For God is working on you.” Nor does he say, “God is working around you.” No, He says that God is working in you. You say, “But look at me. I am but dust. I am just one of the billions of people on this planet, which is just a speck in this mighty universe. How can you say that God, the Creator and Sustainer, the great I AM, is working in me?” I didn’t say it; God said it. Paul is not just a great man who speaks for God. Paul was the instrument of the Holy Spirit, writing the Word of God. If God says He is working in you, then you can bank on it. If He is not working in you, then you don’t belong to Him.
Let me pause for just a moment. God isn’t working in all of us, because some of you here do not yet have the Lord living within you by His Spirit. Some of you have tried hard to make yourself right with God. You live a good moral life in comparison to others. You come to services and you may even be reading the Word. But the bottom line is that you aren’t capable of making yourself right with God. Some of you wonder what to do. We tell you to repent and believe, but you aren’t sure whether you have done that. I praise God that you are honest and don’t want any phony religious experience. Listen to me. Cry out to God. Can you say to the Lord, “O God, I have come to see that I am not worthy of your salvation. I have rebelled against you and I deserve your wrath and condemnation. Lord, I can’t help myself. You are the only One who can do anything for me, but Lord, you created this universe. You made me. Surely you can break my pride, soften my heart, and give me a heart of repentance. You sent your Son to die on the cross. Please have mercy on me. Open my eyes to see your Son clearly. Don’t give me rest until I belong to you.” Can you pray like that? Do it. You say, “But that’s too hard. I thought it was easy to become a Christian.” That is much of our trouble. We are more concerned about becoming a Christian than about the glorious, majestic, sin-bearing Jesus who is revealed to us in this precious Word. Conversion is a wonderful thing, but our goal must not be conversion as much as it is Christ. Do we want to see people converted? Then they must see Jesus.
This is the great blessing of the new covenant is having God working in us. We read the Old Testament and we see God working mightily through men like Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, and the prophets. Through those men mighty miracles were done. Praise God. Nevertheless, we are not told that God was working in them. This is the privilege of those who have the Holy Spirit dwelling within. I am not trying to minimize the spirituality of those Old Testament saints, but I am trying rather to maximize the privilege of us who have the Spirit of Christ. God works in us.
The word translated “work” is not the usual word for work. Rather it is the word “energize.” Our word “energize” is simply a transliteration from the Greek. God energizes in us. Or, we might say that God energizes us from the inside out. He who has all power energizes in us.
II. What Work Is He Doing In Us?
Now if God works in us, what is it that He is doing in us? Listen to what Paul says, “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” God works in us both to will and to do. He begins with the willing. It is easier for us to understand the doing. Who cannot understand the idea that God works in us to enable us to do certain things? Though we might not be able to explain how He does it, we can grasp the concept of the Lord enabling us to do. But the idea of working in us to will is a bit more difficult.
Of course, there are those in the world who would lead us to believe that the willing is not a great problem. Every man wants to do the right thing, he just has trouble carrying out his want to. People may not be perfect, but in general they want to do right. Let me read again for you that passage from Romans 3. While it is true that the passage speaks of some outward evil deeds, it clearly reaches deeper than the outward acts. Let’s read Rom. 3:10-18…
"As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 13. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 14. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15. Their feet are swift to shed blood: 16. Destruction and misery are in their ways: 17. And the way of peace have they not known: 18. There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Note also the use of the word “enmity” in these verses: Rom. 8:7, "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." James 4:4, "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." The Greek word translated “enmity” means “actively hostile, hating and opposing another.” Before we came to Christ we all had a carnal mind, a fleshly mind. Paul makes it clear that such is hostility toward God, even hatred of God. Before we came to Christ, we were all friends of the world, which signifies hatred of God.
Do you see why God must work in us to will? He began that work when He made us new creatures in Christ. Praise His name for that, but the work doesn’t stop there. Although we are new creations in Christ, we have plenty of baggage from the past. Listen to me: God is working in you to give you a desire to please Him. When you have that desire, know that it is the direct work of God in you, and that is no small thing.
Let’s try to illustrate that truth with a specific situation. Let’s suppose that you have not forgiven someone. Normally, it is your practice to forgive. Why shouldn’t you? After all, God has forgiven you. That willingness to forgive is God’s work. But then someone hurts you really deeply. Though you wouldn’t say it, you wonder if anyone you know has ever been hurt so deeply? How could this so-called brother do such a thing to you? You find that you are unwilling to forgive him. You know you should. You know it is right. You know well that our Lord said, "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matt. 6:14-15). But the bottom line is simply this: You do not want to forgive this person. Can God make you willing? Can God work in you to will and to do of His good pleasure? Indeed, He can. And if you are truly His child, He will.
Do you see how important the willing part is? You might say, “I just don’t have the power to forgive that person.” That may be true, but the power will never be yours, as long you don’t want to forgive him. The want to must come before the doing. And this shows us the power and grace of our Lord, who works within us. It is one thing to give ability to do something; it is quite another to break a hard heart and make it willing to do God’s bidding.
It is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Now we come to the other side of the coin. The same God who works in us to make us willing works in us to make us able. Aren’t you glad our God is able to do that? While there are times when we are not willing, there are also times when we truly want to do the will of God, but we seem powerless to do so. Isn’t it wonderful to be able to look back and know that it was the power of God and God alone that enabled you to do it! What a blessing! Take a moment to recall an incident like that in your life.
Peter comes to mind. Go with me to the day of Pentecost. Here we have Peter, a man who denied our Lord Jesus three times. It wasn’t like he was before a firing squad. No, he was simply asked if he was one of Jesus’ disciples, and he flatly denied knowing his Lord (three times). Almost two months later thousands of people have thronged Jerusalem to attend the Feast of Pentecost (also known as “the Feast of Weeks,” “the Feast of Harvest,” and “the Day of Firstfruits”). Peter and the other followers of Jesus have been huddled into an upper room for a week or so, waiting for the promise from the risen Lord that they would be clothed with power from on high (Lk. 24:49). Well on the morning of Pentecost, the promise was fulfilled. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit and in various languages these disciples told of the mighty works of God. God gave them a desire to bring glory to His name. And now He was giving them the power to do so.
But come back to Peter, who was without doubt the recognized leader of the group. There was confusion about exactly what was happening. Some were basically asking, “What is going on?” Others thought it was time for a good joke and suggested that all these Jesus’ followers had had a little too much to drink. It was then that the apostles stood before the huge crowd and Peter sensed it was his turn to speak. Yes, he had a great God-given desire to glorify his Lord. There is no question about that; God made him willing. But don’t forget that this is Peter, the man who had denied Jesus in the presence of just one young lady. Now he is standing before thousands. It was at a similar feast less than two months before that many of the people in this crowd were crying out, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” Maybe Peter could pacify them a bit and say, “Hey, folks. Listen to me. We’re not drunk. We’re here to tell you about Jesus. Now we know you didn’t mean Jesus any harm when your leaders plotted to kill Him. You were deceived and used by them. Don’t be too hard on yourselves.” No, Peter knew the message he must preach. He must tell the truth. But how could he come to the point where he could say, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36)? There was only one way -- God worked in him not only to will, but also to do. God enabled Peter to boldly proclaim the truth of who Jesus was, what He had done, and how they had crucified the Lord of glory. That was the message God used to convict of sin and add three thousand souls to His church that day.
Brothers and sisters, what a mighty God we serve! That God is working in you both to will and do of His good pleasure. Notice those words “of His good pleasure.” Don’t miss that. God doesn’t work in us to will and do for any and every thing. He works in us that we may desire His good pleasure, and He works in us that we may do His good pleasure. In short, God works in us in such a way that we long to glorify Him and are able to glorify Him. What could be better than that? Isn’t that the greatest purpose we have in this life, to bring glory to our Lord? God works in us to enable us to do that for which He created us and re-created us in Christ.
“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out” (Rom. 11:33). Praise His name that though His ways are past finding out, He gives us more than a glimpse!
III. How Can We Put the Truth of Verse 12 together with the Truth of Verse 13?
Now let’s back up for a minute. We have talked about the God who works in us, in us who are His people. We have seen that this work consists of giving us the desire to please Him and giving us the power to please Him. When you look at it, it is really quite simple. But now we must go back to verse 12 and view verses 12 and 13 together: "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."
So we come back to the question with which we began last week -- Whose work is it? When it comes to our salvation, and specifically to our sanctification, whose work is it? Is it God’s work? Or, is it our work? On the one hand, the Holy Spirit says through Paul, “Work out your own salvation.” He tells us to work out the practical implications of what He has worked in and to bring this process to completion. But then immediately he says, “Because it is God who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” So I ask you again, whose work is it?
Last week I gave a preliminary answer, suggesting that it is both. However, that answer does not tell us how to put the two ideas together. So let us gird up the loins of our minds and think seriously about this. This is that idea of paradox that we mentioned last week. If we are to work out our own salvation, then how can Paul say that God is the one who works in us? If God works in us to will and do of His good pleasure, then why should we be concerned about working out our salvation? Surely He will do it.
First of all, the first word of verse 13--for, or because--indicates that the only reason we are capable of working out our own salvation is because God is working in us. If God were not working in us to will and to do, we would never be able to work out our own salvation. As believers, we have the responsibility of working out our own salvation, but apart from Him, we do not have the power to do it. The good news is that God Himself supplies the power both to will and to do.
In practical terms, this means that I can never sit back and say, “God has promised to complete the work in me that He has started. Therefore, I don’t have to concern myself with my own sanctification. I would just mess it up.” But then I read a passage like II Cor. 6:14-7:1…
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? 15. And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16. And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Can you hear the echo of “Work out your own salvation” in the commands of that passage? Perhaps it is a thundering refrain, rather than an echo. There is work involved in cleansing ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
On the other hand, if I am going to work out my own salvation, if I am going to cleanse myself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, I must understand that it will only happen as God works in me both to will and do of His good pleasure. That is my only hope. That is my confidence. And when I look back and see that I have indeed obeyed a command of God, I can never take any pride in it. Why not? Because I know it was God who was working in me to will and to do.
A very helpful passage in this regard is found in I Corinthians 15. Let me remind you of the context. Paul has spoken about the gospel, which includes not only the death of the Lord Jesus, but also His resurrection. Then he gives a list of those who can give testimony that Jesus did indeed rise from the grave. Now listen to what Paul says about his own witness to the resurrection of Jesus in I Cor. 15:8-10…
And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. 9. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."
Notice what Paul says. With great humility he considers himself to be the least of the apostles. Then he speaks of the grace of God and how that grace was not given to him in vain. Then I would expect Paul to continue by telling what wonderful things God has done in him and through him. Instead, he says, “But I labored more abundantly than they all.” And what does that word “labor” mean? It means to labor… work hard, toil, put forth great effort. It’s a “work-up-a-sweat” word. Do you know what Paul was doing? He was working out his own salvation! But he can’t stop there; he adds, “yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” Can you hear Paul? “I labored more than all the rest, but it was only because God was working in me by His grace to will and to do of His good pleasure.”
There is great danger in neglecting either verse 12 or verse 13. If we emphasize the working out to the exclusion of the working in, we are headed either for despair or pride. If we don’t do well (and we won’t, if we are not conscious of God working in us), then we will fall into despair. On the other hand, if we think we do well, we will become puffed up with pride, no matter how well we may disguise it, because we don’t realize how fully the power is coming from our Lord. But if we emphasize verse 13 to the exclusion of verse 12, then we will justify a lazy life with little discipline and active seeking. We will get the idea that all we have to do is sit back and trust the Lord. Even as I say that, you see how easy it is to twist the truth of these verses. “I thought that’s what we were supposed to do, to trust the Lord with all our heart and not lean to our own understanding” (Prov. 3:5). There is nothing about Prov. 3:5 that suggests we are to wait passively on the Lord and do nothing. This is not an either/or, but a both/and.
Conclusion
I think that is a good place for us to stop this morning. It brings us to a question that I want to deal with next week. We see that the work of sanctification is both our work and God’s work. But we must ask one more question: Is one more important than the other? Can we say that the work of sanctification is all of God and all of man? We see in this passage that Paul lays emphasis on both, but is there one that comes before the other? That is the question I want us to deal with next week.
Yes, we will take a bit of a detour from Philippians, but these two verses will be our launching pad. There haven’t been many detours, but we need to take this one. We must also fit into this picture Phil. 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that he who hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
In dealing with this question about sanctification and whether the work of either man or God has priority over the other, I want to approach it by comparing sanctification with justification. We will ask the question: Whose work is justification? Is it the work of God or the work of man? Is one more important than the other? In the final analysis, who decides whether a person is justified or not? Does man make the decision, or does God make the decision?
These are very weighty issues. I would encourage you to read the first three chapters of Ehpesians. You might also take a look at the end of Romans 8, as well as chapter 9. Let’s be praying that the Lord would truly guide us by His Spirit, as we look at His Word.
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