Sunday, January 17, 2010
WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION
Phil. 2:12-13
These past few weeks we have dealing with one of the greatest passages of the Bible, Phil. 2:6-11. What makes it so wonderful is the fact that it gives us a very concise but full picture of who Jesus is and what He has done. Let’s read it again to refresh our memory. Phil. 2:6-11…
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7. But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
There is much more we could say about this passage, and we may talk more about it later. No doubt, many times we will come back to it. I trust we have talked about it enough that as we read it, you understand the basic message and can thank God for what He has done in His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus, who was in the form of God, who was indeed God, left the glory of heaven and came down to this earth. He came farther down by actually becoming a man. But that wasn’t low enough; He became a servant of men. And then He lowered Himself even more by obeying His Father to the point of death. It wasn’t just any death, but death on the cross, where He bore our sins and endured the wrath of God His Father. But praise God that the cross wasn’t the final word. The One who took the lowest place has been highly exalted and given a name that is above every name. And some day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father. For those of us who belong to Him, we have the privilege of bowing the knee and proclaiming Him Lord even now!
This morning we come to verses 12-13. Let’s go ahead and read those verses. Phil. 2:12-13…
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.
The Question Raised by Phil. 2:12-13… Whose Work Is It?
As we begin to deal with these two verses, there is a very important question that surfaces. It goes something like this: “Who is responsible for my salvation -- me, or God?” More specifically, the question relates to sanctification. Paul was writing to believers, to those who had already been justified. That is, they had been made right with God through Christ. They had been reconciled to God. But after justification comes sanctification. Don’t let those terms scare you. Why do I use those big words? Because they are biblical terms and they communicate truth that is vital. If we do away with the terms, the tendency is to water down the truths which God meant them to communicate. Sanctification speaks of the setting-apart-to-God process in the life of the believer. There is a real sense in which we have already been sanctified, already been set apart to God. After all, the Bible calls us saints, holy ones, set apart ones. Nevertheless, there is another real sense in which God will continue to set us apart until we meet Him face to face. It is the present process of sanctification that will ultimately make us like Jesus. We are being transformed into His image.
So with respect to this process of sanctification, who is responsible? Is it God’s work? Or is it the work of the believer? This is a very important question. How we answer that question will determine much about the way we live.
From the very outset, we must acknowledge that Christians have answered this question in different ways. There are two extremes. The one extreme might be called spiritual passivism. Some have called it quietism. Regardless of what you call it, these extremists emphasize that the work of sanctification belongs to God alone. God is the one who sanctifies the believer. The believer’s role is simply to “let go and let God.” After all, we can do nothing. We have been crucified with Christ. The best thing we can do is just quit trying and allow God to do the work in us. That is the one extreme.
The other extreme, which is perhaps best captured by the Pietest movement, says that the process of sanctification is up to the believer. We must discipline ourselves to pray, study the Word, seek Him with our whole heart. God has given us the responsibility. That is why He gives us so many commands, telling us to study to show ourselves approved, to pray with ceasing, to present our bodies a living sacrifice. The key to sanctification is the spiritual devotion of the believer. The Christian life is expressed through a deep and active dedication to the Lord.
Those are the two extremes. Which is right? They are both right. The difficulty is understanding the tension between them and how they are to be balanced. That is exactly what Phil. 2:12-13 deals with. I’m not sure how long we will be in these two verses. The truths here are extremely important. May God give us grace to dig in and explore what He has given us in His Word.
The Direct Command of Phil. 2:12-13… Work Out Your Own Salvation
So we come to verse 12 and we find this direct command: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” I believe the best place to start is by making it very clear what this command does not mean. Some want to make it say, “Work for your own salvation.” That isn’t what it says. Rather, Paul says, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” In other words, Paul is not saying that salvation is by works. He is not telling us that we must work hard to earn our salvation. All we have to do is go back to the clear teaching of Eph. 2:8-9, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9. Not of works, lest any man should boast." We were not saved, not justified, by our works, but by the grace of God in Christ Jesus. So Phil. 2:12 must never be construed to mean that we can earn our salvation.
Then what does Paul mean, when he says, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”? I want to suggest two aspects of this command. Down through the years, many have put it like this: God has worked it in; now you work in out. In other words, God has given you His salvation through grace; now you work out the implications in your own person life. Work out what God has worked in. God has given you a wonderful and great salvation, but now you must work out the practical implications of that salvation in daily life.
This interpretation assumes that there is something to be worked out. It takes for granted that salvation is not just an initial experience which guarantees heaven. Rather, salvation begins at a point in time but continues throughout our lives. This interpretation assumes that accompanying justification is regeneration. In other words, when you were saved, you were not only made right with God in a legal sense, but you were given new life. Jesus didn’t die just to forgive you of your sins, but to deliver you from your sins. The first promise of the New Testament is in Matt. 1:21, "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." Praise God for His forgiveness of sins through Christ, but that is not the total package. Jesus came to save us from our sins, to break the power of sin in our daily lives. That must be worked out in our lives. Paul tells the Philippians and us to work it out.
The word that is translated “work out” (katergazomai) speaks of bringing something to completion. A good start has been made; now go work it out. Bring it to its fullness. We cannot miss the fact that this implies effort. Paul is making it clear that Christians are expected to work, to put forth much effort, in obeying this command. We can’t obey this command sitting in an easy chair with our arms folded, saying, “God will do it.” No, this is a very active command.
This should come as no surprise to us. All we have to do is look at the rest of the New Testament. May we never get the idea that the old covenant was one of activity, but the new covenant is one of passivity. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Not only do we have the many active commands, a few of which we read, but we also have the example of Paul. Just last Sunday Jake read us that passage from I Cor. 9. Let’s read it again in I Cor.9 :24-27 (ESV)…
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
Does that sound like a passive approach to the Christian life? Hardly. Paul is talking about effort, toil, labor, hard work. He makes no apology for it. And don’t forget what the same apostle Paul said toward the end of his life: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (II Tim. 4:7). Again, notice that Paul fought the good fight. The word translated “fought” is the word from which we get “agony.” Literally, “The good agony have I agonized.” Paul did not lead a nice little, hands-folded life. He aggressively fought the good fight.
But I said there are two aspects of working out our salvation. The other is based on the truth that salvation is not a point in time, but a life-long process. If I haven’t emphasized that in a while, forgive me. We must understand this truth. Salvation began in the past, but it is an ongoing process now, and it will continue until we meet the Lord face to face. We were justified in the past. That is, we were made right with God. We were forgiven of our sins and the righteousness of Christ was imputed to us. And it was all through faith, not of works. Now we are being sanctified. That is, we are being set apart continually unto God. We are being conformed to the image of Christ. At the time of our death or the return of our Lord, we will be glorified. We will see Him as He is. Sin and sorrow will be totally removed from our lives. When we were justified, we were freed from the penalty of sin. As we are being sanctified, we are being freed from the power of sin. When we will be glorified, we will be freed even from the presence of sin. So do you see that salvation is an ongoing process?
In the context of that truth, Paul tells us to work out our own salvation. Every translation I checked rendered it “work out your own salvation.” While that seems to be the proper way to translate it into English, it is not a literal translation. The word that is used here reads literally, “Work down your own salvation.” The Amplified reads like this: “Work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation.” I believe that captures the second sense of working out our own salvation. We are to carry it out to its goal. We realize that our salvation is not yet complete and won’t be until we are in His presence. One pastor puts it like this: “What he is really saying is not only work out your salvation but work on your salvation in the sense that you are working on toward that moment when you will see Christ and receive the end of your faith, even the fullness of salvation” (MacArthur; sermon on Phil. 2:12). At this point, only one of the three aspects have salvation has been completely worked out. And which one is that? Justification. Our justification is complete. Through faith in His blood, we have been forgiven and we have received the righteousness of Christ. “It’s a done deal.” That is not true of the current process of sanctification. And as we are being sanctified, we are looking for that day when we will be glorified. In the current process, we are not spectators. We are actively working to move ourselves closer to the goal.
I haven’t mentioned it up to this point, but the word “work out” (work down) is present tense. That is, Paul is talking about a continuing action. This is not a command that can be obeyed once and then it is done. The idea is, “Keep on working out your own salvation.” How long will it take? It will take the rest of our lives on this earth. We are to apply ourselves to moving toward that completion. We have a great responsibility at this point.
You may say, “But I thought it was God’s work to keep us to the end? Doesn’t Phil. 1:6 promise us that God will complete the work He has started?” Indeed, He does. And we will get a strong dose of that when we come to verse 13. Nevertheless, that truth does not negate in any way the responsibility we have to keep working on our salvation until it comes to completion.
There is a doctrine called “the perseverance of the saints.” Though you will not find that exact term in the Bible, the concept is certainly there. It simply means that those who have been justified and regenerated will persevere in their faith. Though they will not always yield perfect obedience, though they will mess up, they will still life of a life of persevering faith. True believers will not renounce their faith and turn their back on God. In short, they will keep working on their salvation until they see its completion at the time of glorification. We will do it in obedience to this and many other commands from our Lord.
You may be thinking, “There sure are lots of tensions in biblical thinking.” That is absolutely true. Perhaps a better word is “paradox.” The Bible is full of paradoxes. It seems impossible for something to be true, but it is. Perhaps better to say, it seems impossible for both of these things to be true, but they are. Lord willing, we will devote some more time to the paradoxes that are brought to light in these two verses. But for now, I want us to walk through the rest of verse 12. We have looked so far only at the naked command: “Work out your own salvation.” However, you will notice that there is more to this verse than the command. Let’s examine it.
The Words that Go Along with the Command…
Let’s begin with the “wherefore.” I think the best way to catch hold of that word is to render it, “So then.” If you prefer simply “therefore,” you won’t go far wrong. Leading up to verses 6-11, we had the words of verse 5, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Literally, “Keep on thinking this in you, which also in Christ Jesus.” And then Paul gives the attitude that was in Christ. He shows us how Christ thought. Now when we come out on the other side, after describing the humility and ensuing exaltation of the Lord Jesus, Paul says, “So then, as a result of what you have just read about Jesus…” We are not told exactly how the “therefore” relates specifically, but here are some ideas… “Since Christ Jesus by means of his unrestricted, voluntary obedience gave you an example, therefore…[work out your own salvation;] and since the reward which he received shows that there are great things in store for those who follow this example, [work out your own salvation;] and finally, since this highly exalted and human mediator imparts strength from heaven to all who trust in him and yearn so to live as he would have them live… therefore [work out your own salvation]. (William Hendricksen in New Testament Commentary: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon; p. 119).
“Wherefore, my beloved… work out your own salvation.” Paul refers to the Philippian Christians as “my beloved.” These were brothers and sisters whom Paul loved dearly, and he wants them to know that. Over in 4:1, Paul actually uses this word “beloved” twice in the space of one verse (“dearly beloved” at the end of 4:1, but there is no corresponding Greek word for “dearly”). Perhaps the reminder here of his love for them is due to what he is about to say to them. We will come to that in just a moment.
“Wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed…” What a word of encouragement! Paul commends them because they have always obeyed. We must not misunderstand what he is saying. We must put such statements in the total context of scripture. He was not saying that the Philippian church was unique in that it was filled with saints who had attained sinless perfection. His pleas for unity indicate that there was still a need for the Lord to work on some things in them. In chapter 4 he has to speak directly to two women and tell them to be of the same mind in the Lord. Nevertheless, Paul looks at the Philippians and he can truthfully commend them for their lives of obedience. When Paul has found it necessary to correct them and ask them to change something, they have done so. When they have come to understand an apostolic command, they have then obeyed that command.
Think about your own life. You don’t have it all together. There may be areas in your life to which you have given little or no thought. You didn’t know it was sin to make close alliances with non-believers. You had never considered the implications of II Cor. 6:14ff, but when it has come to your attention and you have studied it out under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and in the context of the Lord’s church, you came to see the truth and you obeyed. That is the kind of obedience he is talking about. These brothers and sisters had an eagerness to obey what God wanted them to do.
Now notice the next words in our text -- “not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation.” We need to spend some time thinking about this idea. Where was Paul at this time? Yes, he was in prison in Rome. Philippi was some 800 miles from Rome. Paul was not able to be with them. I suspect some of these brothers and sisters longed for Paul’s presence. Not only where they dear to him, but he was dear to them. But now he is giving them instructions, even though he is not present with them. When he was present with them, they were busy working out their own salvation. Now they must do the same thing in his absence.
Paul is gently reminding them that ultimately they must not depend upon Paul; they must depend upon the Lord Himself. He is not rebuking them in any way. Was it wrong for them to have such a good and close relationship with Paul? Of course, not. It is a wonderful thing for believers to have a strong and loving relationship with their leaders. Nevertheless, there is a subtle danger therein. I know all too well that Satan is an expert at taking something very good and twisting it. It is possible for Christians to become too dependent upon leaders in the church. Yes, receiving counsel from leaders and other believers in the church is important and right. Nevertheless, ultimate allegiance and obedience must be to God. The primary relationship for every Christian must be to the Lord Himself.
Let’s just bring this down to where we live. I have been a pastor at this church for almost 30 years. We have a love and respect for one another, and that is good. Nevertheless, you can’t depend ultimately on me; you must depend on the Lord. We all know that, but sometimes knowing something and living it out are not the same thing. So, for the Philippians, Paul’s absence due to being in prison was a reminder that they must depend upon the Lord. They didn’t have Paul’s presence to lean on. For many of you, my failures and shortcomings have reminded you that though you love me, respect me, look to me (along with Norman) for leadership, you must depend ultimately upon the Lord. Just over twenty years ago I failed miserably. I demonstrated a great lack of wisdom and caused confusion in the body of Christ. I had to confess my sin to God’s people. I believe it was the most painful experience of my life, not because I had to publicly confess my sin, but because I had been such a stumblingblock in the Lord’s church. But praise God that He can take the failures of man and use even those failures for His glory. There were people in this church who were likely too dependent upon this pastor. After that experience, they would never forget that I am a man, a man capable of being deceived and going astray.
Paul had confidence that his beloved brothers and sisters would obey what he was saying, even though he was not with them and had no absolute assurance that he would be with them again. He had already hinted at this same concept back in Phil. 1:27, "Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ [Walk in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ]: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel." Paul wanted to make it abundantly clear that they were to obey the command of the Lord (through Paul), whether he was present or absent.
And finally, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” This task of continuing to work out our own salvation is such a serious thing that it must be done with an attitude of deep reverence. Brothers and sisters, we are working on something that the Lord Himself has begun. Surely we don’t want to hinder this great salvation in any way. In the original text, “with fear and trembling” comes before “work out your own salvation.” It is Paul’s way of putting emphasis on it.
Conclusion
Brothers and sisters, we have our work cut out for us. There is no reason why we shouldn’t receive Paul’s words to the Philippians as a direct command to us. We too have been justified and are in the process of being sanctified on our way to glorification. The Lord expects us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. While we have brothers and sisters who are moving in that same direction and leaders to encourage us, ultimately we are responsible to God for obeying this command. And it is of such great importance, we must tackle it with fear and trembling.
So what should we take away from our scriptural study this morning? Let us meditate on the truth that we have much responsibility. We have a very active part in our own sanctification. If we have been just drifting along, expecting God to sanctify us, let us repent and believe what the scripture says. It says, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” And then I challenge you to read and meditate long on Phil. 2:12-13. Next week, Lord willing, we will focus more on verse 13.
I must make one thing clear. For some of you, it isn’t yet possible for you to work out your own salvation, because you do not yet have that salvation. It has not yet begun. You have not been justified, made right with God through the blood of Jesus Christ. So in light of that fact, what are you to do? I can’t say to you, “So you must work to get this salvation.” No, that isn’t it.
Let me leave you with the words of Jesus. Because He had fed the 5,000, the crowds were following Jesus everywhere. Now listen to how Jesus responded in John 6:26-29…
Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. 27. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. 28. Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29. Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
There is no “work” you can do to make yourself acceptable to God. Jesus did the work, when He died on the cross in your place and rose from the grave. You must believe on Him, trust Him, throw yourself on Him. The other side of the “believe” coin is “repent.” You can’t believe on Jesus until you quit believing in yourself, trusting yourself, believing that you can handle things. As Jesus says in Mark 1:15, “Repent and believe.”
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