‘WORKING OUT’ WHAT GOD ‘WORKS IN’
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on January 29, 2025 under AM Bible Study |
AM Bible Study Group: January 29, 2025 from Philippians 2:12-13
Theme: We’re to work out our own salvation, knowing that it is God who works in us to do so.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
Before we look at this morning’s passage in Paul’s epistle to the Philippian believers, let’s look back to something that we found in the very introduction of his letter to them. It’s found in Philippians 1:3-6; where he wrote;
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ … (Philippians 1:3-6).
Clearly, Paul loved these Philippian believers very much. He was certain of their salvation; and he rejoiced in his fellowship with them. And consider very carefully the things that he says about them in verse 6. He was confident that God, who had begun the good work in them of their salvation, would see it all the way to completion until the day that Jesus returned for them. That verse is important; because in it, we see the broad work of salvation God performs in the life of a believer in two important aspects—its beginning and its completion.
The ‘beginning’ of that work is what we call ‘justification’. It’s that “good work” that God does for us in which He declares us to be 100% righteous in His sight. It’s a gracious work of God by which—apart from any work of righteousness on our part—He declares us to be 100% righteous in His sight as His gift through faith in Jesus. Jesus—the eternal Son of God—willingly left the glory of heaven, was conceived in the womb of Mary by the Holy Spirit as a full-fledged member of the human family, lived a sinless life on our behalf, died on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and was raised from the dead to show that the Father was satisfied with what He did for us. And so; when we place our faith in Jesus’ work for us, we are ‘justified’ in God’s sight and are declared as righteous before Him as Jesus Himself. That’s not a work that we have any part in. In fact, it’s not a work that would be possible for us to—in any way—contribute to. It’s all a work that we receive as a gift only by God’s grace through faith. That’s the ‘good work’ that God has begun in us.
And the ‘end’ of that work is what we call ‘glorification’. It’s the completion of that “good work” that we will fully experience when—on the day of Jesus’ return—our redeemed bodies are raised and transformed, are united to our glorified spirits, and are made to share forever in the glory of Jesus Himself forever. As Paul wrote in Philippians 3:20-21;
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself (Philippians 3:20-21).
You can think of those two events as ‘bookends’ to our salvation. At the beginning of this good work, God justifies us. And the end of this “good work” will be when God completes it in our full glorification on the day of Jesus’ return. And those two events are things that are done for us apart from anything that we ourselves can do. They are works done for us by God through His grace; and we are to gratefully receive them and rest in them joyfully.
But between the beginning of that work called ‘justification’ and the completion of that work called ‘glorification’ is a third aspect of our salvation called ‘sanctification’. You can probably guess at the meaning of ‘sanctification’ by what we mean whenever we say that something is ‘sanctified’. We mean that it’s ‘set it apart as holy’. Sanctification, then, is a process by which God graciously, ongoingly, and progressively renews every part of the man or woman He justifies. Through the indwelling Holy Spirit, He enables them to live the kind of ‘set-apart’ life that matches up with the declaration of righteousness He has given them and the destination of glory that He has promised to them. And unlike ‘justification’ and ‘glorification’, this is a work that stands between those two aspects as something with which we are most definitely to be involved.
And that brings us to our passage this morning. It’s found in Philippians 2:12-13; where Paul wrote,
Therefore, 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 it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13).
Here, then, is a gentle command from the apostle Paul to us as believers to faithfully do that part in our salvation that we’re to do faithfully; and to work out our own salvation—knowing that it is God who works in us to do so.
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Now; the context in which these words appear in Paul’s letter is very important. They come after Paul’s exhortation in 2:1-4, in which he called his fellow believers to live in communion with one another in a humble manner—not each one looking out for his or her own concerns, but looking out for the concerns of one another. Paul set the example of Jesus before them, saying,
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (vv. 5-11).
The obedience of the Lord Jesus to the heavenly Father’s call—leaving the glory of heaven aside for a time, coming to this earth in the humble form of a servant, and dying on the cross for us—is to be our great example in our treatment of one another. And the glory that God gave to Jesus afterward—exalting Him and giving Him the name above every name—is to encourage us that God will reward our faithfulness in humbling ourselves for one another.
So; when Paul began our passage this morning with the word “Therefore …”, he was connecting our call to ‘work out our salvation’ to the work that Jesus did to begin it for us. As the Bible tells us, we’re to
…run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1-2).
So; with the centrality of Jesus and His sacrificial work for us in mind, let’s go on to see how this passage calls us to ‘work out’ what God has ‘worked in’. First, we see …
1. THE ASSUMPTIONS THAT STAND BEHIND THE COMMAND.
In verse 12, Paul began by calling his readers “my beloved”. This indicates to us the tenderness and humility with which Paul issues this command to his fellow believers. He didn’t set himself above them—giving them a command as if he was looking down upon them. Instead, he put himself on the same level with them. They were dear to him and greatly loved by him—and, as it says in 1:8, he greatly longed for them with the affections of Christ.
But the title ‘beloved’ also indicates their relationship with God that stands as the context for this command. It shows that they had personally received the work of grace that Jesus has performed for them—as that work was described in verses 5-11; and it indicated that they now stood as 100% acceptable in the sight of the heavenly Father by grace. As Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:5-6, God the Father has ‘predestined’ them “to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace,” by which He made them “accepted in the Beloved”.
Paul also felt confident in issuing the command that he was about to give them because he assumed their readiness to obey it. In verse 12, he added, “as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence …” Because of his imprisonment, he wasn’t able to be with them personally. But he deeply desired that they would grow in their faith. As he told them in verse 1:27,
Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel … (Philippians 1:27).
This teaches a vital lesson to us. We should always be grateful for the teachers and mentors we have in the Christian faith. It’s a great gift from God to have them present to influence us. But it’s truly a tremendous step forward in a Christian’s life when a believer is no longer dependent upon their mentor or leader to stand by them to hold them accountable, but is able to stand on his or her own. We should each learn to become ‘independently dependent’ upon the Holy Spirit’s enabling power in the Christian life. We show true maturity in the Christian faith when we obey our Lord apart from the direct supervision of a mentor; and when we learn to pursue growth on our own in the Lord. That’s when we can become the helper to someone else.
So; these were things that the apostle Paul assumed to be true of these believers. And in the context of these assumptions, we go on to read …
2. THE COMMAND REGARDING OUR SANCTIFICATION.
In the latter half of verse 12, Paul told the Philippian believers, “work out your own salvation …” It’s important that we understand that Paul wasn’t—in any way—suggesting that someone could ‘earn’ their salvation by their ‘works’. Our salvation is a product of God’s grace in ‘justifying’ us in Christ by faith; and that’s a work that only God can do. As one great preacher said, we ‘work out’ our salvation … but we don’t ‘work for’ our salvation.
But it’s also important to understand that the gracious work of God in justifying us by faith in Jesus is only the beginning of the full spectrum of our salvation. We’re to rise up and live a transformed life in Christ that matches God’s gracious work in us, and grow increasingly in our ‘sanctification’. The apostle Peter wrote that it’s essential that we ‘build upon the foundation’ of our faith. In fact, he said that we’re to be ‘diligent’ about it. In 2 Peter 1:5-11, he wrote;
But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:5-11).
We’re to grow in a lifestyle of personal holiness—intentionally putting off the practices of the old life, and putting on the practices that characterized our Lord. As Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:21-32;
if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 3:21-32).
We’re even to grow in our theological understanding; becoming increasingly familiar with the great doctrines of the faith. The writer of Hebrews once expressed frustration that he couldn’t talk about the deeper things of the faith with his readers;
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits (Hebrews 5:12-6:3).
This, then, is the key command of this passage. We’re to ‘work out’ our salvation—that is, labor to bring out the results of what God has done for us in practical living. And notice the attitude with which we’re to do this; that is, “with fear and trembling …” This isn’t talking about a negative, phobic terror or fearfulness; because we have already been accepted in Jesus and we will never be lost to Him. Rather, it’s talking about the sense of how precious the gift of salvation is that has been given to us; and the holy awe and reverence with which we’re to engage in working our salvation out into daily practice. As the apostle Peter put it in 1 Peter 1:17-21;
And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God (1 Peter 1:17-21).
We’re to remember that—when we work out our own salvation as we’re commanded to do—we’re cooperating with God in a great project. It’s a project that God initiated for our own future glory and for His own eternal honor—a project the prospect of which motivated the Son of God to graciously leave His heavenly throne, humble Himself in order to assume full humanity, bear all the guilt and shame of our sins upon His own holy Person, shed His precious blood in our place on a gruesome cross, and be raised again in glory and honor—all so that we would be seated with Him in the heavenly places and be made sharers forever with Him in His eternal majesty! How could we ever be lazy and indifferent about such a thing? How could we be thinking rightly about it and not working out our own salvation with an attitude of reverent awe and holy trembling? “Therefore”, the Holy Spirit is urging us through Paul to—with an attitude of “fear and trembling” at the greatness of what God is doing in and for us—diligently and faithfully ‘work out’ our own salvation!
And finally, notice what Paul wrote in verse 13 about …
3. THE ASSURANCE WE HAVE IN THIS COMMAND.
We aren’t left to ourselves in taking up this great task of growing in our faith in Christ. We’re not left alone to do this work in our own strength. As Paul tells us, “for it is God who works in you …” The very God who has saved us for His own glory takes up residence in us in the Person of His Holy Spirit. This means that the success of the work of life-transformation is assured to us by the power of the greatest Helper we could ever have.
In Ephesians 1—after explaining how the whole Triune Godhead is involved in their salvation—the apostle Paul prayed that the Ephesian believers would know the greatness of the power of God at work in them;
… according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all (Ephesians 1:19-23).
In other words, the exaltation of Christ to immeasurable glory—which Paul told us about in Philippians 2:5-11—was brought about by the very same power that is now at work in us. There is nothing that can stand in our way as we work out our own salvation. All that is required is that we become willing to rise up and faithfully do the work.
And even the willingness to do the work is the provision of God. As Paul told his readers at the end of verse 13, it’s God who is at work in us “both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” He places in us not only the power to grow in our faith, but also the very desire itself.
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Now; Paul wasn’t writing all of this to his brothers and sisters in a merely ‘theoretical’ way. At the time he wrote, he himself was actively ‘working out’ his own salvation. As he said in Philippians 3:12-14;
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12-14).
Jesus stands as our great example of the promised glory that is in store for us; and Paul stands as our great example in striving to lay hold of it through the ongoing process of ‘sanctification’. God has begun a good work in us, and He will see it to completion; but it’s our task to press forward and lay hold of that for which Christ laid hold of us. And so; Paul adds this in Philippians 3:15;
Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind …
Let’s labor diligently, then, to work out our own salvation, knowing that it’s God who works in us to do so.
AE
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