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A study of Philippians: The Joyful Life #5 Working Out One’s Own Salvation Philippians 2:12-18
Few things are harder to put up with,” wrote Mark Twain, “than the annoyance of a good example.” Perhaps the thing most annoying about a good example is its inability to accomplish the same achievements in our own lives. Admiration for a great person can inspire us, but it cannot enable us. Unless the person can enter into our own lives and share his skills, we cannot attain to his heights of accomplishment. It takes more than an example on the outside; it takes power on the inside.
Paul has just presented Jesus Christ as our great Example in the exercise of the submissive mind. We read it, and we agree with it, but how do we go about practicing it? How could any mortal man ever hope to achieve what Jesus Christ achieved? It seems almost presumptuous to even try! Here we are, trying to develop humility, and we are exercising pride by daring to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ!
The problem is really not that difficult. Paul is not asking us to “reach for the stars,” though the higher the goal the more we ought to achieve. Rather, he is setting before us the divine pattern for the submissive mind and the divine power to accomplish what God has commanded. “It is God which worketh in you” (Phil. 2:13). It is not by imitation, but by incarnation—“Christ liveth in me” (Gal. 2:20). The Christian life is not a series of ups and downs. It is rather a process of “ins and outs.” God works in, and we work out. We cultivate the submissive mind by responding to the divine provisions God makes available to us.
From the earliest days of the church, the
relationship between the power of God and the responsibility of believers in
living the Christian life has been debated. Is the Christian life essentially a
matter of passive trust or of active obedience? Is it all God’s doing, all the
believer’s doing, or a combination of both? This is not an unusual question when
dealing with spiritual truth; in fact, the same question arises about salvation
itself. Is it all God’s doing, or is there a requirement on man’s part in
response to the command to believe the gospel? Scripture makes it clear that it involves both God’s sovereignty and human response. Paul reminded the Ephesians: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8–9). In John 6:44 Jesus declared, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him”; yet Acts 16:31 commands, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” Salvation is not by human works, yet it is always through personal faith. Other doctrines also involve seeming paradoxes. For example, Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully man, and while Scripture was written by human authors, every word of it was inspired by God. The gospel is offered to the whole world, yet applied only to the elect. God eternally secures believers’ salvation, yet they are commanded to persevere.
Christians who try to reconcile every doctrine in
a humanly rational way are inevitably drawn to extremes. To achieve their goal
of full understanding without mystery or apparent paradox, they emphasize one
truth or aspect of God’s Word at the expense of others, which, to the finite
mind, seem to contradict it. In regard
The quietist views believers as passive in sanctification. A common maxim is, “Let go and let God.” Another is, “I can’t; God can.” Quietism tends to be mystical and subjective, focusing on personal feelings and experiences. A person who is utterly submitted to and dependent on God, they say, will be divinely protected from sin and led into faithful living. Trying to strive against sin or to discipline oneself to produce good works is considered to be not only futile but unspiritual and counterproductive.
A prominent exponent of this view of sanctification was the devout Quaker Hannah Whithall Smith, whose book The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life has been read by millions. In it she writes, What can be said about man’s part in this great work but that he must continually surrender himself and continually trust? But when we come to God’s side of the question, what is there that may not be said as to the manifold ways, in which He accomplishes the work entrusted to Him? It is here that the growing comes in. The lump of clay could never grow into a beautiful vessel if it stayed in the clay pit for thousands of years; but when it is put into the hands of a skilful potter it grows rapidly, under his fashioning, into the vessel he intends it to be. And in the same way the soul, abandoned to the working of the Heavenly Potter, is made into a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master’s use. (Westwood, N.J.: Revell, 1952, 32. Italics in original.)
In response to the question about how a Christian
can fall into sin, quietists maintain that such a person obviously
misunderstands the matter of complete surrender and takes himself out of the
hands of the Heavenly Potter. But one wonders how, if God were completely in
control, a believer could ever take
Pietists, on the other hand, are typically aggressive in their pursuit of correct doctrine and moral purity. Historically, this movement originated in seventeenth-century Germany as a reaction to the dead orthodoxy of many Protestant churches. To their credit, most pietists place strong emphasis on Bible study, holy living, self-discipline, and practical Christianity. They emphasize such passages as “Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1) and “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself” (James 2:17). Yet they often stress self-effort to the virtual exclusion of dependence on divine power. As would be expected, pietism frequently leads to legalism, moralism, self-righteousness, a judgmental spirit, pride, and hypocrisy.
In Philippians 2:12–13, Paul presents the
appropriate resolution between the believer’s part and God’s part in
sanctification. Yet he makes no effort to rationally harmonize the two. He is
content with the incomprehensibility and simply states both truths, saying, in
effect, that, on the one hand, sanctification is
The same dual emphasis is found throughout the New Testament and a consideration of the pertinent texts is helpful. Peter, in his second letter, reminds believers that God’s divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. (2 Peter 1:3–4)
Based on that divine provision, Peter then
charges believers: Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in
your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and
in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in
your perseverance, godliness, and in
Paul wrote to the Corinthians that “by the grace
of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain”; and then
went on to say, “but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the
grace of God with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). In that inspired statement, the apostle
makes it clear that God’s divine
That divine-human synergy working in and through believers has always existed and is exemplified in the Old Testament. When Pharaoh’s army threatened the people of Israel, Moses was so confident in the Lord that he cried out, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent” (Ex. 14:13–14). But the Israelites also had a part to play: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land’” (vv. 15–16). It was not the Lord’s will that His people merely keep silent and be passive but that they participate actively in accomplishing His purpose. His purpose for them was to be accomplished through them.
That principle can also be seen in Solomon’s
dedication of the temple. As the
Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His
people Israel, according to all that He promised; not one word has failed of all
His good promise, which He promised through Moses His servant. May the Lord our
God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us or forsake us,
that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep
His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances, which He commanded our
fathers. And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before
the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that He may maintain the
cause of
Solomon realized that God Himself provides the guidance and strength for His people to faithfully obey His commands and to serve and worship Him. Consequently, no believer has an excuse for disobedience or failure to serve the Lord. To trust is to obey.
As James explained many centuries later, “Even so
faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself” (James 2:17). It is not, of
course, that the Lord does not accomplish many things for His people apart from
anything they do. But they are commanded to obey His will. To not do what one
knows should be done is sin:
The point of all this recitation of Scripture is
not to provide a clear grasp of the “spiritual pathology” of sanctification and
end all mystery, but to make it clear that the apparent paradox is exactly what
Scripture repeatedly teaches. So as he addresses the topic of sanctification,
Paul focuses first on the believer’s role
In Romans Paul made it clear that apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 3:21–24)
To the Ephesians he wrote, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8–9).
Faith alone has always been the way of salvation.
It was “by faith [that] Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain,
through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying
about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks” (Heb.
11:4), and it was “by faith [that] Enoch was taken up so that he would not see
death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness
that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God” (v. 5). Noah was a
righteous man (Gen. 6:9) by faith (Heb. 11:7). Abraham was saved by God’s grace
working through his personal faith: “Abraham believed God, and it was credited
to him as righteousness. Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a
favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him
who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Rom. 4:3–5;
cf. Heb. 11:8–10). The law given through Moses did not alter the way of
salvation. It was only by faith that Moses himself, as well as all other Old
Testament saints, were saved (Heb. 11:23–38). All of those believing men and
women “gained approval through their faith” (v.
As Paul emphasizes in verse 13 of Philippians 2,
salvation is from God. But in verse 12 he focuses on the responsibility of
believers to live lives that are consistent with the divine gift of salvation.
Because “we live by the Spirit,” that is, have the divine life of Christ within
us, we should “also walk by the Spirit”
Everything in life requires energy. It takes
energy to walk and to work. It takes energy to think and to meditate. It takes
energy to obey and to worship God. The point of the present verse is that it
takes spiritual energy to grow as a Christian, to live a life that is holy,
fruitful, and pleasing to the Lord. The main
This passage is still dealing with unity—unity in the church and unity among believers. But the passage is unique because it brings up the great subject of salvation. Keep in mind that salvation means deliverance and that salvation is of God. It is God who has saved and delivered you: “For by grace are ye saved” (Ephes. 2:8-9). But once you are saved, go to work—work out your own salvation and deliverance. Salvation is not stagnant and complacent. A saved person is not to be sitting around doing nothing and letting the chips fall where they may. A saved person is to get up and go to work. He is to do all he can to work out his own deliverance. This is the subject of the present passage. If the church is to be unified—if believers are to walk in a spirit of unity, then they must look at their salvation—at the whole scope of their life and the glorious salvation God has given them—and they must do all they can to work out their own deliverance. 1. The first work: to work out one’s own salvation (deliverance) with fear and trembling (v.12). 2. The second work: to work at obedience—to work out the stirrings of God within the heart (v.13). 3. The third work: to work at not murmuring (v.14). 4. The fourth work: to work at being pure (v.15). 5. The fifth work: to work at witnessing (v.16). 6. The sixth work: to follow the example of sacrificial labor (v.17-18).
(2:12) Salvation—Deliverance: believers are to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. Remember Paul is in prison being held on false charges. There is a good chance he will be executed. He is not sure he will ever see and share with the Philippians again. Therefore, what he is now writing is carefully chosen. So far as he knows, these words could be his last words to the Philippian church. This is the reason we need to pay close attention to the instructions.
What does it mean to work out your own salvation? The word “work out” (katergazesthe) means to work on to the finish, to completion, to perfection. It always means to complete the effort and the work begun; to accomplish it perfectly; to bring it to completion. The point is: do not go half-way in salvation. Do not take bits and pieces when there is a whole parcel. Do not be satisfied with a little when you can have much. Go on, grow until salvation is completed in you. It is your own salvation. No friend, no minister can work it out for you. You alone must do it.
The point is clearly stated: once God has saved a person, that person is to get busy obeying God. He is to take hold of the new life and salvation God has given him, and he is to work on it until it is completed and finished, that is, until God takes him home and perfects it.
Note that the Philippians are an excellent example. Paul says that they had always obeyed God, not only when he was with them, but also when he was away. Now, as he was facing death, he wanted them more than ever to work out their salvation—to continue obeying God until their salvation was completed and perfected.
Note also the words “fear and trembling.” Life is not a bed of roses. It is full of trial, pain, hurt, tragedy, disease, accident, loss, temptation, sin, evil, corruption, and death. Every human being experiences such things until he comes face to face with death. Life is sometimes beautiful and wonderful, but reality is what has just been listed: life is a journey of trials until the point of death. And no amount of denial or camouflage can hide or escape the fact. The only thing that can bring abundance of life is the absolute confidence that we shall live eternally in a perfect world. What is the point of mentioning all this? The point is forceful: we are expected to work out our own salvation and to do it with fear and trembling. Þ We are to fear and tremble because of the trials and temptations of life. Anyone of them can throw us or cause us to buckle under. The world and its temptations and trials are strong and the flesh is weak. We can slip into sin and failure before we know it unless we are constantly working out our deliverance—fearing and trembling lest we fail. Þ We are to fear and tremble lest we disappoint the Lord. He has saved us, and He has gone to the ultimate limit in order to do it. He has demonstrated a perfect love for us by taking all our sins upon Himself and bearing our punishment for us. Therefore, when we sin and fail, it cuts His heart to no end. For His sake—to keep from hurting Him—we must work out our salvation, fearing and trembling lest we do cut His heart. Þ We are to fear and tremble because we are to face the judgment seat of Christ. If we sin, we shall be judged and judged severely. Though we may try to reason away the fact, our thoughts about the judgment of God do not affect God’s judgment one iota. Every one of us who sins and fails to work out his own salvation shall be judged and suffer loss—great loss. Scripture teaches nothing else. For this reason, the reason of judgment, we must work out our salvation—work it out with fear and trembling.
“Work out your own salvation” (Phil. 2:12) does not suggest, “Work for your own salvation.” To begin with, Paul is writing to people who are already “saints” (Phil. 1:1), which means they have trusted Christ and have been set apart for Him. The verb “work out” carries the meaning of “work to full completion,” such as working out a problem in mathematics. In Paul’s day it was also used for “working a mine,” that is, getting out of the mine all the valuable ore possible; or “working a field” so as to get the greatest harvest possible. The purpose God wants us to achieve is Christlikeness, “to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29). There are problems in life, but God will help us to “work them out.” Our lives have tremendous potential, like a mine or a field, and He wants to help us fulfill that potential.
Cindy did not seem very happy when she arrived home from college to spend the holiday with her family. Her parents noticed her unusual behavior but were wise enough to wait until she was ready to share her problem with them. It happened after dinner.
“Mother, Dad, I have something to tell you, and I’m afraid it’s going to hurt you.”
“Just tell us what’s on your heart,” her father said, “and we’ll understand. We want to pray with you about it—whatever it is.”
“Well, you know that all during high school I talked about becoming a nurse, mainly because Mom is a nurse and I guess you expected me to follow in her footsteps. But I can’t go on. The Lord just doesn’t want me to be a nurse!”
Her mother smiled and took Cindy’s hand. “Dear, your father and I want God’s will for your life. If you do anything else, we’ll all be unhappy!”
Cindy had done the courageous thing; she had faced God’s will and decided that she wanted to work out her own salvation—her own Christian life—and not what somebody else wanted her to do. One of the wonderful things about being a Christian is the knowledge that God has a plan for our lives (Eph. 2:10) and will help us to work it out for His glory. Our God is a God of infinite variety! No two flowers are the same, no two snowflakes are the same; why should two Christians be the same? All of us must be like Christ, but we must also be ourselves.
The phrase “work out your own salvation” probably has reference particularly to the special problems in the church at Philippi; but the statement also applies to the individual Christian. We are not to be “cheap imitations” of other people, especially “great Christians.” We are to follow only what we see of Christ in their lives. “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). Every “great saint” has feet of clay and ultimately may disappoint you, but Jesus Christ can never fail you.
In Philippians 2:14-15, Paul contrasts the life of the believer with the lives of those who live in the world. Unsaved people complain and find fault, but Christians rejoice. Society around us is “twisted and distorted,” but the Christian stands straight because he measures his life by God’s Word, the perfect standard. The world is dark, but Christians shine as bright lights. The world has nothing to offer, but the Christian holds out the Word of life, the message of salvation through faith in Christ. In other words, as we allow God to achieve this purpose in our lives, we become better witnesses in a world that desperately needs Christ. Apply these characteristics to Jesus and you will see that He lived a perfect life in an imperfect world.
It is important to note that this purpose is achieved “in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation” (Phil. 2:15). Paul does not admonish us to retreat from the world and go into a spiritual isolation ward. It is only as we are confronted with the needs and problems of real life that we can begin to become more like Christ. The Pharisees were so isolated and insulated from reality that they developed an artificial kind of self-righteousness that was totally unlike the righteousness God wanted them to have. Consequently, the Pharisees forced a religion of fear and bondage on the people (read Matt. 23), and they crucified Christ because He dared to oppose that kind of religion. It is not by leaving the world but by ministering to it that we see God’s purpose fulfilled in our lives.
Understand Your Example -- So then, (2:12a)
The first element of believers’ working out their
sanctification is understanding Christ’s example. So then translates the
Greek particle
hoôste,
which was used to draw a conclusion from a preceding statement. Here it refers
back to the example of Jesus Christ, whose perfect model of humility,
submission, and obedience was described in verses 5–8. In His incarnation, Jesus
did not cling to His equality with God the Father, but emptied Himself of His
divine rights and prerogatives. Taking the form of a humble bond-servant, He
Understand That You Are Loved -- my beloved, (2:12b)
Paul’s next words suggest a second element of
believers’ working out their sanctification—understanding that they are greatly
loved. My beloved was unmistakably a word of comfort and encouragement.
The apostle knew that the Philippians would face many disappointments and
failures as they sought to
Paul was well aware of their weaknesses and
shortcomings. He understood the dangers they faced from worldly false teachers,
including both Jewish legalists and Gentile libertines. All of them were
“enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their
appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly
things” (Phil. 3:18–19). He knew of the conflict between Euodia and Syntyche,
sisters in Christ whom he admonished “to live in harmony in the Lord” (4:2). It
is likely that many believers in the church were inclined to be proud, hence the
urgent call to follow Christ’s example of
Despite their imperfections, the Philippian believers were Paul’s and the Lord’s beloved brothers and sisters, for whom he longed “with the affection of Christ Jesus” (1:8). In 4:1 he twice speaks of them as his “beloved,” and as his “joy and crown,” whom he longed to see and entreated to “stand firm in the Lord.” He understood that, like himself, they had not yet “become perfect,” that they, too, were pressing on to “lay hold of that for which [they had been] laid hold of by Christ Jesus,” not regarding themselves “as having laid hold of it yet; … forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,” and were faithfully pressing “on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (3:12–14).
Paul’s charge for them to work out their salvation was not an indifferent directive. It was rather an affectionate call to follow Christ’s example in confidence of His love by practicing the things they had “learned and received and heard and seen” in Paul (4:9).
Understand Obedience -- just as you have always obeyed, (2:12c) The third element of believers’ working out their sanctification is understanding the need for obedience to the Lord. Paul encourages the Philippians to continue in faithful submission to God’s will. Obeyed translates a form of hupakouoô, a compound verb composed of the preposition hupo and the verb akouoô, from which the English word acoustics derives. The compound verb has the basic meaning of placing oneself under what has been heard, and therefore of submitting and obeying. A believer obviously must listen to God’s Word if he is to be obedient to it, so this is indirectly an appeal for believers to continue to study and obey Scripture (cf. Matt. 28:19–20).
Lydia obeyed the Word that she heard Paul preach. She was already a worshiper of God, and as she “was listening, … the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul” (Acts 16:14). So, too, did the Philippian jailer, who may have been among those to whom the apostle was now writing. After Paul and Silas “spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house, … he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household” (Acts 16:32–33). In much the same way, the Jews in Berea “received the word with great eagerness,” because they were “examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11).
God’s command to Peter, James, and John on the
Mount of Transfiguration is His command to everyone: “This is My beloved Son,
with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” (Matt. 17:5). To preach the gospel
is more than merely sharing one’s faith and offering an invitation; it is to
call sinners to obey God, “to
Understand Personal Responsibilities and Resources -- not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, (2:12d)
The fourth aspect of believers’ working out their
sanctification is understanding their personal responsibilities and resources.
Because believers are sinful, they are inclined to be self-justifying, blaming
circumstances or other people for their problems and failures. Paul commends the
Philippians for their
The bond of affection between Paul and the church at Philippi was particularly deep and strong. Those believers had had the unbelievable privilege of being taught by Paul—perhaps the greatest teacher of God’s Word the world has ever seen, except for the Lord Jesus Christ. Much of what he preached, taught, and wrote became Scripture, including thirteen New Testament books. It could hardly have been otherwise that many of the Philippian believers developed an exceptionally strong dependence on that noble servant of God.
But at the time of this writing, Paul was hundreds of miles away, incarcerated in Rome. The only means of contact were letters, such as the present one, and occasional reports from mutual friends. But as disappointing and challenging as the situation was, Paul reminds them that their spiritual responsibility was not to him but to the Lord. They were to obey the Lord in spite of Paul’s absence.
The apostle repeats an admonition he made
earlier: “Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that
whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are
standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of
the gospel” (1:27). His point is that there is
Understand the Consequences of Sin -- work out your salvation with fear and trembling; (2:12e)
The fifth motive for believers’ working out their
sanctification is understanding the consequences of sin. Although God is loving,
merciful, and forgiving, He nevertheless holds believers accountable for
disobedience. Like John, Paul understood well that “if we say that we have no
sin, we are deceiving
An important Old Testament truth is “The fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Ps. 111:10; cf. Prov. 1:7; 9:10). This is
not a fear of being doomed to eternal torment, nor a hopeless dread of judgment
that leads to despair. It is rather a reverential fear, a holy concern to give
God the honor He deserves and avoid
Aware of his own personal weakness, Paul spoke of his “fear and … trembling” as he ministered to the church in Corinth (1 Cor. 2:3), and later of those believers who received Titus with the same kind of “fear and trembling” (2 Cor. 7:15). This kind of “fear and trembling” is closely related both to obedience to the Lord and to love and affection for Him and for fellow believers. It is for that reason that Solomon could declare: “How blessed [happy] is the man who fears always” (Prov. 28:14).
Such fear involves self-distrust, a sensitive conscience, and being on guard against temptation. It necessitates opposing pride, and being constantly aware of the deceitfulness of one’s heart, as well as of the subtlety and strength of one’s inner corruption. It is a dread that seeks to avoid anything that would offend and dishonor God.
Believers should have a serious dread of sin and yearning for what is right before God (cf. Rom. 7:14ff.). Aware of their weakness and the power of temptation, they should fear falling into sin and thereby grieving the Lord. Godly fear protects them from wrongfully influencing fellow believers, compromising their ministry and testimony to the unbelieving world, enduring the Lord’s chastening, and from sacrificing joy.
To have such godly fear and trembling
involves more than merely acknowledging one’s sinfulness and spiritual weakness.
It is the solemn, reverential fear that springs from deep adoration and
love. It acknowledges that every sin is an offense against holy God and produces
a sincere desire not to
Work out translates a present middle imperative of katergazomai and indicates a command that has a continuing emphasis. The idea is, “Keep on working out to completion, to ultimate fulfillment.” Heautoôn, here rendered your, actually has the more emphatic meaning of “your own.” The command is for believers to make a continuing, sustained effort to work out to ultimate completion their salvation, which has been graciously granted to them by God through their faith in Jesus Christ.
The principle of working out salvation has
two aspects. The first pertains to personal conduct, to faithful, obedient daily
living. Such obedience obviously involves active commitment and personal effort,
for which Scripture is replete with injunctions, both negative and positive. Sin
in every form is to be renounced
The apostle exhorted the Corinthians to strenuous effort in living the Christian life:
Do you not know that those who run in a race all
run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.
Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They
then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I
run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the
air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have
preached to others, I
His words later in the present letter also demand aggressive Christian living: Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained. (Phil. 3:12–16)
He exhorted Timothy: “Flee from these [evil]
things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love,
perseverance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the
eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the
presence of many witnesses” (1 Tim. 6:11–
To the Colossians Paul wrote:
So, those who have been chosen of God, holy and
beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and
patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a
complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. And
beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the
peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one
body; and be
If living the Christian life were merely a matter
of passive yielding and surrender, of “letting go and letting God,” then such
admonitions not only would be superfluous but presumptuous. But those
injunctions, and countless others like them throughout God’s Word, presuppose
believers’ personal responsibility for
The second aspect of working out one’s salvation is perseverance, of faithful obedience to the end. Salvation has three time dimensions: past, present, and future. The past dimension is that of justification, when believers placed their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and were redeemed. The present dimension is sanctification, the time between a believer’s justification and his death or the Rapture. The future aspect is glorification, when salvation is completed and believers receive their glorified bodies. Believers therefore have been saved, are being saved, and will be saved. They are to pursue sanctification in this life to the time of glorification. In that glorious moment believers will see the Lord “face to face” and come to know fully even as they are fully known (1 Cor. 13:12). They “will be like Him, because [they] will see Him just as He is” (1 John 3:2). It was for that glorious moment that Paul so deeply longed. Looking forward to that time he exclaimed:
More than that, I count all things to be loss in
view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have
suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain
Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived
from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which
comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His
Because the fulfillment of that hope was a divinely decreed certainty, Paul could say with complete confidence that “salvation is nearer to us than when we believed” (Rom. 13:11). Although it is not yet completed, the testimony of Scripture is that every believer’s salvation is utterly secure.
In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus declared, “The one
who endures to the end, he will be saved” (Matt. 24:13). Paul and Barnabas urged
new believers in Pisidian Antioch “to continue in the grace of God” (Acts 13:43)
and encouraged “them to continue in the faith” (14:22). In his letter to the
church at Rome, Paul declared
Perseverance in the faith is the duty of every true believer, and yet not the power of their security. It is, however, the unmistakable and inevitable evidence of divine power operating in the soul (Col. 1:29).
Believers will persevere because God’s power keeps their salvation secure. Jesus repeatedly emphasized that truth. To the multitudes at Capernaum, He declared emphatically that “all that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day” (John 6:37, 39). Later, in Jerusalem, He declared, “I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (John 10:28–29; cf. 17:2, 12, 24; 18:9). Earlier in Philippians, Paul wrote that he was “confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (1:6). Peter gave believers a similar assurance, saying that they “are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5).
From beginning to end, the entire divine work of salvation is under God’s control. In a well-loved passage Paul wrote, We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. (Rom. 8:28–30)
To the Ephesians he wrote, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Eph. 2:8–10).
So the call for believers to work out their salvation is found all through the New Testament. That is only fitting and proper, since it is a call for the necessary commitment on the believer’s part that is a prerequisite for the joys, blessings, and usefulness of sanctification.
(2:13) Salvation—Obedience: the second work of salvation is to obey. Believers are to work out their salvation by working at obedience—by obeying the stirrings of God within their hearts.
“It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).
The word “worketh” (energon) means to energize. God arouses, stirs, and energizes the heart of the believer to do God’s will. This is a most wonderful truth. Just think about it: we all experience movements and stirrings within our heart toward God. These stirrings are of God. God is working within us—energizing us—giving us both the will and power to do what pleases Him.
As stated, this is a most wonderful truth. Our duty is to grab hold of the stirrings—not to let them pass. We are to grab hold of them and do exactly what the stirrings are arousing and energizing us to do.
This is a most wonderful truth. It means that God does not leave us alone to work out our salvation and deliverance. He works within us: moves, stirs, energizes, and arouses us to get up and get to it. And whatever the energy points toward is what we need to do. God uses the energy and stirring to direct and guide us. The point to see is that God is forever working within us—never leaving us alone—working and stirring us to complete our salvation.
The tragedy is this: ignoring, neglecting, and refusing to respond to the stirrings and workings of God. When we feel the stirrings, we desperately need to respond and do whatever God is stirring us to do. Just think how often the stirrings are rejected, ignored, or neglected. How often we continue to sit or go about our own affairs instead of heeding the working and stirring of God. How complacent and lethargic we are. Just think how much growth we lose and how often we must cut the heart of God to the core—all because we choose the things, possessions, and activities of this world instead of Him and His stirrings.
The principle Paul lays down is this: God must work in us before He can work through us. This principle is seen at work throughout the Bible in the lives of men like Moses, David, the Apostles, and others. God had a special purpose for each man to fulfill, and each man was unique and not an imitation of somebody else. For example, it took God forty years to bring Moses to the place where He could use him to lead the people of Israel. As Moses tended sheep during those forty years, God was working in him so that one day He might work through him. God is more interested in the workman than in the work. If the workman is what he ought to be, the work will be what it ought to be.
Too many Christians obey God only because of pressure on the outside, and not power on the inside. Paul warned the Philippians that not his presence with them but their desire to obey God and please Him was the important thing (Phil. 1:27; 2:12). They could not build their lives on Paul because he might not be with them very long. It is sad to see the way some ministries in the church weaken or fall apart because of a change in leadership. We have a tendency to please men, and to obey God only when others are watching. But when you surrender to the power of God within you, then obedience becomes a delight and not a battle.
The power that works in us is the power of the Holy Spirit of God (John 14:16-17, 26; Acts 1:8; 1 Cor. 6:19-20). Our English word energy comes from the word translated “worketh” in Philippians 2:13. It is God’s divine energy at work in us and through us! The same Holy Spirit who empowered Christ when He was ministering on earth can empower us as well. But we must recognize the fact that the energy of the flesh (Rom. 7:5) and of the devil (Eph. 2:2; 2 Thes. 2:7) are also at work. Because of the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, God’s divine energy is available to us (Eph. 1:18-23). The power is here, but how do we use it? What “tools” does God use, by His Spirit, to work in our lives? There are three “tools”: the Word of God, prayer, and suffering.
GOD’S ROLE IN SANCTIFICATION (2:13)
As the previous chapter stated, there are two
equal and opposite errors into which Christians may fall concerning the doctrine
of sanctification. On the one hand, quietists stress God’s role in
sanctification, to the virtual exclusion of any human effort. Pietists, in
contrast, emphasize self-effort at the expense of reliance
Having presented the believer’s responsibility in sanctification in 2:12, Paul in verse 13 focused on God’s role in the believer’s sanctification. While the believer is working “out,” God is working “in.” In fact, apart from the reality of verse 13, the fulfillment of verse 12 would be impossible.
Jesus stressed that truth in the Upper Room
Discourse, given to His disciples on the night before His death: “Abide in Me,
and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the
vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the
branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he
In this verse, Paul indicates the divine work in sanctification by emphasizing five key features about God: His person, His power, His presence, His purpose, and His pleasure.
His Person -- for it is God (2:13a) The first truth about God’s part in believers’ sanctification is His personhood, which is made clear by the personal pronouns who and His and by the verbs to will and to work.
Most pagan deities are described as impersonal, remote, and indifferent. That is not surprising, because false gods are fabricated by men out of fear and superstition. Even those that have personal characteristics are not portrayed as desiring fellowship with their worshipers. Understandably, their worshipers have no desire to fellowship with them. Since these false gods are fronts for demons, what the demons do impersonating the deities is only evil and harmful. That guarantees that they are worshiped solely for the purpose of appeasement—negatively to assuage the deities’ anger and thus to avoid problems, and positively to gain health, prosperity, power, and other benefits.
But the true and living God of Scripture is real and personal. The Bible does not try to prove that God is a person because it assumes that reality. In both testaments He is spoken of in anthropomorphic (human-like) terms, such as having eyes and seeing, of having ears and hearing, of having feet and walking, of loving and hating, weeping and laughing, condemning and forgiving. He thinks, feels, acts, and speaks—all elements of personhood. As a person, He has a personal concern for mankind, and especially for His children. That personal concern is seen in His work in believers.
The God of Scripture has unimaginable love for
fallen, sinful mankind, which has rebelled against Him, blasphemed Him, and
vilified Him. He has such great love for them “that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For
God did not send the Son into the
For those who belong to Him, the God of Scripture
has even greater love and the closest of personal relationships. In the Old
Testament (Isa. 63:16; 64:8), and especially in the New (cf. Matt. 5:16, 45, 48;
6:1, 9; 23:9), He is referred to as His people’s Father. Adam and Eve, Moses,
and many other Old Testament those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem His name. “They will be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.” (Mal. 3:16–17)
The omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent
Creator and Sustainer of the universe loves His children with everlasting love
and kindness. God protects them according to His everlasting covenant and
promises, forgives and cleanses with everlasting grace through His Son, and
calls, gifts, and empowers them by
No wonder Paul exulted: Oh, the depth of the
riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His
judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or
who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid
back to Him again? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To
Him be the glory forever. Amen.” (Rom.
His Power -- who is at work (2:13b) The second essential truth emphasized here about God’s part in believers’ sanctification is His divine power. Above all else, it is God who is at work in the lives of His children. He calls them to obey, and then, through His sovereign power, empowers their obedience. He calls them to His service, and then empowers their service. He calls them to holiness, and then empowers them to pursue holiness.
Work is from the verb energeoô, the source of the English word energy. God energizes His children to obey and serve Him; His power enables their sanctification. As noted in the previous chapter, believers can do nothing holy or righteous in their own power or resources. Just as no one can be justified by the work of the flesh (Rom. 3:20), so no one can be “perfected [sanctified] by the flesh” (Gal. 3:3). Paul confessed that “nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not” (Rom. 7:18). He confessed that “by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). He encouraged the Corinthians to “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,” because he could assure them “that [their] toil [was] not in vain in the Lord” (v. 58). Paul did not underestimate the importance of faithful obedience. But he knew that underlying all acceptable service is the gracious power of God. It is “not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves,” he wrote, “but our adequacy is from God” (2 Cor. 3:5). He reminded the Ephesians that he “was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to [him] according to the working of His power,” and rejoiced, “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen” (Eph. 3:7, 20–21).
Before Jesus gave the Great Commission, “Make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age,” He reminded the disciples that “all authority [or power] has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18–20). And before He gave the final call to “be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth,” He promised the disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8).
It is important that believers minister to each
other, because that is God’s will (Gal. 5:13). It is also God’s will that
preachers and teachers minister to the church (Eph. 4:11–13). It is important
that the holy angels minister to believers, because God sends out those
“ministering spirits … to render service for the sake
It is for that reason that sanctification will
continue throughout the believer’s life (1:6). Those whom God justifies He
invariably sanctifies. He will accomplish His will by saving and preserving
those who come to Him (John 6:40, 44). David understood that great truth when he
wrote, “The Lord is my shepherd” (Ps. 23:1).
In perhaps the most magnificent passage declaring God’s preservation of believers Paul wrote,
What then shall we say to these things? If God is
for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him
over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who
will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is
the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised,
who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate
us
The revival under King Hezekiah illustrates God
at work in the lives of His people. That mighty spiritual work began with the
restoration of the temple. Hezekiah charged the Levites, “Consecrate yourselves
now, and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry
the uncleanness out from the holy place …. My sons, do not be negligent now, for
the Lord has chosen you to stand before Him, to minister to Him, and to be His
ministers and burn incense” (2 Chron. 29:5, 11). The next day, “King Hezekiah
arose early and assembled the princes of the city and went up to the house of
the Lord” (v. 20). Later, he called all the city together, and everyone
“rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people” (v. 36). Continuing his
pursuit of spiritual revival, “Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah and wrote
letters also to Ephraim and
Do not stiffen your neck like your fathers, but
yield to the Lord and enter His sanctuary which He has consecrated forever, and
serve the Lord your God, that His burning anger may turn away from you. For if
you return to the Lord, your brothers and your sons will find compassion before
those who led them captive and will return to this land. For the Lord your God
is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you
The people responded favorably because “the hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the Lord” (v. 12). God commanded His people to return to Him and then gave them the heart to do it, graciously energizing the fulfillment of His command.
His Presence --in you, (2:13c) The third essential truth about God’s part in believers’ sanctification is His divine presence. The preposition in is often featured in Paul’s writings as he records the beloved truth that Jesus Christ dwells in believers (cf. Rom. 8:9–10; Gal. 2:20; Col. 1:27). The Lord Himself spoke of His indwelling presence in John 17:22–23: “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.”
David understood and gloried in the reality of
the Lord’s continual presence with him: “You scrutinize my path and my lying
down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways” (Ps. 139:3). As noted
above, the Lord was his Shepherd, who never forsook or neglected him or failed
to protect him and abundantly provide for his needs (Ps. 23). In ways that are
far beyond human comprehension, God indwells His people, both as individuals and
collectively in the church. Jesus promised the disciples and all future
believers: “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He
may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot
receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He
abides with you and will be in you” (John 14:16–17; cf. Acts 1:8). Perhaps
because of their immaturity and
God works unceasingly for the welfare of His
people (Rom. 8:28). His holiness, wisdom, power, love, presence, and mercy are
infinite. Having begun their new life in Christ through the power of His Spirit,
believers are perfected by that same divine power. Because some believers in the
Galatian churches were
His Purpose -- both to will and to work (2:13d) The fourth essential truth emphasized here, which is at the heart of God’s work in believers’ sanctification, is His divine purpose. That purpose is revealed by what He energizes believers to do—to will and to work.
The phrase both to will and to work is best interpreted as referring not to God’s will and work but to that of believers. The will to do what is right before God must precede any effective work that is done toward that end. A genuine desire to do God’s will, as well as the power to obey it, originates with Him.
To will
is from
theloô,
which refers to thoughtful, purposeful choice, not to mere whim or emotional
desire. It is what the psalmist had in mind when he prayed, “Incline my heart to
Your testimonies” (Ps. 119:36; cf. 110:3) and what Ezra spoke of when he
reported that “the heads of fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin and the
priests and the Levites arose, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go
up and rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem” (Ezra 1:5; cf.
7:27). Later Ezra gave thanks that God also inclined the heart of King
Artaxerxes of Persia to permit the Jews “to adorn the house of the Lord
God uses two means to move believers’ wills.
First is what might be called holy discontent, the humble recognition that one’s
life always falls short of God’s standard of holiness. When Isaiah beheld “the
Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling
the temple,” he could only exclaim in
The second means God uses to move believers’ wills is holy aspiration, the positive side of holy discontent. After He instills a genuine hatred of sin, He cultivates a genuine desire for righteousness. After He makes believers discontent with what they are, He gives them the aspiration to greater holiness. Above all, it is the desire to be like Christ, “to become conformed to the image of [God’s] Son” (Rom. 8:29). In Philippians Paul brings together his own holy discontent and holy aspiration when he confesses: Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (3:12–14)
Holy resolve leads to holy living. A godly will produces godly work.
It cannot be overemphasized that only God can produce in believers the will or the work that He commands of them. To work is from energeoô, which refers to being energized and active in a particular endeavor. James noted that “every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17). Understanding that truth, the writer of Hebrews wrote, “Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ” (Heb. 13:20–21).
Just as believers are not saved by good works but
wholly by God’s grace working through their faith (Eph. 2:8–9), so also they are
sanctified by His grace working through their obedience. They are God’s
“workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand so that [they] For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. (Rom. 8:29–30)
His Pleasure -- for His good pleasure. (2:13e)
The fifth and final essential reality about God’s
part in believers’ sanctification is the overwhelming truth that God works in
their sanctification for His own good pleasure. His will for
believers is that they think and do what pleases Him. Although that is
accomplished primarily by His own power, when His children seek His will and do
His work, it brings Him great pleasure. Good pleasure translates
eudokias,
which expresses great enjoyment and satisfaction. Because God is infinitely
self-sufficient, one cannot but wonder how anything or anyone, especially a
sinful human being, could add to His satisfaction. Yet that clearly is what Paul
is saying. Even when they were weak, vacillating, and fearful, Jesus assured the
disciples, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to
give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). Giving
Because believers’ sanctification brings Him
satisfaction, God grants them the resources to pursue it. Paul wrote to the
Ephesians that “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ … has blessed us
with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ … [and has] made
known to us the mystery of His will,
Even when they rebel against Him, God still desires to bless His people if they turn and obey. Isaiah addressed these encouraging words to wayward Israel: “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isa. 55:6–7). Through Hosea, the Lord said to His beloved people, “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? … My heart is turned over within Me, all My compassions are kindled. I will not execute My fierce anger; I will not destroy Ephraim again. For I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath” (Hos. 11:8–9).
Believers’ supreme purpose is to obey, worship,
and glorify God, and their fulfilling that purpose brings pleasure to
Him. That magnificent truth is one of the many unique realities of Christianity.
The sovereign God of the universe takes personal pleasure in what He Himself
inspires and empowers His redeemed
Every Christian should understand that sanctification takes his most strenuous effort, but is nonetheless totally dependant on God’s power. Like many other truths of Scripture, those seemingly irreconcilable realities are hard to understand. Having done all they can, believers are to give God all the credit. Just as the Lord instructed, after they have done “all the things which are commanded,” they are to confess, “We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done” (Luke 17:10).
(2:14) Murmuring—Division: believers are to work out their salvation by working at not murmuring and disputing or arguing. The word “murmuring” (goggusmon) means to mutter, murmur, grumble, and complain. Note: it means the quiet, soft, behind-the-back, undertone of murmuring and grumbling. It is the kind of criticism, dissatisfaction, fault-finding and gossip that goes on within small groups or cliques.
The word “disputings” (dialogismon) means arguments, outward and vocal questionings, and expressions of doubt. Simply stated, it is just as Scripture says: disputes or arguments that have broken out into the open.
Modern Western society is by far the most prosperous culture in the history of mankind. Except for the very poor, people have all they need and much of what they want; yet many are seldom satisfied. Consequently, ours is also arguably the most discontented society ever. As the economy has become increasingly richer, people appear more discontent and complain more with each passing generation. Adding to the discontent are the fantasy worlds of movies, television, and advertising. The media, to create dissatisfaction, continually assault with the intent the senses with alluring and often unrealistic images that have been described as “plastic perfection.” Fueling that enchantment is the staunch conviction that personal happiness, though elusive and unattained, is the supreme objective of life.
I once heard a sociologist observe that the typical modern young person lives in a state of sullen discontent, continually dissatisfied with things as they are. Part of the problem, he suggested, is small families, in which fewer children are able to demand more of their parents’ attention and do not have to share anything with brothers and sisters. Combined with affluence and materialism, that situation tends to produce selfish, self-indulgent children who are never content with what they have. Instead of bending to the needs of the family, as is necessary in larger families, the family bends to them. Absent parents, gone to work, shop, and play, try quick fixes for their children’s demands, usually giving them what they want to stop the conflict. Children in that situation have little desire to grow up, realizing that adult society will not cater to their every whim. They want to postpone the responsibilities of a job, marriage and family, and other such commitments as long as possible, because those things demand a considerable degree of conformity to others. When such children become adults and don’t get what they want when they want it, discontentment increases, as do frustration, anger, anxiety, and complaining.
Discontentment also breeds impatience, another defining characteristic of our times. Among the seemingly endless causes of impatience, and often hostility, are long lines, interruptions, talkative people, rude people, high prices, traffic jams, inconsiderate drivers, and crying babies. The last two have actually become causes of serious crime. Inconsiderate drivers often produce road rage, which, with increasing frequency, results in gunfire and even murder. Crying babies have led to child abuse, which occasionally results in the murder of a helpless baby.
Mounting discontent through the years produces the trauma of a so-called “mid-life crisis.” That phenomenon is the reality that there is less of life ahead than behind, and the dreams of bliss are dying.
The biblical commands to believers not to complain (cf. James 5:9; 1 Peter 4:9) are evidence that the church is not immune from discontent. The church today has more than its share of malcontents and complainers. People often leave a church because their children don’t like it, or because they are dissatisfied with some minor aspect of leadership, organization, or policy. Churches that promote self-esteem and self-fulfillment fuel the fires of discontent and complaining. Churches devoted to entertainment and meeting felt needs also create expectations for superficial satisfaction that they continually have to try to meet.
Adam was the first complainer. Immediately after he disobeyed God, he blamed Eve for his sin, complaining to the Lord that “the woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate” (Gen. 3:12). Instead of blaming himself, he blamed God. Some years later, his firstborn, Cain, complained bitterly to God that his punishment for murdering his brother Abel was too severe (4:13–14). Moses complained to the Lord because He did not deliver Israel from Pharaoh quickly enough (Ex. 5:22–23). After God miraculously delivered them by drowning the pursuing Egyptians in the Red Sea, Moses and the people sang a glorious song of praise to the Lord (Ex. 15:1–18). But after going only three days into the wilderness, they complained again because the water at Marah was not fit to drink. The Lord graciously responded by making that water sweet and then leading them to an oasis at Elim, “where there were twelve springs of water and seventy date palms, and they camped there beside the waters” (vv. 23–27; cf. 17:1–7). Shortly after that, however, the people were grumbling again, this time about a supposed lack of food (16:2–8).
After Caleb, Joshua, and the other men returned from spying out the land of Canaan, Caleb “quieted the people before Moses and said, ‘We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it’” (Num. 13:30). Except for Caleb and Joshua, however, the other spies were afraid and faithless, telling their fellow Israelites, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” (vv. 31–33)
Because of those men’s faithless complaining, “All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, ‘Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!’” (14:2). They then grumbled against God, saying, “‘Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?’ So they said to one another, ‘Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt’” (vv. 3–4). Their complaining turned into outright rebellion as they determined to stone Caleb and Joshua, and perhaps Moses and Aaron as well (v. 10). They rejected God’s plan, God’s chosen leaders, and God Himself. In response, The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst? … Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it …. Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will surely do to you; your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me …. According to the number of days which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall bear your guilt a year, even forty years, and you will know My opposition. I, the Lord, have spoken, surely this I will do to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be destroyed, and there they will die.’” As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land and who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report concerning the land, even those men who brought out the very bad report of the land died by a plague before the Lord. (vv. 11, 22–23, 28–29, 34–37)
Recalling that tragic time, Asaph lamented, “How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert! Again and again they tempted God, and pained the Holy One of Israel” (Ps. 78:40–41). Another psalmist wrote, “They despised the pleasant land; they did not believe in His word, but grumbled in their tents; they did not listen to the voice of the Lord” (Ps. 106:24–25).
Referring to those same times, Paul warned the Corinthians: “Let us [not] try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer” (1 Cor. 10:9–10). In response to those who complain because God sovereignly “has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires” and who then presumptuously ask, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” Paul replied: “On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, ‘Why did you make me like this,’ will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?” (Rom. 9:18–21; cf. Isa. 29:16; 45:9; Jer. 18:6). Jude warned of apostates who were “grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage” (Jude 16).
In reality, every complaint a believer makes is against the Lord and is one of the ugliest of sins. And complaining against other believers is especially serious, an affront to God, because those believers are His children. James therefore warned, “Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door” (James 5:9). Similarly, Peter admonished, “Be hospitable to one another without complaint. [Rather], as each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:9–10).
Believers’ failure to willingly, even joyfully, submit to God’s providential will is a deep-seated and serious sin. Discontentment and complaining are attitudes that can become so habitual that they are hardly noticed. But those twin sins demonstrate a lack of trust in His providential will, boundless grace, and infinite wisdom and love. Consequently, those sins are especially odious in His sight and merit His discipline. As Paul explained to the Corinthians, the numerous Old Testament accounts of God’s severe dealing with Israel’s complaints in the wilderness were given “as an example, and they were written for our instruction” (1 Cor. 10:11). Jeremiah asked, “Why should any living mortal, or any man, offer complaint in view of his sins?” (Lam. 3:39). If that is true of everyone, how much more does it apply to believers, whose sins have been graciously forgiven by the Lord?
Note several significant facts. 1. Murmurings and disputes are not to be allowed in the church. As the verse says: all things are to be done without murmurings and disputings. If murmuring begins among a clique or even between two people, the spiritual leaders of the church are to deal with it just as Christ laid out. It is not to be allowed to fester. Murmurings, unless they are stopped, will lead to disputes, turmoil, and divisiveness.
2. Murmuring and disputes are never of God—never! This is the very point of this charge. All things—nothing is left out—are to be done without murmuring and disputes.
3. Murmuring and disputes were the very sins that brought judgment upon so many Jews in the wilderness wanderings of Israel. “Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer” (1 Cor. 10:10; cp. Numbers 20:2f; Numbers 21:4).
4. The person who murmurs and disputes is not working at his salvation or deliverance. He is doing the very opposite: working to bring judgment upon himself.
The results of murmuring are far worse than people ever think. This is the primary reason God forbids murmuring and disputes in no uncertain terms. Murmuring... · hurts · damages · divides · tears down · downs a person · says “look at me” · elevates selfish opinion · opposes God’s will · hinders progress · stymies growth · misleads people · is self-centered · pushes people away from Christ and the church
The phrase all things refers back to the previous two verses (2:12–13) and sets forth the attitude with which believers are to work out their salvation. Everything involved in that process should be done without grumbling or disputing. Negatively, the basic attitude for working out salvation is without grumbling or disputing. Positively, as the apostle emphasizes throughout this letter, it is an attitude of determination to “rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil. 4:4; see also, e.g., 1:4, 18, 25; 2:18; 4:1).
Grumbling
is from
gongusmos,
an onomatopoetic word that sounds like the guttural, muttering sounds people
often make when they are disgruntled. It is a negative response to something
unpleasant, inconvenient, or disappointing, arising from the self-centered
notion that it is undeserved. The related verb is
Disputing
is from
dialogismos,
which has the basic meaning of inner reasoning and is the term from which the
English word dialogue derives. But it soon developed the more specific
ideas of questioning, doubting, or disputing the truth of a matter. In
Romans 14:1, the word is used of passing judgment on
Behind this sin is the reality that although they are citizens of heaven (Phil. 3:20), believers live in a fallen world and in unredeemed bodies (Rom. 7:18; 8:23). The Lord often leads believers through times of trial and testing (James 1:2–3) and warns that they can expect to be persecuted because of their faithfulness (Matt. 5:10–12; John 15:20). It is therefore inevitable that circumstances will not always be favorable or pleasant.
Paul had forsaken the many worldly advantages and
privileges he had in his former life, counting them as less than nothing (Phil.
3:4–7). He counted it a great privilege, however, to be imprisoned for the cause
of Christ, which circumstance “turned out for the greater progress of the
gospel,” because “most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of [his]
imprisonment, [had] far more courage to speak the word of God without fear”
(1:12, 14). The apostle longed to know Christ ever more intimately, to share in
“the power of His
Every circumstance of life is to be accepted
willingly and joyfully, without murmuring, complaint, or disappointment, much
less resentment. There is no exception. There should never be either emotional
grumbling or intellectual disputing. It is always sinful for
believers to complain about anything the Lord
(2:15) Purity: believers are to work out their salvation by working at being pure. 1. Believers are to work at being “blameless” (amempto): free from fault and censure; to be faultless; above reproach and rebuke. The believer is to live a blameless, faultless and pure life, both in the church and in the world. No one is to be able to point to the Christian and accuse or blame him with anything. The Christian is to be clean, unpolluted, spotless, holy, righteous, and pure before man and God.
2. Believers are to work at being harmless (akeraioi): unmixed and unadulterated. It is the idea of flour or grain passing through a sieve to separate the pure from the impure. It means that our thoughts and lives... · are not to be polluted by watching, reading, and listening to worldly and sexual attractions. · are not to be given over to worldly and sexual attractions.
Our thoughts and lives are to be pure, clean, uncontaminated, and unpolluted.
3. Believers are to work at being “without rebuke” (amoma): without blemish, spot, or defect. This is a word that is taken from the Old Testament sacrifices made to God. The idea is that the believer is to live and walk upon earth under the eyes and scrutiny of God. He is to walk without any blemish, spot, or defect.
However, note a fact: the believer lives in a crooked and perverse generation. The world is wicked and evil, twisted and perverted; therefore, the believer has a difficult path to walk. But walk he must, for he is to be the light of the world. He is to shine as a light in the world. He is to reflect the purity and holiness of God Himself.
What is this promise? That joy comes from submission. The world’s philosophy is that joy comes from aggression: fight everybody to get what you want, and you will get it and be happy. The example of Jesus is proof enough that the world’s philosophy is wrong. He never used a sword or any other weapon; yet He won the greatest battle in history—the battle against sin and death and hell. He defeated hatred by manifesting love; He overcame lies with truth. Because He surrendered He was victorious! And you and I must dare to believe His promise, “For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14:11). “How happy are the humble-minded, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs” (Matt. 5:3, ph).
There is a twofold joy that comes to the person who possesses and practices the submissive mind: a joy hereafter (Phil. 2:16) and a joy here and now (Phil. 2:17-18). In the day of Christ (see Phil. 1:6, 10), God is going to reward those who have been faithful to Him. “The joy of thy Lord” is going to be a part of that reward (Matt. 25:21). The faithful Christian will discover that his sufferings on earth have been transformed into glory in heaven! He will see that his work was not in vain (1 Cor. 15:58). It was this same kind of promise of future joy that helped our Saviour in His sufferings on the cross (Heb. 12:1-2).
But we do not have to wait for the return of Christ to start experiencing the joy of the submissive mind. That joy is a present reality (Phil. 2:17-18), and it comes through sacrifice and service. It is remarkable that in two verses that discuss sacrifice, Paul uses the words joy and rejoice—and repeats them! Most people would associate sorrow with suffering, but Paul sees suffering and sacrifice as doorways to a deeper joy in Christ.
In Philippians 2:17, Paul is comparing his experience of sacrifice to that of the priest pouring out the drink offering (Num. 15:1-10). It was possible that Paul’s trial would go against him and he would be executed. But this did not rob Paul of his joy. His death would be a willing sacrifice, a priestly ministry, on behalf of Christ and His church; and this would give him joy. “Sacrifice and service” are marks of the submissive mind (Phil. 2:7-8, 21-22, 30), and the submissive mind experiences joy even in the midst of suffering.
It takes faith to exercise the submissive mind. We must believe that God’s promises are true and that they are going to work in our lives just as they worked in Paul’s life. God works in us through the Word, prayer, and suffering; and we work out in daily living and service. God fulfills His purposes in us as we receive and believe His Word. Life is not a series of disappointing “ups and downs.” Rather, it is a sequence of delightful “ins and outs.” God works in—we work out! The example comes from Christ, the energy comes from the Holy Spirit, and the result is—JOY!
(2:16) Witnessing: believers are to work out their salvation by working at witnessing. The wording is descriptive: “Holding forth the word of life.” Imagine! There is a Word of life. Men can live, truly live—both now and forever. Men never have to die. Þ It is like saying the fountain of youth has been discovered with one difference: the Word of life not only brings eternal youth, it brings perfection—a perfect world and a perfect life. Þ It is like saying the cure for cancer has been discovered with one difference: the Word of life not only cures the cancer, it injects the energy of everlasting life into the other cells of the body.
But note the terrible tragedy! So many of us do not hold forth the Word of life. We hold back. We do not share the message of the glorious gospel of life. The Word of life is just what it says: it is the message of life that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The one thing we must work at is holding forth the Word of life. The Word of life is the only hope for a world that reels under the weight of so many desperate needs, especially the desperate need to handle sin and evil and the terrible destiny of death.
So that
translates the Greek conjunction
hina,
which, when used with a subjunctive verb as it is here, indicates a purpose
clause. Believers are to stop complaining so that they may become the
kind of children of God He wants them to be; namely, blameless and
innocent. Christians are children of God by
Blameless
is from
amemptos,
which has the root meaning of being without defect or blemish. The believer is
to seek to be without moral or spiritual blemish. Zacharias and Elizabeth, the
parents of John the Baptist, “were both righteous in the sight of God, walking
blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord” (Luke 1:6). To
the Thessalonians, Paul expressed his deep desire that God would “establish
[their] hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming
of our Lord Jesus with all His saints” (1 Thess. 3:13). Later in Philippians he
speaks of himself as having been “found blameless” as far as “the righteousness
which is in the Law” was concerned (Phil. 3:6). The writer of Hebrews comments
that, “if that first covenant had been faultless [amemptos],
there would have been no occasion sought for a second”
Innocent
is from
akeraios,
which has the basic meaning of being unmixed or unadulterated. The term was used
to describe pure wine that was unmixed with water and pure metal that was not
alloyed. Metaphorically,
akeraios
was sometimes used of what was harmless or innocent. Jesus commanded His
As children of God, Christians also are to be above reproach. Amoômos (above reproach) is closely related in meaning to amemptos (blameless); both words describe what is without blemish or imperfection. Amoômos is used numerous times in the Septuagint in regard to sacrificial animals. Moses prescribed that a Nazirite “shall present his offering to the Lord: one male lamb a year old without defect for a burnt offering and one ewe-lamb a year old without defect for a sin offering and one ram without defect for a peace offering,” and that all “the sons of Israel [should] bring … an unblemished red heifer in which is no defect and on which a yoke has never been placed” (Num. 6:14; 19:2).
Metaphorically,
amoômos
was used of being without blame or guilt. The character of the children of
God should be above any legitimate blame, criticism, or censure. Paul uses
the word twice in Ephesians, admonishing believers to “be holy and blameless
before [Christ] … that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory,
having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and
blameless” (Eph. 1:4; 5:27; cf. Col. 1:22). The writer of Hebrews uses
amoômos
of the Lord Jesus Christ, saying, “How much more will the blood of Christ, who
through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb. 9:14), as also does
Peter, who speaks of Him as “a lamb unblemished and spotless” (1 Peter 1:19).
Like every other spiritual virtue, being above reproach is impossible in
a believer’s own power. It is only the unblemished and spotless Christ Himself
who “is able to keep [believers] from stumbling, and to make [them] stand in the
presence of His glory blameless with great joy” (Jude 24). Believers are in
position blameless in His perfect
Writing to Titus, Paul gives the supreme motive for pure, blameless living:
Adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every
respect. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly,
righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the
After briefly describing the “day of the Lord
[which] will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar
and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its
works will be burned up,” Peter asks rhetorically, “Since all these things are
to be destroyed in this way, what sort of
The third reason for not complaining is for the sake of the leaders in the church, who have given their lives in ministry. Paul’s pastoral heart shines through in his deep desire that the Philippians would stop grumbling and complaining, so that in the day of Christ he will have reason to glory. He anticipated the day of Christ, when he could look back and rejoice in the faithfulness of those beloved brethren. The people he served would be a source of eternal joy.
It is important to note that the day of Christ is not synonymous with another similar term, the Day of the Lord, which focuses on the punishment of the unrepentant wicked. Paul reminded the Thessalonians, “You yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape” (1 Thess. 5:2–3; cf. 2 Thess. 2:1–8). But the day of Christ will be solely for believers (cf. Phil. 1:6, 10). Although it will also be a time of judgment, in the sense that believers will “appear before the judgment seat of Christ,” the focus will be only on rewards, not punishment, “so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10; cf.1 Cor. 3:8; cf. 3:13–14; 4:5).
In saying that he would have reason to glory, the apostle was not expressing sinful pride in his ministry or an obsession with his own importance to the kingdom or in eternal heaven. The verb kauchaomai (to glory) can have the meaning of sinful boasting, as it clearly does in James 4:16. But it can also describe rejoicing, as it does in the present text (the King James Version reads, “may rejoice”). In Romans 5:11, the term is rendered “exult.” Paul was looking forward to receiving the joy that the Lord promises to every faithful believer.
“These things I have spoken to you,” Jesus said,
“so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full” (John 15:11).
Joy is a fruit of the Spirit, which, like love, peace, patience, kindness, and
the others (Gal. 5:22–23), is to be sought and cherished. John wrote his letters
in part that his “joy may be made
As already noted, in the present text Paul is speaking specifically of the glory, or joy, he would experience at the day of Christ (cf. 1:6, 10). The apostle was now in prison and, for all he knew at the time, might possibly die there (see 1:13–14, 20–21). As he expressed later in this letter, His beloved brethren in Philippi were even then his “joy and crown” in the Lord and he longed to see them again (Phil. 4:1). Whether that hope was fulfilled or not, he knew that he longed to have the reward of ultimate joy in heaven for his faithful ministry among them.
In His Upper Room Discourse, Jesus told the
disciples, “You will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy …. I will
see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away
from you” (John 16:20, 22). To desire and anticipate joy not only acknowledges
Jesus’ promise but follows His example: “[He] for the joy set before Him endured
the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne
of God” (Heb. 12:2). To the Thessalonians, Paul wrote, “For who is our hope or
joy or crown of
The best thing believers can do is faithfully to live out the truths of God’s Word so that he can say with Paul, I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. Every minister desires that the reward of his efforts will be full, that the people under his care love and obey the Lord without grumbling or complaining and with their lives and words effectively demonstrate the gospel to be true and believable. It is the church’s responsibility and privilege to “appreciate those who diligently labor among [them], and have charge over [them] in the Lord and give [them] instruction” (1 Thess. 5:12). “Obey your leaders and submit to them,” the writer of Hebrews admonishes, “for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you” (Heb. 13:17). The greatest joy of any servant of God is the godly living of his flock. “I have no greater joy than this,” John said, “to hear of my children walking in the truth” (3 John 4).
(2:17-18) Sacrifice—Labor: believers are to work out their salvation by following the example of sacrificial labor. Very simply stated, Paul had offered himself as a sacrifice to serve men. The picture is that of the sacrifice and offerings made by people to the heathen gods. Paul had taken his body and offered it as a sacrifice and service for people. He lived for nothing else except to hold forth the Word of life to people. His body was totally sacrificed for that purpose and that purpose alone. |
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