Alexander MacLaren once wrote: ‘We may have as much of God as we choose. Jesus puts the key to the treasure-chamber into our hand and tells us to take all that we want. If a man is admitted into the vault of a bank and told to help himself, and comes out with one penny, whose fault is it that he is poor?” For the last two weeks, we have been in this section of Philippians where Paul is making a case to the readers regarding holiness. We have learned that we are called to live our lives in a way that is worthy of the gospel we have received. We have seen that this gospel conduct shows itself through humility like Jesus, because he is the ultimate example of humility. And we have seen that the goal of all of this is unity as the church because Jesus said that the world would come to know him through our unity if we are one. This week, we come to the outcome of this though process by Paul, and once again, it begins with the word “Therefore”. So, because of everything we have learned last week and the week before, we come to this section of scripture.
God said to Israel, “Be holy, because I am holy”. Because God wants us to become like him, it is necessary that his people be a special kind of people, holy men, and women. The basic idea in sanctification is “being set apart for God”. Those who are set apart live in a way that is pleasing to God. They have no power of their own to do that, but God enables them through the Holy Spirit. Sanctification is not an option. God requires it of all his people. We are meant to be Jesus to a hurting and broken world filled with sin, we are called to be light. So let your light shine. Every Christian should work to live holy and blameless lives, so that we can be light in a world of darkness.
Let’s read this passage, Philippians 2:12 to 18: “Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a drink offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy. Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share your joy.”
This translation does not include the word therefore at the beginning, but it is there in Greek. I chose a more thought-for-thought translation this week, because it is a tricky piece of scripture that has been misinterpreted throughout history, and I wanted to capture the essence or idea of what Paul is trying to say here. Let me read verse 12 again: “Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.” We have already seen that Paul was very close to the Philippians, he spent a lot of time with them, and he loved them deeply. They had a great relationship, and so he makes his appeal on that. They always listened to him when he was with them, and always took his words to heart, but now that he CAN’T be there, it is even more important, he calls them to obey and behave in his absence the same way that they would if he were there with them right now. And then he gives them a command, an imperative in Greek: “Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.” In the NIV and NASB, this verse is translated this way: “work out your salvation with fear and trembling”. I want to talk about that for a second, because it is a very literal translation, but it does not translate the SENSE of the sentence very well to English. The Greek word that we translate as “work out” in NASB and NIV is better translated as accomplish or finish, and it implies having done something with thoroughness. The noun attached to that verb is salvation, or soteria in Greek. This word is used throughout the New Testament, but the sense of the word here is of what that state of salvation entails, which is a haven in heaven, and not whether they were at that moment saved. It is assumed that they are saved already in Jesus! Back in the beginning of Chapter two, Paul says “Because you have encouragement from being united with Jesus, because you have fellowship in the Spirit”, and you may remember I said that the Greek there was speaking of something that was indeed the case, which is why I use the word “because” instead of “if”. Paul had already acknowledged that they were united with Christ in his death, and they had the Holy Spirit living in them. Ephesians 1:13-14 says “And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people.” It is important to know that this verse about working out your salvation is NOT about whether or not you are saved, it is not about working that out on your own. Because that would be counter to the entire good news about Jesus Christ.
It is NOT by our works we are saved, but by Jesus. Rather, this is part of one big thought sandwich, for lack of a better word. There is a theme that runs through this entire letter, and that is of running a race. Sanctification. Becoming more like Jesus every day. Accomplish / finish the race towards heaven, and that race is becoming more and more like Jesus. You may remember back when we were talking about Paul being under house arrest, and all those people were taking advantage of the fact he was locked up. But about his own life, he said this: “Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.” That word that we translate as deliverance is soteria, salvation. We know Paul was not talking about his physical release, because he then talks about dying as a real possibility. We also know he is not talking about his spiritual salvation, because repeatedly, throughout scripture, he talks about how we are already saved through Jesus! So, what is he talking about? I believe it follows right afterwards. Now as always, he hopes that he will have the courage so that Christ will be exalted in his body, no matter what happens. I think he was talking about his own sanctification, and his own hope of heaven. He talks about how this is being accomplished in his own life, and then he flips over and begins to tell them what needs to start happening in theirs. Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel, live in humility that reflects Jesus, live in unity. Then today, because of ALL of that, accomplish and finish YOUR race towards heaven and Christlikeness, with reverence and fear towards God. This is a command; it is not optional. This is the moment in which Paul is saying, because this stuff matters, smarten up. This is Paul calling the Philippian church to work at these issues until the spiritual health of the community was restored. The focus here is not on personal salvation, nor HAS it been at any point in this letter so far. The focus is on the health of the body as a whole.
Let’s talking about that fear and trembling piece for a minute, although I like the translation reverence and trembling better. In biblical imagery, fear and trembling were viewed as a POSITIVE sign of humility and submissiveness. It was not a negative sign; it wasn’t Paul suggesting that they should be scared that they weren’t saved. This was the PROPER and EXPECTED response of people to being in God’s presence, humility, and submissiveness to him. The idea is that God’s holiness, righteous anger, and his goodness and grace should fill God’s people with such awe, humility, and gratitude that they tremble before him in reverence. This is the proper response to have towards God.
And here is the connection to sanctification in verse 13: “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” The only way that this sanctification can happen in our lives is through the Holy Spirit who works in us, giving us both the power to do his will, and the DESIRE to do it. But we must ALLOW him to work in us. This is the reason for “working out our salvation”. We often think the opposite is true, that IF GOD works in us, there is no need for us to make an effort because God does the work, so we should just patiently way for him to make us holy. However, the TRUTH is that BECAUSE God is working in us, we now have the ABILITY to become better and sanctified, free from the fear of what happens when we fail. It is not a physical force from God as much as a moral influence supporting us as we run a race towards being like Jesus.
Verse 14-15, “Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.” This is a specific example of how they need to be sanctified, and it is a command, an imperative. Paul was not asking, he was TELLING. Do everything without complaining or arguing. The sense of the Greek word that is here translated complaining is murmuring or muttering to themselves. But he also hits on outright arguing as well. Whether it is in a low voice behind closed doors, or in a belligerent manner in the public eye of the church, do not do it. Do ALL things without grumbling or fighting. The reason is focused on the outside world, it all circles back to that unity piece. If we are united, the world will know Jesus. If we are divided, we do damage to his kingdom. This translation says, So that no one will criticize you, and then has a separate call to live clean and innocent lives. The Greek translates it better. It roughly says, so that you will PROVE yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God. Before their testimony for Jesus could be effective in the community, they needed to get their house in order. This also indicated that it was not currently the case in Philippi. They WERE complaining, they WERE arguing, and they WERE fighting. As a result, they were NOT without fault, they were NOT shining lights in their community and in the world. I do think it is important to remember that this is speaking about the corporate testimony of the church in Philippi. Paul was calling them to get their house in order, so that God’s purpose for them could be fulfilled. Because compared to the world around us, which is filled with brokenness and hurt and pain and sin, we are supposed to be light. Jesus says in Matthew 6 “if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!”
Verse 16, “Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless.” Their obedience would result in glory for Paul and his work. And there is a bit of a slight in there I think, although that is my own subjective opinion. If someone wrote you a letter and said, “keep reading your bible and following Jesus, so I know that I did not waste my time with you, how would you take that?” I think the idea is that while Paul loved the Philippians and was close to them, he was also frustrated by some of these issues, and wanted them to know that he was serious. He put a lot of time and energy into the church in Philippi! So I can also understand that he would have been frustrated.
But then, as Paul often does, he cuts the slight a bit so it does not sting as badly: “But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a drink offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy. Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share your joy.” So he does not neglect the fact that despite these issues, they HAVE been working very hard to support his ministry and the spread of the gospel, and they HAVE been supporting the other churches. However, Paul has given up everything, and now he faced the possibility of giving up his life for the cause, but he considers it a joy, and a sacrifice to God. He wants them to share in that joy. The work that they have done for God was considered an offering to God, and it did still fill him with joy. But he wanted them to go ALL the way, he wanted them to be ALL in, to allow themselves to be WHOLLY changed, sanctified, made Christlike. He wanted them to experience the same joy that he had in that offering of his life. Because God does not want half of you, or half your life – He wants it all.
It is clear what this meant for the Philippians, Paul left no room for doubt. But what does it mean for us today? How do we let our light shine to the world around us?
First, let your light shine by becoming more like Jesus. Sanctification is not something we talk about a lot as a church. We focus on the fact that we fail Jesus often, but it is ok because he forgives us when we do. And while that is true, it is not an excuse to keep living the way that you have always lived, and living the way that the world lives still. In Romans 6:1, Paul says, “Should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?” We are now free to PURSUE Godliness in our lives, without the fear of what happens when we fail. Jesus is our supreme example. As we become smaller, he becomes greater in us, with the goal of one day having our lives look like his. This is not something that we will finish here on earth, but it is still the goal that we are racing towards. The idea is that your life should reflect Jesus more today than it did yesterday, and definitely should reflect it more now than when you were saved. We all have rough patches, we all fail. But the trend should be upwards. It isn’t one step forward and two steps back, its two steps forward, one step back, two more forward. Keep pushing on towards the goal. Jesus is the light of the world, and as we begin to reflect him more and more in our lives, the light of Jesus begins to radiate into the world through us.
Second, let your light shine by not grumbling or arguing. And I would argue that this does fall under the last point, but Paul made specific mention of it on its own, so I will as well. Because it is so easy to become bitter and angry. It is easy to be dissatisfied. It’s so much easier to fight with each other, and disagree, than put the work in together to achieve unity and peace. And I know this from my own personal life! And let’s be honest, there are so many things that people disagree about when it comes to what we believe and how we do things as the church, and any church that thinks they have it all figured out, I would argue that they are living in a fairy tale. Because any time that people get involved, whenever you add the human factor, the sin factor, there will be tension, there will be disagreement, there will be fighting. It happens. But unfortunately for us, we are called to take the high road, and figure it out. We don’t get to just be mad and angry and not resolve our differences, at least not if we care about reaching the world around us for Jesus. Do EVERYTHING without grumbling or arguing. We are going to look at this further in a few weeks, but when Paul gets to the end of this letter and begins to summarize, he says this in chapter 3 verse 15: “Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. But we must live up to the progress we have already made.” When we fight and argue as the church, we are not being light, we are being darkness. But when we submit in humility, when we stand on God’s word, and when we are united, we are light.
Third, let your light shine by holding fast to the word of life. This is really important, because we aren’t always the best at being in our bibles. Life is so busy in our world, we are always running from point a to point b. We don’t always make time to be in the bible, but it is so important for our spiritual development and growth. How can we work to live like Jesus, if we don’t know what that looks like? How can we grow in holiness through the Spirit, if we aren’t taking the time to learn about what that even means? We need to be in the word daily, learning and growing closer to God. It is our foundation, on which our faith is built. It is good news, it is inspired, and it directs our path. The path to being light in a broken world is written in it’s pages, so we need to cling to it. It isn’t always easy, it isn’t always comfortable, but it is good. The more we grow closer to God, the more time we spend in his word, the more we begin to look like Jesus, and the more we begin to be light to a world of darkness.
In conclusion, we are called to let our light shine in the world around us, a world that is hurting and broken, and filled with darkness. To be light in a world of darkness, we can’t be darkness too, we can’t look like the world, we just can’t. We need to be made holy, we need to reflect Jesus in our lives, ever increasingly. We know we aren’t perfect; we know we will make mistakes, but we cannot move backwards. We need to let go of anger and bitterness, and embrace humility like Jesus, living lives worthy of the gospel, in unity together. The only way that we can do this, is if we allow the Holy Spirit to continue his work in our lives, and if we cling to the truth, the word of life, because without it we stand on nothing, we are a rudderless ship, we have no direction or purpose. But WITH his help, and WITH his leading, and WITH his word, we can be light to a world that is desperately in need.
“We may have as much of God as we choose. Jesus puts the key to the treasure-chamber into our hand and tells us to take all that we want. If a man is admitted into the vault of a bank and told to help himself, and comes out with one penny, whose fault is it that he is poor?” God is offering you so much more than pennies. Let him bless you and work in you, so that your light will shine bright like a star.
