Who Done It? - Sermon On Philippians 2:12-13 Series

Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. 14 Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16 as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. 17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

Introduction

Stop Trying or Start Striving?

2 Corinthians 5:9 So we make it our goal to please [Christ].

That is the goal of the Christian life.

Ephesians 5:10 find out what pleases the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4:1 …we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.

So that’s our goal – pleasing God; but how do you reach that goal? Back in Philippians 2:5 it said Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. Right now my attitude falls way short of that in many ways. So how do I get from where I am now to where I need to be? We know we are supposed to grow and change and become more like Christ, we want to defeat sin in our lives and grow in godliness, but how is that done?

The most obvious method would be to just find out what pleases God and try your hardest to do it. And if you fail, try harder. If you still fail, then scold yourself, punish yourself, condemn yourself, discipline yourself, and then buckle down and get it done. There’s one little piece missing from that method – God. Where is God in that? If you take that method to the extreme, you end up with what’s known as Pelagianism – the idea that human beings are born with the innate ability to do good, and we don’t need any special help from God. And of course, that’s heresy.

John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

If there is going to be any transformation at all, it is going to have to come from Christ, not me. So trying to just white-knuckle my way to holiness isn’t going to work. Obviously we are not going to please God by leaving God out of the equation.

On the other hand, some teachers say the way to grow and change is the exact opposite of the “try harder” method. They say, “Trying is the whole problem. You need to stop trying and start trusting. Let go and let God.” They say any time you are trying or working or striving – that’s of the flesh. That’s all human effort, and it’s doomed to fail.

This is a doctrine known as quietism – just quiet yourself and let God do the work. Sometimes it’s referred to as antinomianism (that word means anti-law). These people teach that grace is the opposite of law. So if God says, “Love your neighbor,” and I put forth some effort to obey that command, that’s bad because I am under law. They say what I should do instead is just realize that nothing is required of me. And the more I realize that, the more I will just automatically start doing things like loving my neighbor, because it is when I stop trying that the Holy Spirit starts producing His fruit in me. So grace is the opposite of putting forth effort to obey God. Grace, to them, means God is just as happy with you whether you are doing godly things or sinning. And the way to make progress toward sinning less is by just realizing that. Just think about how much he loves you and how unconditional that love is, and that will cause so much gratitude in your heart that you will find yourself doing what is right without even trying. And gratitude for what Christ has done is the only valid motive for doing good. And if you say, “But what about all my failures and sin?” they will say, “Stop thinking about how you are doing, and think more about what he has done.”