10.14.18
TEXT: Philippians 2:12-13, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”1
I. IN THOSE TWO VERSES we have a CONDENSED STATEMENT OF HOW SANCTIFICATION WORKS.
A superficial reading of the text might leave us wondering if the two statements are contradictory. Do we work or does God work to bring about our sanctification? The answer to that question is yes—we work and God works. Without God’s work of grace our efforts would be completely futile. But God calls us to cooperate with Him, therefore we work toward His same goal of conforming us to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). “It is God who works in you...” But we are told in this passage to work diligently in cooperation with Him.
There are three phases to your salvation: justification, sanctification, and glorification. The first phase was completed when you were born-again. Powerful, wonderful, eternal things were accomplished at that split second.2 You were regenerated or born-again. At that second you received a new nature. Your spirit was joined to the Holy Spirit and made perfect (1 Cor. 6:17). You were not only born into the family of God that day, but you were also adopted into the family of God. Paul refers to this new birth experience in Rom. 8:15-16: “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’ 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” This new birth planted the divine seed of God in your inner-most being. In a moment’s time you were transferred out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. In this first phase, you were also justified before the court of God. You were declared not guilty by virtue of your union with Christ. More than that, the filthy rags of your sins were exchanged for the righteousness of Christ. By the decree of heaven, you were given right standing before God. All of this comes as a gift, and it is all based on what Jesus did for you on the cross. The Bible goes to great lengths to make sure we understand that our justification before God is by grace alone, not of works lest any man should boast. In the early chapters of Romans Paul teaches this grace message. In Romans 5:1 he summarizes, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” A person comes into this gift of life by simply placing his faith in Christ and what Christ has done for him on the cross. God offers His mercy freely to anyone who will humbly receive it. Eph 2:8-10 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.” It is essential that Christians understand how this comes as a gift of grace. That is the first phase of your salvation.
The second phase is often called sanctification. To sanctify is the Greek word hagiago. The noun, hagios, is usually translated holy or saint. That’s the word Peter uses in 1 Peter 1:15-16,
“but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written,
‘Be holy, for I am holy.’” Its root meaning is “to be set apart.”3 The sacred furniture in the temple
was sanctified or holy because it was set apart for that sacred purpose. God’s people are holy
because God has set them apart as His own. They are called saints (hagios) because they are set
apart from the world as His children. Every child of God is a saint because he has been set apart
unto God through the new birth. In the New Testament the word also indicates moral purity: 1
Pet. 1:16. “be holy in all your conduct.” The scholar, Leon Morris, wrote: “The essential idea in
sanctification is that of being set apart for God, but there is also the thought of character involved
in such separation.”4 So, sanctification has a fairly broad meaning.5 But for convenience we refer
to the second stage of salvation as sanctification. Our text today specifically addresses this stage
of our salvation.
The third and final phase is glorification which happens at the Resurrection of the Just. It
happens when we receive our glorified bodies and our salvation is made complete. Paul points to
this phase in Romans 8:22-25. “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with
birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of
our body. 24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one
still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with
perseverance.” As long as we are in these mortal bodies, things are not perfect. We struggle with
temptations. Our bodies get sick. We are limited in our understanding. Paul says even though we
have “the firstfruits of the Spirit,” we groan along with the rest of creation. We live with the
hope and expectation that one day our salvation will be complete. That day comes at the
resurrection.
It is helpful to view the first phase of salvation as deliverance from the Penalty of sin, the second
as deliverance from the Power of sin, and the third as deliverance from the Presence of sin. In 1
Thess. 5:23 Paul prayed this prayer for believers. “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify
you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ.” One way to look at these three stages of salvation is view them in the
context of spirit, soul, and body. In phase one, your spirit is made alive, made perfect, joined to
the Holy Spirit. The core of who you are is justified before God and joined with Him by grace.
The second stage is the process we are in right now as believers. In this stage, sanctification, we
are growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are overcoming the evil
one, and we are being transformed by the renewing of our minds. The last stage is the
transformation of your physical body.
I give that background information because it is important to understand who Paul is addressing
in our text. To use the text on unbelievers could be very confusing. They can’t “work out their
salvation” because they have no salvation to work out. The call to the unbeliever is to simply
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Rom 10:8-10 gives the sinner this very simple instruction, “The
word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has
raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Whoever believes on Him will be saved. This is
that first phase of salvation. There is not a call here to work anything out. He is simply to submit
to Christ and trust Him for salvation. In this phase the person turns to Christ and simply receives
the gift of forgiveness and eternal life.
In our text Paul is talking to Christians. He opens this epistle with this greeting: “To all the
saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi....” As we said earlier, saints include all the Christians,
for they are set apart from the world as God own special people. But Paul is not writing to
unbelievers. He is writing to Christians. This is reinforced in his statement at the beginning of
our text. Phil. 2:12: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence
only, but now much more in my absence....” Paul is not addressing people who are disobedient to
God. He is talking to people who are living for God, and he is encouraging them to continue in
well-doing. That’s what we’re doing here today, as well.
II. Look with me at the INSTRUCTION he gives in verse 12:“work out your own salvation....”
I have found that to be a mouth-full. I have found that to be a challenging task. Doing that
occupies a good bit of attention and energy. The Bible teaches us to serve others; but our service
to others is of little value if we don’t do this. Paul put it this way to Timothy: “Take heed to
yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and
those who hear you” (1 Tim 4:16). The first order of business is to “Take heed to yourself.” If I
am not living for God, what good am I to you. My ministry to others must flow out of a pure
heart before God. Otherwise, it is tainted and of little value. “Take heed to yourself.” That results
in effective ministry to others. For the latter part of 1 Tim. 4:16 adds this promise: “for in doing
this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.”
But what does it mean to “work out your own salvation”? I thought we were saved by grace and
not of works. These works do not save you, they simply cooperate in faith with the works of God
in your life. There is indeed effort put into it—a lot of effort. But behind that effort is never the
thought that I am saving myself or even keeping myself saved. My whole reliance is on the work
of the Holy Spirit in my life. That’s why both these texts must be taken together. The foundation,
motivation, and empowerment for my effort is verse 13: “for it is God who works in you both to
will and to do for His good pleasure.” That’s the only reason my efforts matter. If God were not
working, my efforts would be worthless.
A key factor is what I am relying on. If I am relying on my own works and abilities, I have fallen
into legalism. That produces pride and self-righteousness. If I am putting my trust in God’s work
in my life, I will see results. In practice, this is not always an easy line to walk. We can begin
well, as the Galatians did, then shift our confidence over to the flesh. Many in the Holiness
Movement of the past made that mistake. Rather than guarding their hearts, they got caught up in
external do’s and don’ts. If we focus on our relationship with God and obedience to His
promptings, we will not need a lot of lists to go by. If we will walk in the Spirit, we will not
fulfill the lusts of the flesh. The Holy Spirit will lead us in paths of righteousness. So, a major
factor here is keeping our faith in the right place. When Jesus taught us to pray daily, “Lead us
not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” He was teaching us to trust the Father for our
sanctification. Rather than trying to do all this for God, we are coming to Him in prayer and
asking Him to do it for us. We’re not trusting our own ability to do right, we’re trusting Him to
keep us on the straight and narrow. We must cooperate with His leading, but we are utterly
dependent on Him for the results.
A common mistake many make is to think salvation by grace means I become passive. The issue
is what I am relying on, my own contribution or the work of the Holy Spirit in me. The grace of
God teaches us to actively pursue holiness. Titus 2:11-12: “For the grace of God that brings
salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,
we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.” Grace doesn’t teach us to be
sloppy or apathetic about the way we live our lives. Grace, the real thing, teaches us to deny
ungodliness and worldly lust—don’t let those things have dominance in your life. Grace teaches
us to live soberly, righteously, and godly. Any brand of grace that does not teach that is not a
biblical grace. Part of the problem is often an incomplete understanding of grace. Grace is
unmerited favor from God, but it is not a stale, abstract thing. It is active, powerful, and alive. It
is the divine influence of the Holy Spirit in the soul.6 So, when Phil. 2:13 says God is working in
you, that’s talking about the active influence of grace. Grace empowers our willing and doing.
In 1 Cor 15:10 Paul says something very similar to what he is saying in our text. There he wrote,
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I
labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”
Notice he gives God the credit for it all: “But by the grace of God I am what I am.” In other
words, I have not attained to anything on my own. It is all because of the grace of God. Without
the grace of God, I would be less than nothing. But then he talks about his response to that grace:
“His grace toward me was not in vain; [grace produced something in me; it caused me to will
and do; it caused me to move in cooperation with God’s purposes] but I labored more
abundantly than they all, [rather than grace being an excuse not to labor, not to discipline myself,
not to press toward the goal; it motivated me and energized me to do the will of the Father] yet
not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” Even though he was working harder at it than
anybody else, he recognized that the real source of it all was the grace of God working in him.
“For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
There are many New Testament passages telling us to discipline ourselves and actively
participate in this sanctification process. Let me remind you of a few:
In 1 Cor 9:27 Paul wrote, “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have
preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” The discipline was a necessary part of
his lifestyle. He did not let the desires of his flesh dominate his life.
2 Cor 7:1: “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness
of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
Eph 4:22-24: “...put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt
according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put
on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”
Notice the action required is on our part.
1 John 3:3: “And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” So,
there is a side of this sanctification process that we must do. God expects us to do it in response
to His goodness and grace. He even enables us to do it. But He does not do it for us. “Without
faith it is impossible to please God.” He expects us to exercise faith. Otherwise the process is
incomplete.7
James explained it this way: “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But
someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works,
and I will show you my faith by my works” (2:17-18). If we have real faith, the works will give
evidence of it.
So, the instruction of our text is: “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Paul
uses two Greek synonyms to express the attitude with which we do our work of sanctification:
phobou kia tromou. This is probably a Greek idiom that intensifies the first adjective by adding a
second, much like our English idiom, sick and tired. It is important to understand what kind of
fear Paul is talking about here. It is not a tormenting fear for Paul said in 2 Tim. 1:7 that God has
not given us that kind of fear. While we do not live in presumption, John gave his first epistle so
that we could live in an assurance of our salvation. It’s not a neurotic fear of losing my salvation
any minute. But it is a healthy respect for God’s authority and our accountability to Him. It is a
serious concern that we would not displease the Lord who has been so good to us. This
statement, fear and trembling, comes in the context of Paul’s teaching on humility. He has just
given the ultimate example of Christ as One who humbled Himself to become a man, humbled
Himself to become a servant, and humbled Himself to the death of the cross. The fear and
trembling stand in contrast to arrogance and self-sufficiency. “Therefore [1 Cor 10:12] let him
who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” We do not live in the presumption that we could
never fall. We recognize our reliance on the Lord for godly living. It’s something like Paul was
talking about in Gal. 6 when he told mature people to restore those who had fallen into sin. Then
he adds. “considering yourself lest you also be tempted.” We deal much more gently and
tenderly with others when we consider our own vulnerability to failure. The diligence called for
in our text is birthed out of humble reliance on God’s grace in our lives.
II. Now we turn our attention to the ENCOURAGEMENT given in verse 13: “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
You can work because God is working. Your will is involved in the process, but you can’t even
take credit for that because it is God’s influence on your life that brings you to those choices.
God does not treat us like robots. He does not force sanctification on us. But He sheds His love
abroad in our hearts. He reveals His love for us. He woos us with cords of love. He wins our love
by unselfishly and sacrificially giving Himself to us. 1 John 4:19: “We love Him because He
first loved us.” Our will is never violated, but it is influenced by His love for us.
You can overcome that habit because God is working in your behalf. You can control your
tongue because God is working in you both to will and do His good pleasure. No man can
control the tongue on his own. It takes the grace of God to handle such a daunting task. For most
of us there are a few besetting sins that we contend with over a long period of time. We beat it
down; then at a weak moment it rises back up. It is very discouraging because the duration of the
battle is not short.
One key to winning is to make sure your faith is in Christ for the victory. Sometimes I will go
back to what the angel told Joseph in Matt. 1:21 for my assurance: “you shall call His name
Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." Jesus’s main business is to save us from our
sins. So, I say to the Lord, “I have fought this sin for a long time, and I will keep fighting until
the day I day. I will not give it dominion in my life. But my ultimate hope is in You and Your
ability to save me from it. You came to save me from that sin. I ask you to do that. I ask you to
give me complete and lasting victory over that enemy.” Apply that word to your besetting sins:
“you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."
I like the attitude that famous evangelist, Billy Sunday had toward sin. He said, “I’m against sin.
I’ll kick it as long as I’ve got a foot, and I’ll fight it as long as I’ve got a fist. I’ll butt it as long as
I’ve got a head. I’ll bite it as long as I’ve got a tooth. And when I’m old and fistless and footless
and toothless, I’ll gum it till I go home to Glory and it goes home to perdition!”8
Even though we are involved in the process of sanctification, it is really all by grace. We
wouldn’t want it if it weren’t for the grace of God. We wouldn’t do it if it weren’t for the grace
of God. Ultimate, we cannot boast. All the glory goes to Him.
Every farmer experiences the same dynamic. If he is to have a crop, he must plow the ground,
water, and nurture the crops. There is a lot of work he does. But that would be futile were it not
for the miracle of life. His work does not put life in the seed or make it grow. Only God can do
that. God puts life in the seed. The miracle of germination comes from God. The farmer is utterly
dependent on God for that. He can facilitate the process through the disciplines of plowing,
weeding, and watering. If he wants a good crop he will do those things. But he must never forget
where the life in that crop comes from. Put stones in the ground, plant them, water them, and
there will be no crop because God has not put life in those stones.
The Greek word translated work in verse 13 is energeo. It means “To be at work, to be effective,
operative.”9 We get our English word energy from it. God alone energizes and makes our efforts
effective. The word translated work in verse 12 is a different word. It emphasizes finishing
something, carrying it out to the goal or complete something.10 God’s purposes of sanctification
have never reached the goal until we (out of our own freewill) cooperate in it and produce the
fruit of righteousness in our behavior.11
The assurance of our success rests in the fact that we’re not doing it in our own power. The grace
of God is at work in us.
Rom. 6:12-13: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its
lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present
yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of
righteousness to God. That is our side of the sanctification process. That stands parallel with
Phil. 2:12, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.’
Rom. 6:14: “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under
grace.” That addresses God’s side of the process: grace. Sin will not dominate you because you
are not operating under the law—with only your own willpower to get you through. You are
under grace—where the operational power of God is at work. That stands parallel with Phil.
2:13, “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
We have seen in our text both sides of sanctification. On God’s side there is the influence of
grace working in us both to will and do His good pleasure. Without that, our puny efforts would
be mean nothing. But God requires faith on our side of the matter. We are to diligently cooperate
with His purposes of sanctification. Therefore, we are work out this great salvation He has
worked in us.
If we do that we can be “confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you
will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”12 I close with the assurance in Jude’s doxology:
“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
25 To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.”
ENDNOTES:
1 All Scripture quotes are from the New King James Version unless indicated otherwise.
2 They were actually accomplished 2000 years ago at Calvary, but by faith they are appropriated for the individual at
that point in time.
3 L. S. Chafer, Systematic Theology, vol. VI (Dallas, TX: Dallas Seminary Press, 948) 45.
4 Leon Morris, The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians, 1959 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979) 180.
5 There is an aspect of sanctification in the first phase; hence, all Christians are saints. The separation of salvation
into these three stages helps us understand the process. However, we must also understand that these dynamics of
salvation are interrelated.
6 See Strong’s definition, NT:5485.
7 Heb 4:2, “...but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
8 Billy Sunday, “25 Christian Quotes About Sin,” What Christians Want to Know. Retrieved Aug. 27, 2018 at
https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/25-christian-quotes-about-sin/. This tenacious battle against sin must
first be asserted against sin in our own lives (Matt. 7:5). Then we can see clearly to confront it in others and in
society.
9 Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Iowa Falls, IA: Bible Publishers, Inc.,
1992) “1754, energeo,” 589.
10 Vincent’s New Testament Word Studies, Phil. 2:12.
11 For a more extensive discussion of this see chapter 19 in my book, Authentic Christianity: Studies in 1 John.
12 Phil. 1:6.
