Message Title: “Living Out Life with God Living In Us” Philippians 2.12-18
Delivered on July 1, 2001 at Immanuel Baptist Church by Pastor John Stensrud.
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. (NIV)
Opening Illustration: I played golf with a Phillipino man named Adore. He must weigh 130 lbs. soaking wet but he can out drive and out play most anyone on the golf course. His attitude toward the game and his example of consistency are inspiring. But, try as I might, I cannot not play up to his level. Mark Twain once said that few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example. Perhaps the most annoying thing is our inability to mimic people who invite our respect in different areas in our lives. For example, admiration for an excellent golfer, an accomplished musician, or a great moral person can inspire us. But unless that person can somehow enter into our own lives and share his or her skills, we can’t arrive at the same heights of achievement as they have. It will take more than their example for the ability to match their own accomplishments on the outside. It takes power on the inside. It’s like trying to live the Christian life by an external, outward imitation of Jesus Christ. Instead, the Christian life is to be lived by “Incarnation.”
What do I mean by living the Christian life by incarnation? It means that the person of Christ lives within us to give us power to live the life that God expects of us. Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”
Paul begins his unit of thought in vs. 12 by saying “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.” He concludes his thought with vs. 13 “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
Colossians 1:27 To [the saints] God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Our hope of glory, that is our hope to attain heaven, is characterized by Jesus Christ literally living in our hearts.
The main idea of our passage is in order for a believer to work “out” his salvation, Christ must live within to give us the power to live the Christian life. The concept is not difficult, but the application often is.
Paul commands us to “work out” our own salvation. This doesn’t mean “working for” our salvation. That would be “salvation by means of our own efforts.” Eph 2:8,9 declares: “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast.” “Working out” our salvation complements our faith based upon grace. Some people use this passage as a proof text that we must work for our salvation. But who is Paul addressing when he writes this letter? People who are already Christians. In Philippians 1:1 he calls the Philippians “saints.” This clearly signifies that they have already received Christ as Lord and Savior. They have already been “set apart” which is the verb form of the word saint: Saints are set apart for something. Saints are not “super Christians” who are persons officially recognized, especially by canonization, as being entitled to public veneration and capable of interceding for people on earth. Saints, in the biblical sense are people like you and me. We are “set apart” to be like Jesus Christ. And in our passage, we are “set apart” to be people marked by humility and obedience that leads to our ultimate exaltation and to unity as a body of Christians.
So what does Paul mean when he commands us to “continue to work out your salvation with fear
and trembling?”
The key that unlocks the door to this question can be found in the words “work out.” In the original, the word means, “working something to completion.” To work out our salvation with fear and trembling” is to complete that which was already begun by the person and work of Christ on the cross. Since salvation is a gift, we must be good stewards of the gift of salvation that Christ already has given us purchased by His own blood. The Bible tells us that our righteousness is credited to us because of our faith, and if we have saving faith we will act upon that faith. James chapter 2 instructs us that faith without works is dead, right? Therefore, if we have received the gift of salvation by faith, as a natural outgrowth of that, we will act upon that faith—faith is not faith unless it is acted upon.
ILL. Imagine for a moment that a friend has given you a free gift certificate good for one parachute jump out of an airplane. You thank your friend for this gift and tell him that you have the courage to make that jump. You even go to the airport, the jumpmaster shows you the proper procedure of making a parachute jump and you strap on the parachute equipment. The jumpmaster tells you he carefully packed the chute himself. You tell him that you have the belief that the chute will open when you pull the ripcord after counting to four as you leap from the plane. But when the time comes, and the green light goes on, you remain in your seat and refuse to jump out for fear the chute won’t open. Your prior statement that you believed that believed that the chute would open is not backed up by jumping out of the plane.
The same is true of faith. You may say you have faith in Christ, but when it comes to obeying Him, you just can’t seem to do it. That kind of “faith” is no faith at all. Faith is belief put into action.
Taking this idea of faith a step further, when we set out to perform a certain task, we have its completion in mind. We don’t mow part of the lawn and let it to grow into a prairie. We don’t go on vacation to Disneyland and stop in the middle of Kansas and call it a vacation. We must drive on until we reach our destination in California.
In Paul’s day there were mines from which the Romans mined iron ore to make swords, chariots, armor, etc. They would work a mine until it was all “tapped out.” That is, getting every bit possible out of the mine. The same can be said of a field to harvest crops. In our backyard in Hampshire, this year the farmer has planted soybeans. In the 8 years we have lived in Hampshire, the farmer has never left a row or rows of corn or beans. He harvests the entire field.
The same can be said about the nature of our Christian lives. Our purpose is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. The context of our passage specifically talks of conforming ourselves in a humble and obedient manner. (Cf. 2.5 ff.) We must live out our lives until our task is completed that God has for us.
1. We must then have faith that is put into action.
2. We must carry on our faith to completion. And
finally:
3. We must have faith to allow God power to work in
our lives.
Here is where a knowledge of the original comes in handy. The Greek word for “work out” is in the middle voice. When a word is in the middle voice in biblical Greek, the subject both performs and is affected by an action. Let’s put this in simple terms. It means that God effects an action in us and at the same time we perform the same action. We allow God to work in our lives and simultaneously we must “work out” the Christian life through obedience and humility.
Let’s look again at vs. 12 in a different light: Paul commands us “to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Although Paul addresses the Philippians church and the word “your” is in the plural, by application this verse places responsibility upon us also as individuals. Your momma or daddy or brother or pastor cannot work out your salvation. It is up to you to live out the Christian life. The good news is that as you “work out” your salvation which = living out the Christian life, God is working in you.
ILL. I remember that my dad had it in his mind that I would take over the family business. He had a plan for me. I would take some business courses at the community college and become a salesman, just like him. One day I mustered up the courage to tell my dad that I wouldn’t be following in his footsteps. I felt that God was leading me to go away to college. My dad was not ecstatic over that decision—especially when I didn’t major in business. He felt college was a waste of money. But I had to go the way I felt that I was led. My decision to enter seminary a month after graduating from college finally convinced him that maybe I was on the right track.
I had to work out my own salvation—meaning my own Christian life. Not what others wanted me to do. Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” That verse tells me that God has a plan for our lives. We are called for a purpose. God has created a plan for each person regardless of ability or stature.
Sadly, too many Xians live their lives because of outside pressures or expectations of others. Hyrum Smith said that, “You cannot motivate anyone but yourself. To enhance or cause action in another person, you must create an atmosphere around them wherein they will want to motivate themselves.”
There’s a common misconception among the church today that we are not be held accountable for our deeds. But if we were created in Christ Jesus to do good works, and these good works were “prepared” for us to do beforehand, that tells me that God has a purpose for our lives and that we’ve got work to do! Christianity is not a spectator sport.
But there is another dynamic at work when we talk about our responsibility to perform “good works.” Unless we allow God to work “in” us as we live out the Christian life, we’ll never reach our full potential as believers. That’s what it means in vs. 13 when Paul tells us that, “it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” Authentic Christianity is an “inside job.” We are instructed to live our Christian lives under God’s power in us. I don’t know about you, but I have a tendency to please people and to obey God when others are watching. But the bible tells us to continually yield, surrender our lives to God’s power even when no one is looking. To “work out” our own salvation is fruitless and foolish if we do it solely under our own steam.
ILL. Wouldn’t it be silly for someone to put milk, a banana, ice cubes, and sugar in an electric blender and then put the top on and shake it? Wouldn’t it be ridiculous for a tree surgeon to take his power saw and use it to cut a tree limb sawing back and forth without turning it on? Yet we all do this at times in the Christian life, relying on own power when God’s unlimited power is available.
The Greek word from which we get the English word “energy” is used twice in vs. 13. Quite honestly, our own “energy” is measly and pitiful in comparison to God’s “energy.” The question then is “How do we tap into that power or energy?”
1. By realizing that our righteousness comes from God and is invested in our lives when we surrender to Him by faith and trust with our life.
2. By having an accurate view of God. If I don’t believe God is on my side, I won’t trust Him. If I don’t trust Him, I will not be willing to sacrifice and I will also give in to the temptation to sin because I feel like I am missing out and don’t believe that God can fulfill me.
3. Resting my hope and future entirely upon God. If my idea of God is a strict, unforgiving taskmaster, I won’t trust Him. On the other hand, If my idea of God is that He is too weak to work His sovereignty in my life, I also won’t trust Him.
4. I must completely yield my life to God by faith in Him – my life is not my own. It was purchased with a price. When we receive Christ into our lives we want Him to be our Savior but we often don’t want Him also to be our Lord and Master. 2 Tim 2:3 Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs--he wants to please his commanding officer. Whether we know it or not, when we received Christ as Lord and Savior, we enlisted in God’s army. And this enlistment is not for 4 years active duty and 4 years in the inactive reserves. It is a lifetime enlistment. And God is our commanding officer.
5. We must be people committed to The Word of God and Prayer on a daily basis.
6. We must continually yield ourselves to God with an attitude of obedience and humility.
7. In less an individual sense but in a corporate sense, like in a local church, we must have a commitment to unity.
ILL. A baseball team signs a self-centered, high-priced, superstar that refuses to talk to the media. He may launch long home runs and rack up impressive statistics, but if a ball club is not unified in the club house, if there isn’t the right chemistry, it cannot go on to the World Series.
Vss. 14 & 15 command us to “Do everything without complaining or arguing, 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.” Vs.16 adds “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.”
Dr. David Burrow told me of a church in Kentucky that went through a church split. If I remember the story correctly, money was allocated to the youth ministry for a tennis court. There was so much discord, arguing, and complaining that the church split over the issue. The news of this split spread like wildfire.
Some people wonder why more people don’t go to church. If that’s what churches do, then who wants to be a Christian? I could tell you story after story of similar incidents in the body of Christ. We must think of unbelievers as stargazers. They are looking at the heavens with the hope of seeing bright beautiful stars and constellations—I stand in awe when I gaze into the heavens on a clear night. But when Christians can’t get along, the stars of the universe are obscured by the dark cloud cover of discord.
Vs. 16 complements his commands in vss. 14 & 15. In the original Greek it says, “as we hold firmly to” the word of life. The context indicates that the word of life is none other than the person of Jesus Christ. We are to cling to Him, to please Him, to follow Him. Jesus is the center of our faith and John 15 tells us “apart from Him, we can do nothing” – nothing of eternal, spiritual value. Jesus is the cement or glue that keep Christians together in unity. The last thing Paul wanted was a church with discord. A house divided cannot stand. And he reasons in vs. 16 that when he meets God face to face, he wants to take pride in the fact that his people, the Philippians, were one in Christ. If not, then his work among them was lit. “for nothing, empty, or in vain.”
ILL. The Vietnam conflict is a perfect example to illustrate vs. 16. Politicians and military leaders could not agree on how to win the war. Their objective was not clear. Often, the different branches of the military would not work together in harmony to accomplish a military objective. The fighting men themselves were often at odds with each other because of racial issues. Our troops didn’t have a clear idea of why they were there. At home, support for the war was divided. We think of Kent State, young men burning their draft cards, others moving to Canada. As a result, even the most hard-nosed, hawkish, military men will freely admit that the war in Vietnam was fought in vain.
As Christians, our objective is clear—to live our lives in humility and obedience under the power of God “in us” to reach our dying world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are to be attractive to the lost so that they will want what we have.
Finally, in vss. 17 & 18 Phil 2:17 Paul says “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.”
In these verses, Paul is comparing his imprisonment to that of a priest in the O.T. who pours out a drink offering. A drink offering was a portion of wine that was offered burned by fire that had an aroma pleasing to the Lord. Paul’s imprisonment was a trial by fire—there was the possibility that he would be put to death. Yet, from Paul’s vantage point, it would be a joyful and willing sacrifice for Christ’s sake on behalf of the church. Sacrifice and service are two qualities that mark a humble, obedient, Christ-like spirit.
Therefore, the Christian life is to be lived in a spirit of joy, obedience, and humility by means of “Incarnation” where the person of Christ lives within us to give us power to live the life that God expects of us. Where our lives as believers are attractive to the lost in a spirit of unity. He has given us all the power to accomplish our purpose here on earth. The power comes from God, but the effort comes from you and me. Let us cling to the Word, that is, Jesus Christ so that we might also be glad and have joy. If Christ is not “in you” then it’s impossible to “work out” your salvation because you do not received the free gift of salvation. Maybe, you have Christ “in you” but you prefer to “work out” your salvation through your own strength. Either way, you have a decision to make: the former is to receive the free gift of salvation. The latter is to finally yield yourselves to God’s infinite power. Regardless of where you are at spiritually, God is ready to do a miraculous work in your life. Will you not invite Him to do so today?
