Philippians 2:12-13; To Will and to Act

“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 in order to fulfill his good purpose.”

We’re talking specifically about verse 13 today… I have always struggled with knowing what God wants me to do with my life.  From college, to seminary, to even now – I often ask, “Am I doing what I should be doing?”  Perhaps you can identify with that.

There are SO MANY WAYS to serve Christ in the world; work in a church, translate the bible, work in this ministry, or that ministry, serve locally, or overseas, work for clean water, malaria nets, accessible medicine, be a writer, make movies, help children, help adults, fight trafficking, go to Africa, go to India, and on and on. Historically, I would consider all the options and just… freeze.  Not knowing what to do; I wouldn’t do anything.  The needs are so great and so many – and while I have a variety of abilities, I am not particularly skilled or knowledgeable about any one thing.  It was debilitating really.

But God brought verse 13 to my attention a while ago and he is slowly changing that.  If you boil down my problem, it was basically this, “I don’t know what God wants me to do, and even if I did, I don’t think that I could do it or want to do it.”  Anyone else in that boat today?

But verse 13 tells a few key points that will give us encouragement:

1. It is God who works in you.  God does the work through you.  I tend to forget that the Eternal Creator of the Universe is working in me.  It’s not some puny God who can’t get anything done – he created the universe in 6 days for goodness sake!  He knows why he created me, and he has a good plan for my life. 
    
2. God gives you the will to do what he calls you to do.  This is a big one or me.  God will grow in us a desire to do what he has called us to do.  Not that we sit and wait for desire to come, but as we are available to fulfill the needs we see around us, God will grow in us a will to act.
    
3. God gives you the ability to act upon what he has calls you do.  Similar to point one, if God is calling you to do something – he WILL give you the ability to do it.  It may be scary, you may fumble through things for a while, but as you rely on Him, He will enable you to serve well.
    
4. What God calls you to do will fulfill his good purpose.  God grants us the privilege to work alongside him, to be a co-laborer with God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

God gives us everything we need to fulfill his plans; the will and the ability to do His good work.  The only variable is whether we will trust him, step out in faith, and act. 

One bonus thought: if you don’t know what God wants you to do, do something.  Find a need at your church and pitch in or get to know your neighbors and find ways to serve them.  We should wait actively, not passively.  As you obey the things that God has already told us to do in the bible, he will direct us toward more specific avenues of service.  So get out there and do something!

“I have no idea what I am supposed do, I only know what I can do.” – Captain James T. Kirk, “Star Trek Into Darkness”

Philippians 2:12-13; Work Out II


“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 in order to fulfill his good purpose.”


Sorry about the spaces...the formatting has gone a little crazy! 


When I consider the idea of getting out of the way so that Jesus can do His work in me, I am reminded of the words of John the Baptist: “He must increase; I must decrease”.  Because in truth, any good that I accomplish comes through God’s power, not my own. 


The best example I can come up with is this: If Levi wants to give me a Christmas present, I take him to the store, help him pick it out, pay for it, drive him home, help him wrap it, and then let him put it under the tree.  His gift to me is due solely to his father’s effort and design. 


The same is true of our service to Christ – anything of worth that I do is because He gave me the eyes to see, the will to act, and the strength to carry it out.  Even more, as we obediently interact with others, the Spirit of God does His work through us. The God of the Universe does eternal, God-sized things through our humble obedience. 

That is liberating, challenging…and a bit daunting.  What a relief that it is not up to me to convict of sins and save souls.  My job is to love, serve, and share – it is God’s job to use those things to transform lives (including my own).  But it is also a little scary.

If it is Jesus who works in me to accomplish His will…what will He do in me?  His obedience took Him to the cross, what will He do with my obedience?  Enter “fear and trembling”.  Obedience means we move out of the driver’s seat so God can take us where He wants.  And that is frightening, which is probably why Jesus said, “Fear not,” so much.  When you hitch your wagon to the all-submissive redeemer Jesus, anything can happen! 

Have you ever sensed fear at the prospect of things God has called you to do?  Yeah, me too.  But I think that definition of “fear” is a very small part of what Paul is talking about.  I believe “awe” best conveys Paul’s meaning of “fear and trembling”.  We should always live in “awe” of the God who created the universe with a word. 

To sum up: Salvation should change the way we live.  We work out our salvation by getting out of the way and letting the Spirit take control of our lives.  We fear and tremble simply because it is the holy and majestic God of eternity who is doing work in our lives that we cannot accomplish on our own.  If that doesn’t inspire awe, I don’t think anything will.  God has a plan for your life and mine – and He will accomplish it!

Philippians 2:12-13; Work Out

“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 in order to fulfill his good purpose.”

Last time we talked about how to interpret challenging passages, now let’s practice on this one: “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling”.  That is a troubling phrase isn’t it?  If salvation is by grace through faith, what is there for us to work out?  And where do fear and trembling come in?

One could read this passage and think, “Paul is saying that I have to work for my salvation.”  Your next question should be, “Is that what the rest of the bible teaches?”  As you look through your bible for related scripture (a cross-reference bible is super handy for this), you discover that salvation is by grace through faith, not by works.  So you should probably think, “Hmmm, that initial interpretation doesn’t agree with the rest of scripture, so I need to keep looking.” 

Next, you would read the passage within the context of the surrounding text.  Before this statement, Paul discussed the humility and obedience of Jesus.  After this passage, Paul talked about how God works in us to will and to act to fulfill His good purpose.  And from a book-wide context, you would glean that Paul is talking to the church at Philippi, not unbelievers.  So this passage probably isn’t talking about salvation at all.  Knowing that, you might interpret the passage like this:

Salvation should result in a changed life and a change in action on our part (the book of James talks a lot about this).  We work out our salvation, not by utilizing our own strength and innate abilities, but by humbly obeying God as Jesus did.  Our working out allows Christ to work in us; in essence, our work is to get out of the way of Jesus. 

A second aspect to “working out” is more straight forward.  While God leads, guides, and directs us, we must discern God’s will for our lives and to “work out” where he wants us to serve.  What are my spiritual gifts?  What passions as God given me?  What breaks my heart?  These questions help us to “work out” how our salvation will be manifested in our lives.

Finally, knowing that it is the all-powerful God who does the work in me, my attitude toward Him is one of fear and trembling.  Not in a terrified, cowering kind of way (though I believe there is a bit of that), but more in a sense of awe and subservience to my creator.

Is this the only possible interpretation of this passage?  I doubt it.  But this interpretation is consistent with the overall teaching of the bible and the surrounding text.  And that is a good place to start.

Now that we have interpreted the passage, I’ll provide a little commentary on it next time…

Philippians 2:12-13; Scripture Interpretation 101

“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 in order to fulfill his good purpose.”

Much of the bible is easy to understand: God is good, sin is bad, steer clear of idols, love your neighbor, etc., but there are a few sticky passages that aren’t so easy.  So today I thought I would give you some information on how to interpret a challenging passage. 

There are several principles to keep in mind as you interpret scripture; today I’m going to focus on two.  First, the bible is its best commentary; or in other words, let scripture interpret scripture. 

If you read a passage that you don’t understand, find other passages that deal with the same topic.  There is consistency throughout scripture from the OT to the NT, so if you read 10 related passages you will discover pretty easily the biblical view of a topic.  If you interpret a passage in such a way that contradicts that view – then you might want to rethink your interpretation.

A bonus note on that…if there are 15 passages that teach one thing and one passage that doesn’t seem to fit…don’t freak out.  Build your theology on the 15 passages that you understand, not on the one that you don’t.  It’s okay if there are some passages that you don’t get; pray that God will reveal the truth to you in His perfect timing.  Focus on what you do know and pray about what you don’t know.

Second, you need to read a passage within the context of the surrounding text.  Begin with the verses before and after your passage, then if needed, read the chapter, and the book as a whole.  It is difficult to correctly understand a single phrase when taken out of its conversation. 

The classic example is this: A man was going to pick a verse at random to direct his day.  He opened his bible, put his finger down and read:

-          “Judas went out and hanged himself.” – Matthew 27:5

Thinking he should maybe try again.  He turned to another page, put his finger down again and found this verse:

-          “Jesus told him, go ye therefore and do likewise.” – Luke 10:37

To interpret the bible correctly, or anything really, it is critical to take the information in context.  Otherwise, you might go out and do likewise, thinking that is what the bible is telling you to do.

We’ll get down to looking at the actual passage in a day or two.  Until then, check out the following article from Rick Warren discussing the principles for interpreting scripture.  I encourage you to read it and put the principles into practice as you read your bible. 

Why is this so important?  We must know the truth of scripture so we can accurately and effectively share it with a world that is dying without it.  If we don’t know it, how can we share it?

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