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…