Philippians 2

[madera de oro]

12 So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but now much rather in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling
13 For it is God who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.

Dear brothers and sisters,

How do we work out our own salvation?  I thought salvation only comes from God.  Here Paul tells us to work out your own.  This is an action on our part.  But then the next verse says it is God who operates in you both the willing and the working.  So what do we do?

[Eric]

simply obey




These verses were a part of my reading last night, and as I was reading them, I remember overhearing a sister talking about this post a few days ago while we were preparing the Chriswood house.

I used to interpret this as work out salvation on your own with fear and trembling, but now after seeking His light on this verse, I can now interpret it in this way...

12  So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but now much rather in my absence, abound still more in this obedience; 13  For it is God who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.

This verse, which is most often quoted by itself, is directly preceded by verses 5-11 which is a beautiful picture of total obedience...

Php 2:5  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,
Php 2:6  Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal with God a treasure to be grasped,
Php 2:7  But emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming in the likeness of men;
Php 2:8  And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, and that the death of a cross.
Php 2:9  Therefore also God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
Php 2:10  That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Php 2:11  And every tongue should openly confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Which is preceded by verses 1-4, which is the fruit of having the mind of Christ Jesus...

Php 2:1  If there is therefore any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of spirit, if any tenderheartedness and compassions,
Php 2:2  Make my joy full, that you think the same thing, having the same love, joined in soul, thinking the one thing,
Php 2:3  Doing nothing by way of selfish ambition nor by way of vainglory, but in lowliness of mind considering one another more excellent than yourselves;
Php 2:4  Not regarding each his own virtues, but each the virtues of others also.

Obedience transfers us from one realm (flesh) to the other (spirit), likewise disobedience/rebellion has the opposite effect.

So, how can we become obedient in the flesh? Over this past weekend, I experienced this in myself and in others, with one Chinese-speaking sister in-particular. This is something also initiated by the Lord when He creates the perfect environment or situation that brings this about.

How many of us truly have a willing heart towards the Lord? In my experience, my willingness only comes about after I am totally obedient to Him. Then His desire becomes my desire, His doing becomes my doing.

So if we were to ask Him..."who is doing the working, Lord, You or us?", He would reply with a "Yes".



Mat 9:36  And seeing the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and cast away like sheep not having a shepherd.

Mat 15:32  And Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, I am moved with compassion for the crowd, because for three days now they have remained with Me and they do not have anything to eat. And I am not willing to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.

Mat 20:34  And Jesus, moved with compassion, touched their eyes, and immediately they received their sight and followed Him.

Who was moved with compassion, the Son.....or the Father in who's will the Son was doing?.....

Again, the answer would be "Yes", for they are one, just as we are one.

[Eric]

The Lord wasn't done with this reply as he reminded me of the line in a Hymn that I was most caught by yesterday morning...

O Jesus, Lord and Savior,
I give myself to Thee,
For Thou, in Thy redemption,
Didst give Thyself for me;
I own no other Master,
My heart shall be Thy throne,
My life I give, henceforth to live,
  O Christ, for Thee alone.

I thought how can someone own a master, and then I was touched with the understanding that as He possesses us, we possess Him.


Thank You, Lord, You are my salvation, and You are my own!

[ginnys]

thank you, brother, for your sharing on these verses....such healthy words of life! Amen!

[Administrator]

We shall consider the matter of working out our salvation. In 2:12 Paul says, "So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only as in my presence, but now much rather in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." To work out our own salvation is to carry it out, to bring it to the ultimate conclusion. We have received God's salvation, which has as its climax to be exalted by God in glory as the Lord Jesus was (v. 9). We need to carry out this salvation, to bring it to its ultimate conclusion, by our constant and absolute obedience with fear and trembling. We have received this salvation by faith. Now we must carry it out by obedience. This includes the genuine oneness in our
soul (v. 2). To receive salvation by faith is once for all; to carry it out is lifelong.

In verse 12 Paul charges us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Fear is the inward motive;
trembling is the outward attitude.

In verse 13 Paul goes on to say, "For it is God Who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure." The word "for" at the beginning of this verse gives the reason we need to obey always. It is because God operates in us. In God's economy we have the Lord Jesus as our pattern (vv. 6-11), as the standard of our salvation (v. 12), and we also have God operating in us both the willing and the working to carry out our salvation, to bring it to its ultimate conclusion. It is not
that we by ourselves carry it out, but that God operates in us to do it. The only thing we need to do is to obey the inner operating of God. The willing Paul speaks of here is inward, whereas the working is outward. In verses 12, 13, 15, and 16 we have four wonderful matters: salvation (v. 12), God operating in us (v. 13), lights or luminaries (v. 15), and the word of life (v. 16). The salvation in verse 12 is actually the very God who operates in us in verse 13. The One who operates in us both the willing and the working for His good pleasure is Himself our salvation. As believers, we are children of God,
children of the One who is operating in us. Because we are children of God, we most assuredly have the divine life and divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). How could a child not have the life and nature of his father? It is simply not possible for someone to be born of a particular person and not have the life and nature of that person. In the same principle, it is not possible for us to be genuine children of God, born of
Him, and not have His life and nature. We have been truly born of God and not merely adopted by Him.

When we say that as children of God we have the life and nature of our Father, some accuse us of teaching what they call "evolution into God." We definitely do not claim that man is evolving into the Godhead. However, we definitely teach according to the Word of God that, as true believers in Christ, we have experienced a divine birth. God has actually been born into us, and thereby we have His life and nature. We all may boast not in our first birth, but in the second, the divine birth which made us children
of God.
 
Because we are children of God with the life and nature of God, we shine as lights in the world. The Greek word rendered lights in 2:15 means luminaries which reflect the light of the sun. Every child of God is a stone reflecting the light which comes from Christ, God's unique Son. In this universe there is only one source of light, and this source is God. As those luminaries, we also hold forth the word of
life.

These four important matters are very subjective and experiential. We have received a salvation which is God Himself. Now there is operating in us this very God, the One who is real in our experience as our subjective salvation. He is not dormant, passive, or idle. His operating in us is His energizing in us. How wonderful that we have been born of this energizing God! Hence, we have His energizing life and nature. We are the energetic children of the energizing God! Spontaneously we reflect the light which comes from God as the universal source. In the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, we shine as
lights, as luminaries, in the world. Therefore, we can hold forth the word of life to those around us. This is to take Christ as our pattern and to work out our salvation.

If the believers in Philippi worked out their salvation in this way, they would make Paul very happy. If all the saints in all the churches would work out their salvation according to the items in these verses, all those who serve the churches, the apostles and elders, would be happy. To work out our salvation is to have the genuine experience of Christ and enjoyment of Christ.