2:12-30 Awe and Wonder at God's Plan for Us

  • What on earth does ‘work out your own salvation with fear and trembling’ mean?
  • Is it: ‘Salvation is up to you and be very scared that you don’t make it’?
  • It turns out that this ‘problem verse’ is in fact massively encouraging.

 

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Video cover image by Pixabay Pixabay Content License

Outline

  1. Recap Parts 1 & 2 (chapter 1)
  2. 2:12 —The problem verse
  3. Recap 2:1–11
  4. Rest of the passage 2:12–30
  5. The message for us

Recap from Chapter 1

  • The most remarkable thing about Philippians is how Paul opens up his heart and his emotions
  • Paul tells us that his affection towards them is actually Jesus’

Philippians 1

  1. I thank my God every time I remember you.
  2. I always pray with joy in my every prayer for all of you
  3. For it is right for me to think this about all of you, because I have you in my heart...
  4. For God is my witness that I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
  • Then in the rest of chapter 1 we saw a very intimate side of Paul.
    • In order to help the Philippians deal with their own anxiety, Paul opened up about a couple of areas in his life where there was huge potential for anxiety
    • And he took them through his own thought processes
    • Which was to get his overall goal straight
    • And then remind himself that whatever turned out, whether this or whether that, it would all be good.
    • e.g. whether he died or lived
  • Then last week we looked the first 11 verse of chapter 2
    • at the most beautiful and captivating description of Jesus
    • put in the form of a song
  • We’ll come back to that shortly as part of the solution to the problem I’m about to tell you:

The problem verse

Philippians 2:12–13 ESV

  1. Therefore, my beloved,
    as you have always obeyed, so now,
    not only as in my presence but much more in my absence,
    work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,
  2. for it is God who works in you,
    both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
  • So your salvation is something you have to work on!
    • And be very afraid that you don’t mess up!
    • And you do this by obeying
    • But don’t worry too much because God will help you along the way, but you will still be in a bit of fear and trembling.
  • What do you think ??

Questions

“work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,”

  • What does “work out” mean?
  • What does “salvation” mean?
  • What does “fear and trembling” mean?

Getting Salvation or Developing it?

  • Phil 1:6 For I am sure of this very thing,
    that the one who began a good work in you
    will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
  • Phil 2:12 “work out your own salvation”
    or much more accurate:
    “work on the development/outworkings of your salvation”
  • Also, Greek has a tense which means “keep on doing it”, assuming you are already working on it
  • It’s plural, not singular, so could be
    You as a group, keep on developing the salvation that you have
  • So the defining question is the context:
    • Is he talking about individuals or the community or both?

Individuals or Community?

  • “keep working on your individual salvation”
  • “keep working at developing the effects of salvation within your community”
  • All the verses before and after are about being an individual within the community —so both!
  • Now would be a good time to do our review of last week’s passage:
    • To look at how the focus is community

Philippians 2:1–5

  1. If then therefore there be any encouragement in Christ,
    if any comfort from his love
    if any fellowship in the Spirit
    if any deep affection or compassion
  2. Complete my joy by being of the same mind & heart
          having the same love
          being one-souled
          in one mind & heart
  3. not from rivalry or conceit
          but in humility counting others
                more important than yourselves.
  4.             Each of you should be concerned
                not only about yourselves,
          but also the interests of others.
     
  5. May this mind & heart be in you that was in Christ Jesus

AMF

Philippians 2:6–18

Song of Jesus

  1. Who, being the form and reality of God
    did not regard equality with God
    as something to be grasped
  2.       but poured himself out,
          taking the form and reality of a servant,
          being born in the likeness of humanity
                and seen with the appearance of a man
  3.             he humbled himself
                becoming obedient to the point of death
                      even death on a cross
  4.             Therefore God hyper-exalted him
                and gave him the name
                that is above every name,
  5.       that at the name belonging to Jesus
          every knee will bow
          in heaven and on earth and under the earth
  6. and every tongue confess
    that Jesus Christ is Lord
    to the glory of God the Father.

AMF

  • This whole song fills me with awe and wonder at what Jesus did for me!

John Murray (1961: 148–49)

God’s working in us is not suspended because we work, nor our working suspended because God works.

Neither is the relation strictly one of cooperation as if God did his part and we did ours so that the conjunction or coordination of both produced the required result.

God works and we also work. But the relation is that because God works we work. All working out of salvation on our part is the effect of God’s working in us…

We have here not only the explanation of all acceptable activity on our part but we also have the incentive to our willing and working…

The more persistently active we are in working, the more persuaded we may be that all the energizing grace and power is of God.

Phil 2:12–13 updated

  1. …keep developing the salvation that you have
    with fear and trembling,
  2. for it is God who works in you,
    both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
  • “with fear and trembling” ?
  • v.13?

“fear and trembling”

  • phobou & tromou
  • “awe and wonder”
  • Visitors to the empty tomb (Mark 16:8)
  • Slaves that realize that Jesus himself is their real master (Eph 6:5)
  • Here: Awe and wonder at what Jesus is creating in our community
  • “With awe and wonder, keep developing the salvation that you have (within your community)”
  • This fits the context perfectly because the whole focus is what is being build at Philippi, and Paul will tell them that
    • They are shining like stars in the sky
    • Paul said that this community was worth giving his life for

Rest of the passage: 2:12–30

  • So let’s get to the rest of today’s passage, which is 2:12–30

Philippians 2:12–30

  1. So then my beloved, just as you have always obeyed
          not only in my presence but now much more in my absence
          with awe and wonder,
          keep developing the salvation that you have
  2.       for God himself is the one working in you,
                both the desire and the effort, for his own delight.
  3. Do everything without grumbling or arguing
  4.       that you might be blameless and pure children of God
          unblemished in the middle of a crooked and perverse society,
          among whom you shine as stars in the sky
  5. holding fast to the word of life,
          so that in the day of Christ
                I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labour in vain
  6. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith,
          I am glad and rejoice together with all of you.
  7.       And in the same way you also
                —be glad and rejoice together with me.
 
  1. Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon,
          so that I too may be encouraged by hearing about you.
  2.       For I have no one who is like-minded who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.
  3. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
  4. But you know his proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.
  5. So I hope to send him as soon as I know more about my situation
  6. though I am confident in the Lord that I too will be coming soon.
 
  1. But for now I have considered it necessary that Epaphroditus, my brother, coworker and fellow soldier,
    and your messenger and minister to me in my need, be the one I send to you,
  2. for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill.
  3. In fact he became so ill that he nearly died. But God showed mercy to him,
    and not to him only, but also to me, so that I would not have sorrow on top of sorrow.
  4. All the more eagerly therefore I send him, so that seeing him again you’ll rejoice and I’ll be free from concern.
  5. So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honour people like him,
  6. since it was because of the work of Christ that he almost died,
    risking his life to make up for the help you were unable to give me.

AMF

  1. God has so much joy over you “good pleasure” wooden translation
    This is his heart!
  2. —15 This is where they most need to work on
    But instead of concentrating on the problem, he focuses on the awesome role that they play

“You will shine like stars in the sky”

You will shine like stars in the sky

Image source: Creative Commons

  1. This community (and others like it) is what Paul has poured his life into
  2. Num 13:1–10 drink offerings, wine poured over the sacrifice
  3. You can legitimately be glad, enjoy what God has done. Let’s celebrate together!
  4. —24 “This is to set up the relationship with Timothy, and also to show how much he cares about them.
    • I’m sending you my very best guy!
    • This is how much I value what God is doing with you
  5. —30 But I also have a more immediate plan
    • esp v.28 —he’s a bridge between us
    • we are in this awesome enterprise together, and I’m with you through him

The core message is that:

  • Working on developing the salvation we have received (the mind of Christ in us)
  • is by working on showing the love of Christ in our Christian community.
  • I’m going to put two Scriptures together so that you can get the connection:

John 17:18–23

  1. Just as you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world…
  2. “I am not praying only on their behalf, but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their testimony,
  3. that they will all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray that they will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me.
  4. The glory you gave to me I have given to them, that they may be one just as we are one —
  5. I in them and you in me — that they may be completely one, so that the world will know that you sent me, and you have loved them just as you have loved me.

Phil 2

  1. …keep developing the salvation that you have (within your community), for God himself is the one working in you, both the desire and the effort, for his own delight.
  • This is what we are to work on
    • This is God’s delight for us
    • but only possible by his life living in us

New Life

New Life
  • What does it mean for us in practice?
    • Back to last week:

Philippians 2

  1. Complete my joy by having the same mind & heart
          having the same love, united in soul
          in one mind & heart
  2. not from rivalry or conceit
          but in humility counting others
                more important than yourselves.
  3.       Each of you should be concerned
                not only about your own interests,
                      but also the interests of others.
  4. May this mind & heart be in you that was in Christ Jesus
  • Do you buy into this vision for our community?
    • Paul’s vision & Jesus’ vision?
  • We need to ask: “How can we be better at doing this in practice?”

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