Therefore, my beloved, as you
have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in
my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for
it is God who works in you both to will and to do for [His] good
pleasure.
Philippians 2:12-13 NKJV
I think everyone who chooses to study scripture has a favorite
passage or verse which speaks to them in a way that has a very
important impact on the way they exhibit their faith as they go about
their daily lives. The passage I want to share with you today is one
that I particularly like and which has influenced me in the way I
choose to relate to fellow believers as well as with an unbelieving
world. So bear with me as I share with you my thoughts on this
advice Paul gives to the believers in Phillipi.
Paul is writing this letter from Rome where he is being held in
prison awaiting trial. He knows that the chances are slim that he
will ever see them again so he gives them advice on how to live as
believers should. While he was with them, they had only to ask their
questions of him to receive an answer but now that he was gone they
were at a loss as to what to do. So in this passage we find his
advice to them begins with the instruction to “work out your
own salvation with fear and trembling”. Unfortunately this
phrase has often been misinterpreted to justify some sort of works
based salvation, when in fact Paul is telling the Philippians
something quite different.
The
words “work out” are actually one Greek word “katergazomai”
which means
to work in order to fashion
a result making one fit for something. That is fit as in fitness.
In other words, as we would say today, you need to “workout”.
Paul is simply telling the believers that in order to grow the first
thing they needed to know was to “workout”. Of this passage
Charles Ryrie comments that they needed to “learn to stand on their
own feet”. So this passage is all about the individual learning
how to grow strong in their faith in order to stand up to an
unbelieving world.
The
word for salvation in this passage is most often used to refer to an
individuals personal safety. With that in mind, and seeing that in
the context of this passage where Paul is discussing the believers
responsibility to exhibit humility just as Jesus did, it seems they
are being told that they would need to grow strong in order to
withstand the trials that would come their way. Doing this with an
attitude of “fear and trembling” refers to an individuals anxiety
because of their knowledge that they might lack the strength
necessary to do this. Paul addresses that anxiety by telling them
that God is in charge of not only providing the strength they will
need, but also engineer the circumstances that they will find
themselves in.
I
personally believe, though, that the most telling advice we are given
in this passage is found in the two words “your
own”. Paul's
advice is that we concentrate our efforts on our personal workout,
and not that of others. I spent some time this week as I often do,
talking with a friend and catching up on what has been going on in
his life lately. It's something we all do when we greet someone we
know and ask “what's happening?” or something similar. In a way,
with the advent of the Internet and the number of sites you can
visit, it's not too hard to figure out what is going on in the body
of Christ at any particular moment by just observing the subjects
being discussed. I have noticed lately that there
seems to be a lot of talk about the rapture, which I believe there
should be, but also a lot of opinions given about who will go and
when.
Now
you might wonder, as I do, that if we all share the same Holy Spirit,
why are there differences of opinions on a particular subject? If I
don't agree with the conclusion someone else has come to does that
mean I am a little slow? Is there something wrong with my
“listening” to the Holy Spirit when I ask questions about certain
things, and do I only hear what I want to hear? That of course is
always possible, yet there is also another side of this coin and it
is that there will also always be those who feel they are a little
smarter than the average person and have “figured out” something
that others have missed. I sometimes look at those individuals and
can't help but remember the Gnostics of Paul's time who claimed to
have a special knowledge as a result of their desire to look
“deeper”.
With
that in mind, do you notice the very next piece of advice Paul shares
with us?
Do all things without complaining
and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children
of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse
generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
Philippians 2:14-15 NKJV
So you think it's just coincidence the subject now becomes how we
relate to others in the body? I think Paul knows perfectly well that
as believers workout and grow stronger in their faith, some will
succumb to the temptation to try to tell others how they should
workout their faith as well. When this happens, the result is a body
of believers who spend time arguing rather than sharing the gospel.
Notice too that Paul says that if we fall into that trap we cause
harm. Now your first thought might be the harm is to other
believers, and it certainly would be, yet Paul goes on to talk about
how we should appear to the world as “lights”. The obvious
conclusion is that by arguing and complaining we dim our light to an
unbelieving world. The result is that it causes harm by convincing others
that we are no different than they are so why bother with this
“Christian” thing?
The truth of the matter is that if you look closely at this passage
it would seem to me that Paul is telling us to simply look inward
when we workout as believers and resist the temptation to look
outward at others. If we do that we have the promise that it is God
at work in our lives and He will guide us in the way we should go and
answer the questions that we might have as we walk in His path. As
we learn we can share what we learn with others, but always with the
attitude of humility and gentleness that Jesus demonstrated when He
walked this earth. It is these attitudes that will attract those who
have not yet chosen to believe, not complaining and arguing among
ourselves.
The gospel of our Lord, the good news, is that anyone who chooses to
believe can be saved. This may appear to many as too simplistic but
isn't it the very message preached so long ago?
But as many as received Him, to
them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who
believe in His name:
John 1:12 NKJV
So they said, "Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your
household."
Acts 16:31 NKJV
Look in, not out.
Keep watching.
