Philippians 2:12-18 - Work in the Light
Philippians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 33:25
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· 158 viewsToday's sermon is about Christ’s work in the lives of believers.
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Introduction:
If you were here as we went through 1 John, you will remember that I preached a sermon entitled Walk in the Light. It was based on this key verse:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
We learned that we are to walk in the light and not in darkness. We learned how Christ clears all darkness in our path as we walk with Him.
Today we are coming to a different spin on the same idea. Paul is providing us with an admonition to work in the light - meaning that we not only walk with Christ but we are to work in the power of Christ. We are to allow Christ’s work to infuse our lives.
Join me as we read Philippians 2:12-18:
12 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,
13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing,
15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
16 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 labor in vain.
17 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.
18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
Prayer
Today we are going to discuss three ways Christ’s work infiltrates the lives of believers. These three points are very simple sentences that have very complex applications! The first is:
I. Christ Works In Us (12-13)
I. Christ Works In Us (12-13)
12 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, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Paul likes to use transition words as we have seen thus far in this letter. Here we see the word therefore. And he uses this transition word to discuss obedience right after this. He charges the Philippian believers to obey as Christ has obeyed. Christ obeyed even to the point of death, even death on a cross as we just studied last week.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Paul charges the Philippian believers to obey like Christ obeyed.
Paul also includes a great phrase here - my beloved. We have seen time and time again Paul’s affection for the Philippian believers. This church is close to his heart. They are one of the few churches that financially gave support to him. Despite the 800 mile distance between them, he still sees them as close brothers and sisters. This is a great lesson on church family. One of the reasons we have the name family in our church name is because of the close relationships we hope to form and are already forming through this church body. The church is not the place that you meet. The church is made up of believers who love one another through the power of Christ and serve the Lord and one another. The church is to care for one another. The church is to encourage one another and infuse hope in the lives of its members. The church is to remind one another about the Gospel time and time again and go out and share it with the world. Paul understood the special relationship that comes with other believers who are following Christ.
12 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, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Moving on through verse 12, we discussed the word obey already and it means to obey as Christ did. Obviously the most overarching obedience required is to God. However, contextually, we see that that he is actually referring to their obedience to him as a church leader as well. He seeks to lead not in a dictatorial way - but as a sacrificial servant. And he admonishes the Philippian believers to continue obeying the words that God is speaking through him. He charges them to obey in his absence in an even greater way than how they obeyed when he was present.
He calls the Philippian believers to a high calling that we call integrity. Integrity is of utmost importance in the Christian life. We must be consistent as believers no matter where we are and no matter who we are with.
Sadly, many people live their lives differently depending on where they are. Some may be with their friends at a ballgame and let curse words slip, drink excessively, and course joke. Others may dress modestly at church and then dress provocatively at a social gathering. Still others may be encouraging and godly at church and yet discouraging and hypercritical to others throughout the week in their workplace.
Many people today lack integrity. When they are at church they may speak in a holy and proper way and behave godly, but when they are in the world they act like the world. Brothers and sisters, this is an abomination to God.
Jesus let us know that we cannot have it both ways - we cannot live two different ways at once.
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Obviously you can change out money for all kinds of other idols. You cannot serve both God and cars, pleasure, fame, etc.
Jesus’ half brother James wrote the following:
4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
When we live one way at church and another with the world James says that we prove we are an enemy of God. Be sure to let that set in for a minute. An enemy of God. So many people think that living like the world throughout the week while not at church isn’t really a big deal. They think that having too much to drink at a tailgate, or getting overly close at a dance, or using illegal substances isn’t really a big deal if it just happens every once in a while. God is a forgiving God right? I can just live how I want to live and He will bless it. James starkly warns against such lack of integrity.
Don’t get me wrong, we are to love the people in the world, but we are not to love the evil world system that is bent on disobedience to God. We should not walk among sinners and look the same as everyone else. We are to show integrity no matter where we are and who we are with. This is only done through the power of the Holy Spirit as He works in us to change us day by day.
After this charge for integrity and obedience he gives another command at the end of verse 12:
12 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, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
The final phrase of verse 12 has been misinterpreted countless times. There are two main misinterpretations that need addressed.
Misinterpretation #1 - We need to work in order to be saved.
This is a blatant contradiction to Ephesians 2:8-9. We are saved by grace through faith and not by works. Yet those who are saved will do good works through the power of the Holy Spirit in them.
Misinterpretation #2 - We can follow our heart and make up our own rules as we follow Christ.
No - this is also incorrect. God did not give us His Word and His Spirit and have them contradict. If we feel like we are to do something that is blatantly against Scripture - then our feeling is not from the Holy Spirit! Let me repeat that - if we feel like we are to do something that is blatantly against Scripture - then our feeling is not from the Holy Spirit! As we have said time and time again:
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
We are not to follow our heart and our feelings. God has given us His Word and we are follow it with fear and trembling - reverential fear and respect.
12 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,
Getting back to our verse, in order to understand the end of verse 12 more accurately we need to understand what fear and trembling means and we need to understand what true salvation is.
We must understand that the work of salvation that saves our souls was worked for by Christ. He has earned our salvation - not us. We now work in the light of this salvation that has been given to us freely. And we do this with reverential fear and trembling - meaning that we have a healthy respect and reverence for God as we walk in salvation. We don’t run and hide from God as Adam and Eve did in the garden (Gen 3:8). But we do respect the power and authority and majesty of our Great God as we approach Him in prayer.
Please spend some time reading over what I am about to say in your handout. This is the key understanding of this difficult phrase we have been working through in verse 12.
True Interpretation - Our salvation is a result of Christ’s work done FOR us and now we work out our salvation through Christ’s work IN us.
Note that all of this is Christ’s work. We have no room to boast in the good works that we do because it is Christ working in us.
13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Verse 13 continues this understanding further:
For it God who works in us. He does this in order to bring Himself glory. A believer’s ultimate purpose is to bring God glory and this work of God brings God good pleasure which means enjoyment or satisfaction.
Brothers and sisters, we can only work out what God works in. This is why it is so important to be plugged into the Savior. We must rely on the Holy Spirit and and His Word to walk the Christian life. Only then can we work in the light.
We also see that...
Scripture References: 1 John 1:7, Philippians 2:8, Matthew 6:24, James 4:4, Ephesians 2:8-9, Jer 17:9, Gen 3:8
II. Christ Works On Us (14-16)
II. Christ Works On Us (14-16)
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 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 labor in vain.
After Christ has worked salvation IN us, He continues his work ON us.
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing,
Paul starts off with one of the most difficult commands in the Scriptures. Do all things…without grumbling or disputing.
This word for grumbling, gongysmos (gone-gose-mose), means complaining or grumbling. It is more of an attitude problem than what is outwardly seen. Those who grumble are the people who may outwardly do what they are supposed to do but have a complaining spirit as they do it.
Grumbling is more than an attitude problem though. It is a heart problem. A grumbling or complaining spirit is one that is ultimately ungrateful. Whether you are grumbling because of your financial circumstances, your marriage, your job, your car, your phone, or anything else for that matter - it is actually a state of discontentment and a lack of appreciation for what or who God has given you. Instead of having a thankful spirit, those who grumble decide to focus on the negative instead. They blatantly reject God’s command in 1 Thessalonians:
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
We are to give thanks in all circumstances. Even when things aren’t exactly like we would like them to be. Frankly, even when things are tough we need to be thankful for what God has given to us. As believers, no matter how bad life may be, we have salvation which is much more than we could ever deserve.
If a grumbling and complaining spirit is allowed to continue to grow it begins to manifest as more blatant disputing and arguing.
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing,
At the end of verse 14, we come to the word for disputing, dialogismos (dio-lo-eese-mose), which means disputing or arguing.
Those who are argumentative express their discontentment to all of those around them. We all know those who are argumentative. I pray that this does not describe you. Many people who are argumentative make statements like this: “This is just the way I am.” “People are just going to have to get used to me being this way.”
Sadly this is nothing more than an unrepentant state. Those who can continue in an argumentative and unrepentant state are in much danger. When we repent and place our faith in Christ, God saves and love us as just where we are, but He never leaves us there. Those who continually live in a way that is sinfully unrepentant and continually are not sanctified are likely not believers at all. I pray that if this is you - that you truly repent. We should never be okay with knowingly reveling in our sin. We should hate our sin. Our sin is what crucified out Savior on the cross!
It was my sin and your sin that nailed Him to the cross. It was our sin that killed Jesus. It was our sin that led to God’s wrath being poured out on Christ on our behalf.
But praise God, Jesus rose from the dead three days later and now is at the right hand of the Father - exalted above every other name! And by faith in Christ and repentance (which means turning away from our sin) we may have salvation through Christ’s finished work on the cross. Be sure you are saved my friends! Be sure you have put your faith in Christ alone and repented, or turned away, from your life of sin.
As saved believers, Jesus will continue sanctifying us. He works on us through the Holy Spirit and His Word to make us more like Him.
15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 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 labor in vain.
He wants to make us blameless and innocent as He sanctifies us. True children of God have Christ working in them and on them.
Moving further into verse 15 we see that Paul understood his culture which definitely mirrors ours today! We live in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. This word crooked is the root word in which we derive the word scoliosis, or curved back. This word stands for a morally bent or dishonest demeanor. The following word, twisted, takes it a step further and stands for perversion and misleading behavior. Paul asserts that not only does the evil world system have a bent toward sinfulness, it also misleads those into sin.
Yet, as bad as our culture is, we are commanded to shine like lights in the world. Interestingly, this is actually a metaphor from astronomy.
In the midst of a crooked and twisted generation we are to be innocent. This innocence should illuminate the dark world around us. People should see something different in you. As Jesus continues working on you through sanctification, those around you should notice this change. You should continue shining as a star among the culture.
We must understand what this shinning like a star or light in our culture looks like practically, however. This isn’t a blinding light that pushes people away.
As we see in this picture, stars shine in the sky and are beautiful to look at. However, the beauty of stars in the sky shinning is that they are not overwhelming. In the same way, we need to be a group of stars shinning and bringing glory to God and not ourselves.
16 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 labor in vain.
Coming to verse 16 we see a charge to hold fast to the word of life. This refers to the Gospel. All of this work that Christ does in us and on us comes down to the beauty of the Gospel. Anything we do that is not about the glory of Christ, is in vain. We want to run and labor for God’s glory.
We have see that Christ works in and on us…finally we see...
Scripture References: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
III. Christ Works With Us
III. Christ Works With Us
17 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
Christ works with us corporately. We are one church - the bride of Christ. We see this beautifully spelled out here from Paul.
Paul rejoices as he is poured out as a drink offering for the Philippian believers. He uses the drink offering from the Old Testament Law as a metaphor for his sacrifice for others.
We see the idea of a drink offering first mentioned in Genesis 35:14
14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it.
And then we see the drink offering specifically spelled out in the Law in
40 And with the first lamb a tenth measure of fine flour mingled with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering.
This is also spelled out Numbers 15:1-10.
This drink offering (normally a hin of wine - which was around 1.5 gallons) was poured out after a burnt offering (normally after an animal sacrifice).
Paul is willing to sacrifice his comforts and undergo hardship and pain for the advancement of the Gospel. He is even willing to offer himself as a martyr for the faith - which comes to fruition not too many years after writing this letter.
He repeats this again even in 2 Tim 4:6
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
In 2 Timothy, one of his last letters he wrote, he states this metaphor in an even greater way - even mentioning his likely coming martyrdom.
17 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
Strangely, we see Paul use the words glad and rejoice twice in these two somber verses (17-18).
In the midst of a dark and difficult metaphor referring to animal sacrifices and the proceeding drink offering, Paul speaks of his joy. Not only that - he encourages the Philippians to rejoice with him as well. They can be joyous because of they see the growth of believers and the advancement of the Gospel. Despite the persecution coming their way, they can rejoice because Christ is worthy of all praise and honor. They can rejoice because salvation has been fully given to those who are in Christ.
As we come to a close today, I pray that we can rejoice like Paul in our circumstances. Things may not be as wonderful as we would like to see them in our lives. We may be persecuted or left out. We may be struggling with relationships because of our faith. We may be battling spiritual warfare. Yet we know that our labor and our running is not in vain. We can rejoice because we know we have victory in Christ.
And we can know that:
Christ Is Working IN Us
Christ is Working On Us
Christ is Working WITH Us
Scripture References: Genesis 35:14, Exodus 29:40, Numbers 15:1-10, 2 Timothy 4:6
Let us pray.
Prayer
If you would like to learn more about salvation through Jesus Christ or want to obey Jesus by obeying the first commandment of a believer in going through the waters of baptism - please let me know.
Have a blessed week.