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Within the winter of 2001, I used to be a sophomore at Furman College in Greenville, South Carolina.
As a freshman, I had grow to be a part of a ministry known as Campus Outreach. Its theology was known as “Reformed,” which I didn’t develop up with. In my teenagers, I heard discuss God being “sovereign,” however I had by no means wrestled with the extent of his sovereignty — that he was sovereign over all, over good and evil, over angels and demons, over sunny days and pure disasters, over my good deeds and my sin, and (most uncomfortably) over my very own will and decisions. However as soon as I noticed the verses, dozens of them (if not a whole bunch), I couldn’t deny that the Bible taught that God’s sovereignty was absolute, over all, no exceptions.
However what I additionally knew from twenty years of human life, and from dozens (if not a whole bunch) of verses, is that I used to be accountable. I had ideas and emotions. I had a will and made actual choices that mattered and had penalties. So, how do I reconcile these two — not simply my expertise versus what the Bible says, however what the Bible says versus what the Bible says?
So, that winter of 2001, a pastor from Minnesota, named John Piper, spoke at our Campus Outreach New 12 months’s convention in Atlanta, and never lengthy after that occasion, I visited desiringGod.org to search for extra messages.
There I listened to a sermon he had preached that Christmas Eve. And this one message put collectively for me — so clearly and memorably — how these main theological truths of God’s sovereignty and my human duty come collectively in my on a regular basis Christian life and expertise. The sermon was on the tip of Romans 6 (verses 22–23), however at a key second, Piper flipped over to Philippians 2:12–13 to elucidate this real-life dynamic. As he did so, lights went on for me one after one other.
So, 23 years later, it’s personally important for me to be assigned these verses, and I pray that for some on this room, new lights would possibly go on like they did for me in these days. How the reality of God’s sovereignty and his decisions pertains to my duty and my decisions, in combating towards sin and for Christlikeness, doesn’t all come collectively without delay. A lot of it’s a lifetime journey. But, for me, there was a selected sermon, and a selected textual content — Philippians 2:12–13 — the place new classes had been created which have deeply affected my on a regular basis life.
Humbled and Exalted
Final Sunday, we stood in awe on the foot of the mountain of Christ’s accomplishment for us in Philippians 2:5–11. First, he selected to grow to be man. He didn’t cling to the comforts of heaven, however he emptied himself of that privilege. Exactly as a result of he was God, gracious and merciful, stuffed with steadfast love and faithfulness, he took on our creatureliness and limitations, and the pains and frustrations of our fallen world. His emptying himself was not an emptying of his deity, as if that had been attainable, but it surely was a taking, as verse 7 says. His emptying got here via addition of humanity, not subtraction of deity. He
emptied himself, by taking the type of a servant, being born within the likeness of males. And being present in human type, he humbled himself by turning into obedient to the purpose of dying, even dying on a cross. (verses 7–8)
Then got here that tremendous “due to this fact” in verse 9: “Due to this fact God has extremely exalted him and bestowed on him the title that’s above each title.” Within the biblical sample of self-humbling from Exodus to the Epistles, Jesus stands on the heart as our biggest instance: he humbled himself, and due to this fact God exalted him. Jesus went down, down, down: human, dying, the cross. And his Father introduced him up: up from the grave, up within the ascension, as much as the very throne of heaven. So we walked via three truths about the instance of Jesus.
Which leads us proper into verses 12–18, and the way Paul turns from Jesus’s obedience and his reward to ours. So this morning, we have a look at three truths about our following his instance. Or how we grow to be like Jesus.
1. We comply with the one who obeyed and was rewarded.
There’s a second big “due to this fact” in Philippians 2. The primary one was verse 9. Jesus humbled himself; due to this fact God exalted him. Now, verse 12: in gentle of Jesus’s self-humbling and God’s exalting him, due to this fact . . .
I can see a minimum of two methods this “due to this fact” works in verse 12. One is the easy cost He’s Lord; due to this fact obey. God has extremely exalted Jesus. Now his title is above each title, and at his title each knee ought to bow and each tongue confess he’s Lord. Due to this fact, Christians, obey. Easy as that. He’s Lord; we’re servants. He says it; we do it. Youngsters obey their mother and father; servants obey their masters; and all of the extra, creatures, obey your Creator, and Christians, your Lord.
However there’s additionally one other approach this “due to this fact” works: as an enchantment to need, as a sample and promise of reward. I say that as a result of the phrase “obedient” simply appeared in verse 8 (and “obey” in verse 12). Jesus was “obedient to the purpose of dying,” and since he obeyed, he was rewarded. Due to this fact, Christians, obey like Jesus so that you simply could be rewarded like Jesus. Humble your self, like he did, that you simply too could be exalted.
Which is loopy countercultural for self-exalting sinners! We need to be exalted, so what will we do? Exalt ourselves: in our personal minds, in our phrases and humble brags, in what we submit on-line, in how we angle for alternatives. And God says to us in our folly, “No, sinners. I do the exalting. Exalt your self, and I’ll humble you. However humble your self, and I’ll exalt you.”
So, “due to this fact” in verse 12 is an enchantment to need and a profound glimpse into what it meant for Jesus to endure the cross “for the enjoyment set earlier than him” (Hebrews 12:2). As man, Jesus humbled himself, obeying to the purpose of dying, by trying to the enjoyment of being exalted by his Father. And so too for us as we obey him. Christian obedience is just not from sheer obligation and power of will. We obey for the enjoyment set earlier than us.
And Paul places his personal pleasure on show in verses 17–18. Leap down there:
Even when I’m to be poured out as a drink providing [this is his self-humbling obedience] upon the sacrificial providing of your religion, I’m glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you additionally needs to be glad and rejoice with me.
Paul calls the Philippians’ obedience “the sacrificial providing of your religion.” That is like Romans 12:1: the Christian life of religion “as a residing sacrifice.” God’s individuals not supply slaughtered animals as sacrifices, as they did underneath the primary covenant, however supply themselves, all they’re, their entire lives, in obedience to him. That is what Paul is giving his life to: that Christians — just like the saints in Philippi, and like us — can be residing sacrifices, obedient to Christ.
“Don’t presume that God will defeat your sins when you’re passive. And don’t presume to battle sin by yourself.”
And Paul, in jail in Rome for his labor, says to them, “Even when I die on this jail, I rejoice.” The pursuit of pleasure obtained him into jail, and pleasure might be his if he by no means makes it out of jail — as a result of he seems to be ahead to the reward of being with Christ and having labored for others’ pleasure in Christ. And on this pleasure, Paul casts his work in self-humbling phrases. The Philippians’ lives of obedience are the primary sacrifice, and his labor is simply the drink providing, the aspect providing, the complement to their wholesome, obedient Christian lives.
So, first, like Paul and like Jesus, we obey our Lord in pleasure, anticipating reward. We comply with the one who obeyed and was rewarded.
2. We work out the salvation he labored for.
Now, the remainder of verse 12:
Due to this fact, my beloved, as you’ve gotten all the time obeyed, so now, not solely as in my presence however far more in my absence, work out your individual salvation with concern and trembling . . .
So, the obedience that Christ, via Paul, is looking for right here is “work out your individual salvation.” I understand that appears like nails on a chalkboard for some ears. In that case, maybe I may simply warn you: this would possibly really feel uncomfortable for a couple of minutes. Bear in mind, we’re praying for biblical classes. And to get there, we may have to take a seat within the problem of this “work out your individual salvation.” It’s within the Bible. And it is a good translation. The Greek doesn’t repair our discomfort however would possibly solely make us cringe just a little bit extra. What if we mentioned, “produce your individual salvation,” or “give rise to your individual salvation,” or “grind out your individual salvation”?
As we sit on this pressure, it’s okay to recollect Christ’s obedience on the entrance finish and beneath — and in only a few minutes, we’ll see that we now have much more assistance on the again finish. However we have to linger right here. Simply because there’s assist in back and front doesn’t imply our lives within the center aren’t actual. We have to keep right here within the name and dignity of the Christian life to be, to suppose, to really feel, to will, to behave. God is sovereign, and we’re accountable.
This phrase for “work out” is a typical phrase for “work” however with an intensifying prefix. The type of work we’re getting at right here isn’t just overflow. Some work feels easy. However this work means expending effort. It’s the type of work that requires effort to maneuver inward needs into outward acts. In different places, this phrase is translated “produce” or “accomplish” or “carry out.”
So, this isn’t simply overflow. It requires counting, reckoning, contemplating (as in verses 3, 5, and 6). There may be effort to be given, vitality to be expended, work to be achieved. “Work out your salvation,” Paul says. Not “work for” — Jesus uniquely labored for our salvation in verses 5–11 — however now we “work it out.”
Our Reward and Obligation
An vital query to ask at this level is, Salvation from what? Paul implies the Philippians want deliverance, however from what? Properly, what’s clearly at stake in chapter 2, going again to 1:27, is their unity (their fellowship, their relationships within the church). Paul says he longs to listen to that they “are standing agency in a single spirit, with one thoughts striving aspect by aspect for the religion of the gospel.” And a pair of:2: “Full my pleasure by being of the identical thoughts, having the identical love, being in full accord and of 1 thoughts.” He’s saying that as a result of, at current, they’re not that. Then verse 3: “Do nothing from egocentric ambition or conceit.” Be aware that: two particular sins from which the Philippians and we want deliverance — egocentric ambition and self-esteem.
And Paul has extra specifics to present in verse 14: “Do all issues with out grumbling or disputing.” Okay, so now we now have a minimum of 4 particular sins from which Paul says to “work out your salvation.” Need it, will it, act it, produce it. Christ died to save lots of you from grumbling — from fixed complaining and criticizing and scoffing and wallowing. He died to ship you from petty disputes. So, belief him and don’t grumble. Belief him and be free from disputing.
The brand new class this results in is that this: the Christian life is each reward and obligation. Combating sin is each a present from God and an obligation we act. Rising holiness is each reward and obligation. It’s a reward of grace we obtain from Jesus, and the best way we obtain a grace that includes our personal ideas and needs and actions is by having the ideas and needs and doing the actions. That’s, residing out the reward, or figuring out your salvation.
Look over to Philippians 3:12. Two of the perfect texts for getting this dynamic of the Christian life as each reward and obligation are proper right here in Philippians. So, first 2:12–13. Now 3:12:
Not that I’ve already obtained this [resurrection to eternal life] or am already excellent, however I press on to make it my very own, as a result of Christ Jesus has made me his personal.
That is so vital in getting the order proper between God’s working and ours. Paul says, “I press on to make it my very own” — I rely, I’ll, I act, I select righteousness, I battle sin, I press on. Why? “As a result of Christ Jesus has made me his personal.” Mark this: I don’t grow to be his by urgent on. Quite, as a result of I’m his, as a result of he already took maintain of me, I try and pressure and press on. He labored for my salvation. Now I work it out over sin. (Different key texts that present this gift-and-duty dynamic: Hebrews 13:20–21; Romans 15:18; 1 Corinthians 15:10.)
The Christian life is grace from starting to finish. Some graces we obtain as a substitute of our effort and motion (justification), and a few graces we obtain as our effort and motion.
Look, Belief, Pray, Act
This leads us to verse 13. However let me first attempt to make this extra sensible. Let me take you again to my time at Furman College. Now it’s the autumn of 2002, my senior yr, and I’m attempting to determine what to do after commencement. And I’m awash in anxiousness. I didn’t bear in mind being so anxious in my life earlier than then, and I don’t bear in mind being as anxious since.
So, I wanted deliverance from anxiousness. What do I do? Simply wait? How do you search to be free from oppressive anxiousness when God is sovereign and you’re accountable? As one who’s justified by religion in Jesus, how do I work out my salvation? First, I would like reality to work with. I would like a particular phrase to imagine. So I discovered three biblical guarantees about anxiousness:
Don’t be troubled about tomorrow, for tomorrow might be anxious for itself. Adequate for the day is its personal bother. (Matthew 6:34)
Humble yourselves . . . underneath the mighty hand of God in order that on the correct time he could exalt you, casting all of your anxieties on him, as a result of he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6–7)
Don’t be troubled about something, however in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made recognized to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6–7)
I printed them out, posted them subsequent to my mattress, and reviewed them each morning once I wakened and each night time once I went to sleep. And (with Christ earlier than me and his Spirit in me), I labored out the grace of my deliverance from anxiousness. God gave me the reward of deliverance from the dominance of tension in that season. And that doesn’t imply I don’t nonetheless battle anxiousness because it is available in new methods in new occasions and seasons of life. However I understand how to battle: acknowledge it, handle it with guarantees of reward, pray for assist, and act.
So whether or not it’s sinful anxiousness, egocentric ambition and self-esteem, grumbling and disputing, or sinful anger or lust or greed, work out the deliverance Christ has labored for you. Don’t presume that God will defeat your sins when you’re passive. And don’t presume to battle sin by yourself. Look to the sovereign Christ, belief his guarantees, pray for his assist, and act the miracle you search to have from him.
Shining Unity
And simply to remark in a short time on verses 15–16: I feel Paul has in thoughts the connection between unity within the church and witness on the earth like he did in 1:27–28. There he mentioned that our “standing agency in a single spirit, with one thoughts striving aspect by aspect for the religion of the gospel” results in the church “not [being] frightened in something by your opponents” — and that is “a transparent signal to them of their destruction, however of your salvation.” In figuring out our salvation towards the relationship-killing sins of egocentric ambition, conceit, grumbling, and disputing, we come to face out “within the midst of a crooked and twisted era.” Unified in Jesus, we “shine as lights on the earth.” How? “Holding quick to the phrase of life,” that’s, the message about true life, everlasting life — the life and dying of Jesus rather than our dying to present us life.
So, if ever you end up discouraged in regards to the “crooked and twisted era” during which you end up, bear in mind two truths from Philippians 2: (1) that is nothing new for Christianity (that is the way it normally is on this age), and (2) grumbling and disputing will not be the Christian response. However precisely the alternative. The Christian response is that this: maintain quick to our phrase of life, work out our salvation from grumbling and disputing, and shine as lights on the earth, not as extra of the identical darkness.
What about that final phrase in verse 12, “with concern and trembling”? Now our third and last reality.
3. We’ve got his Spirit at work in us.
We end with the tip of verse 12 and with verse 13:
Work out your individual salvation with concern and trembling, for it’s God who works in you, each to will and to work for his good pleasure.
What on the earth may Paul imply right here by “with concern and trembling”? Maybe “concern and trembling” sounds solely detrimental in your ears. Worry and trembling — yikes. How about “with hope and pleasure”? Why concern and trembling?
Scripture has a broader imaginative and prescient for inward concern and outward trembling than fashionable individuals do. All through the Bible, “concern and trembling” is what sensible, in-touch, wholesome people do once they discover themselves within the presence of God almighty. Like Moses at Mount Sinai, as we noticed in Hebrews 12:21: “I tremble with concern.” And Paul talks about how the Corinthians obtained Titus as a messenger from Christ “with concern and trembling” (2 Corinthians 7:15).
Or maybe most instructive of all is the best way the Gospel of Mark ends: with the ladies who discovered the tomb empty and heard from the angel, “He has risen; he isn’t right here.” Mark 16:8: “They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them.” Or, as Matthew 28:8 stories, “They departed shortly from the tomb with concern and nice pleasure.”
“Worry and trembling” is just not solely the response of somebody stunned by nice horror, but in addition of somebody struck with nice pleasure. It’s the response of a believing coronary heart within the presence of God himself — and it’s the suitable response of a Christian who learns that God himself has come to dwell in me.
Verse 13 offers, basically, a threefold confidence for us as we expend vitality and energy to obey our Lord and stay the Christian life. So, as we shut, let me flip to verse 13 and handle it to you.
First, brothers and sisters in Christ, you’ve gotten God in you! How superior to have the Holy Spirit, poured out on us, despatched into our hearts, dwelling in us, main us, working in us. You aren’t by yourself to battle towards sin and for Christlikeness. You have got God in you! That is no commonplace pleasure. That is trigger for concern and trembling.
Second, he’s in you not solely to will however even to work. God works in us to (will and) work our work. He provides us new needs and prepared, and even then, he doesn’t go away us to ourselves. He’s in us to immediate, to guide, to empower, to execute our figuring out these holy needs via the exertion of effort.
Third, all this stands on the rock of God’s personal pleasure, his delight, his good pleasure. He’s not reluctant in serving to us battle sin and pursue Christlikeness. He’s comfortable to do it, thrilled to do it. He delights to do it. He works in us, in our prepared, in our working, for his good pleasure. We work with the grain of God’s personal pleasure after we work out our deliverance from sin.
So, we shut with this query: What sin or sins got here to thoughts this morning in our time of silent confession? Or, what do you most frequently confess week after week? Brothers and sisters, don’t simply say it once more, transfer on, proceed in sin, and make empty confession many times. Work out your salvation. Act the miracle. With Jesus earlier than you and beneath you, and his Spirit in you and thru you — hemmed in on each aspect by his grace — work out your salvation. Will it, work it, act it, do it — with prayerful dependence in each step.
Jesus Willed and Labored
What makes attainable our having the Holy Spirit at work in us to will and work is that first the Spirit was at work in Christ to will and to work. How he labored for the enjoyment set earlier than him is an instance we comply with. How he labored by the Spirit is imitable. However what he achieved on the cross for us is inimitable.
At this Desk, we don’t primarily bear in mind Jesus as our instance however because the one who labored for us in a approach during which we couldn’t work for ourselves.
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