A Gospel Worthy Life - The Pursuit of Holiness - Philippians 2:12-13

Introduction

I’m a pretty lousy football fan...

I can wear the jersey and give lip service and rejoice when the Chiefs win

But I cannot say I was completely tuned into the game because I found other things much more compelling

A Super Bowl game is a good time for hanging out with others more than it is to actually watch a football game

Oftentimes we treat obedience and holiness like I treat football.

It might be that we have some external things to show everyone that we are a Christian, like t-shirts and bumper stickers and being able to say I go to church.

While these things may not be bad, there’s more to holiness and obedience than simply have external signs of Cultural Christianity.

True holiness and obedience requires a total change of heart and mind towards Christ.

The question we can ask is, would someone know I am a Christian by the way I love and serve Christ and others?

The last couple weeks we have been talking about living a life worthy of the Gospel. Paul is still communicating to the Philippians and to us what that looks like and what it means. Today, we are going to see that salvation is more than simply walking down an aisle and getting a new wardrobe of tshirts to wear. It requires a new set of loves and it takes a lifelong work to see Christ as not only Savior, but as Lord over every aspect of our hearts and lives. But it is a work that is not accomplished through our own power, but through the power that God supplies through His Holy Spirit!

Read Philippians 2:12-13

Philippians 2:12–13 (ESV)

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, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

The Importance of Obedience

So Paul begins by saying that we are to continue to obey, not just in his presence as he is watching, but much more in his absence and to work out our salvation.

WORK?!?

We hear phrases like this and it rubs us the wrong way because we are so used to hearing about God’s grace that we are opposed to any sort of talk about work.

When we begin to think about work, we think about law and legalism and we begin to say things like, “I don’t follow rules, I have a relationship.”

While I do want to say there is definitely a way that legalism can be and is a real problem for many, rules are not automatically opposed to grace and relationship.

We might actually be experiencing the opposite problem in our culture today that we equate relationship with license.

Some might think, Because someone loves me, I can do whatever I want and be whatever I want. There are no boundaries and expectations because that would violate the relationship. So we are seeing a rise in progressive Christianity that says God loves you just as you are and will allow you to remain exactly as you choose to be.

But is that how we respond in love to the one who loves us?

Obedience is Relationship

Dallas Willard wrote, “Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning.” There is work and effort as we seek to live out the implications of God’s grace shown to us in the cross.

Jesus told his disciples…

John 14:15 (ESV)

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Jesus outright tells His disciples that true love for Christ will result in obedience.

Now, again, it is possible to obey without any love for Christ, which is legalism. It is simply checking off the boxes while having no true love or desire for Christ.

But if you love someone, there are going to be rules and boundaries that we are going to willingly abide by.

Marriage Vows -

The vows you make to your spouse are essentially boundaries and rules that you are agreeing to abide by to demonstrate your love to them.

You vow to remain faithful to them, to care for them, to serve them and to love them.

The rule to not find physical or emotional pleasure from someone else is not meant to restrict the relationship, but to actually help it to flourish!

However, you do not obey these rules in order to earn the love of your spouse, but because you know they love you already and you want to honor them by how you love them and how you treat your relationship with them.

so when it comes to our relationship with Christ, what is the role of the law and the commands God has given to us?

Kevin DeYoung - “God’s people are not redeemed by observing the Law, but they were redeemed that they might obey the law.”

Are you loving Christ by the way you live and honor Him? We cannot ever earn His love. Let me say that again: YOU CANNOT EARN HIS LOVE. But we can respond to His love by seeking to be an obedient people.

Fear and Trembling

Paul tells us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Again this sounds like a terrible way to maintain a relationship.

But the kind of fear and trembling Paul is talking about here is not fearing God because He is terrible, but because He is good and holy and will do what it takes to make us holy!

the fear of a parent

In Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, the Pevensie children learn of the great Lion Aslan who is the Christ-figure in Narnia. They hear the word lion and wonder if he is safe to interact with.

The beavers (some of the many talking animals in Narnia) explain to the children that Aslan is not safe, but He is good. He is not going to treat us terribly, but He is going to fight against anything that seeks to harm His people, including his own people’s rebellious acts.

In the same way, we do not fear that God is going to mistreat us in any way, but we fear knowing and trusting that because God is good and loving, He is going to ruthlessly fight against anything that is harming us and that will steal His glory. Love is actually very ruthlessly aggressive to protect that which it loves.

Proverbs 1:7 (ESV)

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

fools despise wisdom and instruction.

We fear God because we trust Him and stand in awe of His goodness and holiness. And this fear will lead us to act in such a way that is consistent with God’s holy character.

But how do we develop this fear and trust in the Lord? It is actually not something we can simply manufacture. This is why Paul follows this up with verse 13...

God’s Work in Us

So we’ve talked about the importance of obedience and of working out our salvation, but where do we get the power and strength to do so.

If we are all honest, we can look inside and say, however hard I try, I can never truly obey the way I know I should.

This is where the good news of the Gospel comes in. We can work out our salvation, we can obey because of what God is already doing within us!

In fact, it is keeping this part in view that can protect us from falling into legalism, because when we realize that God is the One working in us, then I cannot take any credit for my obedience!

Changing Your Loves

First, we see that God is working in us to will.

This means that God is changing our hearts and desires to quit going our own way and wanting to follow God’s way.

None of us have hearts that naturally desire to follow after God. No matter how hard you try, you cannot change your heart to love the things God loves or even to love God Himself.

This is why that phrase, “follow your heart” is so dangerous.

Jeremiah 17:9 (ESV)

The heart is deceitful above all things,

and desperately sick;

who can understand it?

The heart has been sickened by sin and does not love the things of God.

However, because of Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross, He has not only taken away the penalty of our sin, He is also working to destroy the power of sin over our hearts as well.

He is seeking to change our hearts so that we will stop loving sin and start loving God and others the way He has designed for us.

This may not be an immediate work. In fact, this will be a lifelong work of God’s grace in our lives. And yet, we know that God is working in us to will, to love Him, to love others, to love holiness, to love righteousness.

If there is nothing in us that is seeking to love God and to love His holiness, if we are just content to be who we are and not want to change, then we can legitimately ask, “Am I saved?” This doesn’t mean that we won’t continue to struggle and fight against our sin.

But there should be a new desire in our hearts to not keep disobeying God. We cannot change our hearts, but that’s part of the fruit of salvation in our lives is that God is changing our hearts to want the things that He wants.

Do you have within yourself a love for God and for His word, a love for His commands, the way the Psalmists talk about, a love for your neighbor, a love for your fellow church family members?

If there’s no love for Christ and for His people, that would be a cause for concern.

Changing Your Works

As God is working to change our hearts, He begins changing the things we do as well. And this is the natural result of true transformational grace. When God’s grace changes our hearts and our desires, we will begin to do the things that we want to do, which is to do what God wants us to do.

Again, this is not simply a legalistic list of things we ought to do. It is living out the desires of the heart that God has been working to put within us.

So as we work out our salvation with fear and trembling, we work knowing that God is working within us to act according to His good purpose.

We seek to obey, not out of our own strength and will, but in the power of the Holy Spirit who has been given to us and is empowering us to live according to God’s law.

Grace Fueled Effort

So, how do we work out our salvation, knowing that it is God working in us? What does it mean to let the Holy Spirit work in us?

Kevin DeYoung, in his book “The Hole in Our Holiness” writes a chapter on how we can practically grow in holiness and work out our salvation as we depend upon the work of the Holy Spirit, which I would like to quickly summarize as we look at this vital doctrine.

Spirit Powered Holiness

Like we have already seen, it is God’s work in us that is changing us. But how does the Spirit work within us?

1. The Spirit shines the light of truth in the dark places of our lives and convicts us of our sin and tells us how we need to repent.

John 16:7–11 (ESV)

As we walk day to day, there will be times in which we do not follow God the way we should. This is part of the natural struggle we have with sin. But if God’s Spirit is within us, we will be convicted by the presence of sin within our lives. That conviction is part of the sign and fruit that God is working within us.

2. The Spirit is also a light that opens God’s Word up to us so we can understand what it is saying so we can obey and live out its commands.

1 Corinthians 2:6–16 (ESV)

Of course, in order for the Spirit to illumine Scripture to us, we must spend our time in God’s Word. As you spend time reading and studying, pray and ask God to help you hear and discern His voice and to respond to how He is calling you to repent and believe the message of the Gospel.

3. The Spirit is helping us see Christ as He truly is so we can be transformed into His image.

2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)

Just as Moses’ face was transformed by getting a glimpse of the glory of God, as we behold Jesus, truly see Him as the Spirit reveals Him to us in our study of His Word, we, too, are being transformed into His image as we reflect His glory.

Gospel Driven Holiness

The Spirit also uses the good news of the Gospel to constantly change us.

The Gospel is not just to justify sinners, it is for our constant growth in sanctification as God is producing the fruit of holiness within our lives.

1. The Gospel encourages growth as we are grateful for what God in Christ has done for us.

In response to the good news that is on display in Romans 1-11, Paul says our grateful response should be to not be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewal of our minds.

Romans 12:1–2 (ESV)

This gratitude is not a gratitude seeking to repay God, for we can never repay Him. It is simply living in the grateful obedience for what Christ has done for us!

This is Gospel motivated joyful obedience!

“When we are grateful, we’re not only eager to please God, we’re less likely to get bogged down in ungodliness. The humility and happiness that come with thankfulness tend to crowd out what is coarse, ugly, or mean (Eph. 5:4). - Kevin DeYoung

2. The Gospel helps us to pursue holiness by reminding us of who we are in Christ.

The Gospel causes us to preach to ourselves and to remind us of what is ours in Christ.

If we know that we are co-heirs with Christ, knowing that all He has will also be given to us, why should we be jealous of what others have?

If in Christ, we have died to sin, why should we still continue to live in it?

If we are loved by God, why are we trying to earn acceptance from the world? Or find the wrong kind of love from individuals we have no business seeking that kind of love with?

If we have eternal life with Christ, why should we seek to protect and preserve our life here at the expense of obedience to God?

Faith Fueled Holiness

Finally, our faith in Christ which saves us, also leads us to trust God for all the promises He has made to His people.

Again, Kevin DeYoung points us to the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) where Jesus actually does give His people, the citizens of heaven, commands to follow, but He also gives them promises which come to those who either follow or do not follow those commands.

this sermon begins with the beatitudes which include promises for hIs people

There are promises of judgment, promises of future grace, promises of blessings, and promises of consequences.

Faith is not just some intellectual assent to the existence of God and the historical event of the crucifixion. It is trust in the person, work, and character of who God is. It is trust that when God says something is good for us, it is trusting that He knows what He is talking about. Faith is trusting that when God makes a promise, He will keep that promise. Faith is trust that when God calls us to obey, it is a command that flows from His love for us.

Conclusion

So we can work out our salvation as we seek to listen to how the Holy Spirit is revealing God’s Word to our hearts and showing us where we still have sin in our lives and the conviction to confess and repent.

We can work out our salvation as we remember the good news of what Christ has done for us and who we are because of His death and resurrection for us and that we do not need to rely on sin to get what has already been given to us.

We can work out our salvation as we trust in the promises God has made to His people.

In all of this, we trust in God’s working in us, but we put forth effort by continuing to place ourselves under the teaching of Scripture and to preach to ourselves and remind ourselves of what the Spirit has revealed to us and as we fight against our own sinful desires and tendencies.

But, hear me out on this. If we have never placed our faith in Christ and in His work for our salvation, there is no amount of work we can do to make us holy before God. Paul does not tell us to work for our salvation or to work at our salvation.

Any work we try to do apart from Christ is simply empty legalism and will never get us any closer to Christ.

Matthew 7:22–23 (ESV)

On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

If you want to have the assurance of salvation and to truly grow in holiness, we must throw ourselves upon the work and mercy of Christ and Him alone!

It is for this reason Christ died upon the cross. His finished work alone can save