Quit Complaining
Notes
Transcript
Working Out Our Salvation
Working Out Our Salvation
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.
This verse sounds very scary, in fact Paul says we ought to be scared! Work out your own salvation! Do it with fear and trembling! But isn’t working out one’s own salvation a contradiction of the gospel? Isn’t it the free gift of God that was accomplished on the cross?
This verse has been a battle ground for different theological perspectives. On the one hand you have some such as the Roman Catholics who use this to justify the sacraments and the process of confirmation. On the other side of the theological field are the free-grace evangelicals who prefer to lean more on God’s work in verse 13.
So what’s the solution?
Paul is not saying that the Philippians, or we, need to achieve salvation all on our own. This is wrong thinking for two reasons.
First, it would be a contradiction of the Gospel Paul preached which was a free gift from God
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Second, the Philippians had already been given salvation. Their lifestyle was a clear sign of it
27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.
Working out our salvation is not achieving it. It is living life in a way consistent with our salvation.
Notice back in our passage,
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,
Paul writes “As you have always obeyed, work out your own salvation.” Paul is telling us Christians that we are working out our salvation when we obey God.
Paul is telling the Philippians just what he has been saying throughout the whole letter. Keep your lifestyle in accordance with your salvation! Live as people who have been saved! Show your salvation through your obedience to Jesus in all things.
The New Living Translation does a good job of showing this in their translation:
12 Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.
Because Jesus has been humbled and then exalted at the right hand of God...
Because we have salvation...
Because God is at work in our lives...
Keep obeying God. Work out your salvation.
Quit Complaining
Quit Complaining
And in verse 14, here’s more specifically what saved people look like.
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing,
Stop complaining!
We love to complain. It was how I met friends while in college. After class as all of us were heading out, once we were far enough away from the teacher overhearing I’d just give an open air-complaint. Boy, did that get people talking! Now everybody has something to say as we enjoy fellowship through our common suffering.
But we can’t toss this passage aside as one of those optional things that God doesn’t really care about. Remember, we’re to work out our salvation with fear and trembling - and God hates grumbling.
Why Complaining Is Such a Big Deal
Why Complaining Is Such a Big Deal
We can see why when looking at Israel’s complaining in the wilderness which Paul certainly has in mind as he wrote this verse. The only other time Paul uses this word for grumbling is in 1 Corinthians 10:10, warning the church not to grumble as Israel did in the wilderness.
And boy did they grumble in the wilderness!
No food? No water? Grumble.
Bad guys in the promised land? Grumble
Don’t like Moses as leader? Don’t like that God killed the guy who rebelled against Moses? Grumble grumble grumble.
We’re not going to read this passage, but I want you to look at Exodus 16:7-12 and see how much Israel is complaining in just these 6 verses. Seven times!
7 Then in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord when he hears your murmuring against God! But as for us, what are we that you are muttering against us?” 8 And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and food in the morning until full, because the Lord has heard your murmuring that you yourselves are muttering against us—but as for us, what are we? For your murmuring is not against us, but rather against God!” 9 And Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole assembly of the sons of Israel, ‘Come in before God, for he has heard your murmuring!’ ” 10 And when Aaron spoke to the whole assembly of the sons of Israel and they turned themselves toward the wilderness, the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud. 11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “I have heard the murmuring of the sons of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘Toward evening you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be sated with food, and you will know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”
They didn’t care about their freedom from slavery. They didn’t care about the manna raining from heaven. They didn’t care about how many times God had saved them from their enemies. They could never be thankful for anything that God had given them. All they could do was spit on his gift and say “Not good enough!”
Israel, the Crooked Generation
Israel, the Crooked Generation
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,
Paul writes that without grumbling we become blameless, innocent, and without blemish.
Complaining undoes all of that. When we read Deuteronomy 32:4-6 we see the same words and phrasing that Paul has used to describe the Philippians.
4 God—his works are genuine, and all his ways are justice. A faithful god, and there is no injustice, a righteous and holy Lord; 5 blemished children, not his, have sinned, a generation, crooked and perverse. 6 Do you thus repay the Lord these things, O people, foolish and not wise? Did not he himself, your father, acquire you and make you and create you?
blemished children, not his, have sinned,
a generation, crooked and perverse.
Israel had complained so much about God that they could only see things to complain about. They complained so much about God that all the idols of the surrounding nations began to look much more appealing until they decided to one day bow down to them and abandon the One True God.
18 You abandoned God who bore you, and you forgot God who nurtures you.
The Cost of Complaining
The Cost of Complaining
The Philippian church was most likely complaining about their own suffering. Philippi was fiercely loyal to Rome, and any threat to the Imperial Cult was met with hostility and persecution.
And so even though:
They had been saved from sin
Would inherit eternal life
Had a God who served, suffered, and died for them
They were on the wining team
All they could do was complain to God that it wasn’t enough. We need more. The death of your son for our salvation wasn’t enough.
If we love to complain and can only express our bitterness to God we will suffer.
It will destroy our evangelism
It will destroy our church
It will lead us straight to hell
Grumbling Kills Evangelism
Grumbling Kills Evangelism
Imagine you have a friend who does nothing but complain about their work. The pay stinks, the boss micromanages, the hours are long, the work difficult, and the co-workers are just awful. And they tell you “Hey there’s an opening you ought to apply for!”
That’s a pretty poor sale. Our complaining about God is similar. Come join my religion and be as miserable as I am! Even if they did show up how long would they last if we were all just a bunch of bitter complainers?
And if we’re always complaining about non-Christians, how likely are we to reach out to them? Our complaining constantly frames them as the enemy - not someone to be saved.
If we’re always complaining about how hard evangelism is and how Christianity is slipping away from mainstream culture, we’re not doing anything to fix it. Negative expectations are followed by negative results. Or maybe even no results, because why bother at all? Our complaining shows our lack of hope and confident expectation that God is King and victorious over the hearts and minds of mankind.
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,
We are to shine as lights in this crooked and twisted world, echoing the word of Daniel 12:3
3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
Those who shine are those who turn many to the paths of righteousness. Our complaining is going to do nothing but hurt our evangelistic efforts.
Quit complaining because your slandering God.
Grumbling Will Kill Our Church
Grumbling Will Kill Our Church
Grumbling has the incredible potential to destroy a church. If we don’t like the direction our church is headed we start to complain about the policy and those who make them.
Rarely do churches split because of deep doctrinal differences that can’t be reconciled. It’s usually over personality differences and people being upset they didn’t get their way. I know of one church that almost split because someone didn’t like the color of the pews!
But nobody splits just because of the pews. That’s just where it starts.
You grumble about the pew colors.
Then you grumble about how your opinion isn’t respected by the elders.
You grumble about how they got appointed in the first place by all those other numb-skulls.
Your grumbling invites more from others who hear you who have their own petty issues
Now you’re grumbling about a boatload of things that never bothered you before
Soon you have a group of grumblers in their own little echo chamber who complain about poor leadership, and how things would be so much better if you ran things.
Grumbling is infectious. It’s only complaining when you tell someone else about it. It then invites more complaining from others and turns into a vicious spiral to the bottom. I made friends in college by complaining about classes. They didn’t sit their and enjoy the garbage spewing out, they wanted to join in themselves!
Grumbling grows, and it spreads until the congregation can’t support the weight and splits in half. Korah’s rebellion in Numbers 16 started with him but led to the death of over 250 men.
Quit complaining because you’re making everybody else miserable and ruining the family.
Grumbling Will Lead Us to Hell
Grumbling Will Lead Us to Hell
When we complain we are focusing exclusively on the negatives.
When I’m complaining about traffic I’m not thankful that I’m not walking.
When I’m complaining about my family I’m not thankful that I have so many people who love me.
When I complain about having to cook dinner I’m not thankful that God has fed me every day of my life.
And we start comparing our days to other periods of our life, or the lives of others. And in our imagining of how life could be so much better if… we only see the positives. It’s this strange mindset where we can only see the bad things in what we have and only the good things in what we don’t.
This affects our view of God. We shift the blame for everything bad in our lives to him. We complain about how hard it is to be a Christian and view God as a harsh taskmaster. We complain about the suffering that comes from obeying God and see him as indifferent in our lives. We complain about God not doing something right here and now and we start to doubt if he ever even cared about us.
And the more we keep telling those lies to ourselves the more likely we are to finally give up on a life with God and start living the good life somewhere else.
This is exactly what Israel was doing in their complaints in the wilderness in Numbers 11:4-6
4 Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”
They looked back to their time in Egypt and they remembered the fish! They remembered all those veggies and herbs. But they had forgotten the slavery, the hard labor, the murder of Israelite children. Instead of entering into the promised land the people decided it would be better to abandon God and go back to Egypt.
3 Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
Can We Expect Good Gifts When We Only Complain About Them?
Can We Expect Good Gifts When We Only Complain About Them?
It’s astounding how unappreciative people can be when they are given something for absolutely free. It’s fun giving gifts, but the lack of thankfulness just kills any of the joy that comes from it.
I saw a video just recently of a kid opening his Christmas gift. It was a brand new scooter. He takes a look at it and starts cussing saying he wanted a bike - not a stupid scooter. Do you think mom and dad are eager to get him anything for next year?
How do you think God feels when we complain about the life he’s gifted to us? How does he feel when we look at the death of his son and say, through our complaining, that “This isn’t good enough.”
Just as Israel perished in the wilderness because of their complaining, we will perish in our grumblings. We work our salvation out in fear and trembling because we recognize the magnitude of what God has done for us and the consequences of turning our back on it.
The Solution
The Solution
Instead of constant bitterness and complaining, Paul models joy for us.
I’m in prison? Well if I die I get to be with God in paradise. If I live I’m released which I’ll thank God for.
I’m suffering? I count it all joy that I get to suffer in the same way Jesus did, being conformed to his image.
That irrational joy of Paul started to affect the guards watching over him. They wanted to know how they could have that kind of hope. It got their attention and it will get people’s attention today too.
Thanksgiving Instead of Complaining
Thanksgiving Instead of Complaining
There was a man in New York during the freeze of 2022 who got caught out in the snowstorm and couldn’t make it back home. He knocked on the the doors of ten different houses begging to be let in, fearing for his life. He’s rejected by all of them. Eventually he decides he needs to break into a school that still has power, water, and heat. On his way there he collects 10 other people who are afraid of freezing to death - saving all of them.
When interviewed about the whole experience he didn’t complain about the storm. He didn’t complain about being stuck. He didn’t complain about the doors shut in his face. He didn’t complain about about being afraid for his life.
He thanked God for closing all of the doors so he could find those other 10 people who needed his help. And as you read the comments people leave on the story that’s all they can talk about - he never complained and saw God’s work in this.
The Christian who has a proper grasp of what awaits them in heaven will be far too happy to ever complain and grumble against God.
People will notice this strange, unconquerable joy, and want a piece of it themselves. Our lack of complaining, choosing instead to see the good in our lot, makes an impact on people. Complaining shows that we’re just as miserable and hopeless as the rest of the world.
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.
Paul saw his life and the suffering in it as a sacrifice to God. This wasn’t a grudging handing over of self so he didn’t go to hell. In Philippians 3:8 he’s more than happy to hand over everything to obtain Christ.
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
He’s handing in trash and getting heaven as a reward.
Paul was able to do all of this without complaining because there was nothing to complain about. We’ve been given more than this whole word could ever offer through the death of Jesus and we still complain. It’s like winning the lottery and complaining about having to go to the bank to cash the check.
Instead of complaining, show people that you have nothing to complain about when you’re going to heaven.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Be careful to obey God in everything without complaining. Grumbling will take you away form God’s presence and will hinder your evangelistic potential. Instead of complaining, think of enduring difficult times as an offering of faith. Be glad and rejoice in your service to God because you have won. What’s there to complain about?
