Philippians 2:12-30 – Christ Centered Obedience

20-10-11 Philippians 2:12-30 – Christ Centered Obedience

HBI: vs 12 In our obedience through faith, we need to work at obeying God in our lives.

Rom 1:5

Þ Intro

- “Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example.” Wrote Mark Twain. We see people doing well around us and sometimes it is just a little annoying to see.

- Maybe the most annoying thing about it a good example is the inability to accomplish the same achievements in our own lives.

- Admiration for a great person can inspire us, but it cannot enable us. Unless the person can enter our own lives and share his skills, we cannot attain to his heights of accomplishment. It takes more than an example on the outside; it takes power on the inside.

- Paul has just presented Jesus Christ as our great Example in the exercise of the submissive mind. We read it, and we agree with it, but how do we go about practicing it? How could any mortal man ever hope to achieve what Jesus Christ achieved? It seems almost presumptuous to even try! Here we are, trying to develop humility, and we are exercising pride by daring to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ!

- We look to the passage in Philippians to understand how it is possible to do this in our lives.

Þ Live out your faith in obedience vs 12-14

- We have been learning of the example that we have been given through the life and death of Jesus. We are told that we are to have this same mind ourselves.

- The attitude and life of a servant being willing even to face death for the one who died on the cross for us. To consider others as better then ourselves.

- This example that is set for us takes the strength of God to achieve over our lifetime but what we do learn is that what it takes is Christ centered obedience. Without complete obedience it is not going to be possible either.

- live out our faith, live in obedience. for we have God working in us. Hebrews 5:9 tells us: After He was perfected, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him,

- As we have been learning, we obey the Lord Jesus in all we do because Salvation is dependent on us coming to Jesus in complete obedience.

- Romans 1:5 We have received grace and apostleship through Him to bring about the obedience of faith among all the nations, on behalf of His name,

- I go to these other verses to get a bit of an understanding of what this obedience is that we are to have. This passage in Romans reminds us that obedience and faith go hand in hand.

- Obedience springs from faith as we become followers of Jesus. Obedience and faith are always linked together. You can not have one without the other. Obedience and faith are not separate experiences.

- Obedience involves Faith and the fruit of faith is complete obedience in the one that died for our sins. You say you have faith in Jesus? Great let us see the obedience that comes with it.

So we are told that as they have always obeyed and stepped out in faith, Philippians 2:12 work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

- In Living our Christ centered lives of Obedience, we are told that we need to work out our salvation. What does this even mean?

- This has been misinterpreted for many years. Many people see this and think that it means that they are supposed to work for their salvation. That they can somehow do enough good things to be saved.

- But this passage does not mean that. The bible is clear that our own good works will go no where in earning us a way to heaven.

- Some churches believe that you cannot be sure of your salvation so you need to do as many good things as you can so as to make it into heaven.

- Some Churches believes that when you have sinned you say so many prayers and do certain things and your sins will be forgiven.

- Some churches believe that if you are baptized as a baby you become part of the family of God and therefore need to continue to do good to make it into heaven.

- There are more but you get the point that there are enough people that believe in the power of good deeds that this could easily be taken to mean that we need to work and do good things to be saved. But that is not the case.

- For one there is enough evidence in the bible to counter that argument. The bible is clear that all that is needed for salvation is faith in Christ, that when it comes to salvation good works are like filthy rags before Christ.

- Isaiah 64:6 All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a polluted garment; all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.

- To work out our salvation is not soteriological but rather an issue of obedience to Christ. The righteousness that comes from salvation is not of ourselves but a result of our obedience to Christ in all that we do.

- So, we can be sure then that to work out our salvation is an issue of walking in obedience to Jesus in all that we do. In the obedience of faith, we are to strive to live our lives in all that we do for Jesus.

- Do not live this life in apathy or complacency. Do not just sit there and think that because we are saved then we are good, there is so much more to it then that.

- We need to work out our salvation as if we were working out muscles. Let us say that you wanted to be a body builder. You can’t just sit back, eat junk food watch tv constantly and then expect to grow big muscles.

- It is the same as we step out in faithful obedience to live our Christ centered lives, it takes work, it takes trust, it takes surrendering our lives to Jesus.

Þ So, we can be a light in the dark vs 15-18

- Why is it important to live this way?

- Philippians 2:15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless

- This seems like we are supposed to be perfect, to be faultless or blameless is supposed to be impossible?

- Even though we are referring to mature Christians, one key to the verse is the fact that they have not accomplished this yet. “so that you may be” again it is something that we are to strive towards.

- It tells us that this was written to a mature church who had not accomplished this yet and neither have you so keep striving.

- Blameless and faultless are 2 words I have trouble with though. I did a bit of digging and both essentially mean the same thing. Again, a work in progress.

- They both seem to be interchangeable but bring forward the same idea. I saw a commercial for a product that you sprayed on fabric that would repel mud and water and such. They showed the regular pair of jeans that stayed dirty and then the treated pair of jeans that the mud and water just feel right off.

- Same idea with these two words, the idea is that we should live our lives in such a way that if someone where to sling accusations against us they would not stick because no one would believe that they are true.

- We live our Christ centered lives in Obedience and if we are doing what we are supposed to be doing then when accusations come, they will not stick. We will be found without fault and without blame.

- We do this as well because we still live in a crooked and perverted generation. Just look at the world that we live in, what is being pushed out on social media. People need to see what it looks like to live s life for Jesus.

- This crooked and perverse generation that we live in needs Jesus, we know that. This is why we are called to obedience because as it says in the last half of the verse among whom you shine like stars in the world.

- We are to be the light of Jesus amid the darkness in the world. SO that when people see us they will know that we stand for Jesus.

- Let us live in obedience to Jesus in such a way that other followers of Jesus can look on us and see they difference we have and rejoice with us in the furthering of the Kingdom of God.

- We can rejoice together that in all we do, the way that we live people are hearing about Jesus.

Þ This is how we can show it vs 19-30

- We are given a practical way of showing it. (vs 22-30 receive Timothy)

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- There is more we can learn from this passage as well but to conclude this thought Paul is telling them that he is sending Back their friend and brother Epaphroditus and Timothy.

- Timothy because they likely needed a teacher to help them and He knew Timothy was focused not on his own gain but rather on the spreading of the message of Jesus.

- Their goal? To share with others what they had learned. How could they do this? Receive these two men with Joy and learn from this man of God and do what he teaches about what it means to follow Jesus.

- Follow Timothy’s teaching while measuring it against what Jesus taught.

- We also can learn how to show what we have been learning with those around us. Learn from the word of God, measure what you hear from preachers against what you read in the word of God and if what they say is true then learn from them as well and take that out in the world.

- Find practical ways we can learn from the obedience of faith we have in Jesus.

Þ So What?

- Lastly we do this with fear and trembling. Yes we need to remember that we do this because we fear the Lord. This isn’t really a trembling because we are scared but rather bowing the knee in awe of the one who gave His life for us.

- It means that we will follow the Lord our God obediently, we will live out and work out our salvation because of the One who is creator of the world who holds all things in His hands and the one who offers salvation from sin.

- A little more fear of the Lord is what we need sometimes, to remember that God is not just our father and friend but also the omnipotent creator of all.

- Take what you have been given by Jesus and learn to be a light to the world by the way that we live in obedience to Him.

- What can we do to share Jesus instead of discussing the latest movie that has come out? Instead of Just talking about the weather how can we share whT Jesus has been doing in our lives together.