Work Out Your Salvation (Phil. 2:12-13)

Introduction

· Please turn with me over to Philippians 2.

· Thank you all who attended the Biblical Counseling conference yesterday on Anxiety, Depression, and Pain. One of the key takeaways for me was the Bible’s ability to deal with life’s most complicated problems. Scripture is sufficient! We hear of terms like schizophrenia, bipolar, or codependency, and think the Bible has nothing to say about these things because those words don’t appear in a concordance. But Dr. Street reminded us that a psychological label is just a cluster of symptoms. When you peel back the label and look at the symptoms, you discover the Bible has much to say about both the behavior and the underlying matters of the heart. True, there can certainly be contributing factors of the body and biology where science and medicine help us, but God gives us all that we need for life and godliness. In fact, the Bible is the only true source of help and hope.

· Next week we will return, Lord willing, to the Book of Ephesians, and will be getting into the most practical part of Paul’s letter. As we get to the “how to” sections, we need to keep this whole discussion firmly riveted to the gospel. So this morning, I want to show you the link between faith and works. Between salvation and sanctification. Between grace and godliness.

· You and I should want to change. We need to change, don’t we? In Michigan where I grew up, a stagnant pool of water usually meant that mosquitos were around. Spiritual stagnancy also leads to many problems. But you don’t need to try to clean up your act before going to church. We need to be in church and get connected to Christ, then we can grow spiritually as God would have us.

· Read Phil. 2:12-18

· Verses 12-13 almost sound like a paradox. Work out…God works out. Which is it? Both!

· Paul hopes to return, but for now, he is away from them. Philippians 1:27 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, and then here in 2:12, “not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence.” Paul knows all too well our tendency to do the right thing when other people are looking, but then to act differently when we might get in trouble. How many of us lift our gas on the pedal when we see a police officer, or suddenly find ourselves talking different when the pastor isn’t around. Even more, now that he is absent.

· Key Idea: Salvation is a Gift to Be Worked Out in the Power of the Spirit.

Salvation is a Gift

· Philippians 2:12 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.

· Salvation is a gift. 1:7 you are all partakers with me of grace. Grace is undeserved favor. Most common reaction is, “well, I’m a pretty good person.” We believe. There is nothing we contribute. If anyone could have done that, it would have been Paul. In fact, at one time, he tried. Philippians 3:4–6 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

· Can anyone here improve on Paul’s performance? He was a straight A student. But he was a self-righteous little hypocrite. If you want to play the works game, you’re going to have to outperform the Apostle Paul. In fact, you’re going to have to be as perfect as Jesus. But he says in vv. 8-9 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from god that depends on faith. (For more on justification by faith, see Romans 3-4.)

· Jesus had to explain this same principle to another Pharisee named Nicodemus in John 3:14–15 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. A reference to Numbers 21:4-9. People became impatient, spoke against God and Moses. So God sent “fiery serpents” (another name for highly venomous snakes). They were Mohave green rattlesnakes -- or at least something like them. Cried out to Moses for mercy. Numbers 21:8–9 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

· William Temple: “The only thing of our very own which we contribute to our salvation is the sin which makes it necessary.”

To Be Worked Out

· Philippians 2:12 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 mails his instructions with an envelope of praise. It’s a good lesson for us as counselors and parents to encourage our counsels and find reason to praise them, even as we continue to instruct and guide, and push them toward holiness and obedience. Point out what they have done, and what they need to do. Present imperative – continuous command. Keep working out. Demonstrate the reality of the gospel day-by-day.

· Work out – intense word. To produce, carry out by hard work. Strenuous activity. Not a casual, passing effort. Like a good workout, you come home hot, sweaty, and need a shower.

· 1 Timothy 4:7–8 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

· You can’t download godliness. You don’t become more like Jesus through osmosis. Holiness requires effort. Malcolm Gladwell used to say that to become a master at anything, you have to do it for at least 10,000 hours. Concert pianist. Professional violinist. That’s three hours per day for nine years. Why would we expect any less in our Christian faith?

· At first, this may seem to contradict our previous point – that salvation is a free gift. But it does not. We are not saved by works. We are saved by grace. But there is still effort to persevere and live out the reality of the gospel.

· Obedience is the natural outcome of saving faith. James 2:14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? James 2:17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

· What then, is going on here in Phil. 2? Well, we have shifted from salvation to sanctification. Salvation is a free gift that leads to eternal life, purchased by the blood of Jesus and received by faith. Sanctification is the ongoing work of becoming more like Christ and less conformed to this world. Salvation is a once in a lifetime work. It is a lifelong process.

· And Paul says you’re going to have to work for it. You must fight, you must struggle, you must strive, and pour all your effort into putting off disobedience and putting on holiness. If sanctification doesn’t tire you out, you’re not working hard enough. Sanctification is a work out.

· Listen to how Paul describes this in his own life: 1 Corinthians 9:24–27 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

· Are you a Christian? Don’t just tell me about a salvation testimony 20 years ago. Tell me how you’re walking with him now.

· People might say about church. Oh, the sermon wasn’t good. The music didn’t really touch me. Friends, we want to minister to you. We really do. But church isn’t about you. It’s about God. And it demands effort.

· What is the attitude? With fear and trembling. Awareness of God’s presence. A respect, fear, reverence that God is watching you and that you will stand before him one day as judge.

· Does this make sense? Another way think of it is like this: “become who you are.” You have been declared to be a saint, a holy one. You have been judicially declared righteous. Now grow into that role. Become the man or woman God has made you to be.

· >>Salvation is a Gift to Be Worked Out in the Power of the Spirit.

In the Power of the Spirit

· Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

· Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

· Imperatives in Ephesians (show chart on screen). Only one in first three chapters. All the rest are in chs. 4-6. Examples: 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths 5:1 Be imitators of God, as beloved children 5:2 Walk in love, as Christ loved us 5:15 Look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God

· Jesus in John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

· Not a single command in scripture can be obeyed apart from the grace of God. We are totally dependent on him.

· NLT - “for God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”

· Paul Dawson tells the story of a time his family visited the Grand Coulee Dam, up in Washington. One of the largest hydroelectric dams in the world, with 3x as much concrete as the Hoover Dam. As they approached the visitor’s center, they were surprised to see that the visitor’s center was dark. It was a sunny day, so we thought the center might have tinted windows, but as we got closer, we realized no lights were on. We went in and saw that none of the displays were working. It soon became clear that there was no power to the center. Due to a technical difficulty, the visitor’s center that sat only hundreds of feet from a hydroelectric dam had no power. Then he asks, “How could something be so close to the power source yet not be “plugged in”?

· Zechariah 4:6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.

Conclusion

· Implications: We will pray to God for help (come back tonight). We will lean on God for strength. We will thank God when we succeed. We should remain humble at all times.

· Hebrews 13:20–21 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.