Lights in the World

Tonight we will be in Philippians 2:12-18 and it is an incredibly powerful passage and hopefully I’ll be able to make it through the first 2 verses because we could spend a long time just analyzing what Paul says in verses 12 and 13. The verses that we are going to look at tonight are very foundational to Christian living. Steven Lawson calls these verses sanctification 101 because in a very short amount of time, Paul sort of maps out how our lives are to reflect Jesus as we grow deeper in our relationship with Him. You guys have heard me say numerous times that Christ doesn’t save you so that you can stay the same. He doesn’t save you so that you can continue looking exactly how you did before He saved you and if you were here 2 Sundays ago, I spent about half of my sermon talking about what sanctification looks like. What I want to do is dive straight into this passage and just sort of hit the key points as we come to them because my plan is for us to be done with Philippians 2 by next week. Paul writes in Philippians 2:12-18

Philippians 2:12–18 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. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 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, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 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. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

The Obedience of the Beloved (Verse 12a)

One thing that I want to run through somewhat quickly almost by way of reminder is Paul’s heart for the Philippian church. He addresses them at the beginning of verse 12 as, “my beloved.” This was a term of endearment for a church that was very near and dear to Paul. Paul had seen God move in remarkable ways in the city of Philippi as seen in Acts 16, which I am really excited to get to this upcoming winter. It was in Philippi where a woman named Lydia would be converted, it was a city where Paul would cast a demon out of a little girl and be thrown into prison and it would be that very same prison where the Philippian jailer would be converted, along with his family. So Philippi and the church of that city is incredibly important to Paul and the Philippian church loves Paul. Remember, the entire book of Philippians is a response to the Philippians concern for Paul and the love gift that they sent him. There are some churches that are an absolute joy to pastor and there are some churches that are an absolute chore to pastor. The Philippian church was an absolute joy to pastor. One might even say that it was the kind of church that every pastor would want. Paul does not have the same worries with the church of Philippi as he had with the church in Galatia and the church in Thessalonica and especially the church in Corinth. Paul is not actively fretting about the Philippian church falling into heresy and apostasy. We know this because of the rest of what Paul says in verse 12, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence.” No church is perfect, Paul knew that. As we will see in Philippians 4, the church had there own sort of problems that Paul was fully aware of. What does he mean then when he says that they have always obeyed? It means that they held fast to Word of God and held fast to the doctrine that Paul delivered. Paul saw firsthand how they held fast to the truth and that didn’t dissipate after Paul left. The Philippians didn’t stop faithfully following the Lord. When a pastor leaves a church that they have loved very dearly, one of things that they most often worry about is how the church will move forward when they are gone. This isn’t to say that they make up the entire church but pastors will worry about the spiritual direction of the church after they are gone. When I was at my old church in Georgia, I fought hard to teach my kids straight from the Bible because I knew that is what they needed to hear and because that was such a big issue to some in leadership, I knew that as soon as I was gone, things were not going to change for the better, things were going to get worse. I still worry about the direction that my former church is going in and that’s because despite some of the hurt that came from there, there’s still a lot of people in that church that I love dearly. One of Paul’s great joys at this point in his life is knowing that the church in Philippi is obedient to the Lord. He himself says back in Philippians 1:3-5

Philippians 1:3–5 (ESV)

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

Work out Your Own Salvation (Verses 12b-13)

The end of verse 12 and 13 are verses that have caused a lot of confusion in the history of the Church so I want us to take the time to address that. You may not have noticed it while we were reading but that small phrase, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” has caused so much confusion and the Catholic church especially has really made it a stumbling block for centuries. The Catholic church has used this verse to argue that salvation is faith plus works and not based on faith in Jesus Christ alone. They use this verse to say that while faith may be 99% of salvation, our works need to contribute the other 1% but that is completely at odds with what we see elsewhere in the Gospel. What distinctions need to be made then to properly understand this verse?

We are to work out our salvation, not work for our salvation

I know that might sound like it means the same thing but they are two vastly different things, east and west differences. To work out our own salvation means that we pursue sanctification, or Christlikeness. To work for our salvation means that I need to earn my salvation by my own works and my own talents and my own righteousness. One is a gift, the other an impossible goal. Paul is not calling the church to save itself, he is calling each individual believer to pursue holiness. That is what Paul is saying, the church is to be holy as Christ is holy. Believers are to work out their salvation by becoming more like the One who saved them. Believers aren’t to be passive and wait for the day of Christ’s return. They are to exercise holiness like an athlete training to win a prize. Paul told the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

1 Corinthians 9:24–27 ESV

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.

Our justification, that initial moment of true salvation, is not our excuse to not pursue holiness. J.C. Ryle says in his incredible book of believers, Holiness,

“Whose fault is it if they are not holy, but their own? On whom can they throw the blame, if they are not sanctified, but themselves? God, who has given them grace and a new heart and a new nature, has deprived them of all excuse if they do not live for his praise. This is a point which is far too much forgotten. A man who professes to be a true Christian, while he sits still, content with a very low degree of sanctification, and coolly tells you he can do nothing, is a very pitiable sight and a very ignorant man. If the Savior of sinners gives us renewing grace and calls us by his Spirit, we may be sure that he expects us to use our grace and not go to sleep.”

The only person we can blame for not becoming more like Christ is ourselves. Think back to what I said a couple weeks ago, we don’t contribute anything positive to our salvation. We supply the sin, God supplies the Savior. God does all the work, so when He makes us new in Christ, when we are born again, the only person that really stops you from being more like Christ is yourself.

There is a personal aspect for our sanctification

Notice secondly how Paul says we are to work out your own. There is a personal aspect for each of our salvation and sanctification. I cannot be holier for you. One Christian’s holiness is not equal to someone else. It is not the responsibility of someone else to make you more like Christ, you yourself must work out your own sanctification. Their is one common source of salvation in Jesus Christ but each Christian must work out their salvation on their own. Fortunately, we do have the Church, the Scriptures, and the Holy Spirit to guide us but my personal faith in Christ is not someone else’s. My faith won’t save Benji. Benji will have to have his own faith in Christ to be saved. Your family’s Christian upbringing does not mean that you will be saved, you must be born again.

Fear and trembling

Not only are we each to pursue our own sanctification, Paul says we are to do it “with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” I wish we had more time to look at this but I’ll just have to mention this in passing: we are to have the right emotions before the God who saved us. Because God saved us and has loved us before the foundation of the world, we do not need to see Him with panic and despair, but with reverence and awe. This is Paul’s reminder that it is God who saves us and our boast is in what He has done and not what we have done. John Calvin writes,

“For there is nothing that ought to train us more to modesty and fear, than our being taught, that it is by the grace of God alone that we stand, and will instantly fall down, if he even in the slightest degree withdraw his hand. Confidence in ourselves produces carelessness and arrogance. We know from experience, that all who confide in their own strength, grow insolent through presumption, and at the same time, devoid of care, resign themselves to sleep. The remedy for both evils is, when, distrusting ourselves, we depend entirely on God alone.”

If God were to somehow remove His grace from us or remove our justification, our hope for salvation would be gone. But we know that God is faithful to His promise and He is faithful to His people and He will never not be faithful.

Two Generations (Verses 14-15)

Let’s look again quickly at verses 14 and 15. Paul writes, “Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 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.” As Paul began this section with laying the groundwork of our sanctification, in these verses he gives practical and specific applications for sanctification and it is in these applications that we see two distinct generations: We have the people of God and the people of the world. It is our conduct with our fellow Christians and our neighbors that serves as the visual evidence of our inward change that has been brought forth by the Holy Spirit. I’m once again seeing that I’m running into the same wall that I seem to run into almost every week where I spend so much time on the beauties of one verse that we don’t get to spend as much time in the verses that I really wanted to get to. I want us to quickly look at four words or series of words that Paul uses to describe how we are to conduct ourselves.

Without Grumbling

Christians aren’t supposed to be people that complain. We aren’t supposed to be people that are mumbling under our breath or have some sort of secret displeasure about something or someone. It’s worth emphasizing that grumbling is something that we do on the inside. It’s internal. The next thing that Paul mentions is an outward action, it’s external.

Without Disputing

We aren’t supposed to engage in needless arguments. We’re not to continually question with a contentious and rebellious spirit. Now this doesn’t mean that we don’t correct or ask questions but we do it all in love. We don’t engage with others that we don’t agree with with a spirit of hate or anger. We engage out of love and a desire for them to better know God. Steven Lawson writes,

“How easy it is to fall prey to what Paul forbids here. Each one of us must set a guard over our hearts as we live our Christian lives. Murmuring with other believers is a destructive assault upon the unity of the Body of Christ. Disputing tears apart what God has joined together.”

Blameless and Innocent

What does Paul mean by this that we may be blameless and innocent? It means that no one should be able to accuse of not living what we preach. No one should be able to accuse us of not being able to walk the walk and talk the talk. We are to be without blemish. This doesn’t mean that we are sinless. It means that there should be a stark contrast between us as the People of God and the “crooked and twisted generation” that Paul refers to. I have no problem repeatedly telling you guys that if you claim the name of Christ that your life should reflect the name you claim. True Christians live their lives with the pursuit of pleasing their Commanding Officer and if our truly reflect that reality, there is no accusation that the world will be able to truthfully make against us. Paul’s life reflects this reality because at the end of Acts 26:30-32, Paul is on trial and King Agrippa acknowledges that Paul hasn’t done anything to deserve death or even imprisonment. Even though Christians may be accused of wrongdoing by the world, there shouldn’t be anything credible behind those accusations. What could believers be accused of that is contrary to what the Highest Authority and Judge has set forth? Our lives are to be a living and breathing testimony to holy living so there is nothing that the world should be able to accuse us of that is contrary to that desire.

Shine as Lights in the World

Jesus Himself reiterates this in His sermon on the mount. Jesus says in Matthew 5:14-16

Matthew 5:14–16 ESV

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Here we see that we as Christians have a two-fold responsibility: We are to do all that we can to prevent the decay of the world and we are to do all that we can to illuminate the true Light of the World: Jesus Christ. John Stott wrote,

“Jesus calls his disciples to exert a double influence on the secular community, a negative influence by arresting its decay and a positive influence by bringing light into its darkness. For it is one thing to stop the spread of evil; it is another to promote the spread of truth, beauty and goodness.”

The extent of our light towards others will only shine to the extent that we magnify Christ. Christians like I have said so many times in this series are to be an anomaly. Just as light is a total contrast to darkness, Christians are to be a total contrast to the world. Our lives should be so vastly different from the secular culture that the world should be asking questions about us. So I ask again, does your life cause people to ask questions? Does your life shine in the darkness? Is your walk with Christ so evident that it causes your unsaved friends and relatives to recognize their own missteps? The People of God are made the People of God to shine as the People of God. If you are not shining as a beacon to the glory of God, then your light has either burned out or it needs to be changed or maybe their was no light to begin with. If you are worried about what it means to be a light in the darkness, or are worried that you won’t be able to shine and cause the darkness to flee, just remember this: even the smallest burning ember causes the darkness around it to run away. It isn’t that darkness won’t stand in the presence of light, it cannot stand in the presence of light. If I was to turn off every light in this room and we were surrounded by pure darkness, the smallest match would cause the darkness of this room to lessen. Imagine the impact of thousands upon thousands of matches. Imagine the impact of not just one Christian shining in the world, but countless Christians beyond number, shining in the world. The darkness of the world cannot and will not over come the blazing inferno that is the Church of Jesus Christ so may we never be afraid to shine like we should.

Holding Fast and Rejoicing (Verses 16-18)

Finally, I want us to just briefly talk about verses 16-18. Paul says in Philippians 2:16-18

Philippians 2:16–18 ESV

holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 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. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

Paul’s thesis for this entire book can be summed up in one word: Rejoice. As the Philippians held fast to the Word of life, the Word of God, Paul could see that he didn’t run his race in vain. He didn’t commit years of his life to something that wasn’t true or lived out. The Philippians were living and breathing proof that God was faithful to His promises and that God’s firm foundation would stand. Paul could have been executed the very next day and it wouldn’t have mattered to him because he knew about the surety of the Philippians's faith and in that, he rejoiced. But what about you? Are you holding fast to what you have been taught, like the Philippians held fast to what they had been taught? There are some of you in here that I have absolutely no doubts about. I see the fruit of the Gospel in your life, I see the love for Christ that you have, and in that, I greatly rejoice because I see people that are going to shine so bright in a dark world. But there are some that I worry about and I will do all that I can so that I may be able to say with Paul, “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.” You guys are all those whom I love and long for, my joy and my crown. I want to be able to rejoice in you and rejoice in what God is doing in your life. If you need help, we as the leaders are always here for you but we can’t live the Christian life for you. Each of you must decide if you are going to hold fast to the Word of Life and work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.