Series: Philippians Title: Working Out Your Salvation This morning as we jump back into our journey through Philippians I want to address a topic that has been both the source of comfort and discomfort for Christians for a very long time It has both set people free while at the same time, kept people in bondage all depending upon whether its properly understood My hope, this morning is to set free those who are held in the grips of manipulative religious expectations while at the same time motivate those who have falsely comforted themselves with a wrong view of a grace that calls us to DO NOTHING I believe its the job of every preacher to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable! This morning we re going to take a look at a handful of scriptures that on the surface, would appear to contradict each other let me just tell you from the outset, that one of the miracles that sets the Bible apart from every other book, is that this book was written by: Over 40 authors from all walks of life (Moses was a prince, Joshua a soldier, Ruth a house wife, Esther a Queen, Ezra a scribe, Isaiah a prophet, Job a rich farmer, Amos a poor farmer, Daniel a prime minister, Matthew a tax collector, Peter a fisherman, Luke a physician and Paul a pharisee and persecutors of the church, turned apostle). All walks of life, writing over a course of 1500 years to comprise the 66 books that make up the one volume we call the bible and there s not one contradiction in it! Any apparent contradiction is merely a call to dig deeper, the answer is yet to be found! As we have been getting to know this church that the apostle Paul started and loved so much, we see that his instruction to them at times could on the surface appear to be somewhat contradictory when we combine his instruct with some of the things he has written to other churches, it also helps us to come to a more complete conclusion of what he is saying the best commentary on the bible is the bible and so we will move around a little bit to gain greater context of what Paul is saying Like a father, Paul is giving instructions to the church at Philippi on what they are to be doing as citizens of heaven! That s one of the themes that Paul develops in this letter, this idea of recognizing our citizenship Look what he writes at the end of chapter 3: Philippians 3:18 21 (CSB) 18 For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame. They are focused on earthly things, 20 but our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. 21 He will transform the 1 of 5
body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject everything to himself. We saw last week that the idea of living our lives in a manner worthy of the gospel was directly connected to living our lives a good heavenly citizens It s the idea of doing, its the idea of being faithful, of being obedient of fulfilling our heavenly calling and expectations Philippians 1:10 (CSB) 10 so that you may approve the things that are superior and may be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, Philippians 1:27 (CSB) 27 Just one thing: As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, in one accord, contending together for the faith of the gospel, Philippians 2:3 4 (CSB) 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. 4 Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Philippians 2:14 16a (CSB) 14 Do everything without grumbling and arguing, 15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world, 16 by holding firm to the word of life. Philippians 3:2 (CSB) 2 Watch out for the dogs, watch out for the evil workers, watch out for those who mutilate the flesh. Philippians 3:10 (CSB) 10 My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, Philippians 3:17 (CSB) 17 Join in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and pay careful attention to those who live according to the example you have in us. Philippians 4:1 (CSB) So then, my dearly loved and longed for brothers and sisters, my joy and crown, in this manner stand firm in the Lord, dear friends. These are some heavy expectations!! On my best days I often fall far short of what Paul is laying out as the expectation of heavenly citizens! 2 of 5
A quick reading of these text can certainly make someone feel like its time to throw in the towel, how will I ever measure up God will never be satisfied. and many have gone to churches for years and have heard nothing but all these lofty expectations and they leave serves feeling beat up, inferior, unpleasing and like a loser guilty and ashamed! I ve sat with enough people over the years to know that many people who love Jesus have lived in the bondage of what they thought Jesus expected from them and many have left the church thinking they ll never measure up, so why bother trying! So what do we do with these passages, we certainly can t ignore them they are clearly there for us to apply to our lives There s another verse that serves as a hinge to this line of thinking that I want to begin to present the other side Philippians 2:12 13 (CSB) 12 Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose. What a start contrast between verse 12 and 13! Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling if i have to work it out then I can guarantee you, there s going to be all kinds of fear and trembling because as i consider all these other verse and recognize my inability to rightly fulfill them I m left feeling pretty desperate! But thank God for verse 13! For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose!! Wow, did you just hear that!!! It is God who is working in you to WILL to honor God and to Work to honor God!! Oh, its elsewhere Philippians 1:6 (CSB) 6 I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:29 (CSB) 29 For it has been granted to you on Christ s behalf not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 3 of 5
Philippians 2:13 (CSB) 13 For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose. Philippians 3:9 (CSB) 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ the righteousness from God based on faith. You see, these passages, read in isolation of the others could create a mindset that says I guess I don t have to do anything I m saved by grace and therefore, my works mean nothing And I ve sat around enough Christian s with a distorted view of the grace of God that doesn t call them to work, or strive or obey or surrender that it leads them into error! Philippians 3:12 15 (CSB) 12 Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, 14 I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God s heavenly call in Christ Jesus. 15 Therefore, let all of us who are mature think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you. Paul understands the proper tension that must exist between these two truths! On the one hand we have man working out his salvation and on the other, we have God working in us both to WILL and to Work according to his good pleasure! Use example of the rope to create the tensions Wrap up: This truth is not only found in Philippians, but all throughout the scripture if we had time I could easily make the same case working through Ephesians, Romans, James, Galatians, Colossians and many others But the most important place it needs to be understood at this point is in your own hearts! 4 of 5
Cohesion Notes: This week we looked at the tension that exists between working out our salvation with everything in us, while at the same time, resting in the truth that it is God who is at work in us to will and to do according to his good pleasure. Any truth that is taken to an extreme leads to error. As we discussed to two truths that compliment each other, which do you tend to naturally drift toward? Do you feel that a person s upbringing tends to impact which side of the pendulum (faith or works) a person may swing? Why or why not? How can a person that drifts towards an extreme of grace balance out this truth that we discussed? How can a person that drives towards an extreme of works balance out this truth that we discussed? If we stand complete solely on the works of Christ, why is it important for a Christian to have good works evidenced in their life? What are the strongest emotions that surface in you regarding this conversation? Why do you think that is? Pray together that God would enable us to hold in proper tension working out our salvation with fear and trembling and resting in the completed work of Christ in our lives! 5 of 5