Question:  Dear Greg,

            Philippians 2:12 says to continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.  Some think that we are somehow supposed to do something to earn our salvation.  We know this is wrong because we are saved by God’s grace.  So, what is Paul telling us in this passage?

            Tom

Answer:  Dear Tom,

            Philippians 2:12, “Therefore my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”

            That is what Philippians 2:12 says.  But, if I listen to the radio on the way home tonight I may hear the words, “heat wave begins in…” before I hit the scan button for another radio station.  Based upon only what I heard, I will be left to determine whether my area will start to experience a heat wave tomorrow, or whether the report was about Dallas , Texas , or perhaps Iraq , for that matter.  I heard the words but I missed the context.

            Philippians 2:12, when quoted alone, does not tell us what Paul is talking about.  Two things to consider.  The verse begins with the word “therefore”.  What does this mean?  Paul is basing what he is now saying on what he has said to this point.  In the first eleven verses of chapter 2 Paul has talked about the humility exhibited by our Lord and Savior, how we should have his mind in us (verse 5), how we should look to the interests of others (verse 4) and how we should consider others better than ourselves (verse 3).  In verses 6-11 Paul explains the suffering servant, the Son of God, how God became flesh, taking the nature of a servant, humbling himself, to save us.

            So, verse 12 is “therefore” because of all that Paul has said so far and he exhorts us with the message of verse 12—BUT—verse 12 does not end with a period!  If we only read verse 12 and stop reading, then we haven’t even read the entire sentence.

            What does verse 13 say—the second part of the sentence that Paul writes, the second part of the “therefore” statement?  “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”  NOW we can pause and stop because a period occurs.

            What is Paul saying in the one sentence that forms both verse 12 and 13?  Here’s my paraphrase:  “As you have always obeyed, whether when I am with you or not, keep working out your salvation with fear and trembling, for God is working in you both in action and in bringing about his will, so that his good purpose will result.”

            This statement aligns perfectly with all that Paul says elsewhere about God’s amazing grace.  Christians obey Jesus Christ (not Moses, but Christ).  But the fact that Christians obey does not earn them anything.  Christians are saved first, and then because Christians are saved, Christians obey.  Christians obey because God works in them.  Yes, we obey, but the power to help us do the work of obedience comes from God.  We are NOT saved BY works, we are saved FOR works.  God wants us to be obedient, and if Christ lives in us we will be obedient—to the new covenant and the new commands of Jesus Christ.  But our obedience comes as a product and as a result of our being saved, not as a prerequisite for our salvation.  Because we are saved, we obey—NOT—because we obey, we are saved.

            So we “prove” our faith by our works—works which are not really ours, but what God produces in and through us.  Verses 12 and 13 of Philippians 2, when read as one sentence, support and explain the gospel of Jesus Christ and are not in the least bit supportive of legalism.

            In Christ,

            Greg Albrecht