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

Paul begins these verses with a ‘therefore’, which alerts us to a connection between what he has previously written and what he is about to write. I suppose the ‘therefore’ could refer to the example of Christ in verses 6-8, or to the future universal acknowledgement of Christ when all will confess that he is Lord, or to the demand that everything should be done to the glory of God the Father. In any case, we can see how each of these possible references should affect our Christian living.

In these two verses, Paul reveals his pastoral heart. He displays affection when he calls them ‘my beloved’, he gives encouragement regarding their obedience, and he also writes with a measure of seriousness. Of course, pastors and other church leaders should have other qualities, but these three are essential features of a Christlike pastor. 

His description of the Philippians also shows Paul’s apostolic authority because he says that previously they have obeyed his teachings. His authority was not in his personal status in society as a Roman citizen or in his personal abilities as a scholar. Instead, his authority was found in the fact that he was Christ’s official servant acting on his authority.

Paul also mentions another aspect of pastoral ministry: the pastor does not have to be present in order for others to develop their Christian living. They should grow in grace whether he is present or not. The fact that he noticed their growth when he was with them and was aware of their development when he was absent, highlights that maturing is what a pastor should be looking for in the spirituality and discipleship of the church members.

Paul presents his readers with a challenge (‘work out your own salvation), with a caution (with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you), and with a consolation (God works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure).

The challenge

Paul is dealing with the great work of salvation. In order to understand what he means by ‘salvation’, we must realise that the biblical authors use it to describe three separate aspects of the Christian life. Salvation can be described as past, present or future. It is impossible to have the second and third aspects without the first.

Salvation in the past takes place when a person believes in Jesus. This is salvation from the penalty of sin, which is a lost eternity. Yet God pardoned the person when he repented of his sin and trusted in Christ. At that moment, the righteousness of Christ was imputed to the penitent sinner. We describe this as the sinner’s justification, that he is accepted by God, who also gives to that pardoned sinner a permanent place in the divine family.

Salvation in the present is a lifelong experience in which the pardoned sinner is delivered more and more from the power of sin. He becomes increasingly conformed to the image of Christ, and this lifestyle is described as sanctification. This aspect of salvation is brought about by the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is this aspect of salvation that Paul has in mind in these verses.

Salvation in the future refers to what happens to each believer on the day when Jesus returns a second time. Each will then undergo a remarkable experience and will have a transformed body and a perfect soul (of course, those who die before the resurrection will have been given a perfected soul at the moment of their death). There will not be a trace of sin left in any of them. Further their resurrected body will be capable of living in the presence of God and their soul will have full fellowship with God. We describe this as glorification.

The most important requirement facing a person is to experience salvation in the first sense of the term. Without finding it, such will be lost, and that for ever. But after finding it, then the most important requirement facing such a person is his or her sanctification. It is more important than your career, your house, your anything.

It is evident that Paul believes that every believer has a responsibility to be holy. Each has ‘to work out his own salvation’. His words make clear that the person who is responsible for each believer’s growth is the believer himself.

Why is it ‘your own’ salvation? The answer to this question is that each believer has particular sins which may not be so prominent or even present in other believers. For example, some people are never tempted with regard to materialism, which is one of the most obvious sins of our society. Such will be tempted by other outward sins.

Another answer to the question is that each believer has enough sins of his own to be concerned about that he has not the time to focus on the power of sin in the lives of other Christians. It is obviously right that he should pray for his brother if a fault is observed, but he cannot sanctify his brother. Instead, the sanctification about which he is to devote his energy is his own holiness.

This requirement to ‘work out’ salvation is a refutation of the notion that some have taught, which is that a believer does not need to put effort into the Christian life. The opposite is the case. Sanctification requires constant attention. We cannot let our guard down for a moment.

How does a believer work out his salvation? The context indicates that humility is necessary for this activity, and the fact that a believer is a sinner is sufficient cause for humility to be central. So the question should be, How does a humble believer work out his salvation. Put simply, he does it by slaying his sins and by strengthening his graces. In the heart of a believer, there is the root of every sin and the root of every grace. Each believer is like a gardener: he is continually both pulling up weeds and watering flowers. Paul gives a list of some weeds and some flowers in Galatians 5:19-23. The weeds include ‘adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.’ The flowers are ‘the fruit of the Spirit’, such as ‘love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.’

Where does a believer work out his salvation? The changed inner life of each Christian shows itself primarily in the fellowship of the church. There is a communal aspect to Paul’s directions in this passage, and the immediately following verses (vv. 14-16) indicate that Paul has in mind the witness that a church together has towards the world. The obvious deduction from this corporate activity is that our sanctification is seen at its clearest in the church fellowship: it is seen in unity and harmony, it is seen in fellowship with one another, it is seen in mutual prayer, it is seen in united witness. 

The caution

Paul writes that each believer should work out his salvation with fear and trembling. He does not mean that a believer should be frightened that others will see his failures, nor does he mean that they should be afraid that they will be lost at the end of the day. Paul’s aim is to maintain confidence in God in his readers, not terror of God. Rather Paul means that each believer should fear God, should revere him. This reverential fear is accompanied by trembling, by a concern of offending the God who is working in his life.

It is an awesome reality when God is present in a person’s life. And the effect it should have is great respect for the Lord. The phrase, ‘Our God is a consuming fire’ (Heb. 12:29), is not describing the way he deals with the unconverted. Instead, it describes how his presence is known in the lives of his people as they serve him: ‘Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.’

Fear of God is not a prominent theme today even among believers. Somehow it has been sidelined despite the very strong biblical emphasis on it. The fear of God is accompanied by a delight in his commandments (Ps. 112:1). The fear of the Lord is crucial when praying to him: ‘And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear’ (1 Pet. 1:17). The fear of God is the response believers have towards his promises: ‘Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God’ (2 Cor. 7:1).

This respect for God is not merely for various attributes, as if we fear his holiness but not his love. True fear takes into its range all it knows about the God of the Bible. It includes admiration of him as well as awe of him, affection for him as well as acquiescence to his will.

We fear him because he is the God who will chastise us if we are disobedient, and chastisement is a fatherly act of love. Yet it is not a pleasant experience, as the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 12. The Lord may take us through painful experiences as he works to bring us to repentance and restoration. The fear of God will keep us from doing what will result in chastisement.

The consolation

It is true that believers are sometimes confused about the relationship between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Paul’s words here remind us that God is always the initiator as far as grace is concerned. But he does not mean that we are to be inactive. Paul is not suggesting that the indwelling Holy Spirit only works occasionally. Rather he means that the Spirit is working continually within us. This means that we should always be continually working out our salvation.

Yet we should note that the Holy Spirit works in a secret way. His method of imparting sanctifying power cannot be explained or understood. He works beneath our conscious life to cause us to have a changed conscious life. We know he has been working because we have renewed wills and obedient activity.

The Spirit also works in a successful way. He does not aim to bring about instant perfection. Instead he is involved in a process in which he has to change us. At times, we hinder our development by sinful thoughts and action. Yet the Spirit will achieve sanctification in the life of each believer.

The fact that the Holy Spirit is continually at work within us is of great encouragement. Perhaps we are aware of personal sins that are far too strong for us to tame. Pride lifts its ugly head or lethargy creeps over our souls. We feel helpless. Obviously we should pray about these sinful aspects of our characters. And we can pray with confidence because we can ask God to deal with these ugly aspects of our Christian lives.

As we close, I would mention two thoughts for you to consider. The first is that we cannot make any excuses when we fall. All of us fall into outward sin to some extent many times a day. Yet the fact is that we did not have to say the wrong words or do the wrong actions. When such things happen, we are not working out our salvation. But we cannot only focus on outward sins. Our inner desires and longings should also be changed. We should hate sin increasingly and love holiness more and more.

The second thought is that the work of sanctification brings pleasure to God. He rejoices to see our outworking of his grace. A human child, if it has a healthy attitude, will want to please his parents. Similarly we, as Christians, must want to please God. We should be like Enoch who lived in such a way that he pleased God (Heb. 11:5).