Okay, so is God doing the work in us, like verse 13 says? Or are we doing the work as verse 12 says? And what does it mean to work out our own salvation? Does that mean there is some sort of work we must do in order to be saved?
No, in other places in Paul’s writings, including chapter 3 and verse 9 of this letter, he clearly says we are saved by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. So verses 12 and 13 must be talking about the works we do that flow out of our salvation, not works we must do to attain our salvation.
But what exactly do those works look like? Well, in verse 14, Paul focuses on how we get along with one another within the church. He says we should do all things without complaining, without grumbling, without whispering behind one another’s backs, without disputing and arguing. In short, working out our salvation means loving one another inside the Church.
But as verse 16 says, it also means holding fast the word of life. And this was hard for the Philippians to do in the face of a pagan culture that urged them to worship all sorts of other gods, a culture that sometimes threatened Christians who refused to go along with pagan patriotic and economic rituals, a culture that accused Christians of being narrowminded bigots or traitors.
And Paul never promised that working out our salvation would be easy. Instead, he pointed to his own example of suffering. In verse 17, Paul reminds his readers that he is in very real danger of being offered up as a sacrifice precisely because he refused to compromise where it comes to the word of life, because he refused to deny the divinity of Jesus the Messiah.
But he was also in prison precisely because he loved his fellow Israelites too much to do what they wanted him to. They wanted him to shut up about Jesus, but Paul knew that if he did that, they would die in their sins. And so he went into synagogue after synagogue, preaching Christ and Him crucified, even though his preaching made many of his listeners mad enough to kill him. For Paul, the loving thing was to keep telling people about Jesus.
And, of course, Jesus did the same sort of thing. In chapter 2:1-11, Paul tells us that Jesus could have stayed in Heaven, enjoying all the glory that was His by right. But He refused to deny the truth of His divinity, or the truth that we needed Him to save us from our sins. He loved us too much to keep silent about those things, even though all of sinful humanity wanted Him to. Instead, He chose to become a man, a servant, humbling Himself to the point of death on a cross.
Both Jesus and Paul were faithful to hold fast to the word of life, and both of them were motivated by love for others. But such love and faithfulness cost Jesus His life and Paul his freedom. Such faithfulness to truth and love is always costly. Will we work out our salvation, paying such a price today?
Philippians 2:12-18 (NAS)
12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;
13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing;
15 that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,
16 holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may have cause to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.
17 But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.
18 And you too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.
