June's Passage: Philippians 2:12-18
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only 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. (ESV)
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Throughout each month, we will post short articles to give some depth of understanding regarding our text (see the archive links on the lower right of this page for review). Today we will discuss...
Obey with Faithful Fear and Trembling
As we try to unpack the idea of Godly obedience, we need to look at HOW Paul is saying to obey in this passage. Since we began our lives in rebellion against God but we were saved into His family and given the ability to submit to God’s authority, how do we do that? How do we put that new ability to obey into practice? How do we change the impulse to push back against His will?
First, Paul says that it is not a brand new concept for the Christian. He is not asking them to do something in this letter, that they haven't been doing in some way as Christians already.
He says, “as you have always obeyed…” meaning - we think, as you have always obeyed since your conversion to faith.
As you obeyed the call of Jesus on your life to repent and believe; and as you obeyed to join a fellowship of believers in a local church family, and (in the Philippians context) as they have submitted to Paul’s teaching when he was in their city with them - “as you have always obeyed…” in those respects, “…so now, not only in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,…”
Paul is saying, the pattern of obedience was established when I was there planting the church. Now that I am gone and can only write to you and send others to get reports about the health of the church, don’t divert from the pattern that was set.
Many of us know what it is like to be obedient to parents when they are in the same area as we are, yet we begin to act a fool once they are out of sight. Paul instructs the Philippians - don’t do that.
Okay, so what about this Fear and Trembling? Are we supposed to cower like frightened dogs who have been kicked around by our master? Are we supposed to flinch in fear like a child who’s afraid of a beating?
NO!
We have a King who is loving and kind. What Paul seems to be saying here - which is especially necessary for us in our time - he is saying that, though God is loving, He is also all powerful, and dead serious about sin. He is not your buddy or your homeboy before He is your King.
Jesus was meek and mild, but He says Himself that He will come back as a conquering King.
So working out your own salvation is a call to obey God not ONLY because you are grateful to Him for saving you from the slavery of Sin, but also because you have a right-sized perspective of His glory.
There are a couple of places in the scripture where we can look to to understand this idea. In Isaiah 6:1-5, the prophet (who was much more bible knowledgeable and obedient than most of us) was seized with a godly fear when He saw the unmatched, awesome glory of God.
Similarly, in Luke 5:4-9, Simon Peter asked Jesus to depart from him after Peter saw the glorious power that Jesus had over creation. In Revelation 1:12-17, The Apostle John, who had already seen Jesus after the resurrection, fell down like a dead man when He saw Jesus in His complete eternal glory.
So, it is not uncommon for the people of God to have a Holy Fear of God, or a deep reverence and respect for His might when they see Him in comparison to their (our own) sinful state.
If not for God's grace, this Holy Fear would be unshakable terror. That is why the Day of the Lord is not to be seen as a happy day for those who refuse to put their faith in Jesus.
But for us, the Fear of the Lord is a great gift. When we understand God’s greatness, we need never fear others disapproval, nor do we have to live to gain their approval. The only one who’s approval ultimately matters has given His approval as a gift of grace through our faith in Him.
When we see His greatness and recognize His authority with fear and trembling, we can rightly weigh that against the passing desire to return to sin - which is open rebellion to our King. Then sin doesn’t appeal as greatly and sin's power can be overcome. The fear of the Lord is a great gift.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7 ESV)
Some have tried to balk at this kind of explanation, saying no - in fact - the fear and trembling piece means that unless you are constantly at work trying harder and harder to obey God perfectly, you should fear as to whether you are actually saved or not.
That is bologna. And we know that is not a proper interpretation because Paul didn’t end his thought with fear and trembling. No, he continued by making it clear that, “…it is God who works in you, both to will AND to work for His good pleasure…”
Simply stated, and repeatedly stated in the scriptures, we know that Salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9). We know that God saved us WHILE WE WERE DEAD in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:5). We know that He saves us by His grace NOT BY OUR WORKS (Ephesians 2:8-9). We know that He who began a great work in YOU, Christian, will bring it to completion (Philippians 1:6). We know that you were created for good works, WHICH GOD PREPARED BEFOREHAND, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).
So, work out your own salvation (not someone else’s) with fear and trembling because of your great reverence and respect for your great King. But also work out your own salvation with gratitude and from a heart of peace because of your faith in the will of God to will and to work the sin out of your life for your good and His glory.
In closing, a helpful way to understand this is to see how that faithful fear and trembling looked in the real life of the early church. In Acts 9:31 we see that:
“…the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.”
