Obedience Amidst the Crooked and Perverse
Tom Shrader expounds Philippians 2:12-15, clarifying that Paul's call to 'work out your salvation' means living in a way that reflects God's grace already received, not striving to earn salvation through deeds. Drawing on Genesis 3, Ephesians 2, and Titus 3, he traces the arc from humanity's fall to God's merciful provision in Christ, emphasizing that salvation is entirely a gift of grace through faith. He calls believers to persevere in obedience motivated by love and reverential awe of God, shining as lights in a crooked and perverse world—not through self-effort but through the ongoing work of God within them.
“God begins to change our wanter. You have a desire now. All of a sudden, you care now about things you never cared about before, and you've lost interest in things that used to be obsessions to you.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Philippians
Recorded: 2008 at East Valley Bible Church
Duration: 49 min
Themes: obedience, grace, salvation, faith, perseverance, light in darkness, fear of god, holy living, new believer, struggling with doubt, feeling unworthy, trying to earn gods love, young adult, seeking assurance, discouraged christian, parent
Scripture: Philippians 1:6, Philippians 1:9, Philippians 1:11, Philippians 1:27, Philippians 2:5, Philippians 2:12-15, Philippians 2:13, Philippians 2:14, Philippians 2:18, Philippians 4:2, Philippians 4:9, Ephesians 2:1-10, Ephesians 4, Genesis 2:15-17, Genesis 3:1-21, Titus 3:3-7, Matthew 17:1-5, 1 John 2:6, 1 John 5:13, Romans 10:9, Romans 15:13, Luke 5:30, 2 Peter 1:12-13
Theological Themes: sanctification, becoming holy, soteriology, salvation by grace, total depravity, the fall, justification, works vs grace
Full Transcript
Opening Prayer and Introduction
Acknowledge You as Lord, the Lord of lords, King of kings, the creator and sustainer of this universe. God, in our own lives, we sin and fail, and we find forgiveness in You. God, we can work and work and work, but if it is apart from You and Your Spirit, it is of no value. God, thank You that in our lives You do not abandon us. Thank You for saving us, bringing us to this point here today, and I am so grateful that You use us in spite of ourselves. God, I pray this morning that You take this time and this word and You would honor it, and You would teach us. We pray that in Jesus' name. Amen.
Good morning. Great to see you this morning. Open your Bibles, if you would please, to Philippians chapter 2, verse 12.
Announcements
As you turn there, just a couple of things. A reminder: if you are with us for the first time, would you take a second and complete that registration card. Also, beginning today, and now for every Sunday, for those of you that are visitors, there will be a team over in the Commons, which is in the center of the campus. There will be a bunch of people that would love to give you some direction on exactly how to get there, but over in the Commons will be some people from area ministries. They are there for one reason, and that is to meet you and greet you, to let you know they are happy to see you and answer any questions you might have.
You also received in the bulletin the insert for Good Friday and Easter. These are all over campus — you will see them on some of the boxes out in the lobbies — and we want you to take as many of these as you can and use them to distribute to people that God brings into your life who are looking for a place to worship on Good Friday and Easter. You will see the times and the specifics there. We are going to do something a little bit different on Good Friday this year. We are actually going to meet over in the Conference Center rather than here and take a little bit of a different approach.
Two weeks from today on Palm Sunday, we will have a Seder dinner, which I think we do about every other year. If you have never been around a Seder dinner or never experienced one, it will take the whole experience of Good Friday and Easter the following week and really drive that home to you. What that means is that on that Sunday we will all be in this room, so all the services will meet in this room at the same times. If you could avoid the 10:30 hour that Sunday, that would be helpful to us, as we will be pretty crowded in here. Perhaps come at four in the afternoon, or as a second choice, at 8:30 in the morning.
Returning to the Text: Philippians 2:12
Philippians chapter 2 — we are at verse 12, which begins, depending upon the translation you have, with either the phrase "so then" or "therefore." Either way, it accomplishes the same thing. The moment we see it, we have to stop and remind ourselves of the context that we have been painting. We have spent our last two sessions in this study looking at verse 29 of chapter 1 — a wonderful time. If you missed that, I think it would be worth going back to the website and working through that again. God's Word speaks to us especially about suffering, pain, and hardship.
Last time, we took the principle found in chapter 1, verse 27, and the illustration Paul gives us in the first part of chapter 2, and brought those together. That is what Paul has in mind here when he says "therefore" — because of the principle. So let me remind you of that principle. Paul states it here as: "Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel." He says the same thing in Ephesians chapter 4: "Walk in a manner worthy of your calling." John expresses the same idea in 1 John 2:6: "The one who says he abides in Christ ought himself to walk in the same manner as Christ walked."
That is the principle: to conduct ourselves — and the word "walk" there does not mean some antiquated, ancient mode of transportation, but carries the idea of lifestyle. Let your lifestyle, the way you live, be worthy of the gospel. You have been saved — look like it. Rather than producing a list of specific activities — which is what we want to do right away, isn't it? We want to say, here is a Christian because look at what he does — that is not where Paul goes. Paul goes to how you think. Verse 5 of chapter 2: "Have the attitude in you that is in Christ Jesus." It is not just that you abide in Him and walk in Him, but that you begin to look like Him, respond like Him, and think like Him.
The Illustration of Christ
So what Paul is doing here in verse 12 is tying together the principle from chapter 1, verse 27, and the illustration from the first part of chapter 2, and now applying them to the lives of his readers. Here is the principle: walk this way. Here is the illustration: Christ demonstrated it. Where our instinct is to either cling to power or grab for more of it, Christ did the opposite. How often do we hear someone described as a controller? Everybody wants control and wants it their way. Some are passive aggressive, some are visibly aggressive, but they are all aggressive. That is human nature. And Paul says he does not want that for us.
The Motivation Behind Obedience
What is the motivation for obedience? That becomes really important. What was Paul's prayer in chapter 1, verse 9? "This I pray, that your love may abound more and more with real knowledge and discernment." Those are all important, but the ultimate goal, verse 11, is that you will be filled with fruits of righteousness. Here is what he is saying: I want you to fall so in love with God and who He is. I want you to know Him. I want you to know Christ intimately and personally, and your love for Him motivates your obedience — not some sense of duty.
That duty-driven approach is religion. That is legalism. You can tell those people a mile away — no smile on those faces, because everything is duty. But Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." We tend to focus on the keeping of the commandments, but He points us first to the motivation: because you love Me, since you love Me, there is going to be something in your life that is clear to everybody around you. There is going to be an obedience. And even when you sin, you are broken over that sin and you struggle with it. That is the whole idea Paul has here, and that is the key point he is making.
Working Out Your Salvation
Because of this principle, because of this illustration, Paul writes in chapter 2, verse 12: "Therefore, my beloved, just as you always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but much more in my absence." The key verb in that verse is "work out." This idea of working out carries the sense of continuing — and we will unpack that in a moment. Work out what? Your salvation. And then comes a critical phrase: "with fear and trembling."
Here is the tension Paul is addressing. There is great freedom in the Christian life — God gives us enormous freedom. But how is that freedom regulated? By my love of Him and my sense of fear and awe of Him. That is what keeps the freedom from becoming license.
Paul's Relationship with the Philippians
Paul simply loved the people at Philippi. He had been there with them. He taught them. In chapter 4, verse 9, you get a sense of that intimacy when he writes, "The things that you learned and received and heard and seen in Me, practice these things." He had spent time with them. They were able to observe him. They heard his teaching and saw something distinctly different in the way he lived. Now he is calling them to practice those same things.
Paul had been the instrument God used to bring the gospel to those who had never heard it, and they began to have this incredible closeness and bonding. It only makes sense that when he was present with them, they would want to obey. But Paul wants to take it to the next step — not obedience only in his presence, but now in his absence.
Obedience When No One Is Watching
There is a statistic that comes up often in these conversations: nine out of ten young people who are church-going kids, when they enter college their freshman year, come out of college not involved in church, not attending at all. When you talk to them, a couple of reasons emerge. Sometimes they were never truly believers. But almost always there is also this sense of newfound freedom. When mom and dad were around, they pretty much had to attend. They were at church, involved in a small group or discipleship, doing those things — but doing them out of duty, because everybody was watching. Now that mom and dad are no longer there, they go their own way.
Paul is saying, "Don't disappoint me, please." And more importantly, don't disappoint your Lord. The Philippians were incredible when Paul was present with them, and he is urging them to continue in that — even more so — now that he is not.
The Transfiguration and the Mountaintop Experience
In Matthew chapter 17, there is a moment called the Transfiguration. Matthew chapter 17, verse 1: "Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Peter said to Jesus, 'Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah.'"
That is a vivid picture. Peter is having a mountaintop experience — literally — and he is saying there is no point in going back down. Let's stay right here. Let's live here. The same thing happens at winter camp with students, and the same thing will happen at summer camp.
The Call to Keep Going
It is the same thing we experience at a marriage getaway. I am going to teach this summer one week at Forest Home and another week up at Cannon Beach, and it will be the same experience there. We are in these incredible settings, and there is this moment where we say, "Let's just stay. I wish we could just stay right here." Here is the point: you can't. That is His point.
While He — Peter — was speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." The next section of that verse is so important: "Listen to Him." It is exactly what Peter experienced. He wanted to stay there, and Jesus said, no, we have got to go live this thing.
Paul has said to us: when I was there, you saw it, you obeyed. Now I want you to listen, and I want you to be motivated by My love for you and your love for Me. And here is what I want you to do. Back to Philippians chapter 2 verse 12 — I want you to work out, literally, keep on working toward completion, to fulfillment. I want you to continue to work to the completion of your salvation.
Returning to the Basics
I had a great morning. I had three or four people stop me, and a couple of emails said they are loving the study in the book of Philippians. When Chuck Holmes came in and we prayed before I came over, he said, "I'm loving the study in the book of Philippians." I said it feels to me like I am saying the same thing every week.
This Tuesday, in our pastoral time together, Bill Hartley was leading the devotions and quoted from 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 12 and 13. He read it from the New American Standard, and it resonated with me, so I spent a little time pulling it apart. In Eugene Peterson's paraphrase of 2 Peter chapter 1 verses 12 and 13, Peter writes this to his audience: "Because the stakes are so high, even though you're up to date on all this truth, and practice it inside out, I'm not going to let up for a minute in calling you to attention before it. This is the post to which I've been assigned, keeping you alert with frequent reminders, and I'm sticking to it as long as I live."
That is a little bit of how I feel in the middle of this series in Philippians. We are looking at something very basic. You cannot read chapter 2 verse 12 — "work out your salvation with fear and trembling" — and begin to unpack that unless you have a really clear understanding of the idea of salvation. It is a foundational, fundamental truth, and part of me wants to move right through it, and the other part says no, we have to go through this yet again.
All things working out right, I am going to play golf tomorrow. We will get there early and hit some balls on the driving range. One of the guys I am playing with used to be a professional before he retired. I will say to him, because I say it every time, "Will you look at my grip to see if it's right?" There are all sorts of guys worried about swing planes and angles and everything. All I want to know is, am I holding it right? Am I set up right? If I have a hold of it right and I am standing right, the rest will happen.
This is a little bit like that. We have to get this right. It is that foundational — this idea of salvation.
What "Work Out Your Salvation" Does and Does Not Mean
This phrase has been misunderstood and misapplied all over the place. I come from a church background where we were taught that Jesus lived and died for our sins and rose from the dead — all of that. But there was also a list of things we had to do before salvation was ever involved. By salvation, here is what I mean: we are going to be united with Christ in heaven. We had all the right words, but we were applying really different dictionaries.
I have had many friends from that church background bring me to this passage and say, "You're one of those Bible guys — don't you know what it says in Philippians chapter 2 verse 12?" And I will say, "Remind me." They read: "Therefore, my beloved, just as you've always obeyed me, not so much in my presence only, but much more in my absence, work out your salvation." They say, "It says, work out your salvation." I say, "Do you know what that means in the Greek?" They say no. It means work out your salvation — it means exactly what it says.
It does not say work for your salvation, or work toward your salvation. What Paul is literally saying is: do the things that result from being saved. You have been saved, delivered — and we will come back and unpack those words, especially for those of you who are new or who are thinking right now, "I'm not sure about those words." Here is what Paul is saying and what he is not saying. He is not saying work and maybe you will be saved or maybe you won't. He is saying, because God has done this incredible work in your life, now go and look like you have been saved.
The Whole Bible in Two Movements
If you take the Bible and hold it like this, it is a pretty interesting exercise. This part here — really just up to about page 4, allowing for some introduction — is about creation and man's sin. The remaining 1,264 pages are about God fixing it. That is what the story is. He says you have sinned, and we will fix it. That is what salvation is about.
Turn with me to the book of Genesis. Let's go back and remind ourselves.
The World We Know Something Is Wrong With
We almost instinctively know something is wrong. If you doubt that, all you have to do is watch the presidential debates. Something's wrong with people, and most of you who are really honest would say there's something wrong with you. We all believe that. We can prove it. All I have to do is ask you to finish this: nobody's — so everybody's flawed. That's the whole point.
Well, how did we get that way? Genesis chapter 2 is the culmination of God's creation. God's creating, as recorded in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, and then in chapter 2, verse 15, God made man. He took the man and put him in the garden and He cultivated it and He kept it. The Lord commanded him, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely, but from the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, and the day that you eat from it you will surely die." That was God's command to him. One rule. This is how we know this was paradise — one law, no attorneys.
By the way, and we're not going to get into this, but all of the preceding verses have been benediction. As God creates, it is good, it is good, it is good. The first malediction is there in verse 18: "The Lord God said, it is not good for man to be alone, so I will make him a helper suitable for him," and Eve is created. So there's the backdrop — one law, one command.
What Genesis 3 Explains
Chapter 3 of Genesis is an amazing chapter. If you were to take chapter 3 of Genesis and just rip it out of this Bible, you would be absolutely confused. Look at chapter 2 — it ends with the man and his wife naked and not ashamed. They're in the garden in a state of innocence. Chapter 4 begins with Cain and Abel, and all of a sudden there is strife, bitterness, anger, and murder. You have to ask, how in the world did we get this way? How did the world get the way it is? The answer is in Genesis chapter 3.
"And the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord had made. And he said to the woman, 'Indeed, has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden?' And the woman said, 'From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may be eating, but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, don't eat it or touch it, lest you die.'" There are all sorts of applications here, but we're staying at 35,000 feet. We want the big picture.
The serpent said, "Surely you will not die, for God knows — here's the problem — God's just jealous. God knows that the day you eat from it, your eyes will be open. You'll be like God. You'll know good and evil. God just doesn't want you to be like Him." Haven't some of you felt that way? There's that God — the cosmic killjoy. He doesn't want me to have any fun. He just puts me down, puts me down, puts me down. One piece of fruit, and He won't even let me have it. What kind of God is that? And the serpent's answer is: you'll be just like Him. That's the hook.
The Sin We Carry
I guarantee you, I could take this piano and set it out in the lobby and a hundred people would just walk by it and look at it. But if I put a little card on there that said "Do Not Touch," every person who went by would reach out — just like that, every time. That's the "do not touch" instinct. You've got that gene now. You've got that in you. It's called sin. It's called original sin. It's called Adam's sin, and he plunged us into ruin.
Eve begins to think about what the serpent said. She thinks about it. She eats. She gives it to Adam. He eats. Verse 7 says their eyes were open and they knew they were naked. There's a lot of naked going on here — they were naked and okay in chapter 2, and now they're naked and something is wrong. They begin to cover themselves. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves.
If you want to look at the first instance of abnormal behavior in all of mankind, here it is — Genesis 3:8. They hid themselves in the presence of God.
Where Are You?
God said, "Where are you?" We've talked about this before — God doesn't ask this because He doesn't know exactly where they are, crouching behind that tree. God is not asking this question for His benefit. It's for their benefit. Perhaps the right response would have been to say, "You know what? This just isn't right. I was out there. Everything was fine. We were doing well. Now we've done what You said not to do, and now we're stuck here. Here's where I am, God." That's the call God puts on all of our hearts, isn't it?
There is that moment in time where you're looking around and you can almost hear Him say, "Tom, where are you? What are you doing there?" That is absolutely step one — because I have to understand where I am, and I have to understand who He is, so He can tell me how to get to Him. That's what the whole process is about.
God's Provision Over Our Own
They understood they were naked, so they took leaves and sewed them together and made coverings for themselves. Then God begins to unpack all of this. He talks about the curse. Look at chapter 3, verse 21: "The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them."
Here is what is going on. Man has sinned. Man instinctively knows something is wrong. In this case, he is hiding, and he comes up with his own system for covering — he takes these leaves and sews them together. God comes along and says those aren't any good. You don't need your own provision. You need My provision. You need the skin of an animal. And my assumption is that animal did not simply walk out of its own skin.
The Problem We All Share
God slaughtered that animal and clothed them with its skin. That is a picture of sin, man, our response, and God's provision. We instinctively know something is wrong with us. We know we are inadequate, deficient, and that we have sinned. Our provision, like Genesis 3:7, is to sew some leaves together — and that is what we call religion.
We are in need of being saved. What does that word mean? Delivered or rescued. Delivered or rescued from what? From the consequence of sin, because not only has it impacted our life here and now, but it has also impacted eternal life, so that if we die in this condition, we will be separated from God forever.
That raises one of those great questions: how could a loving God send anybody to hell? Because you said you wanted to go there. He said, "Do this," and you said no. God is a God of love, but He is also a God of righteousness, holiness, and judgment. Every sin ever committed by every person must be paid for in one of two ways.
Either it is paid for by the man, woman, or child himself — sewing together fig leaves, which is a totally inadequate payment, meaning it takes all of eternity and the debt is never paid in full — or that sin is paid for by Christ on the cross, and we stand in the covering that He has given us.
Titus 3: What We Once Were
I want to use two passages from the pen of the apostle Paul — one familiar, one perhaps not as familiar. Go to the back of the Bible and move to the left to the book of Titus, working through Revelation, 1 and 2 Peter, James, and Hebrews, and then slowing down to Titus chapter 3. Here is what Paul writes in Titus chapter 3, verse 3: *"For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another."*
When Paul talks about lust there, we might have a tendency to think of sexual appetites, but what he is talking about is that we simply have these human lusts — we tend to think and act like animals by nature. The wonderful word in verse 3, however, is the past tense: "we also once were." This is what you used to be. For those of you who took communion and are truly saved, this is who you used to be. For those who did not take communion, this is who you are — but that can be changed today if you come in repentance and faith.
How do we get changed? Verse 4: *"But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared"* — that would be Christ — *"He saved us."* What does that mean? He delivered us from our sin and the effect of our sin. We might think He did that because He saw something in us, or because we worked really hard, or because we are good people. But He says He saved us *"not on the basis of deeds which we had done in righteousness, but according to His mercy. He is the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit."*
Why One and Not the Other?
When I was teaching at the earlier service this morning, I looked around and saw two or three different couples where I know one is saved and the other is not, or a father with a child where one is saved and the other is not, or friends sitting side by side. That is the reason we give you those cards and ask you to take them with you — because it is really important. We know you love the people around you, and the most important thing you can do for them is to allow them to hear the gospel and pray. God applies it, and we provide those cards so that you can bring people and let them listen.
Isn't it amazing that two people — a husband and wife, two siblings, two friends — can sit here together, and one receives it and the other does not? Is it because one is smarter than the other? No. Is it because one has done more good works? No. It is because God has opened the eyes of one and not the other. As He says, He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy.
We were lost. That is what we were. But we are saved not on the basis of what we have done, but according to His mercy — grace, undeserved favor poured out on us. If you can understand the gospel today, it is in spite of who you are, not because of who you are. This truth, rightly understood, should produce no arrogance — no sense of "God chose me because I am something special." God chose you in spite of you. When we truly understand grace and mercy, we understand it is totally and completely of Him.
*"He poured out His Spirit on us richly through Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace, we would be heirs according to the hope of eternal life."* You may have walked in here a few minutes ago utterly hopeless — lost economically, relationally, in any number of ways — saying you have no answers and no hope. You can move from hopeless to hopeful in a moment by understanding and responding to this gospel. That is what He says.
Ephesians 2: Dead in Sin
Let me take you to another passage from Paul — this one is much more familiar. Move to the left in your Bible, back to Philippians, keep chapter two marked, and then turn left to the book of Ephesians. We will look at the same pattern Paul wrote to Titus, because he does essentially the same thing in Ephesians chapter 2 as he does in Titus — and in 1 Corinthians as well. He returns to this pattern over and over again in his writing.
Ephesians chapter 2, verse 1: *"You were dead."* Remember what he said back in Titus — you once were.
Grace, Faith, and the Foundation of Salvation
Foolish and disobedient and deceived and enslaved to lust — you were once dead in your trespasses and sin. In Ephesians chapter two, verse two, you were sons of disobedience. Verse three, by nature children of wrath. We looked at why that is naturally so back in Genesis chapter three.
But just as in Titus chapter three verse four, here in Ephesians chapter two verse four, you see the same two words: "but God." But God moves. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us — even when we were dead, He made us alive. Then comes the summary in verse eight: "For by grace you have been saved."
What is it that moves us from sinner to saint? What causes God to deliver us? It is grace. We are saved by grace through faith. All of a sudden we begin to see this and we have faith, but that faith is nothing we have done. "It's not of yourself. It is a gift of God." The faith itself is a gift of God.
If you want to drive a stake in the heart of the idea that you are somehow going to earn your salvation, verse nine settles it: "it is not a result of works, so that no one will boast." That is what we are talking about when we talk about salvation — the only hope for mankind.
Elections are tough, and it is easy to get deeply into all of it and start to think that our ultimate salvation lies in the Democratic Party or the Republican Party or in any person other than Christ. That does not mean we are uninvolved or that we do not participate. But it is God who saves and delivers us, because our ultimate problem is not economic or political or educational — our ultimate problem is spiritual. We need a new heart, and He gives one.
Saved for Good Works
Why then does verse ten say, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works"? This brings us right back to Philippians chapter two verse twelve: "Work out your salvation." Because you have been the recipient of grace, because He has shown you mercy, because He has opened your eyes and given you faith and done all of that, now you respond. You respond by diligently persevering and continuing — not to earn a salvation, but to allow people to see that God has changed your life.
There is a funeral coming up, and when the family was met with, they requested four passages of Scripture to be read. The first is Ephesians two, eight through nine: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." The second is Romans ten, nine: "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." The third is First John five, thirteen: "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life" — K-N-O-W, you can know it with absolute certainty. The fourth is Romans fifteen, thirteen: "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope."
When the Bible uses the word "hope" in that context, it does not mean maybe it will and maybe it will not. It means something certain and declared that will happen in the future. We anxiously await the hope that lies before us — that one day we will be face to face with Christ.
Working It Out in Daily Life
Ray Stedman writes this: "What Paul has in mind here is working through the problems, trials, and difficulties presented in daily, ordinary life. He is saying, use your mind and your will to solve your problems, confident that God is the one who is at work in you." That is precisely what Paul is saying here.
This could become very self-oriented or very works-oriented very quickly — lots of lists, lots of dos and don'ts, and we could get quite legalistic. One author puts it this way: in the Christian life, everything is right unless you know it is wrong. And how do you know it is wrong? It is prohibited in Scripture. What this means is that we have great freedom to live this life. Coming out of a religion filled with dos and don'ts and now knowing that we are saved by grace, we are not looking for a new list. He wants us to love Him and to work out our salvation.
And here is the paradox of verse thirteen: it is not even ultimately you doing it. It is a bit like asking who wrote the book of Philippians. Paul did — but did he really? No, the Holy Spirit did — but did He really? No, Paul wrote it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In the same way, you are to work out your salvation, yet verse thirteen says "it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." He changes the desire and then produces the doing.
Do All Things Without Grumbling or Disputing
Verse fourteen then presents an arresting command: "Do all things without grumbling or disputing." When Paul says all things, the reasonable conclusion is that he means all things — everything, certainly all the things that follow in the passage.
The word "grumbling" is the same word Luke uses in Luke chapter five verse thirty, when the Pharisees came to Jesus and said, "Why do you eat and drink with the tax gatherers and the sinners?" Disputing carries the idea of questioning or doubting — it is an argumentative spirit. Recall the mind described earlier, the mind that is also in Christ Jesus. What does that mind look like? He humbled Himself. The picture of someone who is not humble would include a great deal of grumpiness, grumbling, and disputing, with self at the very core of it.
So Paul states it negatively: work out your salvation — and do it without grumbling or disputing.
Living with Joy, Not Grumbling
Positively, verse 18 calls us to do everything with joy. John MacArthur writes: "Every circumstance in life is to be accepted willingly and joyfully without murmuring, complaining, or disappointment, much less resentment. There are no exceptions. There should never be either emotional grumbling or intellectual disputing. It is always sinful for believers to complain about anything the Lord calls them to do or about any circumstance which He sovereignly allows them." So Paul says, have this attitude in you that is also in Christ Jesus. Work out your salvation.
That idea of grumbling and disputing seems to appear throughout the letter. Looking back at chapter 4, verse 2, Paul names two women, Euodia and Syntyche, and they are in conflict. We do not know exactly what is going on, but it seems to be a pattern in this church at Philippi. So Paul says, work this out.
Fear, Trembling, and Living Before God
Work it out how? In fear and trembling. The idea of fear and trembling here is reverential awe. If we have this huge freedom — and we do — what is going to keep us on track? It is doing everything with fear and trembling, with an understanding of who God is and an awesome sense of His presence.
Sinclair Ferguson writes: "Paul is thinking of the way in which the Christian should always be conscious that he or she lives before the face of God. There should always be a sense of awe in light of the believer, a sense of living where we are always visible, always understood through and through, and amazingly, always loved by God. This sense of awe produces a special quality of obedience. It gives us direction, not wanting to please men, but honor God. It gives us integrity. Our obedience is tested by a more discerning eye than those of fellow sinners. It is an obedience filled with humility in which self-projection is always given way to devotion to the Lord." It is this idea of living life in the presence of God.
The Story of Rick Holland's Staff
Rick Holland — some of you know Rick — was the college pastor at Grace Church, John MacArthur's church in California, and now holds a senior associate role there. He periodically fills the pulpit for John and has done a men's conference for us here. He tells a wonderful story from his time in the college department, when two of his staff members, a young woman and a young man, came to him and said, "We know that you have character traits you look for and behavior you require on staff, and we need to tell you we have violated that." He asked what they had done. They said they had been dating for a while, were getting married, and had been intimate.
Holland said, "I know somebody saw you." They asked in alarm, "Was it you, Rick?" No. "Was it John?" No. "One of the staff?" No. "One of the kids?" No. "Then who was it?" God. And he said the couple almost responded, "Oh, wow — I thought it was you." But that is hard to live that way, and it is something to come back to again and again.
Character Versus Reputation
We have talked in many different ways about the difference between reputation and character. Reputation is what people think of you. Character is who you are. They are very different. What God is saying here — and this idea that Sinclair Ferguson picks up, and that you see in MacArthur, in Stedman, in Boyce, and in Scripture over and over again — is that we cannot do anything in our own strength, and yet we are called to persevere. How does that happen? It is through the living God dwelling in us, giving us the desire to want to do what is right.
Those of you who became Christians as adults — do you find yourself no longer wanting things that you once thought were really fun and really cool? What happened? God begins to change your "wanter." That is what these verses say. He changes your wanter. You suddenly have a desire for things you never cared about before, and you have lost interest in things that used to be obsessions. How did that happen? God began doing that work in your life.
Shining as Lights in a Crooked World
Paul says in verse 15 that the purpose of all this is "so that you will prove yourselves 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." Remember who you were — children of wrath, sons of disobedience. Now you are children of God.
One paraphrase captures it this way: He wants us to live in a certain way amongst a bunch of crooks and perverts. That is the world we live in. The word "crooked" means bent — we live in a distorted world. It is like walking into a room of funhouse mirrors where everything looks different. What the world says is really valuable, God tends to say is not, and what God says is really valuable, the world dismisses. It is an upside-down, crooked world. The distortion may involve morality, but it goes even deeper than that — it simply thinks differently.
But in the midst of this, you are a light. Paul says he wants us to work out our salvation, to put away grumbling and disputing, to live in a certain way, and to let our light shine — the very same thing Jesus said: "Let your light shine before men" in such a way that God is glorified.
Holding Fast to the Word of Life
Shine in such a way that others see your good works — that is the light. Then they glorify your Father in heaven. They see you doing the things that result from God's work in your life, God's grace and God's mercy in your life, and they don't praise you. They praise Him.
Hold fast to the Word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I haven't run in vain or toiled in vain. Be a source of great encouragement to me as you hold fast to the person of Christ and the Word of God. Even if I'm being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy in the same way.
That is what God is saying in His Word. His salvation is totally, completely, utterly a work of His. And then He summons us, calls us to go and to live in a way where our lives become transformed, and He tells us we can live that way confidently.
God's Work from Beginning to End
Why can we live confidently? Let's go back to chapter 1, verse 6, and close with it. Paul is confident of this very thing: that God who began the good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. The same idea appears again in chapter 2, verse 13 — God is at work in you to will, to work, to do His good pleasure.
God says to you and me that our sin has separated us from Him — that is pages one through four, so to speak. Pages five through 1,268 are about how God calls us and restores us and uses us and works in our life.
The Rhythms of the Christian Life
There will be those moments of acceleration that will just grow. There will be those exhilarating moments, and then there will be moments when you are in the midst of sin and you don't even know how you are going to get out. There will be those incredible highs, and then there will be those really difficult times.
There will be those times where every deal you touch closes, and other times where you couldn't make a deal close if you were the buyer and the seller. There are going to be times when you go to the doctor and he says everything is going to be great, and it is great. There will be times when you go in for what should be a routine visit and find yourself there for three and a half hours — I went to the dentist just last week expecting a quick check-up, and that is not how it went. There will be times when the light is green and times when the light is red. There will be times when your kids seem like perfect little angels, and times when you are thinking there is no way this could be my kid.
In the midst of all of that, God works on you and He works on me, and then He collectively works on us. He says, "I want you to conform to the image of Christ so the world will see something different about you." They won't see perfection, but they will see people who live with hope in the midst of a hopeless world — with light in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for Jesus, because we are truly hopeless without Him. God, the thought that we can live in a way that brings glory to You blows my mind, and when we read a little further and understand how, it has nothing to do with me and everything to do with You. God, I pray that You would continue to conform our thinking to Yours, that our everyday ordinary life would bring honor to You. As You said to Peter on that mountain of transfiguration, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am pleased — listen to Him." God, let us listen to Your voice and incorporate it in our life. We pray that in Jesus' name, Amen.