Philippians 2:12, 13 Why, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence… I. WE MUST WORK OUT OUR OWN SALVATION. 1. Our salvation is from evils within our reach, if it consisted chiefly of deliverance from future punishment, we could not touch it. But it is, in the main, deliverance from present ills - the sins, temptations, and troubles that beset us. A man's foes are them of his own household, even of his own heart. 2. Our salvation is not yet accomplished. It may be nearer than when we first believed. But while one sin still haunts us, one temptation still attacks us, or one trouble still threatens us, our salvation is not fully accomplished. We can only be called "saved" in the first act of faith, because salvation then begins and the promise of its completion is given us. But the perfecting of salvation is a lifelong, gradual process. 3. The securing of this salvation is in our own hands. St. Paul gives no justification for that one-sided perversion of the doctrine of grace, according to which "doing is a deadly thing." Except we work and fight, Christ's work and victory cannot profit us. 4. The salvation must be worked out to be perfected. We have to carry on what God begins, to develop the seed he sows, to work from the new heart within to the outer life. 5. This process must be carried on "with a nervous and trembling anxiety to do right (Lightfoot). II. WE CAN WORK OUT OUR OWN SALVATION BECAUSE GOD WORKS IN US. 1. God is in us. The language of the apostle is no empty metaphor. It describes a spiritual fact. The Christian is a temple because God inhabits him. 2. God works in us. We may contrast this truth with the Stoic doctrine of the indwelling Divinity. Reverence the Divinity that is within thee," says Marcus Aurelius. But the Stoic, though reverencing, does not look for much active aid from the indwelling God. The Christian receives God in him for a great purpose. God works, creating the disposition to do well - "to will," giving energy for the execution of it; "to do," and directing the course of our action, "for his good pleasure." 3. This working of God in us should prevent us from looking too much for extraneous human aid. The early Church was in danger of leaning too much on the apostles. When the guidance and inspiration of an apostle was removed, the Christians felt the loss of a great support. Especially must this have been the case with Churches founded and fostered by so great a man as St. Paul. There was danger in this. The apostle warns the Philippians against it, and tells them that they should do as well in his absence as in his presence, because God dwells in them. We often make too much of human teachers and leaders, instead of seeing that our real strength lies in immediate personal communion with God. He who trusts God most can be most self-reliant. 4. The working of God within us should be the great encouragement of our own energies. This great truth has been abused so as to encourage indolence, or at least to discourage effort. It is here brought before us with the very opposite purpose. For God works to enable us to work. His work in us is frustrated if we do not co-operate. But when we work we find the power in God, and so are encouraged to labor, knowing that, when most weak in ourselves, we are most strong in God. - W.F.A. Parallel Verses KJV: Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. |
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