Believers are called to work out their salvation with fear and trembling, not to earn it, but to manifest the salvation already received through God's grace. This exhortation in Philippians 2:12-13 is clarified by understanding that salvation is a gift, not earned by works, as stated in Ephesians 2:8-9 and John 10:28. The true meaning is to practically live out one's salvation by glorifying Christ in humility and obedience, empowered by God who works within believers to will and to do His good pleasure. This internal work enables believers to shine as lights in the world, fulfilling God's purpose and bringing joy to those who led them to Christ.
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Beloved friends, we greet you in the worthy name of our beloved Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We welcome you to the Bible study in the Philippian Epistle. We come in chapter two to verses twelve and thirteen, and we have an exhortation in this section, where, after hearing that the Lord Jesus is our pattern for the Christian life. It is in this section the Apostles' words of exhortation followed by saying, In verses twelve and thirteen, Wherefore, my beloved brethren, 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.
For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. May God bless the reading of this precious word. Now what does Paul mean? These words can be, and sometimes they are misunderstood by many. Some would teach, from this scripture we should be working for our salvation. But is not this contrary to many sections in the Word of God? For we are plainly taught in many places that the salvation of our souls is by grace, through faith, not of works, lest any man should boast, as we read in Ephesians two, eight, and nine.
And many other scriptures could be quoted. For every true believer has salvation given to him, and to her, by God's grace, they never can, and they never do, work for it. Well, as the Christian poet said, I cannot work my soul to save, for that my Lord has done. But I should work, like any slave, in love to God's dear Son. But there are some who may say, if a believer does not work in order to stay saved, that believer is in danger of being unsaved and lost again.
Oh, my friend, this also is unscriptural. For the Word of God teaches the eternal security of all who have received eternal life, I give unto my sheep eternal life, said the Savior, and they shall never perish in John chapter ten and verse twenty-eight. May I kindly ask, if any person receives a gift that is eternal, how can they lose something that is eternal? If they could lose it, it would not be eternal. You could not call it eternal.
My beloved, you know as well as I do. Again and again, let me quote John three sixteen, you know so well. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have what? Everlasting life. Now, how long does everlasting life last? Everlasting. Please be simple, but be honest. and take God at his word. But to explain our scripture we would suggest. The exhortation is not meaning that we must work to keep ourselves saved, but it means that our own personal salvation which we now have in Christ, that salvation is to be worked out in our lives.
Salvation is to be practically manifested in the life and walk. by glorifying Christ. We ought to work out what we have been studying, the blessed pattern, Christ, as we have had it revealed to us in our preceding part of the chapter. And Paul says, do it, but with fear and trembling, not the fear of being lost, but the fear of failure and not walking as the Lord walked. In loneliness of mind, in true humility, and in true obedience. Oh, my beloved, do not fail to note the encouraging words.
To be able to do this, what the Apostle states in verse thirteen. For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do its good pleasure. I confess it is a serious responsibility and a solemn one for the believer to seek to live like Christ. But there is no reason to be discouraged. It is God himself who is the worker. Please know what he says. For, as you've got it in the Scripture, it is God who worketh in you. Both are willing to do his good pleasure.
My beloved, may I give you the thought? I hope you can take it in and will take it in. God does it. And if he does it, I am nothing. Just a channel. Nothing more. He's the worker. I'm the channel. This I covet and I implore. My beloved, may I give you the precious truth? What Paul is saying here is not that you are working for God, but God is working through you. That's the Christian life. God working in us and through us to will and to do his good pleasure.
Now we come to verses fourteen through sixteen. And thus when God works in us and through us, we shall fulfill these words. Do all things without murmuring or disputing, that she may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and a perverse generation or nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. My beloved water testimony every believer should be, and will be, when we are obeying these exhortations.
As the Lord was harmless, as he was sincere in life, Paul is saying, We shall be blameless and harmless and sincere. Be irreproachable, children of God, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. My beloved, what a joy and privilege and a responsibility to shine. Please know what the Apostle says. To shine as lights in the world. Oh, my beloved, how are you shining? How am I? Oh, the responsibility. The Lord Jesus said, When He was here, I am the light of the world. Now you and I are told, Since He has gone back to glory above, where to shine as lights in the world?
Well, did one write a little chorus I always loved in the past? Shine, shine, shine where you are. Shine for the Lord where you are. Into the night, send forth the light. Shine for the Lord where you are. Yes, my beloved. How the Apostle Paul desired his Philippian believers to solely for Christ. But when the Lord came back, which is the day of Christ, even the labors and the efforts of Paul the Apostle would have proved faithful and fruitful and bring him great joy when in heaven above. Oh, how the beloved Apostle certainly longed.
The testimony of the Philippian believers would prove Paul's ministry was not in vain. Neither did he labor in vain. My beloved, I'm sure I'm telling the truth. Many of our dear servants of God may have often felt that their labors were in vain as far as the fruit, when the lives of Christians proved not to be shining for the Lord. My beloved, you and I who are saved, Whoever God used to bring us to Christ, whoever may have been the one that pointed us to the Lord Jesus Christ and led us to the Savior. May your life and mind be such that when in glory we meet them again, they will find they labored not in vain.
Now, my unsafe friend, you did know not the Lord. Let me emphasize the closing moments of the broadcast. Salvation is God's free gift. We have explained that the believer possesses eternal life now, and is exhorted to work out, or permit God to work out in his and her life, the evidence of this salvation. But may I be clearly understood that in order to obtain God's great and free salvation of eternal life, It must be received, not as being merited, but as a free, undeserved gift.
Now, can you truthfully say, if you pay for anything, it will be a gift? Frankly, you know you cannot. But God says to us in his word, and listen to Romans six, twenty-three, the wages. The inevitable penalty and wages of our sin is death. And you and I deserve this penalty, and an eternal death of separation in the lake of fire for our sins. But in the same verse, Romans six, twenty-three, Paul goes on to write, But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Now look carefully at what we have read. You know there is a great distinction between wages and a gift. What wages are what you work for, what you deserve, what you earn. A gift is something you have never done anything to receive. God says we have clearly earned a penalty for our sins. But please, don't forget that penalty was sacrificially in love paid for you and for me by Christ when He was upon the cross. He bore our sins in His own body on the tree. The just for the unjust that he might bring us to God. First Peter, two-twenty-four. And because he voluntarily, completely and lovingly paid that debt we owed, God now offers salvation free without money and without price.
It is a gift. What a gift. Purchase at tremendous cost. Now my friend, if you want the gift, you must take it. And if you do not take it, then you'll pay the wages. And I'm sure you cannot afford to reject such a great gift. For grace, by grace are ye saved through faith. That not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Salvation for you, my beloved unsaved friend, can only be yours by accepting it. as the gift of God, and a gift that has been made possible for every man, every woman, every boy, every girl, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
My friend, why not take the gift? Take him now and thank the giver. Then you can work when the gift is yours, for what God puts in you will be eternal life. and then God can work in you and through you both to will and to do his good pleasure. May God bless his word. Amen.