More than a 'Check Box' - Philippians 2:12-18

Sermon Series: Partners in Christ

Most of you are familiar with ‘to-do’ lists I assume. If you aren’t a person who likes to have a ‘to-do’ list you probably know someone who does. Some people really like having a list in front of them of the things that need to get done in a certain day or during the week and then take great satisfaction when they have completed one of those tasks and are able to check it off of their list. I’m not a big ‘to-do’ list guy, but I know one or two people who do feel the need to have a ‘to-do’ list and who do enjoy checking things off of their list each day. My wife, Amy, is one of those people. She likes to have a ‘to-do’ list to work through and likes the satisfaction of checking off the items that she has completed when they are done. What’s neat for me is that sometimes I find her ‘to-do’ list near the end of the day and simply by looking at her ‘to-do’ list I can see all that she wanted to get accomplished during the day. The other thing that I can tell from Amy’s ‘to-do’ list is exactly what chores or tasks have been completely finished. It’s the items with a check next to them that got done and the items that don’t have a check next to them that she didn’t have time to get to. For example, laundry at our house is a big task. When you have six people in your family and four of them are small children who have a hard time pitching in helping with the folding, it’s a chore that takes a lot of time. Sometimes for us laundry may start on a Monday, but may not be completed until Tuesday. Amy may write down laundry on Monday’s ‘to-do’ list and may not only get started with the laundry, but get a majority of the laundry done. But if she has not completed the laundry she doesn’t check it off of her ‘to-do’ list for Monday. Check marks aren’t placed on her ‘to-do’ list when a chore is started (i.e. she doesn’t put the first load of laundry in and then go check off laundry from her ‘to-do’ list), but rather when a chore is completed.

I start with this example this week because unfortunately there are many believers who look at parts of their faith as items on a ‘to-do’ list. They see aspects of their faith as “one-time events” or “chores” that simply need to be completed so that they can be checked off and so that the next event or chore can be undertaken. And for many believers in Christ, the first item that they see on a “Christian to-do list” is “Salvation.” For many Christians, they understand that their life as a follower of Christ begins when they trust in Jesus as their Savior and Lord – when they receive the gift of salvation from Him. This is why they tend to think of “salvation” as the starting point for their Christianity – and in many ways it is. Unfortunately though, when we see our salvation as an item on a to-do list we often put a mental check mark next to that item and then move on as though ‘salvation’ is completed and now we have to move on to getting other items on our “Christian to-do list” checked off.  As we move through our text this week one of the things we’ll discover is that ‘salvation’ is not a one-time event on a to-do list that gets checked off when we trust in Jesus as our Savior and Lord. (We can’t think of it in that way.) Instead Paul is going to challenge us that salvation is more than just a check box that we throw a check in and move on from. Salvation is something that we take possession of and continuously need to work out – not only as individuals, but also as a church body.

Put the Pencil Down - There's More To Do! (vs. 12-13)

Verse 12 of chapter 2 begins with the word ‘therefore,’ which is always an important marker in our study of scripture, because it is a word that connects two thoughts or ideas together. So immediately, when we see this word, we have to prepare ourselves for the fact that what Paul is getting ready to say is tied to what he has just previously said. G. Walter Hansen says this in regards to how verse 12 begins, “The word therefore points to the intended results of all that the Christ hymn [i.e. verses 5-11] proclaims. Christ’s death on the cross and His universal Lordship are not abstract theological concepts far removed from the nitty-gritty problems of everyday life. Reflection on the cross of Christ, the exaltation of Christ, and the universal worship of Christ leads to reconciliation in the community of those who confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” In other words, those things that Paul wrote about Jesus’ humility, about His incarnation, about His death, and about His resurrection and His exaltation aren’t just good things to know and which only apply to salvation. Those things also have implications for the life of the church and how the church continuously lives for His glory. So if we are going to be individuals whose lives are lived for His glory and a church that lives for His glory, we have to be continually meditating on the good news of the gospel so that it can be continuously shaping us and helping us to let our manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ (1:27).

Verse 12 continues, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling . . .” According to Paul the church at Philippi had already been moved by the news of who Jesus was, how He had humbled Himself, and how He had been exalted by God, to live out their faith and carry out their roles as servants of Christ. Paul knew the church at Philippi to be a church that had “always obeyed” – suggesting that they had carried out their role as “servants of Christ” [1:1] well (servants being by definition those who are to carry out the wishes/orders of their masters.) and in relative unity with one another. Paul commends the church at Philippi for doing this well, but then he also encourages them not to ease up. Their service and unity in the past have been great but Paul is speaking now to their current situation. Paul says to this church, “Don’t let your obedience to God, your service in ministry, and your unity with one another be limited to the time that I was with you. Now that I’m away and in prison it’s even more important to continue to live out the salvation you have been given.” Understand that this wasn’t exactly the easiest of instructions to receive from Paul. Since Paul had been away the church had begun to face both persecution from outside the church (which discouraged further service) and opposition from within the church (with discouraged unity). Being a part of the church as unified servants of Christ had become much more difficult than just being a part of a weekly time of praise and worship. The temptation for many would have been to look for an easier way – to discontinue their obedience and service so that the hardships they encountered would go away. A temptation that would have been even more enticing without Paul being around. But Paul encourages the church at Philippi not to fall into this temptation. He wanted them to work even harder at working out their salvation. (When Paul encourages the church at Philippi to work out their salvation, he isn't encouraging them to try to earn God's forgiveness and salvation - that's never been Paul's understanding of salvation.  Paul understood salvation to be a gift one received from God.  So when Paul encourages the church at Philippi to work out their salvation, He's encouraging them to live in such a way that the salvation they have received is visible.  He wants the way they lived to be shaped and molded by the salvation they have received.  So his exhortation to them is to be continuously living in a way that demonstrates this - 'working it out' so that those around them see evidence of the salvation that has been given to them.)

Verse 12 clearly paints a picture that our salvation as believers is not something that we complete and check off. Rather it is something that we must continuously be working out. So we need to take our imaginary pencil and put it down. We won’t be checking off any boxes because we have more to do. The good news of who Jesus is and what He has done for us should continuously compel us to live in a manner that puts Him on display.

Working out their salvation could probably encompass a variety of different explanations. However, within the context of what Paul has recently been writing, the emphasis seems to be on putting flesh to their salvation by continuing to work on and build their social harmony and unity of their church. In 1:27 Paul exhorted them to stand firm in one spirit and to strive side by side with one mind; in 2:2 he exhorted them to be of the same mind, to have the same love, and to be in full accord with one another; and we’ll see in 2:14 that he exhorts them to do all things without grumbling or questioning. Paul is clearly concerned with the church as a whole and is stressing to them that they have a need to “work out,” or put flesh on their salvation by demonstrating unity as they work together towards a common purpose. The reality of the gift of salvation that we receive has implications here and now, not only for us as individuals, but also corporately as a church. Those who make up the church and those outside of the church see those present implications when they see a group of distinct and separate individuals living together in selfless unity for the glory and fame of God. Paul adds at the end of verse 12 that as the church worked out their salvation they were to do it “with fear and trembling.” Working out their salvation as a church, who according to 2:1 shared in the participation of the Spirit, was something they did with one another in the greater context of their community – but also something they did within the very presence of God and Christ Jesus. The church was to work out the salvation they had received from and in the presence of the One who according to 2:9-11 had been highly exalted, given the name above every name, and before whom every created thing would one day bow in recognition and worship. The church at Philippi (as well as the church today) had to keep in mind that they weren’t simply living out their life as church before one another, they were living out their life as a church before their sovereign and majestic God and Savior. Doing that required an attitude of both fear and trembling.

In verse 13 Paul continues with insight for the church that is vital for their (and our) understanding - “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Paul called the church in verse 12 to work out their salvation, but the only reason the church is able to do that is because God is already working in them. This is huge! Paul tells the church at Philippi that God is playing a vital role in their life as a church, empowering the church to have both the will to work and the ability to work for His pleasure and glory. Can you believe this? God works in us individually and as a church to both give us and sustain in us a ‘will’ to work for Him. While most of the time our self-centeredness tells us that we ought to only labor and work for our own advancement and for our own sake, God is working in and among us so that we might have a desire (or a will) to work for Him. Then after providing us with the will to work for His sake, He also gives us the ability to work for His sake. This is consistent with what Paul teaches to the church at Ephesus in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” God has prepared good works for us to do! He places within the hearts of individuals and within the heart of the church the will to do them! Then God empowers us to carry out those plans for His good pleasure!

So let me ask you to stop here and give some consideration to a couple of questions. Do you believe that God has prepared for you individually and for our church collectively good works for us to carry out? I hope you do! Do you believe that God places in your heart individually and in our church collectively a will (or a desire) to carry out those plans? Again, I hope you do! But this is where selfish ambitions and self-centeredness become a big problem for our churches today. We have some believers in Christ today who quite honestly don’t believe that God has any work that He’s created them for. They believe that they got a pass from God. They believe that God has work for some of His followers to do, but they aren’t one of those individuals. Therefore they don’t have a need to serve Him or to take part in their church’s service for Him. There are other believers who have been able to discern the work that God has prepared for them to do. They have recognized the spiritual gifts that they have been given and can see clearly the place where God could use them. And the reality that is so important to understand is that God has actually given them a desire to be used in that manner. The problem that occurs in these individuals is that their flesh has a different desire. The flesh may not want to commit to such a big task. The flesh may be more comfortable not serving. And so rather than being obedient to the desire that God has placed in them to serve, they choose to be obedient to their selfish desires and separate themselves from the work that God has prepared for them to do. Then there are others who believe that God wants to use them, who have a desire to be a part of God’s work, but wrestle with believing that God will empower them to do what they believe He is calling them to do. And so rather than taking part in the work God has prepared for them and their church, they sit uninvolved on the sidelines waiting for something easier to come along. As a church we can’t be content to remain in this condition. We as a chuch need to hear the message of Paul thus far in his letter to the church at Philippi. Our role as believers in Jesus is that of servants! And because we are all servants of Jesus that makes us together partners in Christ – working together for His purpose and His glory! The mission that we’ve been called to collectively is the advancement of the gospel! It is the good news of the gospel that makes forgiveness possible for those lives have been marred by sin. It is the good news of the gospel that reconciles us and brings us back into right relationship with God the Father. And it is the good news of the gospel that causes each person to once again live for the purpose for which they were created – to worship and glorify God. Paul (as well as others) have been given their ministries to help equip us as a church, so that we might live as a church in a manner worthy of the gospel. That together, we would not be divided in our purpose or striving after our own selfish ambitions, but rather we would be unified and together we would strive to make known the faith and salvation that we have received. Doing this will require great humility – humility modeled for us by Jesus, Himself, when He left His throne in heaven and came to earth to die as a substitute for us. Our past times of obedience are great. But we can’t ease off now! We have to continue to work out the salvation we have been given by demonstrating our unity as a church and continuing to do our best to make the good news of the gospel known. And we can do it, because God is already working within us, to give us the will to serve Him and to give us the ability to serve Him. The only question that remains is, “How will we respond?”

A New Motivation - SHINING! (vs. 14-18)

For those who are motivated by completing or "checking off" a task, the news that salvation isn't a one time event that we complete and check off could be very discouraging. And if those individuals are going to continue to strive to work out their salvation they are going to need a new motiviation. Paul supplies that in verses 14 through 18. Beginning in verse 14 Paul provides the church at Philippi with some practical instructions as they strive to work out their salvation in the context of the church. He starts by instructing the church at Philippi to “Do all things without grumbling or questioning.” In this command Paul is articulating to the church that there isn’t any room for quiet and secretive expressions of displeasure and the questioning of things for the purpose of disputing with others. Murmuring and questioning (as it’s used in this sense) aren’t ever done for the good of others, for the good of the church, or to the praise and glory of Jesus. These are divisive actions that have behind them the intent to divide individuals. Think about times when we have murmured about something. Wasn’t our intention to quietly cause others to be displeased about something we felt displeasure toward and to cunningly win them to our way of thinking? And think about the times we have questioned things, not in a healthy way, but questioned things in a way that was actually more of a means of disputing. Was our intention to really create healthy dialogue about a subject that we had questions about, or was our intention to assault an idea or a direction that we weren’t on-board with so that others would align their way of thinking with ours? These kind of actions had no place within the church and worked against that which Paul said the church should be striving towards – Christ-centered unity.

By keeping their speech free of grumbling and questioning Paul says that they (the church) would “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” (vs. 15). Keep in mind that these characteristics are descriptions of the church as a whole (not specific individuals who are a part of the church). A church that does all things without grumbling or questioning would be blameless in the sense that the conversations within their community would be free from murmuring and complaining. The word Paul uses that is translated ‘innocent’ was often used to describe pure wines that weren’t mixed with anything else. So a church that does all things without grumbling or questioning would be innocent (or pure) in the sense that their conversations would be without any mixture of evil. And a church that does all things without grumbling or questioning would demonstrate that they were in fact children of God who were without any blemish or fault in regards to the conversations that they had with one another. It’s hard to imagine that a group of individuals doing life together with one another from day to day could be described as blameless, innocent and without blemish in regards to their conversations with one another. But Paul envisioned that the church (then and now) would both look and sound entirely different from the rest of the world. So Paul suggests that our motivation for continuously working out our salvation in this manner is that our church (as well as our lives individually) would shine like lights in the world. Sin's overwhelming power and presence in our world has led people to live lives that Paul describes as "crooked and twisted." And the result of sin's presence and the crooked and twisted living of others is that a great darkness has been cast over our world. Paul says that the church (not just individuals) should have a presence in the very midst of this darkness (not outside of this darkness), because it's there that the church can shine as a light. This is the motivation for those who are followers of Christ to continue to work out their salvation and to strive together for the faith of the gospel - because when they do they shine like lights!

In verse 16 Paul instructs the church at Philippi to hold fast to the word of life. He uses the phrase ‘word of life’ here synonymously with the gospel (the good news of forgiveness, salvation, and reconciliation made possible through Jesus) that he has proclaimed and taught. So in other words Paul is instructing the church at Philippi to hold fast to the message of the gospel. This word of instruction is incredibly important for the church. It is the message of the gospel (the word of life) that is the source of life for the church. The people residing in Philippi had been taught about sin, its consequences, and their inability to earn the favor or forgiveness of God. They had heard about the life of Jesus, about His crucifixion and death, and about His resurrection to life again three days later. They had heard that Jesus’ death was a substitution for the death that they deserved because of the sin in their lives. And they had heard that Jesus’ resurrection was proof that He was the Son of God and that He had conquered sin, Satan, and death. The people residing in Philippi had learned that because Jesus had completely paid the penalty for the sin of humanity that He gave to those who placed their trust in Him by believing in Him new life. The sins that stained and blemished their lives could be forgiven and washed clean because of Jesus’ sacrifice. The separation that they had experienced from God could be bridged and they could be reconciled with God the Father because Jesus had received the full measure of God’s wrath and (because He was alive) He could act as an intercessor. They could also receive strength and empowerment to overcome the temptations that would come their way in the future and to live in a Christ-honoring, God-glorifying way because Jesus was alive and could help empower them to do so. So many of the people in Philippi had trusted in Jesus as Savior and Lord and had experienced the radical, life-giving, and life-changing salvation that He had freely extended to them. While Jesus was the real means of salvation and new life, it was the message of this salvation (i.e. the Gospel, the ‘word of life’) that brought the people of Philippi to the knowledge of this salvation. Because it was this ‘word of life’ that had become the source of life for the church, Paul instructed the church at Philippi that it was important that they continue to hold fast to that word of life, so that the church would continue to move forward and so that they could continue to make this new life known to those who had not yet heard it and believed in it.

It was also the ‘word of life’ (i.e. the message of the Gospel) that Paul had been laboring and toiling so hard to make known to all people. If you take a comprehensive look at Paul’s life you find that he had literally given his life to traveling thousands of miles (spanning at least five modern day countries) to go to the most influential cities of his time to make known the message of Jesus and to establish churches in those places that would continue to carry out the work of the proclamation of the gospel. There was nothing more important to Paul and nothing greater that he could imagine giving his life to. The message of Jesus had transformed his life and as he had come to discover who God is and what He had done for him, Paul knew that it was a message that every person needed to hear. So it was also important that these churches, which Paul established, held fast to the word of life and continued in the work that he had started in them because he did not want his ministry and efforts to be in vain – “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.”

As we conclude the text that we are examining this week with verses 17 and 18 we read, “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.” In the OT a ‘drink offering’ was at times offered in addition to the sacrifice of a burnt offering. The individuals offering the drink offering would (in addition to the burnt offering which they were offering) take a cup of wine and completely pour out the wine, so that the sacrifice they were making to God would be more complete and more pleasing to Him. As Paul makes reference to himself as a ‘drink offering’ we once again see his uncertainty in regards to whether he would remain alive or if he would die for his defense of the gospel. But we see here that if death is what is in store for him, he considers that death to be like the sacrifice of a drink offering, only in this case it would be his life that would be completely poured out as an addition to and a completion of the ministry and service that the church at Philippi (and the other churches which he has established) offered to God. This potential outcome isn’t one that causes Paul to fear or be anxious about, but instead Paul says that if this were the case he would be glad and rejoice with the church at Philippi. Paul held the church at Philippi and their ministry and service to God in such high regard that he believed that it would be a privilege if his life and ministry could be a completion of the ministry and service of this church. So Paul tells the church at Philippi that from his perspective there is reason for him to rejoice in his current situation and even in his potential death. And likewise, the church at Philippi could be glad and rejoice with him, because while the outcome might look bleak from a human perspective, Paul’s life, ministry, and suffering were all used to advance the gospel and bring about the further glory of God – and that was reason to rejoice and be glad.

Connection Point Questions for Discussion:

1. Have you ever given much thought or consideration to the fact that God has created you and Escalate Church for a good work (Ephesians 2:10)?  Do you have any idea about what that work might be and if so, why do you think that?  Do you believe that as a follower of Christ and part of the church that God has placed a will (or a desire) in you to take part in the work that He has created you for?  Has selfishness ever kept you from or hindered you in being a part of the work that He has created you for?  Would any of you be willing to share what that looked like in your life?  How can we be more effective as a Connection Point in encouraging one another to both discover what it is that God has for us to do and then taking part in that work?

2. Can we, as individuals, shine like lights in the world?  If so, give some examples of how we can do this?  According to verse 15, is it enough for people to "shine like lights in the world" individually?  Why or why not?  Why is it both important and significant for the church to shine like lights in the world?  According to verse 15, where does Paul say the church should be, for it to shine?  What does it mean for the church today to be in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation?

3. How can the text of Philippians 2:5-11 encourage us to be engaged in the work that God has prepared us for and/or to be in the midst of darkness so that we can shine as a light?