Word of Salvation – Vol. 48 No.10 – March 2003
Work Out Your Salvation with Fear and Trembling
Sermon by Rev D Van Garderen
on Philippians 2:12c
Scripture Reading: Philippians 1:27 – 2:5, 2:12-18
Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
One of the senior catechism students, when asked to open the class with reading and prayer, chose Philippians 2:12-18. When asked why, he pointed to Paul’s exhortation to “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (2:12c). As a discussion starter, the members of the class were asked to explain in their own words what it means to “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Each of the students tried. It wasn’t easy! Everyone who had a go struggled. Try it yourself sometime!
As we were going through this exercise, it became very clear that this exhortation is extremely important – it addresses the heart of hearts of what Christian and church life is all about. We also realised that you cannot begin to do what Paul is asking if you are not clear about and cannot put into your own words, or explain exactly, what he means by this command to continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
It was this incident that gave rise to a deeper study of and reflection on this expression in order to prepare this sermon. The lesson learned was that it is easier to ask a question of catechism students than to give a clear, concise and challenging answer.
* What exactly is the apostle telling the Philippians to do?
* How do you translate it into action?
Various commentaries point out that this text is traditionally regarded as one of the ‘hard sayings’ of the New Testament. Christians have struggled to understand exactly what this passage means and how to apply it. The meaning of the word ‘salvation’ in this context has led to much discussion. That it is a ‘hard saying’ helped to explain the problems experienced during that catechism class! But we can’t afford to ignore these words just because they are ‘hard’. Paul is saying something very important – back then to the Philippians, and to us today.
Let’s dig into this text.
First of all, by way of introduction, note that there are two distinct ways of approaching it.
First, the most ‘natural’ and common way (which the class and I adopted almost as a matter of course) was to see this text as a personal call and challenge. Paul is urging the Philippians (and us all) to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, and at the same time reminding us how we can do this because God Himself is at work within us to will and to work according to His good pleasure. The text is thus interpreted and applied in the sense of, ‘continue to work out your own, personal salvation in fear and trembling because God is at work in you…’ etc. It is an exhortation addressed to individual believers. You, personally, must and are able do God’s work because God is at work in and through you!
Secondly, the other approach is to interpret these words as a challenge and exhortation to the congregation as a whole. Paul is calling the congregation at Philippi, as Christ’s body, to continue to keep on working out its salvation with fear and trembling. In the face of various trials and setbacks, in the face of suffering and adversity, keep on working out your salvation as a church. Don’t stop. Don’t lose heart. Don’t lose focus. Keep on working, because God is at work in you to will and to work according to His good pleasure.
It is this second approach – understanding this as an exhortation addressed to the congregation as a congregation – that is the primary thrust and intent of this text. These words are designed to encourage, to be a powerful challenge to the Philippian congregation – and, by way of extension, to our congregation/fellowship today.
The Philippian congregation, as a congregation, is being called to work out its salvation with fear and trembling. Likewise, we, in this congregation, must also hear the call to work out our salvation!
It is against this background that Philippians 2:12c, while a fitting word to individual believers, is seen as even more applicable in its greater call and challenge to the congregation as a whole.
CONTEXT
What made Paul exhort the Philippian church to work out their salvation with fear and trembling? What’s the background to this call?
Philippi was a Roman colony in Macedonia – just to the north of Greece. A strong and solid congregation had been established there under Paul’s ministry and leadership. Remember the stories of Lydia and the Philippian gaoler in Acts 16? These folks were from Philippi.
Although Paul had moved on to plant other churches, he never forgot the Philippians and had a special warm place for them in his heart. In turn, the Philippians also loved Pastor Paul dearly.
Then came the news that Paul was a prisoner in Rome. When the Philippians heard about this, they organised a gift to be sent to him. Along with the gift came something even more precious: the latest news from Philippi.
There was good news but also disturbing, distressing news. Yes, things were going well at Philippi, but it was becoming increasingly tough and hard going. Persecution was becoming increasingly common and severe. Many Christians were being picked on and discriminated against by their employers, families, and former friends, simply because they were Christians. Worse still was what was happening within the congregation. Christians were letting each other down. Arguments and disputes about matters of doctrine – what you were allowed and not allowed to do – were starting to surface. Little groups and cliques were forming. Divisions and disunity were rearing their ugly heads. As a result the church was losing its sense of purpose and its vision. People were losing heart, starting to stand back and withdraw from the life of the church. Evangelism and outreach was slowing down. Some people were giving up. Questions were being asked. “Is it all worth it?”
This really stirred Paul’s pastoral heart! As a prisoner he couldn’t go to Philippi personally – so he did the next best thing (praise God!). He wrote a letter to exhort and encourage them to get back on track and keep going! “Continue to work out the salvation you received from God in and through Jesus, never forgetting the glorious fact that God himself is at work in you to will and to work according to His good pleasure.
This letter is very much telling the Philippians how they could and should get back on track. The beauty of all of this is that the advice to the Philippian church is also invaluable advice for us.
Like the Philippian congregation, our church, along with many others throughout this country and beyond, experience a never-ending struggle just to survive. There is often a lack of vision, coupled with much internal weakness, division and confusion. There is little energy left to shine like stars or beacons of hope in a dark world. It’s hard enough to hold on to our members and young people, let alone be effective in evangelism.
What is the answer to this problem? The Holy Spirit, through Paul, gives us the answer in this letter. The answer is that everything else falls into place if and when, before all else, the church and every member makes it an absolute priority to BE AND STAY UNITED WITH CHRIST AND STAY UNITED WITH ONE ANOTHER.
How can this be done? Paul’s answer is simple but profound:
* By imitating the relationship that Jesus had with the Father who sent Him. The key word here is OBEDIENCE. As Jesus obeyed God in everything at all times and without faltering, do the same. OBEY Jesus as Jesus obeyed the Father who sent Him.
* HUMBLE YOURSELVES and SERVE each other as Jesus humbled Himself and gave His life in order to serve you.
* Be completely OBEDIENT to Jesus. And secondly: be completely HUMBLE in your relationship with each other.
Note how Paul expresses this in another part of this letter:
“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved – and that by God.” (Phil 1:27,28)
Members of the congregation, conduct yourselves in a manner that is worthy of the gospel of Christ by standing firm in one spirit and contending as one man for the faith of the gospel.
How do you do that? That’s what Paul talks about in Philippians 2. Skim through the first four verses as I repeat what I’ve said before about OBEDIENCE and HUMILITY.
Firstly, being one and contending for the faith as one man means having the same kind of obedience to Jesus that you see Him display to the Father who sent him. Obey Jesus all the way – just as Jesus obeyed the Father who sent Him.
Secondly, regard and treat each other in the same way as Jesus regarded and treated His disciples. Jesus gave Himself for others. He emptied himself of everything He was and possessed in order to serve His disciples. It is all about humility! He did not come to be served, but to serve. He did not come to be obeyed, but to obey. He did not come to receive, but to give. He came to serve the interests of others, never Himself. It’s that attitude of humility that you must put on and make your own in relation to your brothers and sisters in Christ. Be humble as Jesus was humble. It is Jesus’ example that chapter 2:6-11 celebrates with that marvellous hymn.
MESSAGE OF THE TEXT
Imitating Jesus in His obedience to God and the humility He displayed in giving Himself totally to serve others, equips and enables a church community to start doing what God created it to be and to do. ‘Working out your salvation’ is DOING what Paul has been talking about, beginning in 1.27. It is BEING completely, unswervingly obedient to Jesus. It is BEING completely, unselfishly and generously HUMBLE in your willingness to serve each other as brothers and sisters in the Lord. That’s the key. That’s the simple ‘secret’.
It is now a fairly straightforward thing to start putting the message of our text in a plain and practical way.
The Philippian church had, by God’s grace (1.28) experienced SALVATION. The church is a SAVED community. SAVED from sin. SAVED to serve.
We are a church community; we come together for worship – to praise God, to pray, to teach and be taught, to sing, to encourage, strengthen and uphold each other – because we have experienced and received God’s free gift of salvation!
What, in plain language, is this salvation we have experienced and gather together to celebrate?
* We have, as a community (as well as individuals) experienced, and continue to experience, God’s FORGIVENESS. God has, in and because of Jesus’ death on the cross, forgiven us. Therefore, as a community, we are no longer under condemnation, under God’s wrath! All has been forgiven. We are now God’s children! We are no longer under God’s curse. We are the community of the blessed! This also means that we have been set free from guilt. Feeling negative about ourselves, feeling unable to come to God to seek His comfort and advice, should no longer be there. We have experienced salvation! Forgiven! Remember how we celebrate this whenever we gather around the Lord’s Table? Forgiveness, ongoing forgiveness, is the evidence of God being at work in and among us, working all things according to His good pleasure.
* We have, as a community (as well as individuals) experienced, and continue to experience, NEW LIFE. ‘Salvation’ is the experience of becoming a new creation, receiving a new heart, a new mind. It is the experience of being set free from our former way of life – being dead and powerless in trespasses and sins, and being filled and clothed with power from on high! God works in us through the Holy Spirit who moulds and shapes us to be more and more like Jesus. IN Christ, new creations, filled with the Spirit! Brothers and sisters, ‘work this out’ – in other words, LIVE the new life. LIVE to serve, to glorify and exalt the name of Jesus above every name.
* We have, as a community (as well as individuals) experienced, not only new life, but also PEACE with God. Our salvation is experienced as a real sense of inner peace, but also as the power to become peacemakers in our relationship with one another. Working out our salvation means using the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, the spiritual gifts we have all received, to MAKE and MAINTAIN peace, love and true unity with each other.
In a nutshell, ‘working out salvation’ is experiencing and putting to work what we have received, through and in Christ, from God the Father through the Holy Spirit. Live out the impact and power of forgiveness – being set free from condemnation and guilt. Live out and put into practice what it means to have new life. Let the peace that now fills your heart get to work in creating and maintaining peace, unity and love within the fellowship.
What Paul is saying to the Philippian congregation, and to us, is that we must, with all our mind, strength, body and soul ‘continue to work out‘ these things ‘with fear and trembling‘. In other words, with total seriousness and dedication! ‘Working out your salvation’ is not an option, a choice, something to think about and try every now and then – but something that belongs to the very essence of being the church and members of it.
CONCLUDING COMMENTS
Congregation, much is being made of the ineffectiveness of the Church nowadays. Increasingly there are so-called ‘churchless Christians’ – Christians who have little or even no time for being real, active and living members of the Church. Faithfulness and loyalty to the church – a particular group of people – is waning.
It is all too easy to lose heart, drop out, or fade away as individuals, or just become a lifeless fellowship. Church life becomes a chore, and expectations – if there are any – are low. Signs of this loss of heart are all too real as churches forever struggle to come up with nominations for office bearers, to find enough volunteers – especially enthusiastic ones – to teach the Sunday schools and the hundred and one other things that are needed for the church to function. Lack of man and woman power is all too evident all too often.
As all of us know, when the church as a community is faltering – when, in the language of Philippians 2:12c we are no longer committed to working out our salvation with fear and trembling – everything else falters, too. Your own faith and relationship to the Lord stagnates. Fellowship weakens. People fall away. Evangelism is a hollow exercise.
This passage of Scripture is surely God’s Word to the church in the twenty-first century – and very specifically to us here in this congregation!
Amen.