Philippians 2:12-18
“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
salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will
and to work for his good pleasure.” (v12-13)
Obeying God can be hard. Often we can’t see the
benefit or reason behind the obedience that God calls us to. Often our
self-centeredness gets in the way and we desire what we want over and above
what God wants for us. Often our obeying God means giving up things that are
really hard to give up. And many have had bad experiences with earthly
authority figures, which makes it harder to trust in our heavenly Father who is
working all things together for our good (Romans 8:28).
But simply because obedience is hard does not mean
that we should give up on obedience. In this passage Paul encourages the Philippians
to keep on obeying and trusting God, regardless of whether he is there or not.
And he makes several excellent points that should challenge and encourage us to
deeper obedience:
1. Our obedience
is based on the work of Christ (v12).
Paul begins this section with the word “therefore,”
which means what he is about to say is directly tied to what has just been
said. In this case, what comes before this passage is the beautiful and
powerful poem about the work of Christ; his self-emptying to take on humanity,
his selfless obedience, his humiliation, his death on a cross for us, and then
his vindication and exaltation, and the promise that at the name of Jesus every
knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. This is
so critical, because so often I believe that we have the wrong reasons for
obeying God. Sometimes we obey for the sake of obedience, which then elevates
obedience above God himself. Sometimes we obey because we think that our
obedience somehow earns us some part of our salvation, which makes a mockery of
the cross and Christ’s sacrifice for us. And sometimes we obey simply because
we know it will make us look good, which deepens our self-centeredness and
stands in stark contrast to the example of Christ selflessness from the
previous passage. However none of these reasons will lead to sustained and
joyful obedience to God.
Our obedience is based on the work of Christ. When
we look at the cross, we see God’s extravagant love for us, we see how far God
was willing to go to save us from our sin, we see how obedient Christ was to
his Heavenly Father, and we see the price that was paid for our sin. Christ
died so that we can live. And that should motivate us to joyful obedience.
2. Our
obedience is ongoing (v12).
In our busy culture we are all about appointments
and to do lists: I have a class at nine, I have an appointment at 11, I’m
having lunch with someone at noon, I get off of work at 5. Our calendars are
dominated by points of time. And given our busyness this is somewhat necessary.
But it can be easy to do the same thing with God, and reduce our obedience to
God to a list of do’s and don’ts or to points on our calendar. I need to go to
bible study, I need to go to church, I need to have a quiet time each day, I
need to not get drunk with my friends this weekend, and I need to be more loving
to people when I see them at church. All of these things are good acts of obedience.
But if our obedience to God is reduced to a checklist, then we miss countless
opportunities to obey God throughout our day. We miss opportunities to talk to
people about Jesus, and we miss opportunities to show God’s love and mercy to
someone we meet. And then we don’t think about obedience at the times that we
REALLY need to think about obedience. We’re not thinking about obedience when
we put ourselves in a compromising situation that will lead us into sin. But if
obedience is an ongoing act, and throughout our day we are in a dialogue with
God, seeking God’s wisdom about the people we meet and the situations that we
face, then we will truly honor God with our entire lives, and not just obey God
at certain points in our lives. Obeying God can truly be an ongoing, continual
act!
3. Our
obedience is empowered by God (v13).
How often have you struggled with an area of sin
in your life, and responded by saying something along the lines of “I need to
do better. I need to try harder.”? Ironically, when we focus on our own efforts
to please and obey God, it actually orients us to our flesh and leads us deeper
into the sin that we struggle with! Any effort to please God on our own will ultimately
fail! Thankfully God is already at work in our lives. When we accept Christ as
our Lord and Savior, we receive the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, shaping our
wills and giving us the strength to obey God and follow him. So much of our
obedience to God is simply stepping back and getting out of the way so that the
Holy Spirit can do what he desires to do in us. Now that certainly requires us
to surrender our will and the idea that only we know what is best for us, but
it is certainly worth it to have Holy Spirit cultivating both the will and
strength to obey God. And it is certainly easier than the grind of trying to
obey God in our own strength.
4. Our
obedience should be done not only in deed, but also in heart and mind (v14).
“Do all things without grumbling or questioning…” Let’s
be honest: we have all had times where we have done something that we needed to
do, but our heart wasn’t in it. And we have all had times where we have done
what was required of us, but with mixed motives. But Paul makes it clear that
how we obey God, and the heart and mind behind that obedience, is just as
important as the act of obedience itself. Our heart and our mind should line up
with our actions. This is biblical integrity. And this call to integrity is
seen throughout Scripture. The prophets are filled with criticisms of people who
worshiped God by the letter of the law but had no love or concern for those who
were suffering. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus made it clear that sins that
we think of as only external acts can take place inside our hearts, even if no
external act is visible. And James challenged his readers to not swear oaths,
because as a Christian you should never have to swear an oath…you life should
be enough to back up the promises that you make.
Now certainly there are times where an act of
obedience comes before the heart and the mind catch up. Let us not fall into
the trap of thinking we should not attempt obedience until we are ready to obey
in heart, mind, and deed! If that were the case we would NEVER obey God! Often
the act of obedience is what leads to our hearts and our minds following in
obedience as well. But if our obedience is only external, and not internal,
then we are going to have problems, both in our relationship with God and with
others.
5. The goal
for our obedience should be set to the highest standard (v15-16).
Look at the words Paul uses to describe our
obedience: blameless, innocent, children of God without blemish, shine as
lights in the world. When we look at the sin and brokenness in our lives we can
clearly say that this describes none of us as we currently are. But this
perfection should be our goal. We should shoot for perfection for three
reasons: One, this is God’s standard. He is holy, and he calls us to holiness. Two,
we will be perfected when we are with Jesus, and we will be like that for
eternity. So we can begin to live for eternity now by striving for that goal. And
three, if we don’t have this standard then really the only other standard we
can shoot for is to be a little better than the rest of our culture. And the
bar that our culture sets is a VERY low bar. Like the Philippians, we live in
the midst of a crooked and twisted generation.
Sadly however, many Christians only aim to be a
little better than the world around them, and feel that this accomplishment somehow
satisfies God’s call to obedience. I don’t get as drunk as my friends do. I don’t
gossip as much as my co-workers do. I didn’t cheat as much as my classmates
did, I just looked at one answer. I don’t look at hard porn like my friends do,
I just watch some “soft” stuff from time to time. All of our friends who are
dating are sexually active, but my girlfriend and I just play around a little…we
don’t go all the way. All of these rationalizations are based on a belief
(consciously or unconsciously), that God’s call to obedience is only a little
higher than the rest of the culture. But in reality, these rationalizations are
simply attempts to justify sin.
6. Our
obedience blesses the Christians who have poured into our lives (v16-18).
Certainly pleasing others should not be our
primary motivation to obey God (the cross should be our primary motivation, see
#1). But it is important to note that others are blessed by our obedience. It
brings them joy, not because they have done a good job at pouring into you, but
because they see God at work in you and God’s kingdom being furthered through
you because of your decisions and acts of obedience. And that truly is a
blessing and a joy. I can easily say that my greatest blessings as a pastor is
not when someone verbally affirms my ministry (although those affirmations are
greatly appreciated!), but when a person who I am pouring into makes decisions
to honor and obey God, especially when those decisions require hard choices
between following God and their former way of life. So in those times where we
are struggling with a decision to obey God, let us keep in mind that obedience not
only honors God, but it brings joy and blessing to others.
Obeying God can be hard, and at times it requires
us to make really hard decisions, and calls us to surrender things in our lives
that we don’t want to let go of. But we have the extravagant love of God as our
motivation, as well as the beautiful example set by Christ. And just as God is
glorified in the self-sacrificial obedience of the son, so will God be
glorified in our self-sacrificial steps of obedience. May we continue to work
out our own salvation with fear and trembling.
1. What are the areas in your life where you
struggle in obeying God? Why do you think this area is a struggle for you?
2. How do each of the points above challenge and
encourage you regarding your obedience to God?
3. What steps do you need to take this week to continue
in and grow in your obedience to God?
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