Philippians 2.12-13
“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
This is a critically important passage because it is one of several verses in the Bible that teach that spiritual growth requires work on our part. There has been an unfortunate tendency among bible teachers to de-emphasize (or even deny) that disciplined effort is a necessary element of the Christian walk and spiritual formation.
Let’s be explicitly clear: the “let go and let God” philosophy that is so popular is not biblical. Trusting God does not mean doing nothing and waiting for the Lord to magically make something happen. Having faith does not mean not doing work.
The word translated “work out” in Philippians 2 is the Greek katergazomai, and it means “to achieve or accomplish.” Paul is not saying that we must work to achieve salvation. We know this because in many other verses he makes it clear that salvation is by grace through faith and not the result of works or effort. Salvation is a gift of grace; it cannot be earned.
The work to which Paul refers is the activity and effort that should flow from salvation. Here is a breakdown of key aspects of this passage.
- Salvation initiates the Christian life, and then we must work in order to grow. We must take action. The work we do is by faith and in response to God’s grace. It is not work that earns the favor of God; it is work that is done in response to the favor of God.
- Paul tells us to work out our salvation “with fear and trembling.” There are two primary reasons for this. First, fear and trembling signals our respect and reverence for the greatness of God, and for the greatness of the life to which he calls us. Second, this work is the most important work we will ever do because it affects everything else we do.
- The Lord “works in us” … that is, he prompts and energizes us, but he does not force his will on us. Here the Lord reminds us that the work we do is not by ourselves. Indeed, we can only do the work because the Lord enables us and works in us.
- The purpose of the work we do — and the purpose of the work that God does in us — is “to will and to work for his good pleasure.” We must always remember that salvation and the spiritual growth that follows is ultimately for God’s purposes, not ours. The Lord saves us and calls us to himself, and then sends us into the world to bear fruit and accomplish what he wants to accomplish through us in our time and place in history.
Philippians 2.12-13 is an amazing passage that paints an incredible picture of spiritual growth. We are saved by the gift of God’s grace, received by faith. Then, in response to God’s grace and empowered by his Spirit, we do the daily work to deny our old nature and develop our new nature in Christ. The result? We continuously grow and bear fruit.
“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Colossians 1.9-10)
