1.     I have been engaged in an email correspondence with a dear RC relative, who (like all devout RC’s) believes that a man is saved by faith plus works.

2.     Of course this is contrary to the Bible.  According to the Bible, works follow saving faith (cf. Eph. 2:8-10).

3.     The book of Romans and the book of Galatians (and the whole Bible) refute works-salvation (cf. Rom. 11:6; Gal. 2:21).

4.     My RC relative sent me a lengthy email, full of RC teachings, and he included Philippians 2:12 (from a RCC translation).  His RC translation says, “you must work to earn your salvation, in anxious fear.”

5.     Of course, this is not what the Scripture says.  It does not say, “work to earn your salvation in anxious fear.”  In fact, Phil. 4:6 says, “Be careful (anxious) for nothing.”

6.     Philippians 2:12 says, “Work out your own salvation,” not “work for your own salvation.”  In other words, “Work out your own salvation” means, “bring it to its ultimate conclusion.”

7.     The conclusion is when we will stand before the Lord face to face (cf. Phil. 2:16 – “the day of Christ”).  What a day, glorious day that will be!  This verse refers to the judgment seat of Christ, which we dealt with last Sunday evening.

8.     The RC translation of Phil. 2:12 (mistranslation) says, “in anxious fear” rather than “fear and trembling.” “Fear and trembling” (2:12) does not mean the Christian fears being cast off into hell (or a fictitious, non-existent place called “purgatory”).

9.     “Fear and trembling” signify humility and vigilance.  We must be vigilant because this world is no friend of grace.  We must be vigilant because the flesh is weak.  We must be vigilant because our adversary the devil is like a roaring lion, walking about seeking whom he may devour (I Peter 5:8).

I. ONLY THOSE WHO ARE ALREADY SAVED ARE WORKING OUT THEIR SALVATION

1.     Who is Paul speaking to here in this epistle?  Is Paul telling lost sinners to “work out their salvation”? 

2.     Of course not.  Paul is speaking to his “beloved” brethren in Christ (2:12).

3.     He is writing to those who are “of one mind” (2:2).  Paul addressed this letter “to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi” (1:1).

4.     Salvation has three aspects – past, present, and future.

5.     When Paul says in II Timothy 1:9, “Who hath saved us…” he is referring to the past.  We have been saved (cf. I John 5:12).

6.     While there is a sense in which salvation is finished (past), there is another sense in which it is in process (present).    We have been saved from the penalty of sin; we are being saved (right now) from the power of sin.

7.     Some day we will be saved from the very presence of sin.  This is future.

8.     I should stress that God gives us the strength to work for Him (cf. 2:13).  This brings us to my next point.

II. GOD IS WORKING IN THOSE WHO ARE ALREADY SAVED (2:13).

1.     I am not suggesting that God cannot or does not work through unsaved people.  If God can use Balaam’s ass, He can use some old sinner. 

2.     And the Holy Spirit certainly works on sinners by convicting them of their sin and their need to repent. But this is not what Philippians 2:13 is talking about.

3.     The Bible teaches that when we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, we are then to allow Him to work through us. We are to reveal Christ to a world that knows Him not.

4.     I love the old hymn, “Christ Liveth in Me.”

Once far from God and dead in sin,
No light my heart could see;
But in God’s Word the light I found,
Now Christ liveth in me.

Christ liveth in me,
Christ liveth in me,
Oh! what a salvation this,
That Christ liveth in me.

As rays of light from yonder sun,
The flowers of earth set free,
So life and light and love came forth
From Christ living in me.

As lives the flower within the seed,
As in the cone the tree,
So, praise the God of truth and grace,
His Spirit dwelleth in me.

With longing all my heart is filled,
That like Him I may be,
As on the wondrous thought I dwell
That Christ liveth in me. — Major Dan­i­el Web­ster Whit­tle

5.     Every now and then, some sinner will tell me, “I cannot live the Christian life.”  He is right!  He cannot and neither can you or I in our own strength!

6.     But as we allow Christ to work in us and through us, we can live the Christian life, and we can enjoy victory over sin.

7.     This is a moment by moment walk of faith.  Oftentimes Christians will be stirred during a message and they will come forward at the invitation, but then they will stumble and fall during the week. 

8.     The key is looking to Jesus moment by moment.  If we take our eyes off the Lord we will surely sink just like Peter did out on the Sea of Galilee.  

9.     A man complained to Spurgeon that he expected too much from people.  Spurgeon disagreed and said to the man, “I am preaching to people who have the Holy Spirit indwelling them.”  Spurgeon understood that this makes a big difference!

10. Why is God working in us and through us?  Verse 13 says for “His good pleasure.”  And what pleases God more than anything?  That we go out and win souls (cf. Acts 1:8; II Tim. 2:3, 4; II Peter 3:9).

11. Before He ascended into heaven, our Lord made it very clear that this is what He wants us to do (Matt. 28:18-20).

12. The word “worketh” in Phil. 2:13 literally means “energizes.”   God has energized us so that we can go out and win souls. I have been in a few Baptist churches that have a sign over the front door, “You Are Now Entering the Mission Field.” 

III. WE’LL WORK TILL JESUS COMES (2:14-16).

1.     While we are working, there should be no “murmurings and disputings” (2:14).  Some people have a tendency to gripe and complain and gossip, etc.  This should be regarded as a sin to be repented of.

2.     Do you know why so many Christians have besetting sins?  It is because they will not admit that they are sins.

3.     Some Christians consider murmuring “no big thing.”  They are sadly mistaken (cf. I Cor. 10:10-12).

4.     When church members start murmuring and complaining and gossiping and backbiting it is like poison in the church.  It leads to strife and division, and oftentimes a church split.

5.     This sin should be confessed and forsaken.  But people make excuses for it and then they never get victory over it.

6.     Division in the church is wrong.  You may recall that two women in the church at Philippi had a disagreement.  Paul urged them to make it right (cf. Phil. 4:2).

7.     Note that verse 15 continues the thought of verse 14, “That ye may be blameless (rather than guilty) and harmless (rather than harmful)….”

8.     It pains me to say this but I must. One of the things that hinders evangelism and church growth is the terrible testimony of some church members.

9.     We are “in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation” (2:15).  We are supposed to “shine as lights in the world” (2:15).

10. Let me ask you tonight.  Is your light shining?    Or are you just another worldly church member?

11. Our Lord said in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

12. Daniel 12 :3 says, “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.”

13. First Peter 2:9 says God hath called us “out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

14. Twice it is recorded in the Gospel of John that Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12; 9:5).  But remember, He also said to His disciples, “Ye are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14). 

15. Jesus is the true Light (John 1:9).  We are Light-reflectors.  Sometimes light-reflectors get dirty and are not very useful.  Sin can dim the light and prevent the Light from shining clearly.

16. Are you an effective Light-reflector?

17. If not, then get to work (Phil. 2:12).

CONCLUSION:

1.     In his commentary on the book of Philippians, Lehman Strauss writes, “When I visited the West Indies in 1956, I witnessed American aluminum manufacturers removing millions of tons of bauxite from the hills of Jamaica.  The rich ore was already there.  God had worked it in by some catastrophic movement of nature or through some aging process.  Man had only to operate and exploit in order to get the greatest worth out of that which already was his possession.  As I watched I observed the process to be anything but simple and easy.  It was a costly project.  But be certain, the effort was sure to pay off in large dividends. Such, it seems to me, is the idea in the Holy Spirit’s words, ‘work out your own salvation.’”

2.     Let me conclude by asking this question, “How is the work going?”