Introduction: When I was a teenage boy, we cleared a path for a new fence through thick bush on our home farm. The fence was 400 metres long. It took months to complete the work and to put up the new fence. It was hard work, but eventually we accomplished the job.
In our text this evening, the words “work out” mean “to carry out a task until it is finished” (Zodhiates, CWSD). Paul was reminding the Philippians and us of a duty that we must work out until we finish the task. It is not a one-day job, but a lifelong duty.
We are to work out our own salvation. The KJV Bible Commentary points out that, “Salvation should be viewed in three tenses: past, justification; present, sanctification; and future, glorification.” (p. 1591)The salvation referred to in our text is not deliverance from hell, but deliverance from sin, unto Christlikeness. It is present sanctification (i.e., separate from sin). We are not to work for this deliverance, but to work it outto completion. Wuest compares this to working out a maths problem to its completion. It is our individual duty to work out our ownsalvation-sanctification. I cannot do it for you. You cannot do it for me.
Paul is writing this to the believers in the Philippian church. The salvation-sanctification they needed to work out included humility, self-denial, and unity. We, too, must do this! Anything that is not becoming of the gospel of Christ (Php 1:27) needs to be weeded out of our lives.
Transition: This command raises three questions that Paul anticipated and answered. His answers will help us as well.
1. When Are We to Work Out Our Own Salvation?
A. Don’t just work out when the preacher is present.
(1) “When Paul was with them, his teaching instructed them, his example inspired them, his encouragement urged them on in their growth in grace. Now in his absence they were thrown upon their own initiative. They must learn to paddle their own canoe.” (Kenneth Wuest, Golden Nuggets, p. 70)
(2) When we are at church or around Christians, it is fairly easy to do right and separate from sin. Paul knew the Philippians were good at that. He praised them for always obeying when he was present.
(a) That was quite a complement.
(b) Paul knew it was another thing to obey when no-one is watching or checking on them.
B. Work out much more when the preacher is absent.
(1) The battle with our flesh is not easy, but we must be even more careful when we are on our own. We are most vulnerable to temptation when we are alone, tired, or discouraged. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” (1 Peter 5:8)
(2) We must daily work out our salvation-sanctification. Letting down even briefly is a step backwards. When writing to the church at Roman, Paul said a similar thing differently. “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” (Romans 13:11-14)
2. How Are We to Work Out Our Own Salvation?
A. We must put our hearts into this work.
(1) Often, we underestimate the need to work at separating from sin. The truth is, our sanctification ought to be a priority and a purposeful act.
(2) Consider the following Scriptures. “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” (1 Corinthians 9:26-27). “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” (Hebrews 12:1).
B. We must work at this with fear and trembling.
(1) The word “fear” is used repeatedly in the Bible to refer to “great respect.” To “tremble” is “to be anxious.” It might describe the feeling you had in school speech class when you had to stand before the class and give a speech for your final grade.
(2) Marvin Vincent describes fear and trembling as a “wholesome, serious caution.”
(3) Thomas Constable wisely states, “As we work out our own sanctification, we must remember certain things. We serve a holy God, we have a strong and wise adversary, and we are weak and dependent on God for all that we need. Such awareness will produce the attitude of fear and trembling that Paul advocated.”
(4) We must not take lightly a duty of this importance. We ought to face it with the highest respect and shaking knees, because God himself has given us the duty. Our flesh and Satan are constantly opposing us.
3. Why Are We to Work Out Our Own Salvation?
A. Do it because God is working in us (Php 2:13)
(1) You are not alone in this task. God the Holy Spirit lives in you, and he is working in you.
(a) He is working to will (to give us his desire).
(b) He is working to do (to give us the needed power).
(2) Practical sanctification is a lifelong process during which you will face countless choices. At each crossroad, you can do right unto sanctification, or you can do wrong unto sin. But you are not in this alone. The indwelling Holy Spirit is working to reveal his will or desire at each crossroad. Plus, he is offering the power to help you do his will. You can’t beat that!
(3) If you do not work out your own salvation, you are ignoring the Holy Spirit’s directing and empowering work in your life. You may not always have your pastor or another Christian watching you, but if you are a Christian, you always have the Holy Spirit living in you. That is much more important!
B. Do it also because it gives God good pleasure
(1) The little word “of” in the last phrase is important. It translates a word which means “for the sake of.” So, we are to work out our own salvation-sanctificationfor the sake of God’s good pleasure. God is well pleased when we separate from sin. When we obey the Holy Spirit’s work in our hearts, follow his will, and depend on his power, God is greatly pleased.
(2) If in this way you daily work out your salvation, you will avoid many heartaches. You will become a more pleasant person to be around. You will abide in Christ. God will be able to use you in his service. But most of all, you will please the Lord.
Conclusion: Working out your salvation to become sanctified by striving to overcome sin, is a huge task. Are you daily working out your salvation? Are you working it out with fear and trembling, taking it very seriously? Are you doing it with the realisation that God is working in you to guide you and enable you? Are you doing it with a passionate desire to please the Lord? If you cannot say “Yes” to each of these questions, then you have work to do, but praise God you are not alone. God is working in you!
