Philippians 2:12-30
Light Bearers
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
14 Do all things without complaining and disputing, 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.
17 Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.
Timothy Commended
19 But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. 20 For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. 21 For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. 22 But you know his proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel. 23 Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it goes with me. 24 But I trust in the Lord that I myself shall also come shortly.
Epaphroditus Praised
25 Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need; 26 since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. 27 For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful. 29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem; 30 because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.
We are called not just to be saved as an escape from judgment on our sin but also from continuing in sin. Instead of living as we had been before our transformation, we are called to continually be transformed (Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:23-24, ) in our thoughts and actions. This is why Paul challenged the believers in the worldly bustling city of Philippi to keep on obeying God’s word with fear and trembling, with reverent awe and solemn responsibility, as they followed Christ. The call was to work out their salvation, not to work to earn what they already had nor to work to ensure they did not lose what could never be taken away. What they gained in Christ they could not lose. Neither can we. We work out this sanctification of grace from the moment of our transformative salvation from sin’s consequence of punishment until we are more like our Savior day by day (2 Corinthians 3:18) until we see Him at last (Job 19:26-27) face to face! He continues His transformative work in each of His children whom He has called to Himself that we might do more and more of what pleases Him for glory, honor, and praise as our sovereign Lord deserves. Our part is to work it out, to apply ourselves to putting off our ungodly acts and thoughts of the heart and mind in this mindset of living to please Him and not ourselves with reverence and responsibility (Luke 17:10) as motivated by the loving grace of forgiveness shown us. To do this, we need be content (1 Timothy 6:6) and stop complaining and arguing against the call to holiness towards God and with one another. We have been called to be blameless and harmless, not offending God or man by our words or actions, faultless in such a corrupt world of sin against Him. We have the message of the light of the world (Matthew 5:14, John 8:12) to shine with our lives into this present darkness as we hold fast to the word of the gospel and hold it out for others to see and hear. If we are to honor our salvation we need to take these things to heart and live sacrificially as we daily die to self as if nailed to the cross (Romans 6:6, Galatians 2:20) with our Savior. We need to be like faithful Timothy with the track record of a proven character who acted on the apostle’s behalf as a messenger of these truths of the gospel and coworker of that gospel, like-minded of the things of God and seeking His works and not our own. This means we sincerely care for the spiritual wellbeing and sanctifying growth in our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We see also the example of Epaphroditus who was a faithful servant, brother in Christ, and fellow soldier in the battle who fought the good fight for the good news with Paul and the others. He showed us faithful ministering even in the face of illness and suffering to support God’s work for the gospel. Do we give of our so willingly and with such commitment? If we live for our Lord, this should be our aim to lead the chat or rout the supplies to the front lines as we are able. This is another way we work out our salvation with fear and trembling.
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