12 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 own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me. – Philippians 2:12-18 ESV
Paul has just provided the Philippian believers with a vivid portrait of Christ, intended to serve as an illustration of what it means to share His mindset and think as He would. Paul wants them to have the same attitude or outlook about life that Jesus had. For Paul, Jesus was the consummate example of humility and selflessness, even though He was the second person of the Trinity. When faced with the divine plan that required His incarnation and, ultimately, His crucifixion, Jesus didn’t cling to His divine status as the Son of God or demand exemption from such a demeaning assignment. He understood that when His holiness and worthiness were joined with human flesh, it would make Him the acceptable sacrifice for the sins of mankind.
Jesus humbled Himself willingly and completely obeyed His Father's will all the way to the point of suffering an excruciating and humiliating death on the cross. And He did it all out of love for sinful mankind. It was that selfless, sacrificial love that Paul wanted the Philippian believers to emulate. But that was also his desire for every congregation he had helped to start. He told the Ephesians: “Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God” (Ephesians 5:2 NLT). And he expanded on this idea when writing to the Colossian believers.
Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. – Colossians 3:12-14 NLT
Notice that Paul describes an emulation of Christ that shows up in tangible, visible ways. When Paul speaks of having the mind of Christ, he is not describing a cognitive or purely intellectual exercise; it is an internal attitude that should result in external actions. That is why Paul told the Philippians to “work out your own salvation.” That phrase, “work out,” is a single word in Greek (katergazomai), which means “to do that from which something results.” Paul is not teaching salvation by self-effort, but he is clearly expecting the believers to whom he is writing to put energy and effort into living out the salvation freely provided to them by Christ. The New Living Translation puts it this way: “Work hard to show the results of your salvation.”
The salvation provided by Christ’s selfless sacrifice of His life was intended to be transformational. It didn’t just provide a change in legal status from guilty and condemned to justified and forgiven. It was meant to result in our ongoing sanctification or transformation so that we might bear Christ’s likeness. Our salvation, provided free of charge by the grace of God alone through faith alone in Christ alone, was meant to produce in us a righteousness that mirrors that of Christ. In the opening chapter of this letter, Paul told the believers in Philippi. “May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation – the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ – for this will bring much glory and praise to God” (Philippians 1:11 NLT).
That was Paul’s ongoing prayer for them because it was God’s ongoing will for them. Their coming to faith in Christ should result in them becoming increasingly more like Christ. That is why Paul reminds them that their efforts to produce the fruit of their salvation should be accompanied by fear and trembling. Paul explains what he means by this when he follows it up with the word, “for.” It could be read as “because” and is followed by that which should motivate our fear and trembling.
For [because] God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. – Philippians 2:13 NLT
Our spiritual transformation is the work of God made possible by the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Spirit’s presence in our lives provides us with the power necessary for our sanctification. We don’t make it happen; God does, and it is a high priority for Him. Paul told the believers in Thessalonica, “God’s will is for you to be holy” (1 Thessalonians 4:3 NLT). He saved us so that He might sanctify us and provided His Spirit as the fruit-producing, faith-inducing source of power to make it possible. The knowledge that God is personally working in and among us should produce in us a reverence and awe that drives us to cooperate with His efforts on our behalf. Otherwise, we will find ourselves working against the will of God for our lives.
That brings up an important point. This is a corporate message from Paul that is addressed to the entire congregation in Philippi. While there are certainly personal applications to glean from Paul’s words, he intended them for the body of Christ, not individual believers. So, when Paul says, “God is working in you,” he is speaking of the church as a whole. God was attempting to create among them the same sense of unity that He and the Son share. In fact, this was the very thing Jesus prayed for in the garden just hours before His arrest and trials.
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” – John 17:21-23 ESV
Paul has been addressing the need for unity in the church, and has expressed his desire that they be of “the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind” (Philippians 2:2 ESV). Now, he is calling on them to experience the full extent of their salvation by allowing it to produce the character of Christ within them, evidenced by their unity and selfless love for one another.
But what does that look like in real life? In this case, Paul chose to describe what it doesn’t look like. It isn’t marked by grumbling, disputing, bickering, or backstabbing. In other words, it will be free from disunity. Getting along will be a high priority because the body of Christ is to reflect the very character of Christ. This brings us back to the model of Christ’s own life; He demonstrated humility, obedience, selflessness, and sacrifice.
Paul provides a few positive examples of what Christlikeness should look like in the church: Blamelessness and innocence. He is not suggesting perfection or sinlessness but is calling for the body of Christ to live with its sins confessed so no one can point a finger of blame. He is encouraging them to exhibit an innocence or moral purity that gives the outside world no cause to cast dispersions on their witness or the name of Christ.
The impact of the church on the unbelieving world is clearly Paul’s concern here. Notice that he calls on the Philippian congregation to be “children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15 ESV). The blemish to which he refers is the potential stain on their corporate witness due to disunity and internal conflict. It was King David who wrote: “How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony!” (Psalm 133:1 NLT). And Jesus echoed that sentiment when He said, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (John 13:35 NLT).
Paul makes a personal appeal to the Philippians, asking them to hear what he is saying and to do it for his sake, out of love for him. Like a proud father, he wants to look back on his work among them and know that it was not in vain. He longs to see the fruit of righteousness in their lives. It would devastate Paul to learn that the Philippians had started strong but ended poorly. To learn that the church in Philippi had devolved into a community dominated by selfish, self-centered individuals would bring shame to Paul as an emissary of the gospel, and would end up denigrating the redemptive work of Christ.
That is why Paul pleaded with them, “Hold firmly to the word of life” (Philippians 2:16 NLT). He wanted them to cling to the message of the gospel, which included not only the good news of their salvation, but of their ongoing sanctification and future glorification. They were not to forget that God was working in their midst, transforming them into a bright light that was intended to shine God’s glory into the darkness of Philippi.
Paul was willing to die so that his life might be poured out as a drink offering to God, but he wanted his life to have made a difference. He deeply desired to know that the church in Philippi was embracing the mind of Christ and pursuing the character of Christ together. If their pursuit of Christlikeness brought suffering and sacrifice, Paul wanted them to rejoice alongside him for the privilege of serving God through obedience to His will. This was the same message the apostle Peter conveyed in his first pastoral letter.
If you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you.
For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. – 1 Peter 2:20-21 NLT
Peter and Paul both embraced the idea that salvation was to be transformative.
…you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. – 1 Peter 2:9 NLT
Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. – Philippians 2:15 NLT
Coming to faith in Christ doesn’t just secure our future eternal state; it provides the power to become increasingly more like Christ in this present life. But God designed that we do it together, not alone. Sanctification is a family affair that requires the Spirit of God and the body of Christ. Unity, community, harmony, and humility each play a role in God’s plan for our holiness, and they require that we have the mind of Christ.
Father, I am inherently a loner who thrives on my individuality and prefers working alone. But when it comes to my sanctification, that mindset doesn’t work. In fact, it’s antithetical to what it means to have the mind of Christ. He always put the needs of others first. He came to serve, not be served. He loved the unlovely and gave His life for the ungodly. He worked diligently to teach and train uneducated disciples, showing great patience as they struggled to understand His words and displayed their selfish desires for prominence and power. Jesus didn’t need them to accomplish His Father’s will, but He understood that they were the keys to the spread of the gospel once He was gone. So, He loved them, patiently taught them, occassionally rebuked them, and willing died for them so that they might be transformed into His Spirit-empowered emissaries for the future. Forgive me for the many times I have made it all about me. Continue to remind me that I do not exist in a vacuum or for my own self-satisfaction. You placed me in the body of Christ for a reason and my greatest growth and fruitfulness take place within that context. Amen
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.