The Ongoing Work of Salvation
The Ongoing Work of Salvation
One of my favorite passages from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi can also be one of the most confusing if we don’t understand the language that was used. One verse in particular can be a big hang-up for some people, because at face value, it seems to contradict the Good News of Jesus, which teaches that we’re not saved by works, but rather, we’re saved by grace, through faith alone in Jesus Christ (Ephesian 2:8-9).
If we’re truly saved by grace, through faith alone, then what in the world did the Apostle Paul mean when he gave us this exhortation?:
Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. - Philippians 2:12, CSB
Some have taken this to mean that, though you and I need Jesus for salvation from the punishment for sin, it’s completely up to us, afterward, to stop sinning and to start living like Jesus. That’s the “work out your salvation” part.
The “fear and trembling” part, they will say, is similar to the reverential “fear of the Lord” that leads us to repentance (Proverbs 9:10); and many will argue that this is a type of fear that we should never outgrow.
Two things about this interpretation of Philippians 2:12 bother me, though…
Try as I might, in my own strength and will-power, I cannot accomplish this! I am no more capable of becoming wholly like Christ, apart from His grace poured out on me and His Spirit at work within me, than I was able to save myself from the punishment for sin and make myself righteous before God in the first place!
I can have the utmost respect for God, and still, in my own striving, I will always fall short of His holiness. In fact, believing that this is true, and having no faith whatsoever in myself, is the surest proof of my respect for Him and my faith in Him.
1 John 4:18 teaches us that a greater personal knowledge of God should cause us to become less fearful of God, over time, as we grow in love. And yes, the Greek word translated “fear” in 1 John 4:18 is the same Greek word that appears in Philippians 2:12; and in both instances, the assigned meaning is not “reverence, respect,” but rather, “fear, dread, terror.”
So, if the Apostle John preached a decrease in fear, then surely the Apostle Paul didn’t preach that fear — arguably, even a reverential fear — should be our objective.
I think, as we look closer at the surrounding verses in Philippians 2, we’re going to discover that identifying the appropriate object of fear in this passage is key to understanding the objective. (Here’s a hint: God isn’t the object of our fear, here.)
There’s a different way to look at Paul’s exhortation in Philippians 2:12 that I believe to be more consistent with the whole of Scripture.
Just before Paul wrote that we should “work out our salvation with fear and trembling,” he began by addressing the way you and I should live and love as followers of Jesus, saying:
If, then, there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others. - Philippians 2:1-4, CSB
Paul was making it clear that being a follower of Jesus is more than just an identifier; it’s a sacrificially-loving-way-of-living.
And to ensure that there would be no argument that, perhaps, loving others more than we love ourselves isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker, Paul continued by giving us one of the most succinct depictions of Jesus’ life here on earth:
Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross.
For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth—and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
- Philippians 2:5-11, CSB
We can’t very well say that we’re true followers of Jesus if we have no intention of following in His footsteps. Thus, having laid the groundwork, Paul concluded his exhortation as follows:
Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose. Do everything without grumbling and arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world, by holding firm to the word of life. - Philippians 2:12-16a, CSB
This is where we find that rather confusing call to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (v. 12), but I think the key to understanding this call is actually found in the verse that follows:
For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose. - Philippians 2:13, CSB
See, it’s not about you or me mustering up the willpower or the strength to live and love like Jesus. It’s about us recognizing our absolute powerlessness to do so, but also, His absolute power to finish the work He started within us at the moment of our salvation!
According to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, the phrase “with fear and trembling” (μετά φοβοῦ καί τρόμου), as appears in Philippians 2:12, is “used to describe the anxiety of one who distrusts his ability completely to meet all requirements, but religiously does his utmost to fulfil his duty, 2 Corinthians 7:15; Ephesians 6:5; Philippians 2:12.”
The object of our fear, relative to Paul’s exhortation in Philippians 2:12, isn’t supposed to be God. It’s supposed to be us.
Paul was writing that you and I should be leery of ourselves — that is, we should be afraid of relying on our own ability to accomplish this… because we can’t.
But thanks be to God, who provides a way even for our sanctification, so that it’s not up to you or me to accomplish this any more than it was up to us to accomplish our own salvation! As Paul wrote, “it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).
Salvation is a three-part work that is simultaneously finished and ongoing:
Justification (finished)
Sanctification (in progress)
Glorification (yet to come)
For those who have put their faith in Jesus, it’s both already accomplished and being accomplished. In his letter to the church in Rome, Paul wrote this:
We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified. - Romans 8:28-30, CSB
Notice the way that Paul worded this, it almost sounds as if He was saying that, for anyone who is a Christian, they’re already glorified. But we know, based on the rest of Scripture — and even based on the whole of this passage, in which Paul also describes a process of being conformed to the image of Christ that must take place in the life of every believer (which is what Paul was addressing in Philippians 2 as well) — that this idea that you and I are already perfectly Christ-like can’t be what Paul was saying.
If you and I are glorified (made perfect in love, 1 Corinthians 13:8-13) at the moment of justification (salvation from the punishment of sin, Romans 5:6-11), then our sanctification (being conformed to the image of Christ, 2 Peter 1:2-4) would be superfluous. Also, let’s be real — you and I would be living and loving a whole lot better right now than we currently are, and looking a whole lot more like Jesus.
I once heard Beth Moore explain it like this, and I think she was spot on: Paul wasn’t saying that you and I are already glorified. He was saying it was such a done-deal thing — that there was no question that God would finish what He started — that we might as well talk about it like it’s already happened. What an incredible way to think about it!
The Bible doesn’t teach us that without fear, it is impossible to please God…
The Bible doesn’t teach us that without us working hard and us finishing the work He’s started in us, it is impossible to please God…
The Bible teaches us that:
“… without faith it is impossible to please God… - Hebrews 11:6a, CSB
By faith we have been justified.
By faith, we are being sanctified — even in the moments when we are faithless, because even when we lack faith, He remains faithful (2 Timothy 2:13).
And by faith, we will be glorified. Because, “he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6, CSB).
It’s never been about what you or I have managed (or will manage) to get right this side of eternity; it’s always only ever been about His perfect righteousness!
Sometimes, after I’ve finished studying a passage that’s been difficult for me to understand, I’ll try to write it out in my own words. It helps to ensure that I actually did understand what I was studying, and gives me a simpler way of explaining what I’ve learned to someone else.
So here’s a paraphrase of that tricky passage from Philippians 2. It’s not even close to word-for-word, and it shouldn’t be used as a replacement for the actual text. But I’m offering this to you, to read alongside the full passage, in case it can help you better make sense of what Paul was trying to communicate, like it did for me:
Since you know how Jesus lived His life, don’t just call yourself His follower; live your life the same way He lived His. Make it your ambition to follow His commands — knowing full well that you can’t possibly accomplish this on your own. He’s the one who’s doing the work within you, to change your desires and to give you every ounce of grace that you’ll need to do what He says. And as you learn to surrender to Him, no longer complaining about how hard it is or making excuses, you’ll look more and more like Jesus in the ways you live and love. And people are going to start to notice, because you’re going to stand out in a crowd. Children of God always do, as they grow up to look more and more like their Father. - Philippians 2:12-16a (a paraphrase)
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