Our Old Covenant reading this evening comes from the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 7 verses 6 through verse 11. This is the word of God. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you are the fewest of all peoples. But it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations, and repays to their face those who hate him by destroying them. He will not be slack with the one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today. Then our new covenant reading comes from Paul's letter to the Philippians. Philippians chapter two. Philippians two verses 12 to 18. This is the word of the Lord. Therefore, my beloved, As you have always obeyed, so now, not only as I am in your presence, but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing. 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, holding fast 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, 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. Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me. The grass withers and the flowers of the field, they fade and they fall. But this, the word of our God, it endures forever. Let's pray together. Our gracious Lord, we come this particular evening to hear your word for us. We are thankful, Lord, that you did not leave us in darkness and you did not leave yourself without a testimony. But in your wisdom, you sent forth your spirit that your word would be given to us. Lord, that we would hear of your wonderful works, that we would rejoice in you, our God, and that we would be careful to do all that you command us. Lord, we ask that you would bless us this evening. We ask Lord that your spirit would come with your word to give us power. To do your will. According to your measure of grace at work in each of us. We ask for these things in Christ's name. Amen. Do your best. and God will do the rest. Let go and let God. God helps those who help themselves. There's no shortage of confusion out there about what the Christian life entails and how it is accomplished. More specifically, about how the Christian life goes about living a life that is worthy of the gospel. worthy of the gospel of Christ in whom we receive the fullness of salvation. This is one of those passages this evening that help Christians to grasp the mystery that is our growth in Jesus. To grasp the relationship between the work that Christians are called to do, which is real work, but also the reality that God is at work in his people. Now, before we jump into the passage before us this evening, we must first see how Paul progresses from the Christ hymn that we've been looking at in verses 6 to 11 to this passage here before us. The therefore, if you look back up in verse 9 regarding the humble obedience of Christ Jesus, is followed in verse 12 by another therefore in regard to the obedience of the Philippian Christians, which is at the heart of this passage as Paul continues to call that church and us with them to increasing conformity to Jesus through obedience. Obedience, again, that marks the life worthy of the gospel. A life that is marked by unity and humility and Christ-mindedness. And Christian obedience is, as we see in verse 12, described as working out your own salvation. As we consider this passage of scripture this evening, we'll look at it in three parts. First, working out and working in. Second, Christian obedience. And then third, Christian light. Working out and working in, Christian obedience, and Christian light. Now, before we address this imperative that Paul gives us there of working out your own salvation, it'll be helpful if we first understand what it is that's being worked out. We need to make a few distinctions here. Some may look at this passage and think that Paul here is advancing some type of works righteousness. In effect, to be telling the Philippians to work for your own salvation. This perceived problem has led some interpreters to alter their understanding of the meaning of the word salvation here. That it can't possibly mean salvation in the theological sense. In the redemptive sense, Paul must mean something else. And so they take it as being a more general salvation in terms of well-being or salvation in terms of safety. Work out your own well-being with fear and trembling. Work out your own safety in this life with fear and trembling. If that were the case, however, that would be really an anomaly in Paul's usage of this term. Since every other usage by Paul for salvation is in the theological sense and even if there are one or two exceptions, none of those instances would permit a meaning as general as well-being. So we must understand first off that Paul is in fact talking about working out your own salvation in the theological and redemptive sense. Which then must lead us to take a careful look at what Paul means by both that salvation and then, of course, what it means to work that out. Unfortunately, in our age of theological reductions and ambiguities, the notion of salvation in the minds of many is reduced to what we would describe properly as justification. So that someone may ask, are you saved, right? And what they tend to mean is, are you in right relationship with God? Are you trusting by faith in Christ, not in your own merits, but in the Lord who justifies the ungodly, not counting their sins against them, but forgiving their sins and counting them as righteous only because of the righteousness of Christ that is reckoned to you? Maybe they won't use that sentence, but that's typically what we're talking about if somebody asks, are you saved? Now, justification is a glorious doctrine. Glorious. Conversion is a glorious work of God. But Paul here, in this particular passage, has a much more encompassing understanding of salvation in view here. Justification is not the totality of salvation. Justification is a benefit given to those who are saved in union with Christ Jesus. Which means that, looking at verse 12, we need to have a more expansive view of what salvation entails in its entirety, not merely in its inception. Let's not forget what Paul says in Ephesians 2, 8 to 10, and I'm sure most of you could quote for me Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. about the work of the Christian. That Christians are by grace through faith saved, not by works. It is a gift of God. However, Paul doesn't stop there. He continues on in verse 10, which is so often not quoted along with verses 8 and 9. And in verse 10, we find that the Christians are created in Christ Jesus for good works. You are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. And so, we recognize right there that there's something more to salvation than merely justification. Our right standing with God. Our salvation is not by works, but it is in fact for good works. So then, what is this working out of our own salvation? Simply put, it is the obedience of the outworking of salvation in the lives of Christ's people. That is, it is putting into practice the new life in Christ that believers have in their new creation union with Jesus. And that salvation comes as a gift apart from the merits of work. Yet salvation in its fullest sense also includes reforming and renewing the individual into the pattern of Christ Jesus himself. And we see that that outworking of salvation has a particular disposition. Look at the disposition that Paul speaks about there in verse 12. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Should Christians fear the Lord? You're gonna say, well, in what sense? In what sense do you mean should we fear the Lord? Well, Paul commands it here. And scripture elsewhere tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Unfortunately, that idea of fearing God in this sense has fallen on hard times. As theology has taken a decidedly therapeutic shift where God has become a life coach or an assistant to me. But the very concept of the fear of the Lord has in many ways been relegated exclusively to the fear of judgment. Yet Paul tells Christians here to fear and to tremble as they work out their salvation. We must see here that the fear that Paul is talking about is not a fear of judgment, but the right fear of a child before their Heavenly Father. Holy fear and trembling before the Lord to whom we have responsibilities. The Lord who disciplines all of his legitimate children. And so Paul intends that we would not treat our duties, nor our God, casually. Working out of salvation, that responsibility to act and to do in obedience with all that the Lord has commanded us, is not something that we are just free to take lightly, or to institute in our lives when it's most convenient. But the Christian is to be sensitive to the very fact that their lives have been bought with a price. Christians are called to love and to obey their God just as Jesus did. Yet, Our growth and obedience to the Lord, our working out of our own salvation with fear and trembling, does not leave us to ourselves and our own natural abilities. Paul wants to make that clear to the Philippian Christians. Those who are in Christ Jesus are new creation and therefore have a new principle of life, a new disposition of life. They've been born again. by the Holy Spirit. And that new life that was birthed by the power of God's Spirit does not end there. It is but the beginning. Because God's Spirit continues and sustains God's people. These verses, verse 12 and 13, provide for us perhaps One of the most succinct passages in scripture that expounds the mystery of Christ bought and spirit wrought sanctification. The mystery of God's sovereign work in us that at the same time encompasses our tireless activity as believers. Those two things are not opposed to one another. The relationship between verses 12 and 13 is very important for us to see. Paul uses a four to signify the grounds for the command of verse 12. How are we to understand the relationship of our work as Christians, those things that we have been called to do, and the fact that God is at work in us? Verses 12 and 13 make an all-important distinction between the indicative of what God has done and is doing in the believer's union with Jesus, and the imperative of what the Lord commands of those people who are in union with Jesus. So Paul inverses the relationship here. He puts the command first, but he undergirds that command with a great and glorious truth. that our sanctification in Christ is the work of God. It being God's work, however, does not absolve us in any way from responsibility to work. But rather, if God's work is the grounds, then that ought to propel us to work, knowing that our efforts are expended And when our efforts are expended, it is by His grace that we are accomplishing all those works that He prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So that really verse 13 here is just an expansion of the surety that we already saw in chapter 1 verse 6. I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus. And we need to understand that sanctification is not a synergy of human and divine effort, if by synergy we mean a partnership where each party brings a certain percentage to the table. God begins by giving us that first 50% and then kickstarts us on our way for the rest of our lives. And then that's where we contribute our 50%. We do our best and then rely on God to do the rest, or God does his best and then we do the rest. But that's not the Christian life. We don't drive out of the driveway in our efforts, and then when things get really tough, say, Jesus, take the wheel. Do we? Or that God does this initial work, and then we independently just follow it up. Just following up on what God does for me, or had done. Brother, what we see from the relationship there between verses 12 and 13 is that the work of the Christian is really the work of a Christian. Where the salvation purchased by Christ is worked out by Christian effort. but is solely based upon the work of God in us, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Now you may ask, well, what is the good pleasure of God? Well, it is to fulfill in us all that He intends, if that's what we're talking about. If we're talking about His good pleasure in us, individually or corporately, to fulfill in us all that He intends. Which of course as we know is nothing less than Christ being formed in us that we would be presented holy and blameless before him on the day of Christ. To the end that he may receive all glory and honor and praise. See here we find a balance. The balance between the let go and let God of antinomianism and the do your best and God will do the rest of moralism. It's a razor's edge that we can easily fall off on either side if the scriptures are not guarding us. You see, the Lord's work in salvation does not end in conversion, but it is the life of the Christian. As Richard Gaffin said, the signpost on the path of sanctification reads, differently to be sure, but no less than for justification, in Christ alone, by grace alone. See, that's the all-important difference, right? Our sanctification is in Christ alone, by grace alone. See, the grace of the gospel is not contrary to the working of sanctification. So often we think that's the case. That all the law does is slay me. No. As those who are new creation in Jesus, The law tells us what it's like to obey the Lord. What it looks like to love the Lord from hearts that have been changed and hearts that are being renewed. The work of sanctification is part of the grace of the gospel. The good news of God's work is not just to reckon you righteous, but actually to make you righteous. That undergirds and supplies for the efforts of new obedience in Jesus. Rather than dissuading us from the importance of obedience, this truth is intended to drive us, and to give us great hope, and to give us eager expectation. Because if God is at work, what He is working will indeed come to pass. That even in the midst of our half-hearted efforts in this moment, God is at work to captivate our entire hearts. And He will do so. He will complete His work completely. As John Murray said, God's working in us is not suspended because we work, nor are working suspended because God works. Neither is the relation strictly one of cooperation, as if God did his part and we do ours, so that the conjunction or coordination of both produced the required results. God works, and we also work. But the relation is that because God works, we worked. All working out of salvation on our part is the effect of God working in us. So then who receives the glory? God does. Because we are his workmanship. So Paul then moves on to Christian obedience. If that's true, then what does it look like to live as a Christian? I mean, put that Christian life in its proper theological context, he provides us with some of those commands to be worked out through spirit-wrought obedience. You might think that Paul's going to give you an easy win here. He certainly doesn't give you an easy win. Look how verse 14 begins. Do all things. Do all things. In case we were wondering how much of our lives the Lord requires of us, well, it's everything. Everything that we do is to be unto the Lord. And the specifics of the command are not what we are to do, but how we are to do all things. And this really strikes at the heart of our actions. He says, do all things without grumbling or Disputing. Now if you read the scriptures, particularly concerning the people of Israel, you know that they were often prone to grumble. And prone to dispute. Even to dispute with God through his appointed mediator, Moses. That is not to be so. As the Philippian church had been called to unity by the apostle at the beginning of this chapter, we should recognize that grumbling and disputes are antithetical to the call of Christ-like humility that we saw in Jesus in verses 6 to 11. To grumble at heart is an attitude and action of self-interest. How does grumbling often begin? Grumbling often begins with a heart of self-centered criticisms. And then that continues to bubble up and continues to fester, maybe even festering in begrudging service to others. So here you are serving the church, but you're doing so begrudgingly. Looking at what everybody else is doing. Criticizing how everybody else is doing the thing that you're trying to do. And of course that overflows then into complaining. And then it eventually ends with us staking out claims and choosing sides. From the inner thoughts to the outer actions, such grumbling and disputes have no place among God's people. When is grumbling and disputing okay? Paul says never. It's never okay. Do all things without that. That you might be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish. For without such self-interest, God's children will stand out as bearers of his character. Without such self-interest, which is the way of the world, the church will be blameless and innocent. that Paul indicated as the goal of working out your salvation, in order that you would be blameless and innocent. Such goal of conformity to Christ's character is not for tomorrow, but it's for today. Today's the day to do those things. Today's the day to put to death the grumbling and the disputes And although it's imperfect in this life and perfected in glory, nonetheless, it is a goal to which Christians must strive by God's grace. Now, blamelessness is often thought about in regard to external accusations. This we find in other places in scripture to be referred to as being above reproach. That nothing from the outside can stick on you. It can't pin you down. Innocent in regard to the accusations that we could make towards ourselves. This is similar in thought to what the scriptures say elsewhere about having a good conscience or a clear conscience. And therefore being children of God without blemish. That's the goal. which is simply a way of saying, being like Jesus. Spotless lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Not only that we might be able to stand clothed in Jesus's righteousness, but that we too would become holy even as he is holy in our very selves. Since of course he purchased for us that holiness. He purchased those good works for us to walk in. we would be formed and forged into his character. And that means, of course, to the outside world, that the Christians, the Church of Christ, is different. It's a light, as Paul says here. As Christ is formed in his church, his people stand in complete contrast to the world. A world that is marked by darkness comes to be inhabited with light. A contrast that Paul describes with vivid language that we see in Deuteronomy. A crooked and twisted generation. Sometimes we act surprised that the way of the world is crooked and twisted. Why? In a sin-cursed world, that is the normal course of things. That is the normal part of a severely abnormal world. And it has become that way through sin. Yet Christians born of God, they are the ones who stand as those who God is at work in. And they stand to the world as light. This is what we saw Israel was intended to be. Israel was intended to be a light among the nations. They weren't supposed to walk in the ways and worship in the ways of the people around them. They were to be a light, yet they themselves became the crooked and twisted. They themselves came to follow the way of the world rather than the way of the word of the Lord. See, Christians working out their salvation is light in the midst of darkness. The Christian shines with the light of the gospel in them, while at the same time, Paul says here, they are holding fast to the word of life. Christians shine as they hold on to the word of life. This metaphor of light and life and shining finds its source in Jesus. The light of the world. The word who was the light shining in the darkness. And for those who are united to him, they share in his illumination. They've been given the light and life. They hold on to the light that is the word. and they live by it, and they shine it forth to the world that is in desperate need of gospel light. See, Christian obedience is not simply about personal spiritual fulfillment. Do you get that here? It's not just about me and Jesus. We see that even as Paul continues in verse 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. Now, perhaps initially as we see Paul saying this here, we might think that Paul is speaking in a selfish way, not wanting to have wasted his time with the Philippians. But as we've seen before, in the way that Paul affectionately speaks to the Philippians, that's not the case. This is Paul, a man for whom to live is Christ. So that his glory is in God's glory. His delight is in what delights the Lord. And his boasting in the preservation and perseverance to the end of the Philippians is him boasting in the work of the Lord in them. His joy is the Lord's joy. His delight is the Lord's delight. So that in the service to the church in Philippi, in obedience to his Lord, Paul is more than willing, like Jesus himself, to give his own life for the sake of the church of Christ. Look at verse 17 there. 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." Which in summary means, as Moses Silva comments, Paul realistically acknowledges that his apostolic toils and suffering could lead to martyrdom, but he was more than willing to spend and be expended for the sake of his converts. This is yet another way in which Christians shine forth in emanating the glow of Christ. As Jesus said in John 13 35, by this all people will know that you are my disciples. How? If you have love for one another. If you're willing to be poured out, if you're willing to be spent, For the sake of the church of Christ, for the sake of your brothers and your sisters. And here we see Paul is willing to have his life poured out in his love and his service to the Philippians. That his offering of himself would then accompany their offering of themselves. See the multiple offerings going on? So Paul is being poured out as a drink offering, while the Philippians themselves are giving themselves as an offering to God, as a living sacrifice, as all Christians are called to do. Looks a lot like Jesus, doesn't it? Offering themselves as a living sacrifice to the Lord in faithful obedience. And that, brothers and sisters, is where we have been called to. That's the path that we have been called to go down. To spend and to be expended. To spend and to be expended. That we may rejoice and rejoice with, as Paul asks of the Philippians. The call to work out our own salvation is indeed a call to follow Jesus in all his ways and to obey all of his commands. But that working out does not depend on mere human effort, but rather in striving to obey our Lord. We have confidence that God is at work in us to bring about the fullness of that which is pleasing in his sight, that we may spend and be spent. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we rejoice in the sufficiency of Christ for us. Who by His life, death, and resurrection gives to us every single possible thing that we could need for our salvation, beginning to end. Every single benefit that you have offered to us comes to us only by Christ as a gift of His free grace, even as He works those works in us, that we may In fact, be to the praise of your glorious grace. Oh, Lord, would you press these things on our hearts? Would you remind us of the work that you have called us to do? But in that work that we would, by faith, lay hold of Jesus, lay hold of you, our God, as you work in us all that is pleasing in your sight. We ask these things in Christ's name. Amen.