“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; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12-13
Therefore Paul finished his example of the Lord Jesus Christ who showed humility to His Father’s will and obeyed Him despite the shame He had to experience. As a result the Father exalts the Son.
First, every knee will bow to the Lord. We should keep this
in mind as we live this life. This in sot just unbelievers.
Believers will bow before the Lord and give an account to Him
for how we face the trials in this life. Second, the Lord, after
experiencing terrible suffering, was vindicated and exalted by God
Himself. Whatever the Philippians face will end and they will
experience the joy that the Lord has planned for them. Third, The Lord obeyed and endured to the end. That is the example Paul now uses to encourage the Philippians to walk worthy.
My beloved Paul shows us his heart for these believers. He told them in Philippians 2:2 “to make his joy complete”. Here he calls them beloved. There is nothing more precious to Paul in this life than that that he lead others to Christ and then see heir faith is genuine as they walk worthy of the Lord.
As you have always obeyed The Philippians reputation is much different than the Galatians or Corinthians. They have always (perpetually and without interruption) obeyed (been under
authority, listened to what was said and submitted to what they heard). Paul had no cause to doubt their response. Yet there is an even more important point. The Lord Jesus showed obedience to the Father and this is the way the Philippians had lived – faithfully following the Lord’s example.
Not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence A parent is proudest when his child exemplifies what he is taught when when the parent is not there to observe it. The Philippians believed the truth and practiced it because it was God’s word, not because Paul was overseeing their behavior. They worked out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
For it is God who works in you Paul provides a powerful reminder that the Christian life is not what goes on around a believer, it is God who works in and through the believer. If we are to follow the example of the Lord, we cannot do it in our own strength, we must abide in Him and allow His power to work through us. The word works means to operate. It implies effective and purposeful action that achieves a specific result (in God’s case to transform us into the image of His Son).
Both to will and to do for His good pleasure Paul tells us God’s design (will) for our life is to be like Jesus. God has a specific plan for each of our lives. This is seen in the example of Jesus and God’s plan for Him – He suffered unjustly all the way to the cross. We must live out (do) God’s plan, no one can do that for us. Then Paul tells us why this is so critical.
Just as the Philippians’ obedience brought joy to Paul so does a believer living out the plan of God in humility, submission and obedience bring great pleasure to the Father. The first time the word pleasure is used is in Matthew when Jesus in His prayer states it was well pleasing to the Father to reveal His truth to those who respond like children – those trust and obey without wavering.
What can we learn? We are not to overlook Paul’s last phrase our motivation to walk worthy. Once we are God’s child our most important priority is to please Him.