Our joy grows when we respond to what Jesus has done for us by living in obedience to Him...

At the church where I serve, we have been spending our time together looking at a letter that was written by the Apostle Paul and that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Philippians. And as we have looked at this letter, our hope and our prayer is to be able to answer the question "What is joy?" along with sharing the several timeless truths that the Apostle Paul found as he lived a life that was marked by joy.

This week, I would like for us to spend our time together picking up where we left off last week. And as we jump into the next section of this letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to early followers of Jesus while in prison facing the possibility of death that we will discover another timeless truth when it comes to finding joy. So let’s discover that timeless truth together, beginning in Philippians 2:12:

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;

Paul begins the section of his letter to the members of the church at Philippi with a command. When Paul uses the phrase “so then”, he is basically saying “In light of the reality that I have called you to be united together in gospel centered community that is based on our mutual encouragement as a result of our faith in Christ, our mutual love for Jesus, and the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence that connect us to Jesus and one another. In light of the reality that I have called you to rid yourselves of selfish ambition or exaggerated self examination and to instead humbly consider others more important than yourselves. In light of the reality that I have called you to follow the example of Jesus, who did not consider His personal status as something to be used to achieve an advantage over others but instead set aside His status for the needs of others. In light of the fact that you have always strived to follow the message and teachings of Jesus whether I was with you in Philippi and even more so now that you have heard of my imprisonment. In light of all that, I am commanding you to do something. And what I commanding you to do is to work out your salvation with fear and trembling”.

Now as soon as you heard the phrase “work out your salvation with fear and trembling”, a thought immediately popped into your mind. And if you were able to share that thought with me, the conversation would sound something like this: “Well Dave, is Paul saying that we have to earn our salvation? Is Paul saying that we could lose our salvation? Because that is what it sounds like. It sounds like Paul is saying that we need to work for our salvation. It sounds like we are to work for our salvation with fear and trembling because we could do something that results in us either failing to gain our salvation or in us losing our salvation. I mean, why else would Paul say work out your salvation in fear and trembling?”

If those thoughts and questions are running through your mind, I just want to let you know that those are great thoughts or questions. To understand what Paul is communicating in these verses, we first need to define some terms and remind ourselves of what Paul previously said in this letter. When Paul uses the phrase work out, this phrase, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to bring about or carry out a matter. What Paul is commanding followers of Jesus to bring about or carry out is their salvation.

When Paul here is referring to salvation, he is referring to the salvation that has occurred as a result of our rescue from selfishness and rebellion through faith in Christ. The point behind the Apostle Paul’s command here is that salvation is not something that we simply receive as a follower of Jesus. Salvation also is about something that we live out in our day to day lives as followers of Jesus.

The issue that Paul is addressing here is not salvation. The issue that Paul is addressing is how we live out our salvation as followers of Jesus. The issue that Paul is dealing with is how saved people live out their salvation. When Paul commands followers of Jesus to work out our salvation, he is talking about living in obedience to Jesus by following the message and teachings of Jesus in light of the fact that we have been rescued by Jesus. You see the issue is obedience, which Paul defines as working out, or carrying out, in community with one another the salvation we have received from God.

And as followers of Jesus, we are to carry out our obedience to the message and teachings of Jesus in community with one another in fear and trembling. When Paul uses the word fear here, this word refers to a reverent respect toward God and Jesus that produces submission and obedience to Jesus. Similarly, the word trembling conveys the sense of trembling or quivering in awe of someone.

Paul’s point is that as followers of Jesus we are to carry out the salvation that we have received from Jesus in such a way that results in submission and obedience to Jesus and the message and teachings of Jesus as One who is worthy of awe and reverence. Now you still might not be convinced that the issue here is how we live out our salvation and not salvation itself. If I have just described you, I want to direct our attention to what we looked at two weeks ago in Philippians 1:27-28:

Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents-- which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God.

As we discovered two weeks ago, Paul commanded followers of Jesus throughout history to live our day to day lives in response to all that Jesus has done for us in a way that makes much of Jesus and that revealed and reflected Jesus in our character and conduct to others. Paul explained that regardless of how his circumstances turn out, he would hear that the members of the church at Philippi were living lives that remained firmly committed to the message and teachings of Jesus and that were not intimidated by those who opposed Jesus.

Paul then unpacked that by not being intimidated by their opponents, they were providing the evidence of their rescue from selfishness and rebellion as a result of placing their trust in the message of the gospel. You see, the members of the church of Philippi were not to be intimidated by their opponents in order to earn their salvation. Instead, the fact that they were not intimidated by their opponents was the evidence of the salvation that they already possessed.

And it is here that we see that Apostle Paul reveal for us a timeless truth when it comes to finding joy. And that timeless truth is this: Our joy grows when we respond to what Jesus has done for us by living in obedience to Him. And in Philippians 2:12-18, we see the Apostle Paul reveal three different ways that our joy grows when we respond to what Jesus has done for us by living in obedience for Him.

First, in verse 12, we see Paul reveal for us the reality that our joy grows as our obedience provides the evidence of our salvation. As followers of Jesus, we are commanded to live in obedience to the message and teachings of Jesus with a reverent respect of God. As followers of Jesus, we are commanded to live in obedience to the message and teachings of Jesus in awe of God’s nature and character. And as we carry out the salvation that we have received from Jesus in such a way that results in submission and obedience to Jesus and the message and teachings of Jesus as One who is worthy of awe and reverence, we provide the evidence of our salvation for the world to see.

Now you still might not be convinced that you cannot lose your salvation. If I just described you, tomorrow we will look at what the Apostle Paul has to say next, because it is what the Apostle Paul says next that we see a second way that our joy grows when we respond to what Jesus has done by living in obedience to Him….