February 16, 2025 Preaching | Ptr Paul Tanchi
In light of all that Jesus has done and who He is in our lives, what should our response be? In your journey through life, work out your salvation! When our lives don’t turn out how we want, or our day isn’t going how we want to, would we still be able to go through the journey with love and joy? How do we do that?
God exalted Jesus greatly (Philippians 2:9-10). We see that it was because Jesus humbled Himself, even dying on the cross for our sins (Philippians 2:5-8). As a response, Paul describes what we ought to be like as believers in Christ. If “love” is spelled “T-I-M-E” for a child, as followers of Jesus, love is spelled “O-B-E-Y” for Him (John 14:15), we are to “work out our salvation” (Philippians 2:12). To “work out our salvation” is hugely different from to “work for our salvation”:
| WORK OUT YOUR SALVATION | WORK FOR YOUR SALVATION |
| ACTIVE SANCTIFICATION | EARNING SALVATION THROUGH GOOD WORKS (Ephesians 2:8-9) |
| COOPERATE WITH GOD’S GRACE | SELF-RELIANCE, NEGLECTING GRACE |
| RESPOND WITH OBEDIENCE (Romans 12:1) | WORK-BASED JUSTIFICATION (Galatians 2:16) |
For those who are in Christ, you have received salvation by grace, but we have to cooperate with God’s grace and work out our salvation (active sanctification). When we are working out our salvation, we respond with obedience to God’s commands. Working out our salvation with “fear and trembling” does not mean that we are to fear losing our salvation. It’s a healthy fear and reverence for God that motivates us to want to please our Heavenly Father. We need to exercise our muscles to make them stronger; this is like active sanctification! You become more like Christ — that’s our goal as followers of Christ.
Working “for” our salvation assumes that we can earn our salvation through good works. But it’s very clear in the Bible that we are only saved by God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). Jesus is the one who will complete His saving work in us, just as He was the one who started this work in us. We actively participate in the process of God making us more Christlike. The good news is that it is God who changes our hearts, we just participate in His work in us (Philippians 2:13). God takes delight in working in our lives! To work out our salvation, we need to have:
1. JOY IN OBEDIENCE – Philippians 2:14-16
Do you sometimes grumble when your journey does not go according to your desires? We grumble on social media, in traffic, at work, and at home. It’s natural for us to do so, and to have a critical spirit (just like the Israelites in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land). That’s why God tells us to do all things without grumbling or disputing (v. 14). When we live our lives without grumbling, we become lights in this world (v. 15). Even people who do not have Christ find joy in doing good things. But it’s not Jesus who gets the glory. But Christianity is unique in that even when believers are severely persecuted, they still have joy and continue to serve others and our Father in heaven is glorified.
We can do all things without grumbling by holding on to the gospel, to God’s promises in His word (v. 16). If you do, then everything you do for the Lord will never be in vain.
2. JOY IN SACRIFICE – Philippians 2:17-18
We want comfort, and that’s why we are so adverse against sacrifice and suffering! But even if trials come our way, we can still have joy. This is what Paul was talking about (vv.17-18).
What kept Jesus on the cross? It was for the joy that was set before Him. When you give yourself in service to other people, there’s a joy that comes into your life. Have you shared the gospel? Have you visited someone in the hospital? There’s joy in serving others as you see how encouraged they are when you tell them about Jesus or visit them. Even if there’s difficulty, when we obey joyfully, God has a way of giving us joy as well.
We all need other people in our lives because we do get discouraged along the way. Paul wanted to be encouraged by hearing news about the Philippians from Timothy (v. 19). We are instructed to come together and encourage one another (Hebrews 10:24-25).
To have joy in community is to admit that we need people in our lives. For example, being part of a small group (Dgroup) means that we get encouraged, but we also get to encourage others in the group! The apostle Paul knew that, and he talked about Timothy in that way (v. 20). We need to be genuinely concerned for each other like Timothy. We can be in a group and talk about Jesus but not be genuinely concerned with one another and not seek the interests of others (e.g., Judas) (v.21). What is the interest of Christ? Jesus genuinely cares for all of us. His care for you led Him to be obedient, to the point of even death on the cross.
If you truly care about the interests of those who don’t know Jesus yet, live your life in such a way that you become like stars in the night sky (because you don’t grumble, you serve with joy). You will do your part in connecting them to Jesus; you will share the gospel with them. Paul shared Christ to others, never on his own but always with a team. Timothy served not under Paul but with him (v.22-24).
Paul’s team included Epaphroditus, who used to be a pagan but was radically transformed, such that he was willing to risk his life for the gospel (vv. 25-30). It doesn’t matter where you come from; come to Jesus and work out your salvation in a journey of love and joy.