WEEK THREE
Day Three
DAILY SCRIPTURE
Philippians 2:13
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Know: Read Philippians 2:12-13
Note: Read slowly, carefully marking keywords.
works, His good pleasure.
Observation:
Who does the work?
Who gets the pleasure of a job well done in you?
What: How does God work in you?
for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:13
By Charis Vogel
“Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” I, like so many of us, am a recovering religious Christian who, though I’d always loved Jesus, felt that God the Father was never quite happy with me and tolerated me because Jesus asked Him to. I was constantly striving to earn God’s approval by serving in church, doing “the right thing,” and constantly trying to be more righteous (which really just made me miserable and self-righteous). My natural personality tends towards striving, accomplishing, and making myself the best I can be. So, as you can imagine, after having discovered grace and rest in the finished work of Jesus, reading that phrase this time made me squirm a bit. “I finally recovered from working, and now Paul is telling me to work out my salvation, not just work it out but with fear and trembling!”
As I asked the Lord for clarity, He told me to read on because the sentence goes on into verse 13 in most translations: "… it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose.” Here’s what He showed me.
First, I must understand that I’m not working to earn salvation. I must remember that all my righteousness is as filthy rags to God (Isaiah 64:6), and apart from Him, I can do nothing good in and of myself. I realize that any good thing I do must be because of Him. So when I’m “working out this salvation” of mine, it really all stems from Him working in me. And it’s more than just working out the fact that Jesus made me righteous and saved me from hell. It’s realizing that that salvation has fringe benefits, one of which is a personal transformation of character. If we go back and remind ourselves of Phil. 1:11, “having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ,” I begin to realize that even the very ability to do good comes not from me, but because I am now a new creation, united with Christ and one with Him, I become His righteousness and that righteousness starts to come out of me. (2 Cor. 5:17, Eph. 2:13, 2 Cor. 5:21)
So now, how do I work it out if I can do nothing good in and of myself? A better way to describe “work it out” would be “stir it up.” Stir up what God has already placed in you at salvation. If I’m united with Christ, that means everything Christ has and is, is in me. That’s the idea of the fruits of the spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). These fruits are resident in me because the Spirit of Jesus is resident in me. But if I don’t understand and believe they are in me, I won’t activate them or use them. I will attempt to use my strength and willpower to develop them. And we all know that doesn’t work for long! But I first begin to stir them up by simply believing that I have those fruits (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faith, and self-control) somewhere deep inside of me. So, knowing and believing is the first part of that. I must know that I have all of those inside of me because Jesus is inside of me and is all of those things, and then believe they are part of me.
I love how beautifully straightforward the NLT says this same verse: “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”
So when I’m “working out this salvation” of mine and the transformation that comes with it, it really all stems from Him working in me. If we go back and remind ourselves of Phil. 1:11, “having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ,” I begin to realize that even the very ability to do good comes not from me, but because, as I am now a new creation, united with Christ and one with Him, I become His righteousness.
The initial transformation takes place in my spirit. I am 3 parts (body, mind, and spirit). The “new creation” is the spirit in me, the special part of me that will live on forever. So Christ’s righteousness is in me, by way of my spirit, but the process of working it out is working the righteousness that is already mine in my spirit, into the other 2 parts of me; my mind and my body.
My mind is my thoughts, will, emotions, and attitudes. And of course my physical body and responses always stem from my mind. My body will follow along with my thoughts, will, emotions, and attitudes. As I believe Christ is in me and all of His righteousness and fruits are in me and fixate on Jesus and His righteousness (His love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, faith, and self control), that is what I start to become. In the Gospel of John, Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” The Greek word and tense for “know” more literally means you will come to know and understand” the truth, as if it’s not a one time deal. This tells me that I must first believe what Jesus says about me, and the more I come to understand it and believe it, it will make me free. The bi-product will be these traits in my life. If I believe I can be patient, just as patient as Jesus was, because He is in me, that truth will set me free and I will not only believe I can be patient, but will begin to act it out. And I believe I will continually come to know more of the truth of who I am in Christ and will continually become more of these traits. Having faith that I am these things just as Jesus is because I’m one with Him begins to activate them in me.
I’ve noticed in my life when Jesus says it’s time to grow and work on a particular character trait, it first comes with an extreme desire to change and a personal feeling of being sick and tired of continually struggling in that area. For example, “I’m tired of harboring a bad attitude toward this person, God.” That is a fairly recent one I’ve walked through in my own life. Remember, it is God working in you, giving you first the desire, but then the power to do what pleases him. So I find when I’m going to go deeper and become more like Christ in an area, an extreme desire comes first. Then the power comes. Having that power doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easy, but because I have the desire, it drives me to wield that power and dig deep, say for example, in controlling my tongue when frustrated with that person. When everything in me wants to say something negative, or speak badly about them, or even just roll my eyes and harbor a bad attitude towards them, I’m reminded that I am in Christ and He in me. I can shut my mouth and choose to find something good about them. Often, as I’m in this process, I will ask God to show me His heart for this person and activate that in my heart towards them. More often than not, He begins to reveal it and as my heart changes for them, my attitudes and actions change. Sometimes I have to work at it as I’m developing a new habit and creating a new default in me. But if choose to believe I can have a completely beautiful, compassionate heart towards them, the same way Jesus does, that truth begins to set me free and become me.
So what about the fear and trembling part? Well, once I realize the power of what Christ has done for me and how much that empowers me and that I’m no longer a victim to my attitudes, emotions and responses, it kind of leaves me in awe. Jesus did so much more for us on that cross than just giving us eternal life. He gave us the power to become like Him in this world because He put His very self inside of me. Sometimes, as a long time Christian, that idea can lose its impact. But it never should, because it’s an astounding thought. The Creator of the universe pardoned you and paid the penalty for all your messes, and then chose to take up residence inside of you, allowing you now to BE Him on this earth! Everything that is His is ours (Luke 15:31,1 John 4:17). That reality ought to bring some awe, reverence, and respect! I believe what Paul is saying here is, “Never lose the wow of your salvation!” It’s the wow over who He now says that I am that brings change and leads me to work out what God has already worked in me at salvation!
I think this quote from Charles Spurgeon summarizes these two verses perfectly. “The believer must work out of himself (in behavior, attitudes, and actions) what God has already worked in them.” So believe the fruits are in you, and as you spend time meditating on it and truly begin to believe it, that truth will, indeed, begin to set you free!