This sermon was preached at Ascension Reformed Church in Moscow, Idaho on September 6, A.D. 2026. The video can be found here.
Philippians 2:12–18
12 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; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
14 Do all things without complaining and disputing, 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.
17 Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me (NKJV).
Introduction
When traveling along a path, there are always two ditches to avoid if you want to stay the course. And in the Christian walk, there are two ditches to avoid when it comes to your understanding of works and grace.
The first ditch would be that of works-righteousness. The awful idea that you need to earn your salvation. That it is all up to you, and God would accept you and forgive you if only you work hard enough and live a good life.
Of course, many who live like this would deny that they do. They know, at least intellectually, they are saved by grace through faith and not by works. But if you were to pop open the hood of their hearts, you would find an extremely insecure person, who really is living like God is never pleased with them and they have to earn it. Even if they acknowledge that it is the Lord who saves, they act as if God has done His part, but now the rest is really up to them to accomplish on their own. This is an exhausting way to live, and it leads to Christians attempting to fight the sins of the flesh with the flesh.
The other ditch can be summarized in the phrase, “Let go and let God.” This would be the approach of passively waiting for God to move. Waiting for a “second blessing” to come, waiting for some sort of lightning bolt moment. Rather than fighting their sin head-on, there is a belief that they just need to rest in Christ and wait for Him to change their affections or remove a sinful desire. And until that happens, there’s not much one can do.
And of course, I believe that our passage this morning charts the narrow way, avoiding such ditches. For here we read that, yes, you are to work out your salvation. Nobody drifts toward godliness, but there is a holy striving in the Christian life. So you are to work out your salvation, but as we will see more closely, you are to do so because God is already working in you.
These two beliefs must be held together if you are to have a healthy approach to growing in godliness in this life.
In the words of J.I. Packer, when it comes to fighting sin and cultivating holiness in our lives, we are not to simply “Let go and let God” – but rather – “Trust God and get going.” There is glorious work for each of you to do every day, both in our hearts and in the world around us, and it is work that God is pleased to work in us. But before we dive into this teaching, let’s first go over a summary of our passage.
Summary of the Text
Immediately following what has been called the “Christ hymn,” in which we see our Lord’s humble obedience even unto death, the Apostle Paul calls the Philippians to continue in their work of obedience, even in his absence.
Notice that big theological claims like Christ’s full divinity and incarnation have practical application for the Apostle Paul. These are not just doctrines to discuss or marvel at, to read about in systematic theologies, but they are to move us in faithfulness and obedience. Now, it is one thing to obey when you are being watched, but it is a deeper demonstration of faithfulness to obey even when no one is looking, as Paul says they do.
Note that he calls them his “beloved,” a term of affection, but also what God the Father called Jesus Christ in His baptism, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mt. 3:17). Paul is reminding them of both God’s love and his love for them, even as he admonishes them toward further obedience.
In their obedience, the Philippians are to “work out their salvation with fear and trembling.” But this is not a working for your salvation, as if it could be earned or accomplished by your activity. Rather, it is a working out what God has and is continuing to work in. “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (vv. 12–13).
One example of what it looks like to work out your own salvation is not to grumble or fight with others (v. 14). When you live like this consistently as a church, you demonstrate to the unbelieving world that you have been set apart by God as His children, as you hold fast the word of life (15–16a).
In all of this, the Apostle Paul continues to keep in mind the coming day of the Lord, when both he and those he has labored for will stand before God. Paul’s great desire is that in the end, he would be able to rejoice in his life’s work, seeing the Philippians whole in Christ (v. 16b). And so Paul acknowledges that the Philippians’ faith is a kind of living sacrifice to God, and he is glad at the thought of his life being laid down for them as a sacrificial drink offering poured out on top of their faith, and calls them to rejoice with him in this (vv. 17–18).
Work Out Your Own Salvation
The Apostle Paul tells the Philippians to obey the Lord and to “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” (vv. 12–13).
Before we discuss the aspects of salvation and how to square this with justification by faith alone, I want you to notice that first word I quoted.
“Work.”
You are called to work—to take action in your faith. This is because the Christian faith is an active faith. The Christian life is one of activity. The Bible is filled with exhortations and admonitions, calls to faithful living and obedience to the commands of God. As Jesus says, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (Jn. 14:15). You will follow Him. You will walk in His ways.
But unfortunately, too many Christians are stuck in sin because they are stagnant.
Some of you are struggling with ongoing sin because you are sitting around, waiting for something to happen. You continue to give in to your lusts because you have not taken action. You have yet to cut off your right hand. You keep harboring bitterness and anger because you are not dealing with your heart before the Lord. You haven’t humbled yourself before God and forgiven those who have wronged you. Whatever your besetting sin is—one reason that you may be struggling to make progress in killing it is that you have yet to seriously pick up the sword of faith. You have not yet attempted to get to work against it. You are like someone floating down a river, simply carried by the current, but you need to put your paddle in if you are going to steer to your destination.
And so the Apostle Paul says you are to work. And he says that you are to “work out your own salvation…”
Now, an obvious question when it comes to this passage is this – I thought I was already saved? And not only aren’t I already saved… but isn’t one of the Bible’s big teachings that I can’t do the saving? That it is something only Jesus could accomplish for us? The answer to those questions… is yes. So what does Paul mean when he tells you to “work out your own salvation”?
First, you must understand that salvation in the Lord can rightly be understood as a past, present, and future reality. We see this in the Apostle Paul’s own writings. So you have been saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8–9). We often call this “justification,” where God, by His free grace, pardons all your sins and gives you Christ’s righteousness as your own, received by faith (WSC 33). You are being saved presently, moving from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18, 1 Cor. 1:18). This is your sanctification, your ongoing growth in present holiness by God’s grace. And one day you will be saved; your final salvation will appear (Rom. 13:11, Heb. 9:28). We call this glorification when you receive your resurrected body, made perfect and free of sin.
Therefore, Paul can rightly tell you to work out your own salvation, to make effort in your growth in holiness, even though in another sense it has already been accomplished.
But if you are going to rightly work out your own salvation in this life, you must know that it is God who is working in you. Paul doesn’t simply say “work out your own salvation,” period. He says, “Work out your own salvation… For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” God is the Initiator and the Sustainer of your salvation. He does not save you and then leave you to work out the rest on your own.
The word “for” there indicates a causal relationship. You are to “work out” because God Himself is pleased to “work in” you. God works and you work. But you can only work because it is God who works in you.
If you get this backward, you lose the gospel.
If you think you need to work out of your own strength in order to get God to work for you, you will end up despairing of both your sinfulness and your complete inability to accomplish any good thing.
But if you understand that God has saved you, and He is now determined to make you into the image of His Son by that same grace that justified you, you can endeavor to love Him and obey Him freely.
In this work, you are not seeking to earn God’s favor, but you are simply seeking to obey Him with humility and thankfulness. You are responding to His grace in you, now that you have a desire to be more like Christ and to please Him as your Lord and Savior.
None of this is at odds with the great passages of justification by faith alone.
Just to take Ephesians 2:8–10 as one example… the Apostle Paul writes there, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast…”
And then he continues, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
You have been saved by grace through faith – not by works. And you have been saved and made new in Christ for good works that God has prepared for you to walk in.
These good works are an outworking of what God, by His Holy Spirit, has wrought in you. And so what all of this means is that you must not be afraid of pursuing good works. You are called to work out your own salvation. You are called, each day, to continue on the path of righteousness by confessing your sins. Acknowledging your faults and shortcomings. And joyfully endeavoring to live holy lives by the power of the Spirit in you.
I remember that Pastor Doug’s father, Jim Wilson, once said or wrote somewhere that Christians should read the Bible with a pen or highlighter in hand, looking for the imperatives. Looking for the commands to highlight for the day and seek to obey.
Now, whether or not you want to mark up your Bible, the question you should consider is this: Do you live your Christian life like that? Do you read the Word like that? Do you listen to sermons like that? Are you actually looking for direction from God and commands to joyfully obey? Do you want to apply it to your life? Do you want to follow the Lord in all areas of life?
Or do you read and hear the Word passively, letting it pass through you and change nothing?
Some of you are floating through each day quite aimlessly. Some days are okay, some are pretty bad… but you’re not quite sure what you’re doing and you find yourself repeatedly suffering in your own sin and stuck in a pit of shame. And the problem is that you are not working out your salvation. You are not striving towards Christ.
If that is you… that’s a fearful place to be. To be spiritually complacent and unmoved. If you are in Christ, He has so much better in store for you than that. You don’t have to live like that, and in fact, you must not if you are going to persevere in the faith.
Now, note that Paul says you must work out your own salvation… with fear and trembling. What does that mean?
Are you to be afraid that you are going to lose your salvation? Is that meant to be a normative part of the Christian experience? A fear that God might punish you? No. I don’t believe that is what Paul is teaching here.
He is not speaking of a carnal fear of God, a fear that you are on the cusp of losing salvation or about to be judged. Rather, he is talking about a healthy fear of the Lord. The kind that you find extolled in Proverbs and in the Psalms. This is a reverence for God, knowing Him as He is. This involves a soberness and a seriousness toward life, knowing that you have been saved by Christ.
One helpful way to picture this call to work out your own salvation as God works in you, is to remember Jesus’ teaching on the vine and the branches.
In John 15, He says to His disciples, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (v. 5). It is only because you are united to Christ that you are free to work out your salvation. He is the vine, and you are a branch which relies on Him for life. This means that when you work and bear fruit, you are doing so because of the life of Christ in you. Christ is your strength. He is the One working in you. As the Vine, He is your spiritual sap, producing fruit in your life. So you are to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. But you are to do so knowing that it is the Lord Himself who is pleased to work in you.
Shining in a Dark World
Now, the Apostle Paul’s first application of this admonition to work out your own salvation is quite interesting. He says you are to “do all things without complaining or disputing.”
That seems like some low-hanging fruit. Or maybe a rather insignificant thing to focus on. Complaining? Grumbling? Disputing and arguing? Are they really big-deal sins? Yes. Yes, they are. For they are common sins that most readily reveal your heart.
As our Lord taught, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Mt. 12:34b) and “Those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man” (Mt. 15:18).
If you want to know how your heart is, consider how much you grumble and complain. Or better yet, ask your spouse or your friend how much you complain. It is a real sin for many Christians. And notice that Paul says, “do all things without grumbling or disputing.” In the original Greek, that word “all” there means… all. All things.
Remember, Paul is writing from prison to the Philippians who are enduring various trials for their faith. So this is not simply a command that when life goes well, you have no reason to complain.
This is not a random or arbitrary command from the Lord. It is actually what He obeyed Himself, all the way to death on the cross. As Isaiah prophesied, “He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth” (Isa. 53:7). And so you are to imitate Christ in striving not to complain, grumble, or dispute and fight with others—not only some of the time, but in all circumstances.
Now, the Apostle Paul says that you are to “do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may be blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” We see here that this kind of patient and joyful living is a witness to the world of Christ. When the church as a whole is committed to this way of living before the Lord, she shines brightly in a dark culture filled with sin.
The word translated as “lights” there literally means stars. And this brings to mind Old Testament passages that speak of the people of God as stars. You can think of God’s covenant promise to Abraham in Genesis 15, where the Lord says to him, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them. So shall your descendants be” (v. 5). And we know that by faith we, the church, are children of Abraham. Or consider the prophecy in Daniel 12, where we read of the future resurrection of the dead, and that “those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever” (v. 3).
The imagery of stars always invokes the contrast of the darkness that surrounds them. And you know that the darker the night, the brighter the stars shine. Therefore, no matter how wicked the world around you is, no matter how dark your culture gets, there is a call upon you as a member of Christ’s body to shine brightly, as a witness to Christ.
This is exactly what our Lord taught in his Sermon on the Mount when He said, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Mt. 5:14–16). Notice again that there is a command to obey here. There’s the fact that you are the light of the world. And then there’s the command, then, to let your light shine before men in your good works—so that God would be glorified. Therefore, you can see that the Apostle Paul is calling you as the church to live in contentment and peace in all circumstances, knowing how attractive such living is to a world filled with sin, hatred, anger, disappointment, and strife.
Now there is one more thing I want you to see in these verses here regarding complaining.
The command to do all things without grumbling or complaining seems plain enough. But to those well-read in the Scriptures, it also specifically brings to mind the sin of the Israelites when they complained and refused to enter the Promised Land.
This is recorded a few times, but for example we read in Numbers 14, “And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, ‘If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness!’” (vv. 2–3).
Imagine that. The Israelites were miraculously freed from slavery in Egypt, saw God part the Red Sea, and drown their enemies. And now, hearing from the spies that there are giants in the land that they are to inherit, they faithlessly grumble without hope.
So that’s one call back to the Israelites in the wilderness in our passage. But there’s actually another one as well.
The Apostle Paul also uses the phrase “in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,” which comes from the Song of Moses, again on the edge of the Promised Land, this time right before his death. So we read in Deuteronomy 32, speaking of the Israelites, “They have corrupted themselves; they are not His children because of their blemish: a perverse and crooked generation.” Here, Moses reminds the people of God of their past unbelief and unfaithfulness, calling them to enter the Promised Land with renewed faithfulness and obedience to the Lord.
So what are you to do with these connections?
In 1 Corinthians 10, the Apostle Paul tells us that these Old Testament stories are for our edification. Specifically, regarding the Israelites in the wilderness, he says they are examples to us. “Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.’ Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Cor. 10:6–11).
Therefore, in our passage this morning, we see more than just a command to lay aside grumbling and complaining. There is actually a great calling for you here. By the Spirit and power of Christ, you are called as the church to do what Israel failed to do. You are to be children of God “without blemish,” who live without complaint in the midst of a crooked generation, holding fast to the word of life. And as you do this, just as the Israelites were preparing to enter the land, you too are inheriting the land. Except now, it is the whole earth.
Our Lord Jesus did not grumble or complain, and in meekness He inherited the nations. Likewise, by His power and authority, you are called to do the same in imitation of Him. You are to live as bright shining lights in the midst of a world that is still stained with sin. And by doing so, you will fulfill the words of Jesus when He said, “The meek shall inherit the earth.”
Living Sacrifices of Joy
Now I want us to consider the last couple of verses of this passage. Starting at the end of verse 16, Paul exhorts them to do all of this “…so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.”
As we have seen previously in this letter, the Apostle Paul earnestly desires the good of the church in Philippi. Remember how he started our passage this morning, “Beloved.” He has great love and affection for them, and he is anxious to see them make progress in the faith, that they would stand without offense in the day of Christ (1:25, 10).
In this relationship, Paul sees two sacrifices to God on top of one another. First, you have the sacrifice of the Philippians’ faith. As Paul writes in Romans 12, believers are to present their bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is their reasonable service. Additionally, in Romans 15, the Apostle Paul explains that he understands his ministry to the Gentiles as a “priestly duty”—priests being those who offered sacrifices—“so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit” (v. 16). So you have the Philippians themselves as a sacrifice to God.
Second, Paul says he is being poured out as a drink offering on top of their sacrifice of faith. In both Jewish and pagan contexts, drink offerings consisted of pouring out wine on the ground as an offering to God or the gods. And in the Jewish sacrificial system, the drink offering was generally poured out as the final act of the offering. And so Paul is saying that his life is being poured out for the Philippians. He is being emptied for them, just as Christ emptied Himself for the church. And one day the last drop of his life will fall, sealing their sacrifice to God. And he does all of this with gladness and joy.
This ought to be the attitude of all shepherds in the church. Paul’s love for God’s people is not theoretical or abstract, but it is tangible and real. The Apostle Paul was not living as a mere church employee, going through the pastoral motions, but was waking up each day willing to suffer and die for the good of the people of God. As he writes to Timothy, “I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”
Now notice that Paul calls them to be glad and rejoice with him in this. One theme of this letter is a call to unity, not division. They are to do all things without complaining and disputing. And if you think back to the Israelites in the wilderness that Paul alludes to in this passage, there is an important detail in the story that may be relevant to Paul’s point here. Think about this – who did the Israelites complain against in the wilderness? Who were they grumbling to? Yes, you can say they were grumbling to the Lord, but most immediately, they were complaining to and fighting with their shepherds and leaders. Again, in Numbers 14 it says, “And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron…’” Now we cannot know for certain, but it may be the case that some of the divisions in Philippi were between members and their leaders, which is why Paul brings in the example of the Israelites’ grumbling.
Additionally, in the next passage, which we will look at next week, Paul specifically commends two leaders and their ministries among the Philippians. And so when the Apostle Paul declares his love for them and his willingness to die on their behalf, he is calling them to rejoice with him in unity, he is calling on their loyalty. We see this in another letter of Paul’s, when he writes in 2 Corinthians, “I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls… though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved” (v. 15). Paul is saying to them, I am willing to lay down my life for you… even though the more I pout out my love, the less I receive in return.
The situation is not quite the same for the Philippian church, for Paul extols their love and support for him, even in his chains. And yet he is asking them to remain united to him, to obey his teaching, so that he would rejoice in the day of Christ that he has not labored in vain.
Therefore, you should understand that this command to do all things without grumbling or disputing includes honoring and supporting those who labor on your behalf in the Lord. You are called to work out your salvation, which will bring great joy to those shepherds who watch over your souls and will one day give an account. And so the relationship between shepherds and the flock should be one of mutual joy and support in the Lord… all to the glory of God.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I want to circle back to the Apostle Paul’s initial exhortation in our passage this morning. “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.”
You must know deep down that this command to work out your salvation is only possible for the believer because of the blessing we have as members of the New Covenant.
In Ezekiel 36, the Lord spoke a great promise to His people, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them (vv. 26–27).
God is the giver of new hearts; you cannot do that on your own. In fact, when you were dead in your trespasses and sins, not only could you not change your heart, but you did not even want a new heart. So God saves His people. And He has given you His Spirit to cause you to walk in His ways and to keep His holy law. It is the Spirit who enables you to obey God’s good commands. As St Augustine once asked of the Lord, “Give what You command, and command whatever You will.” Throughout Scripture, God gives you commands to obey that are for your good. But not only does He call you to obey, but He gives you the grace needed to do so.
In this, the Lord is kind to you. He does not ask of you to work out your salvation without first working in you His grace. Yes, in this life your good works will be imperfect and tainted with sin. But when they are done in faith and in the name of Christ, they are acceptable and pleasing to God. Which means that even in your striving, it is grace all the way down.