Philippians Part 3: To live is Christ
There are moments in the Christian life when growth feels obvious.
A sin that once controlled us begins to lose its grip. A desire for God's Word grows stronger. Forgiveness comes a little easier. Prayer becomes less like an obligation and more like a necessity. We begin to see changes in ourselves that could only have come from the grace of God. But there are also seasons when sanctification feels painfully slow.
We stumble over the same weaknesses. We become frustrated with how easily we lose patience. We wonder why certain temptations still seem so strong. And sometimes we look at ourselves and ask, "God, are You actually doing anything in me?"
Philippians 2:12–18 speaks directly into that tension.
Paul has just given us one of the most glorious descriptions of Jesus Christ in all of Scripture. Christ humbled Himself, took the form of a servant, became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross, and was then highly exalted by the Father. Every knee will one day bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Then Paul says one important word:
Therefore.
Because this is who Jesus is.
Because this is what Jesus has done.
Because Christ humbled Himself.
Because Christ obeyed.
Because Christ is Lord.
Therefore, this is how His people should live.
Theology was never meant to remain merely in our heads. Theology should lead to worship, and worship should lead to obedience. What we believe about Christ should transform the way we live for Christ.
And throughout this passage, one truth stands underneath everything Paul commands:
God works in us so that His grace can be seen through us.
Work Out What God Is Working In
Few verses in Philippians have caused more confusion than Paul's command:
"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."
At first, those words can sound as though Paul is contradicting the gospel. Is he saying Christ begins salvation and we have to finish it? Do we receive grace and then spend the rest of our lives trying to earn God's continued acceptance?
Absolutely not.
Paul does not say, "Work for your salvation." He says, "Work out your salvation." There is an enormous difference.
We cannot earn what Christ has already purchased. We cannot add something to the finished work of Jesus. Our justification—our right standing before God, is entirely the work of Christ, received through faith. Paul is talking about what happens after God saves us. He is talking about sanctification.
Sanctification is God's gracious work of making His people increasingly like Christ. So when Paul tells us to work out our salvation, he is saying:
Because God has saved you, let that salvation work its way into every corner of your life.
Let what God has done in you begin to become visible through you. Then Paul immediately gives us the reason we can do this:
"For it is God who works in you..."
That changes everything. The Christian life is neither passive nor self-powered. It isn't, "God does everything, so I'll sit around until He makes me holy." But neither is it, "God saved me, and now becoming holy is entirely up to me." Instead, Paul gives us a beautiful rhythm:
God works in. We work out.
And even our working out depends upon His working in. Grace does not eliminate effort. Grace produces it.
God Is Changing More Than Your Behavior
Paul says God works in us "both to will and to work for His good pleasure." That means God isn't only changing what we do.
He is changing what we want. This may be one of the most encouraging signs of sanctification. Over time, believers begin wanting things they didn't once want. Sin that once seemed harmless begins to grieve us. Holiness that once seemed restrictive becomes desirable.
We begin wanting Scripture.
We begin wanting prayer.
We begin wanting to forgive.
We begin wanting to serve.
Above all, we begin wanting Christ more than we once did.
Does this happen perfectly?
No.
Does it happen overnight? Usually not.
Sometimes God's work is so gradual that we barely recognize it while it is happening. That can be discouraging.
We notice how far we still have to go and forget how far God has already brought us. But sometimes the very presence of the struggle is evidence that God is at work. There may have been a time when a particular sin did not bother you.
Now you fight it.
There may have been a time when you could wander far from God and feel perfectly comfortable there.
Now something within you longs to return. There may have been a time when holiness held no appeal for you.
Now, even when you fail, something within you says, "I want to be more like Christ."
Where did that desire come from? Paul's answer is simple: God is at work in you.
You are not yet everything you ought to be. Neither am I.
But by the grace of God, if you belong to Christ, you are not what you once were either.
Sanctification Gets Very Practical
After giving us this enormous truth about God working within His people, Paul becomes remarkably practical.
His next command is:
"Do all things without grumbling or disputing."
That almost feels anticlimactic. Paul has just taken us from the incarnation of Christ, to the cross, to His exaltation, to the sovereign work of God within believers. And then he says:
Stop complaining.
But perhaps that is exactly the point. It is easy to talk about sanctification in the abstract.
"I want to become more like Jesus."
"I want to grow in holiness."
"I want God to transform my life."
But what does that look like on Monday morning? What does sanctification look like when somebody irritates you?
When your plans change? When someone at church disagrees with you? When you don't get what you wanted?
When someone hurts you?
Paul says, "Do all things without grumbling or disputing." And unfortunately for us, the word all is still there.
Joy Cannot Depend on Circumstances
Paul writes these words from prison. That matters. He isn't telling comfortable people to stop complaining while enjoying a comfortable life himself. His freedom has been taken from him, and yet one of the dominant themes throughout Philippians is joy. That tells us something important:
Christian joy cannot depend entirely upon Christian circumstances.
If our joy exists only when life unfolds according to our plans, then our joy will disappear the moment those circumstances change. And they will change. Grumbling is often the outward expression of an inward conviction that life should be different than it is. It says, "I deserve better."
Disputing takes that same discontent and directs it toward other people. When allowed to grow, these attitudes can become so ordinary that we barely recognize them. We complain about work. We complain about our families. We complain about government. We complain about the weather. We complain about church. We complain while experiencing blessings we once prayed to receive. But Paul wants something different for God's people.
Shine in the Darkness
Paul explains why our everyday attitudes matter:
"...that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world."
Paul has witness in mind. Christians are not called to live differently simply so that we can congratulate ourselves for being more moral than everyone else. We live differently because God intends His grace to become visible through His people. Paul's language echoes Israel's wilderness story. God delivered His people from Egypt, provided for them, led them, and repeatedly demonstrated His faithfulness. Yet they grumbled. Over and over again.
Paul essentially tells the church: Do not repeat their story. You are God's children. You live in a dark world.
So shine. That does not mean Christians never experience difficulty. We experience sickness.
Grief.
Disappointment.
Conflict.
Loss.
People hurt us, including people who love us.
Marriage can be difficult. Parenting can be difficult. Aging can be difficult. Faithfulness doesn't remove suffering. But Christians know something the world does not.
We know who is at work. We know Christ is Lord. We know our lives are held by Him. We know death does not get the final word.
And therefore we can walk through darkness differently.
Sometimes Shining Looks Ordinary
We often imagine Christian witness in dramatic terms. Boldly proclaiming the gospel. Standing courageously for truth.
Those things absolutely matter, But Philippians 2 shows us that sometimes shining looks remarkably ordinary.
Sometimes it looks like going through hardship without becoming consumed by bitterness. Sometimes it looks like suffering while still possessing hope. Hurting while still trusting. Disagreeing while still loving. Not getting our way while continuing to serve.
Walking through disappointment without becoming cynical. And eventually someone notices:
"Something is different about them."
That creates an opportunity for our lives to point beyond ourselves. But our conduct alone is not the gospel. Paul says believers are also to hold fast to "the word of life."
Our lives shine.
Our mouths proclaim.
Our conduct gives credibility to the message we carry, but our conduct is not the message.
The gospel is the message.
The good news that Jesus Christ humbled Himself, became obedient unto death, was raised and exalted, and now reigns as Lord over all. We don't want people merely to look at Christians and say,
"What good people." We want them eventually to look beyond us and say, "What a great Savior."
A Life Poured Out Is Never Wasted
Paul then changes the imagery. He describes himself as being "poured out as a drink offering" upon the faith of the Philippians.
A drink offering was poured completely before the Lord. Once poured, it couldn't be gathered back.
It was spent. Given. Offered. And Paul says that is what he is willing for his own life to become. Poured out for Christ. Poured out for God's people. That idea stands in direct opposition to much of what our culture tells us about the good life.
The world often tells us that life is about accumulating.
More comfort, more money, more recognition, more experiences, more security, more for ourselves.
Paul says: "My life is being poured out, and I rejoice." Why? Because he understood something every Christian needs to remember:
A life poured out for Christ is never a life wasted.
Following Christ will cost us something, forgiveness costs something, serving costs something, loving difficult people costs something, faithfulness in marriage costs something, raising children to know Christ costs something, serving the church costs something, putting sin to death costs something, sharing the gospel may cost something, sometimes obedience costs comfort, time, money, opportunities, relationships, or reputation. Yet Paul rejoices because he sees that God is working through it all.
Keep Pouring
Sometimes we become so focused on what faithfulness is costing us that we fail to notice what God may be accomplishing through it. We think about how much we've given. How long we've served. How often we've prayed. How much we've endured. Paul invites us to change the question. Instead of simply asking, “What is this costing me?"
Ask, "What might God be doing through it?"
Maybe you've spent years faithfully teaching your children the Scriptures and wonder whether they're listening.
Keep pouring.
Maybe you've served quietly and almost nobody knows your name.
Keep pouring.
Maybe you've prayed for someone for years without seeing any visible change.
Keep pouring.
Maybe loving someone has required more patience than you ever imagined.
Keep pouring.
Not because your strength is unlimited.
It isn't.
But because God is at work.
He is working in you.
And He is working through you.
When God is at work, nothing faithfully offered to Him is wasted.
Grace From Beginning to End
Paul brings us back, ultimately, to Christ. Before Paul ever poured himself out, Jesus gave Himself for us. Before Paul became obedient, Christ became obedient to the point of death. Before we ever began working out our salvation, Christ accomplished our salvation.
That is the foundation beneath everything. So Philippians 2 does not leave us with: "Try harder." Neither does it leave us with:
"It doesn't matter how you live because Jesus did everything." It leaves us with something far better:
God is at work.
And because God is at work, we respond. We work out what God is working in. We live out what God is working in.
We rejoice in what God is working through. And underneath all of it is the promise Paul gave us earlier in Philippians:
"He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."
The Christian life is grace from beginning to end.
So when you look at yourself and think,
"I still have so far to go..." You probably do. So do all of us. But don't only look at the distance still ahead, look back and remember who brought you this far. God is at work.
And through all of it, may our lives increasingly point away from ourselves and toward the One before whom every knee will bow and every tongue confess:
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Reflection Questions
Where have you seen God changing not only your actions, but also your desires?
Is there a sin you now struggle against that once did not bother you? How might the existence of that struggle itself be evidence of God's sanctifying work?
Are you more focused right now on how far you still have to grow, or are you also thanking God for how far His grace has already brought you?
