PHILIPPIANS 2:12-18

Background

In the previous passage, Paul exhorts the Philippians to unite in humility, imitating Christ in His humility. Speaking and
encouraging them as a dear friend, he points them to Christ, who in his humility, humbled Himself to the point of death, and by
which achieved salvation for the Philippians. Application: if we love our brothers and sisters, let us use our friendships to point
each other to Christ, as Paul has done.

2:12-13a Obedience through unity

Here, Paul calls them to obey. The main problem is ‘work out your own salvation’ – it is commonly thought that Paul somehow
suggests salvation is by works. This is not the case. Here, Paul is referring to salvation as a whole, comprising justification,
sanctification, and glorification. More precisely, Paul is referring to obedience in the form of unity. This can be seen from ‘as
you have always obeyed, … work out your salvation’, implying obedience and working out of salvation refer to the same thing
– Paul is exhorting them, not to do something new, but rather to continue in obedience – by no means is Paul suggesting that
salvation is something we can accomplish by our own works. He is referring to the external demonstration of our salvation
(parallel of 1:27). Paul is also referring to unity, as seen through the use of ‘therefore’, implying he is now applying the
discussion of humility and unity in verses 1-11 to their current situation. Therefore, Paul is not making a soteriological
statement (a statement about salvation e.g. ‘by grace your are saved through faith’), but rather an ethical one (a statement
about behaviour e.g. ‘flee sexual immorality’). Application: Salvation is externally visible, and living as saved people is
something to be pursued actively. Furthermore, unity distinguishes saints from the sinners around them, and disunity in the
church causes the saints to lose their distinctiveness, which is an important aspect of holiness.

Paul seems to know that his exhortation may lead to the misunderstanding that he is suggesting a works-based salvation.
Therefore, he immediately follows up by stating it is God who works in the Philippians that they may obey – both the
motivation to obey and the effort to obey come ultimately from Him. Therefore, God has supplied the Philippians with the
motivation and also the ability to obey – they have all they need to obey.

It is also noted that Paul adds on ‘with fear and trembling’ to his exhortation – this is not out of fear of failure in a legalistic
sense, but rather in response to the greatness of Christ (as shown through verses 6-11), one should rightly show reverence
and awe. This echoes Hosea 3:5, which describes the Israelites fearing the Lord and His goodness. True recognition of the
salvation that has been achieved by Christ should bring us to our knees in reverence and worship, and even more so knowing
that even our desire to obey comes from Him.

Again, here we find Paul’s theme of joy shining through – God works in the Philippians for His good pleasure. There is divine
joy in obedience, and perhaps Paul is suggesting that if even God delights in their obedience, so too should they obey joyfully.
This carries into the exhortation to obey without grumbling or questioning – these would be absent if the Philippians obeyed
with joy. Application: Joy is a great motivator in obedience, and it is truly important that we find our joy in God, and to delight
in Him. God is most glorified when we are most joyful in Him.

2:13b-16a Obedience for the gospel

Here, Paul sets out 2 reasons to motivate the Philippians in their obedience. The first is for the sake of the gospel. He calls them
to obey without grumbling or questioning (which brings to mind the Israelites in Exodus and Numbers), that among a crooked
and twisted generation (referring to the unbelievers in Philippi, but not very important), they may be blameless, innocent
children of God, by which they shine as lights (refer to Daniel 12:3 and Matthew 5:16 – both show good works point people to
God), and hold fast to the word of life – here, the translation appears passive and suggests defensive perseverance, but
together with ‘shining as lights’, this actually refers to an active perseverance in holding out the word of life (this is actually
better shown in the Mandarin translation compared to English). Paul is pointing out that their obedience in unity is crucial for
the unbelievers among them – it enables them to function as effective witnesses to an unbelieving world. Conversely,
disunity diminishes the effectiveness of their witness, and hinders unbelievers from coming to Christ. Application: if we cannot
even get along with our brothers and sisters, how can we convince the unbelievers that Christ would willingly accept all who
come, when we can’t even accept our own?

2:16b-18 Obedience for Paul’s sake

 PHILIPPIANS 2:12-18
Paul returns to his friendship with the Philippians. Here, recall that Paul planted the Philippian church, and takes great pride in
their love for God (refer to 1:3-11) – they are his friends, and the cherished fruits of his gospel work. Despite the seriousness of
the issue, Paul still refers to them as his beloved, showing the strength of their bond, and by appealing to their friendship, he is
confident that they will respond positively to his exhortation (again, contrast this with Galatians, where Paul has to appeal to
his authority as an apostle). Therefore, Paul calls on the Philippians to remember his ministry (I did not run in vain or labour
in vain) – they are the fruits of his ministry, they should make him proud, and by their obedience, they are aiding his ministry.

But this is not to make the Philippians feel guilty – he points out that whatever sacrifice they make in the name of obedience,
he rejoices in it, and his death (while it is not likely that Paul thinks he is getting martyred immediately, he probably is
avoiding presumption) will add to the value of their sacrifice. Here, Paul is pointing out that their commitment and sacrifice is
genuine – it is a genuine sacrifice that he wants to join in on. If anything, they have been obedient (2:12: as you have always
obeyed; 1:5: fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now) - they needed encouragement to do even better, and to
watch out for issues that would affect their obedience. Likewise, he says he rejoices in it, and that they too should join in and
rejoice – if the Philippians felt dejected from what Paul has said thus far, the exhortation to rejoice together with Paul would be
a great encouragement. Application: Let us truly rejoice in the progress made by our brothers and sisters in their walk with the
Lord. For their sake, we should truly be willing to joyfully lay down ourselves for the sake of their growth in the Lord. Are we
using our friendships to build each other up in the gospel?

Again, note Paul’s persistent note of joy through this exhortation. It begins with ‘complete my joy’ in 2:1, and ends with ‘be
glad and rejoice in me’ – this is rooted in the value Paul places on the gospel, and on the people he is ministering to.