Philippians 2:9-13 Complete Jewish Bible
9 Therefore God raised him to the highest place
and gave him the name above every name;
10 that in honor of the name given Yeshua,
every knee will bow —
in heaven, on earth and under the earth —
11 and every tongue will acknowledge[a]
that Yeshua the Messiah is Adonai —
to the glory of God the Father.
12 So, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed when I was with you, it is even more important that you obey now when I am away from you: keep working out your deliverance with fear and trembling,[b] 13 for God is the one working among you both the willing and the working for what pleases him.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Do any of you love to work out?
Do any of you love to get on a treadmill and either walk or jog or run or sprint from what amounts to from the gym to the furthest, remotest place on earth?
What about lifting those weights – doing those bar bells in ever increasing weights, working those abdominal muscles to get those 6 or 12 pack of abs?
Anyone out there, male and female, who who are trying to become, or on their way to becoming a professional competitive body builder, weight lifter or the world’s strongest athlete, compete in an Olympic level Decathlon or Marathon?
If you are, I say … keep it up, get in shape, be competitive, follow your dreams, Exercise those heart muscles, lower your blood pressure, lower blood sugars.
God the Father Bless You! God the Son Bless You! God the Holy Spirit Bless You!
From my own personal experience from 18 1/2 years of military service, from my efforts to keep my own vital signs and sugar levels down, Triple Bypass Open Heart Surgery one year ago, from what I understand, it’s a fluid time ebbing and flowing from an acquired taste to an absolute medical necessity.
A person may begin a workout regimen and hate it right off the bat and quit, but then as they push themselves, keep at it week after week, they may begin to see positive results mentally, physically, or both. The hard work of working out almost becomes addicting and before they know it, they’ll do love to work out!
The bottom line is anything good for us requires hard work, whether it be monetarily, emotionally, physically, or even spiritually, and with that hard work, pain may come at the start. Seems to contradict the goal, doesn’t it?
However, I believe that humans, by nature, have a desire to work out things for themselves. We read it in the Bible and we will see it in certain religions, where doing hard works is more palatable than accepting God’s free gift of salvation.
So how do we reconcile Paul’s statement in Philippians 2:12b,
“Work out your salvation with fear and trembling?”
Doesn’t that contradict the fact that we cannot work our way into heaven and too God has given us the free gift of His Son Jesus who finished the work on the cross?
Philippians 2:13 gives us the answer, “For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
You might respond, “Okay, so… how do I work out my salvation?”
Let’s look at how together:
Recognize God’s Power Within You
As we discussed above, working out takes willpower, discipline, and a stick-to-it attitude. There needs to be a strong desire to start working out, discipline to continue, and a spirit hardened stick-to-it attitude for it to become a habit.
We can apply this same series of attitudes to our walk of obedience to the Lord by first recognizing God’s power within us to renew our minds to that end.
The Apostle Paul tells us in the verse mentioned earlier that it is GOD who works in us!
Jeremiah 32:17 expands upon that further:
“We believe that you made the heavens and the earth by your great power and your outstretched arm. And that nothing is too hard for you, Lord God. So we pray boldly for things that are impossible apart from you.”
So how do we apply this to working out our salvation?
By recognizing God’s power within us “both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13b).
Obedience unto God is hard.
Yes, I said it.
In our sinful state, even as children of God, we can easily fall prey to our selfish hearts and choose what we want rather than what God has called us to do.
Sometimes it can feel impossible to stop sinning. Like Romans 7:18b-19 says,
“For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”
Step 1 = the hardest one = If we want to recognize God’s power within us …
When we recognize God’s power within us, we will pray boldly for things that are impossible apart from God.
We need to ask God to help us with any besetting sin we might have and seek Him with our whole heart for help to walk in obedience day after day.
In doing so, we will be working out our salvation through the power of God at work within us.
Obey the Spirit’s Leading
Like me, I’m sure we have all had that “little nudge” from the Holy Spirit prompting us to do something.
Too often, though, we might respond like Moses in Exodus 4:13:
“But Moses said, ‘Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.’”
Moses felt that he did not have the gift of speech even though God told Him He would give Him the words to speak!
That being said, did Moses really even want to go?
It would appear that he didn’t want to under any other caveats and conditions other than his own. We can be like that, right? We try to justify our reasons, but the reality is, for whatever reason, we just don’t want to do it. It could be fear, it could be selfishness, it could be any number of reasons, all of which have their root in our adversary Satan trying to hard stop us in our tracks in serving God.
Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
This is how we work out our salvation, by submitting, obeying the Holy Spirit’s leading, completing the works He prepared for us to do before the world began.
Repent of Anything Contrary to God’s Will
Even though we have received the free gift of salvation, it doesn’t mean that we have a free pass to sin or to live our lives independent from Christ.
I know I’m stating the obvious, but sometimes, we can and in truth, do, will act that way without even realizing we are doing it.
How do we act that way?
Through selfishness. And I’m sure you all would be nodding your heads in agreement. Selfishness is a real struggle for most people. It makes sense. Of course, we want to look out for ourselves, but we end up taking that too far.
I would say that a majority of the difficult stories (Jonah) in the Bible all had their root in selfishness and pride. Wanting what they wanted at any cost.
All acts of wars, all wars, will start in this manner. Most crimes are a result of complete hardened selfishness. Selfishness is wanting our will and not God’s.
Philippians 2:3-7, leads up to our passage on working out salvation, says,
“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”
Here, we see in context that this is a means of working out our salvation.
How do we put this into practice?
By repenting of our selfishness whenever a selfish thought comes to mind and repenting immediately. We would then find that a lot of the issues we deal with such as anger, frustration and anxiety would all disappear.
By becoming disciplined in this manner, immediately repenting of anything contrary to God’s will, we will indeed be working out our salvation through our accountability to God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit with every selfish thought.
In that moment, He will renew our minds to seek after His will. (Romans 12:1-2)
Loving Your Neighbor as Yourself
The interesting revelation about our topic on working out your salvation is how the entire passage in Philippians 2 is basically giving us God’s instructions on how to obey the second commandment which is “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:30-31).
“Work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12b) is literally bookended by those admonitions.
What does it mean to workout your own salvation with fear and trembling?
This biblical statement implies a need to live out—to practice, demonstrate, and exhibit—the salvation which believers have in Christ. The concept of “fear and trembling” addresses worshipful respect for God. This echoes back to the context of every knee bowing before the Lord mentioned in verse 11.
Let’s take a look at Philippians 2:14-16b which are Paul’s final exhortations regarding working out your salvation.
“Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life.”
Now more than ever we need to work out our salvation by being lights in this fallen world through loving our neighbor as ourselves.
This past April, we had the privilege of being able to see total eclipse of the sun.
There are no words to describe the experience.
When the moon fully covered the sun and we could take our eclipse glasses off, to see the licks of fire shooting out all around and to watch the darkness fall and the stars come out, we felt like we had a special glimpse into God’s handiwork.
I was especially struck by the sight when there was just the slightest sliver of sun showing through before the total eclipse, yet there was still a dusk-like lighting outside.
It amazed me so little of the sun could be showing and still create that much light!
If you feel like you don’t have much to offer in the Kingdom of God, that you don’t have spiritual gifts that could do great things for God, I’m here to tell you that you do!
Even if you are not a great evangelist filling stadiums with thousands of people, your light has great impact.
You may feel your light is small, but like my experience with the eclipse, even though your perception of how you light up the world may seem small, I am now here telling you that your light is significantly impactful to those you come in contact with.
Don’t ever feel that your light doesn’t matter because it does!
Matthew 5:14-16 says,
“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”.
When we show, reveal, the love of Christ to others and let our light shine to all mankind, we are working out our salvation.
So, What does it mean to workout your own salvation with fear and trembling?
This biblical statement implies a need to live out—to practice, demonstrate, and exhibit—the salvation which believers have in Christ. The concept of “fear and trembling” addresses reverent, worshipful respect for God. This echoes back to the context of every knee bowing before the Lord mentioned in verse 11.
Have you ever wondered why a visit to the gym is called a “workout”?
Maybe it’s because somewhere deep inside you is a strong, svelte, and trained body ready for rigorous competition.
But that body is not present here and now—it needs to be worked out!
It’s similar with farming.
Through plowing, planting, seeding, irrigation, fertilization, and weed control a farmer works out the results of a potential crop. One can only work out results if something already has potential to work hard, harder, hardest hardcore at it.
In today’s text, Philippians 2:12-13 Paul is urging us to engage in a spiritual workout and to take it seriously.
By grace, God—through the work of Jesus Christ—has placed into our lives the most precious of gifts: salvation to new life!
We do not earn our salvation by our own efforts; rather, we are each called to cultivate and develop this gift of God, provided at the cost of his own Son’s life.
We are to work it out to its full potential.
The Holy Spirit is our personal trainer for this workout.
Pointing us to Jesus, he urges us to be
“like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4).
That’s a big challenge, and it reminds us all that we still have much to work out.
May we all work out our salvation not in our own strength but by truly allowing GOD’s strength to showcase His power and the free gift of salvation that lives within us by recognizing God’s power, obeying the Spirit’s leading, repenting of anything contrary to God’s will, and loving God, our neighbors, as ourselves.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 27 Complete Jewish Bible
27 (0) By David:
(1) Adonai is my light and salvation;
whom do I need to fear?
Adonai is the stronghold of my life;
of whom should I be afraid?
2 When evildoers assailed me
to devour my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
they stumbled and fell.
3 If an army encamps against me,
my heart will not fear;
if war breaks out against me,
even then I will keep trusting.
4 Just one thing have I asked of Adonai;
only this will I seek:
to live in the house of Adonai
all the days of my life,
to see the beauty of Adonai
and visit in his temple.
5 For he will conceal me in his shelter
on the day of trouble,
he will hide me in the folds of his tent,
he will set me high on a rock.
6 Then my head will be lifted up
above my surrounding foes,
and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing, sing praises to Adonai.
7 Listen, Adonai, to my voice when I cry;
show favor to me; and answer me.
8 “My heart said of you, ‘Seek my face.’”
Your face, Adonai, I will seek.
9 Do not hide your face from me,
don’t turn your servant away in anger.
You are my help; don’t abandon me;
don’t leave me, God my savior.
10 Even though my father and mother have left me,
Adonai will care for me.
11 Teach me your way, Adonai;
lead me on a level path
because of my enemies —
12 don’t give me up to the whims of my foes;
for false witnesses have risen against me,
also those who are breathing violence.
13 If I hadn’t believed that I would see
Adonai’s goodness in the land of the living, . . .
14 Put your hope in Adonai, be strong,
and let your heart take courage!
Yes, put your hope in Adonai!
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 