Philippians 2:12-18

Sunday, April 18, 2010

 Philippians 2:12-18 (NRSV)
12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not
only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out
your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at
work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good
pleasure.
14 Do all things without murmuring and arguing,
15 so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God
without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,
in which you shine like stars in the world.
16 It is by your holding fast to the word of life that I can boast on
the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17 But
even if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the
offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you
18 and in the same way you also must be glad and rejoice with me.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

 presence/absence

Sunday, April 18, 2010

 presence/absence

Paul wants something other than

his physical presence to be a
factor in the Philippians’
obedience.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

 presence/absence

Paul wants something other than

his physical presence to be a
factor in the Philippians’
obedience.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

 presence/absence

Paul wants something other than

his physical presence to be a
factor in the Philippians’
obedience.

It’s sort of like the parent child

relationships . . . parents want their
children to do what is right even
they are not looking.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

 The Philippians would have just finished hearing the Christ hymn.
With the humility and exaltation of Christ only seconds old Paul now
says . . .

God is at work in you,

enabling you both to will and to work
for his good pleasure so . . .
work out your own salvation with fear and trembling

Sunday, April 18, 2010

 work out your own salvation
This is not working toward salvation in order to gain it . . . the
salvation already belongs to them. Working it has the sense of
continually translating the principles of the gospel into every day
life.

Philippians 1:11
filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ
to the glory and praise of God.

“your” is plural . . . individual salvation cannot be seperated from

the community.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

 with fear and trembling
Romans 8:15
For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear,
but you received the Spirit of sonship.

This has to do more with reverence, respect, honor, etc.

The reality of God working in them, in the same powerful he worked

on his son’s behalf (in the hymn) should be pretty sobering.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

 You probably know that the
stomach is acidic and this is
necessary for the digestion of food.
A healthy stomach has a pH of
around 2 - the lower the number on
the pH scale, the more acidic it is.
This level of acidity is capable of
dissolving teeth or metal - and its
all swilling around in your stomach
right now! Luckily for us, our body
has considered this minor problem
and the lining of the stomach
secretes loads of mucus to protect
our stomach from being digested
by itself.
www.ilovebacteria.com

Sunday, April 18, 2010

 with fear and trembling
Romans 6:4
Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so
that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the
Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

Romans 8:9-11
9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of
God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ
does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, though the body is
dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If
the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he
who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies
also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

 with fear and trembling
Section Summary
It seems that Paul wanted their Christ-like living to be governed by
the fact that God himself is at work in them . . . God wants them to
move toward maturity . . .he is accomplishing this by bringing about
the will to even desire righteousness but also the strength to then
live righteously. In light of God’s working on behalf of his son
seeing the humility and elevating him we should realize that he is
also working on our behalf. The reality that the power of God is
working in us should be quite sobering . . . it should result in fear
and trembling.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

 for it is God who is at work in you
In order to clarify or prevent the Philippians to think that they have
to generate the ability to do this on their own or that they are
somehow responsible for the source of this “working” he quickly
establishes that it is God who is providing all that is necessary for
them to apply their salvation to life.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

 enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Unlike the law that was an external dynamic that could only point
out what should be done and highlighted man’s inability to do it, the
Spirit

Sunday, April 18, 2010

 14 Do all things without murmuring and arguing,
The implication of the corrective is that the Philippian Christians
were murmuring and complaining. Not that the murmuring and
arguing amongst themselves (disunity) has a direct impact on
outsiders. Their communal life directly affects their missional
efforts. Part of their “shining” in the midst of the empire was how
they lived as a community.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

 blameless and innocent
Paul’s desire for them to be “blameless” and “innocent” was
previously reflected in his prayer in verse 10

Philippians 1:9-11
9 And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more
with knowledge and full insight 10 to help you to determine what is
best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, 11
having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through
Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

At this point we are able to see that Paul’s original prayer for their
love to increase is directly related to their unity.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

 Section Overview

Perhaps thee are echoes of the Israelites and Moses . . .

1. The people were murmuring and complaining . . . Numbers

11:1-6; 14:1-4; 20:2; 21:4-5. Paul develops this same idea in 1
Corinthians 10:1-13.

2. They were a crooked and perverse generation . . .

Deuteronomy 32:5
They have acted corruptly toward Him. They are not His children
because of their defect, but are a perverse and crooked
generation.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

 holding fast
Paul understands “holding fast to the word” to be evidenced by not
murmuring and complaining. We can say that if murmuring and
complaining continue to characterize the Philippians community
Paul would doubt that they are holding fast to the Jesus story. We
cannot separate belief from practice.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

 libation
Accompanying other offerings was the drink offering, which
consisted of a certain quantity of wine, proportioned to the nature of
the sacrifice. This was taken by the priest and poured out like the
blood at the foot of the altar of burnt offering. For a bullock, half a
hin (about two quarts) of wine was used. For a ram, a third of a hin.
For a lamb or young goat, a fourth of a hin. (See Numbers 15:4–12.)
In the temple service, the pouring out of the wine of the drink
offering at the morning and evening sacrifice was the signal for the
priests and Levites to begin their song of praise to God.
New Manners and Customs

Sunday, April 18, 2010

 sacrifice and offering of your faith
The life of the Philippians = offering (specifically, the gifts to Paul . . .
1:5, 2:30; 4:18)

Paul’s life of service = the accompanying drink offering

Perhaps Paul is thinking here of his possible death. paul wanted his
death to be seen as a drink offering that accompanies the living
sacrifice of the Christians he was nurturing. Jesus as Paul rejoices
to see them offer their lives to Christ they should be glad that Paul
is doing the same, even if it means death.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

 So What?
Let’s think of one as a group!

Sunday, April 18, 2010