As a Collective
Philippians 2:1-18
Paul desperately wants the Philippians to attain the glory waiting for us as a collective in the day of Christ. This is a present reality too, however, which God awaits us to embrace through our actions towards each other. Yes, what God invites us into by participating in His kingdom here on earth is not to cater to us. And the collectiveness aspect is key, which Paul alludes to in his plea for the Philippians to put off any pride and selfishness which is the antithesis of unity. Of course, THE model for this and example put forward is Jesus. Jesus rejects His status and comes down to earth in the form of a servant. The most prominent exaltation He received while on earth was being raised up on a cross, dying for our sins. Therefore, Jesus is not only our example for submission (v.6-8) but also the one we are in submission to (v.9-11) as we seek to live into this kingdom reality.
Who are we, if we are to strive for good fruit when we are a bad tree also? Therefore, our sanctification process is wildly important to us achieving the image of the body of Christ, and joining God in the contribution He has set for us to fulfill. This is how Paul words our sanctification process: to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”. We may be tempted to put our salvation in a special little box over in the corner, with maybe an emotional time of meeting Jesus and saying ‘yes’ to Him being its enclosed contents as a distant yet easily accessible memory. Paul’s understanding of salvation is much richer and more relevant though and brings to light its dailyness. In MacArthur’s Bible Commentary, MacArthur states “The Greek verb rendered “work out” means “to continually work to bring something to fulfillment or completion … it does refer to the believer’s responsibility for active pursuit of obedience in the process of sanctification” (p.1717). Responsibility here is a great word, as this process Jesus is authoring in us is something we work to take hold of daily.
In Romans 9, Paul talks of our salvation as a process of grasping the mercy God poured out on a disobedient and rebellious people (v.22-24). This mercy and understanding of what we are saved from instills in us the fear and trembling Paul is talking about to the Philippians. From this, both our desires and deeds are aligned with God’s. We are able to step into the example of Christ in how we live our lives and do all the things Paul encourages the Philippians to embrace (v.14-16). And this is to our joy.
Is this a foreign concept to you? Have you isolated your testimony and the salvation Christ has offered to something of the past? Or do you see this ‘working out of our salvation’ as the active and contributing process as Paul describes to us?
Read Romans 9:19-24, meditate on the mercy of God and consequently how His glory is on display from this outpouring of His character.
Consider your walk with Jesus and how it is connected to your role in your church’s community. Is it something that fuels your participation? Or does your sinful participation encourage reactive abiding in Christ?
In all of these challenging questions, the mercy of God is on display and is what offers hope to us still, as His children.
