Lesson for February 23, 2020
The Book of Philippians
Chapter 2:12-16
Verses 12-13
“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” The Greek word for always is “pantote,” which has to do with consistency of learning doctrine. The Greek word for obeyed is “hupakouo,” and it means recognition of the authority of the pastor and therefore applying that recognition by attending and listening to Bible doctrine being taught. Since Paul was an apostle and had teaching authority over all local churches before the Canon of Scripture was completed and circulated, his authority was just as important in his absence as in his presence. While the Philippians did not have face-to-face teaching, they were still able to learn doctrine from Paul. The believer’s pastor-teacher does not have to be present for the believer to grow through his ministry. Believers can advance spiritually without face-to-face teaching. Both Paul and Epaphroditus were in Rome but the Philippians continued their spiritual advance. Face-to-face teaching from one’s pastor is obviously the preferred way to advance but a believer can still advance to spiritual maturity if they are being taught accurate Bible doctrine by means other than face-to-face.
Work out your salvation with fear and trembling means to accomplish or bring about something, and it often means to accomplish something where danger exists. It is a perfect word to express the spiritual battle that we face as advancing believers. Working out your salvation is simply working out something that is already in you. We have eternal life and the righteousness of God, so we are to make our daily walk with the Lord align with who we are as Royal Family of God. The Philippians wanted to advance, and they wanted to learn more Bible doctrine.
Salvation in this verse means to be preserved in a place of danger, often deliverance from impending disaster—which is where it gets the meaning of salvation. When you believe in Christ you are delivered from the impending disaster of the last judgment. When you are living your Christian life and advancing spiritually, you are being delivered from the enemy – Satan and his demon army.
Fear is the Greek word “phobos,” which means reverence and respect. It is used here for the believer as he is now moving toward spiritual maturity and beyond and he is to do this with reverence and respect for Jesus Christ. It is respect and reverence directed toward Christ. The Greek word for trembling is “tromos,” which means to be on the alert with regard to your spiritual life and “tremble” at the thought of being overtaken by false satanic doctrine and losing the momentum that you have gained through Bible doctrine.
For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure refers to the sustaining ministry of God the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit is always involved in the spiritual advance of a believer. A believer is supported, empowered and sustained by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The mechanics of how to work out your own salvation include the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit, the filling ministry of the Holy Spirit and the empowering ministry of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the command to work out your salvation is a grace function of God the Holy Spirit as He forms the character of Christ in a believer’s life. Notice that it is God Who is at work, not the believer.
To will means to purpose and it has the connotation of motivation. It is the will of God the Holy Spirit for each of us to advance to spiritual maturity. It requires strong motivation from the indwelling presence of God the Holy Spirit to reach spiritual maturity and then to advance to super-grace and ultra-super-grace. This motivation comes from the recall and application of Bible doctrine under the filling of the Holy Spirit. To work means to fulfill the will of God, which is a ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the positive believer advancing to ultra-super-grace, the place God wants all believers to reach.
The Greek word for pleasure is “eudokia,” which means desire. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” Faith means to believe what God says. If we believe what God says we will be motivated to advance spiritually all the way to ultra-super-grace. Therefore, working for God’s good pleasure means the Holy Spirit is working within us to please God by reaching ultra-super-grace, which is His desire.
Verses 14-16
“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, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.”
The Greek word for grumbling is “gongusmos,” which means discontent, complaining or criticism. The Greek word for disputingis “dialogismos,” which means to argue, to question and to undermine someone’s authority.
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 refers to the goal of advancing believers when they reach ultra-super-grace. Blameless is the Greek word “amemptos” meaning faultless or unblameable. The Greek word for innocent is “akeraios,” which means harmless or void of evil. These words do not mean sinless. We must distinguish between sin and evil. Evil is Satan’s system. Personal sin originates with the sin nature. All sin was judged on the Cross, and recovery from personal sin is as quick as acknowledging the sin to God; but such is not the case with evil. A believer living in ultra-super-grace is free from evil. A believer in reversionism is under the influence of Satan’s evil system. The encapsulated environment of ultra-super-grace is an insulator against both reversionism and evil. When a believer is in ultra-super-grace he is occupied with Christ and sharing the happiness of God. So, the words blameless and innocent are simply used to indicate the ultra-super-grace status of total freedom from evil. This is the greatest freedom in life.
The Greek word for above reproach is “amomos” meaning not a disgrace to society. This word was used for sacrificial animals being unblemished. It also means harmless in the moral or divine establishment sense. Since morality is a part of divine establishment it refers to establishment orientation. The Greek word for crooked is “skolios, which means unscrupulous, dishonest, under the influence of evil, not influenced by the Laws of Divine Establishment or by Bible doctrine. A person influenced by evil is dishonest; a generation influenced by evil is crooked or dishonest. The Greek word for perverse is“diastrepho,” which means to distort, to become misshapen, to be perverted or depraved.
Among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life. The Greek word for appear as lights is “phaino,” which means to shine or to give light. This indicates the perpetual impact of the spiritually mature believer on his generation. Believers are to be a reflection of the Light, Jesus Christ. A believer reflects Christ light as His representative on earth, which has historical impact. A believer cannot properly reflect the light of Christ apart from Bible doctrine. (Matthew 5:14-16)
Holding fast refers to the mechanics of the spiritual advance. Holding fast is the Greek word “epecho,” which means to hold on, to give attention to, to aim at, to focus on. All of these really mean concentration. It a believer with his positive volition toward Bible doctrine will continue to hold on to and stay focused on learning and applying Bible doctrine which will lead him to spiritual maturity, super-grace and ultra-super-grace.
The Greek word for the word of life is “logos” meaning Bible doctrine or Divine Viewpoint Thinking Thoughts come from words, and so it means doctrine or thought. It becomes a synonym for teaching, as in I Timothy 4:16. It is the Word of God that sustains our spiritual life. Furthermore, for the super-grace believer who advances to the objective of ultra-super-grace there is waiting for him the Crown of Life, a decoration which has with it blessings that are beyond description. (James 1:12)
So that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain means Paul had a personal interest in every member of this congregation reaching ultra-super-grace, and that they were like-minded in his interest in reaching the objective. Reason to glory is an idiom which means in the English, “that I may have a basis for boasting.” Paul’s objective was receiving the Crown of Glory for leading positive believers under his ministry all the way to ultra-super-grace. No pastor-teacher can lead his congregation past the point of his own spiritual growth. (I Timothy 4:1; I Thessalonians 2:19, 20; I Peter 5:4)
Run is used as an analogy for advancing to spiritual maturity in the spiritual life. Paul broke the spiritual maturity barrier and advanced to ultra-super-grace. Vain means empty, without results or without profit. While Paul had reached ultra-super-grace himself, his objective was to bring members of the church at Philippi along with him. Paul would be running in vain unless he attempted to bring every church he taught to spiritual maturity and beyond. Therefore, he talks about running and toiling in vain. Paul wanted to stand before the Lord Jesus Christ at the Judgment Seat of Christ and glory about those he had won to Christ and lead to ultra-super-grace.