Philippians 2:12–13 is good news for every believer, “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.”

Paul speaks to believers, “to all the saints in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:1). And so, he says to you and to me, “Work out your salvation” (2:12). The word translated “work out” means to achieve, to accomplish, to do. “Because grace is given, man must work.…[T]he salvation bestowed by grace is to be carried out.”¹ Yes, Paul tells you and me—and he tells the Philippians—that their salvation “is a process in which they themselves, far from remaining passive and dormant, take a very active part. It is a pursuit, a following after, a pressing on, a contest, a fight, a race.”² That is, you and I must work out the implications of the principle of new life placed within us by the living God.

Paul also tells you and me as believers that we are able to work out the implications of our salvation. “This is a serious task, to be performed in no self-reliant spirit, but with reverent caution and dependence on God.”³ You work out the implications of your salvation because God is the one working in you. This second word for working is the word from which we derive the English words energy or energize. In other words, God energizes us to work out the implications of salvation.

Paul’s posture in this text is therefore one of victory. It is victory by way of work. It is victory by way of struggle. It is victory by way of setbacks. It is nevertheless still the way of ultimate victory.

Paul goes on to speak of “God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). “There are, in any action, two principle parts, the will, and the effective power.”⁴ God is working in the believer in both areas. The catechism teaches us, “Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel” (emphasis added). Both persuasion and enablement extend into the Christian life. “The powerful inward working of God affects both the will and the work, the decision of the will and the practical deed.”⁵

God’s good pleasure (Phil. 2:13) is the keeping of the moral law. God renews the will and empowers regenerate individuals to carry out His will. God has already promised, “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances” (Ezek. 36:27).

God works in believers, He works in you and me, to desire and will His good pleasure and to carry out His good pleasure. God does not leave us without the ability to work out the implications of our salvation. Philippians 2:12–13 is truly good news!

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Dennis J. Prutow | reformedvoice.com/rptsprof