Philippians: A Reminder to Live in Love and Faith

A really good practice is to read through a whole epistle in the Bible in one sitting. As a Bible study with a couple of my friends this evening, I did just that. From start to finish, we read the book of Philippians. A book of encouragement and friendly reminder, Philippians is a light-hearted read that lifts the soul and encourages the faithful heart. Unlike many of his other epistles, Paul had little to ride the Philippians for except a few reminders that he knew they already were aware of (Philippians 3:1). One verse that often gets singled out in studies on Philippians is 2:12, which states, "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling..." (emphasis mine). Someone brought this verse up in our meeting and simply laid it on the floor. "What do you think it means?" he asked generically, testing the waters. Equally cautious, I prefaced my opinion with a generic response. "Just like any verse taken out of context," I said, "this verse has a tendency to be misused." Observing the nods of agreement, I went on. "Some people use the phrase 'work out your salvation' to say that 'salvation' is dependant on our ability to fulfill 'works.' I don't think this is the case. In context, the point of the verse is that we must be humble and fearful to be sure that we are walking in a way that demonstrates our 'salvation.' We often use the word 'salvation' in a very trite, religious way. Reserving it for references to eternal salvation only, as opposed to eternity in Hell. I think Paul is using it more simply and literally here, just the way the word means as it relates to our salvation from our sins. He is telling us to continue to be humble and fearful before God so we don't fall back into our 'old man.' You kind of have to read the whole sentence, which doesn't stop at the end of verse twelve. 'Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.' If I were to paraphrase, it might say something like, 'Be cautious and fear God because he is the one in control of your salvation.'" All in all, it was a fairly political, diplomatic response. I also discussed some verses in Ezekiel 18 which talk about a similar concept to this question of "loosing your salvation." It states in verses 21-24 that a man who lives wickedly his whole life but later repents of his sin and turns to God will be saved, but a righteous man who does right all the days of his life but, before the end, rejects God and sins, that man will die. It is a bit of both, I explained. From God's perspective, everything is set in stone because he knows our hearts, tendencies, and all things, regardless of what we tell ourselves. But from our perspective, we must be careful we are not like the righteous man of Ezekiel who sinned after a good life and was condemned for it.