Unity as the “Working Out” of Salvation

Scripture — Philippians 2:12-14 (NRSV)

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence but much more now in my absence, work on your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing.

Devotion

This morning, I was working the soil of my garden: pulling weeds, mulching, composting, and also—the most fun part—harvesting some dried beans that I hope to be eating throughout the winter in chili and burritos. When I say I was “working the soil,” it should be clear that I didn’t actually make the soil. The earth, which we often take for granted, but upon which all of our growing and thus our very livelihood depends, really comes to us as a gift. Or, we might say, it comes as grace. My garden soil was there when we moved into our house a quarter of a century ago, and its existence depended on processes generations before I was even born. I can work my garden soil and take steps to help it be more fruitful, but I cannot make soil out of nothing any more than I can make the sun shine, make the rain fall, or force my seeds to germinate. (This year, for reasons I can only guess at, my beet seeds did not germinate, and no amount of effort on my part could force that miraculous process to take place. But my black beans did wonderfully.)

Although I am just a home gardener and not a commercial farmer, I think about these sorts of things often when I ponder Paul’s use of a hard-working farmer as a metaphor for the Christian life (2 Timothy 2:6). I was also pondering the idea of working the soil in light of Paul’s letter to the Philippian church, in which he exhorted them, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” The exhortation has caused confusion for many. What does it mean to work out our salvation?

In a two-part Life for Leaders devotion earlier this summer (here and here), Mark Roberts wrote insightfully about Philippians 2:12-13, exploring the meaning of “work,” the phrase “fear and trembling,” and the promise that God is at work within us. (If those devotions aren’t still fresh in your mind, I recommend re-reading them.) The passage is so important—and for many Christians, confusing—that I want to continue looking at it today, especially in light of yesterday’s devotion on our being united in Christ. I suggested in my devotion yesterday that Philippians 2:12 contains a powerfully packed summary statement of what the previous verses (2:1-11) have unfolded for us. That earlier passage begins with an assumption of unity that we (followers of Christ) have in Christ and in the Holy Spirit. Paul then exhorts Christians to live that unity out in how we treat each other in imitation of Christ. Unity in Christ is both a gift and a theological reality. The question for us today, as it was for the church in Philippi, is how we live, and whether we live in light of that gift of unity.

Of course, the clearest indication that today’s passage refers back to that topic of unity in Christ is that Paul prefaces the command in v. 12 with the important word “therefore,” which should refer us back to what he just wrote. And if we missed that clue, immediately after Paul’s command to work out our salvation, he continues with another instruction related to unity: “Do all things without grumbling or disputing.”

So we see that the context is not in response to a question of how we are saved. Paul’s teachings are clear and consistent that salvation comes only by grace and not as a result of works. Perhaps his most clear and concise statement of this is found in another letter, written to the Ephesian church (Ephesians 2:8-9). But even if some Philippian recipients of this letter were previously unfamiliar with Paul’s teaching on the matter, Paul goes on (Philippians 3:7-11) to reject any notion that our works have power to make us righteous before God, speaking instead of “not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but one that comes through faith in Christ.”

What Paul is addressing in Philippians 2:12 is the topic of unity. As I suggested yesterday, unity is a gift that we have in Christ, but we are called to live that out in how we treat each other. We are called to live out our unity by imitating Christ. Or, we might say, we are called to work out our unity through being humble, like-minded, and Spirit-directed, and by considering the needs of others as more important than our own needs. This imitation of the example of Christ (Philippians 2:5-11) is the working out of the gift of unity we have in Christ and in the Holy Spirit.

And this, I think, is what Paul then summarizes in v. 12: “Work out your salvation.” Our salvation, like the soil of my garden, is a gift. It is nothing I can earn. Like the unity of believers, it comes to us in and through Christ. But like that unity—or like my garden soil—it is something I am called to work or to work out. Or, we might also say: to live it out.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Shine Like the Stars.