Bowling Green Covenant Church

Friday 1 June 2007

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” – Paul the Apostle, Letter to the Philippians 2.12-13

David F. Wells, in his book, Above All Earthly Powers makes this trenchant observation about the Church as she lurches forward into the 21^st century: “It is very easy to build churches in which seekers congregate; it is very hard to build churches in which biblical faith is maturing into genuine discipleship.”

It is an intentionally provocative analysis. And if true, as I believe it is, the question that must be asked is— Why is it “very easy to build churches in which seekers congregate,” yet “very hard to build churches in which biblical faith is maturing into genuine discipleship”?

According to Dr. Wells, churches in which seekers congregate do not produce people “in which biblical faith is maturing into genuine discipleship.” The point is not whether people are hearing the gospel in such churches. Despite the complaint made by some, namely, that what is heard in churches in which seekers congregate is not THE gospel; let us, for the sake of argument, assume people are hearing THE gospel. Thus, hearing is not the problem. Obedience is the problem. It is very hard to build churches in which biblical faith is maturing into genuine discipleship because genuine discipleship requires rigorous and ongoing obedience to the gospel.

The concern over lax obedience to the gospel, then, is at the heart of Dr. Wells’ observation. It is also at the heart of Paul’s exhortation to the Philippians “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” The reason their obedience is necessary is stated clearly in the next clause, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” As the apostle to the Gentiles (people who were not Jewish), Paul knew the key to building churches in which biblical faith is maturing into genuine discipleship is for each member of the body of Christ to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling.

But what did Paul mean? The context tells us Paul’s exhortation is not for the Philippians to “get saved,” nor is he exhorting them to “persevere” as saved people. His meaning is actually very simple: biblical faith matures into genuine discipleship when people who say they follow Jesus actually behave as people who follow Jesus. In other words, people who say they are followers of Jesus should live like people who are followers of Jesus. Our actions should prove our words. To paraphrase Dr. Wells, followers of Jesus should practice a lifestyle in which biblical faith is maturing into genuine discipleship.

Paul’s exhortation to work out our own salvation requires us to practice what Jesus preaches. We are to obey the gospel, not only among those who do not follow Him, but, and just as importantly, we are to practice what Jesus preaches among those who do. In his commentary on this text, Gordon Fee writes, “At issue is ‘obedience,’ pure and simple, which in this case is defined as their ‘working, or carrying out in their corporate life the salvation that God has graciously given them,” (Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, Wm. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI, © 1995; page 235).

It is worth noting that Paul expects the Philippians to do what he says, “as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence.” Their obedience is assumed. He expects them to work out their salvation because it is God who will give them the ability and the energy to do so.

This is not working to earn our salvation. This is not working to keep our salvation. This is working toward a lifestyle in which biblical faith is maturing into genuine discipleship. We are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone. However, God lavishes His grace upon us so as to catalyze our faith toward maturity into genuine discipleship. Once again, we are saved by grace through faith alone in Christ alone, but the grace that gives birth to faith is given by God so that it may bear fruit for His glory over a lifetime of obedience practicing what Jesus preaches. There is a fine line between gospel obedience and gospel legalism. Paul exhorts us to work out our own salvation to achieve the former.

Over the next several weeks we will look at what it means to work out what God, by His grace, gives us the power to do for His glory.

You think about that.

MM