Exhortation to Faithful Walk (Philippians 2:12-16)

(Class Notes)

• "Work Out" that Which God is "Working In" (Philippians 2:12-13)
  • "WHEREFORE, my BELOVED" (Philippians 2:12) begins a FOLLOW-UP EXHORTATION to the preceding one of having "the MIND of CHRIST" (Philippians 2:5), which is to place the welfare of OTHERS BEFORE the welfare of ONE'S SELF (Philippians 2:4)
    • The emphasis is on LOVE (Philippians 2:1-2), which seeks the EDIFICATION of OTHERS through the DENIAL of ONE'S SELF (I Corinthians 13:4-5)
  • "As ye have ALWAYS OBEYED, NOT as IN MY PRESENCE ONLY, BUT NOW MUCH MORE IN MY ABSENCE" (Philippians 2:12)
    • Paul THANKED God (Philippians 1:3) FOR their "FELLOWSHIP in the gospel FROM THE FIRST DAY UNTIL NOW" (Philippians 1:5)
    • "IN THE BEGINNING of the gospel ... NO CHURCH communicated (shared) with me as concerning giving and receiving, BUT YE ONLY ... YE sent ONCE AND AGAIN unto my necessity" (Philippians 4:15-16)
  • "WORK OUT your own salvation WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING" (Philippians 2:12)
    • The EXHORTATION is to "WORK OUT" (Philippians 2:12) that WHICH WAS RECEIVED BY "GRACE ... THROUGH FAITH", i.e. "NOT OF WORKS" (Ephesians 2:8-9)
    • "For ye are GOD'S WORKMANSHIP, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS, UNTO GOOD WORKS" (Ephesians 2:10)
    • It is "WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING" (Philippians 2:12), i.e. WITH REVERENCE (II Corinthians 7:15), that believers should DESIRE TO PLEASE in sevice rendered to others "AS TO THE LORD" (Ephesians 6:5-7) - for as believers, we are OWNED BY HIM having been "BOUGHT WITH A PRICE" (I Corinthians 6:19-20 cf. Acts 20:28)
  • "For it is GOD WHICH WORKETH IN YOU BOTH TO WILL AND TO DO of His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13)
    • The believer's CONFIDENCE - the WORK that GOD HAS BEGUN in the believer, HE WILL PERFORM IT TO COMPLETION (Philippians 1:6)
    • The COMPLETION of that WORK will be "the REDEMPTION of the PURCHASED POSSESSION" (Ephesians 1:14), i.e. "the REDEMPTION of OUR BODY" (Romans 8:23) - WHEN HE "SHALL CHANGE OUR VILE (LOWLY) BODY, that it may be FASHIONED LIKE UNTO HIS GLORIOUS BODY, according to THE WORKING WHEREBY HE IS ABLE TO SUBDUE ALL things unto Himself" (Philippians 3:21)
    • Just as NOW SATAN COOPERATIVELY WORKS WITH the OLD MIND of the UNBELIEVER (Ephesians 2:2-3), so NOW GOD COOPERATIVELY WORKS WITH the NEW MIND of the BELIEVER, i.e. "... THINK on these things ... and the GOD OF PEACE shall be WITH YOU" (Philippians 4:8-9)

• "Do ... Without" so as to "Shine ... In" by "Holding Forth" (Philippians 2:14-16)
  • NEGATIVELY, Paul EXHORTS the believer to "DO ALL things WITHOUT MURMURINGS and DISPUTINGS" (Philippians 2:14)
    • To "DO ALL things" (Philippians 2:14) directly follows from the EXHORTATION to "WORK OUT" (Philippians 2:12) that which God is "WORKING IN" (Philippians 2:13), i.e. "to WILL and to DO of HIS GOOD PLEASURE" (Philippians 2:13)
    • The believer's "DOING" should be "WITHOUT MURMURINGS and DISPUTINGS" (Philippians 2:14)
      • When the adult generation of Israel that God redeemed out of Egypt "MURMURED (GRUMBLED)" AGAINST HIS FAITHFUL PROTECTION - ALL (EXCEPT two FAITHFUL, i.e. TRUSTING, ones) were DENIED the INHERITANCE of the PROMISED LAND (Numbers 14:26-32)
      • IF the believer would REIGN WITH CHRIST (II Timothy 2:12) THEN the believer must TRUST in "the POWER of HIS RESURRECTION" (Philippians 3:10) for being SUSTAINED in "the FELLOWSHIP of HIS SUFFERINGS" (Philippians 3:10)
      • KORAH'S "DISPUTING (STRIVING)" AGAINST GOD (Numbers 26:9-11) occurred when he began "DISPUTING (STRIVING)" AGAINST the DIVINE AUTHORITY given to MOSES (Numbers 16:1-3)
      • IF the believer is to be in "OBEDIENCE to the FAITH" (Romans 1:5) under this PAULINE "DISPENSATION of the GRACE of GOD" (Ephesians 3:1-2) THEN the believer must "BE NOT ... ASHAMED of the TESTIMONY of OUR LORD, NOR of ... HIS PRISONER" (II Timothy 1:8 cf. Ephesians 3:1-2) and must "NOT STRIVE: but BE GENTLE ... IN MEEKNESS INSTRUCTING THOSE THAT OPPOSE themselves: IF GOD PERADVENTURE WILL GIVE them REPENTANCE to the ACKNOWLEDING of the TRUTH" (II Timothy 2:24-25)
  • POSITIVELY, Paul EXHORTS the believer to "BE BLAMELESS and HARMLESS ... WITHOUT REBUKE, in the MIDST of a CROOKED and PERVERSE NATION (GENERATION)" (Philippians 2:15)
    • The Lord EXHORTED His disciples that "AS SHEEP in the MIDST of WOLVES: BE YE ... WISE AS SERPENTS, and HARMLESS AS DOVES" (Matthew 10:16)
    • ONLY BELIEVERS are able to "SHINE AS LIGHTS in the world" (Philippians 2:15), because of their "HOLDING FORTH THE WORD OF LIFE" (Philippians 2:16)
      • It is "THE WORD OF HIS GRACE" (Acts 20:32) which is able to "QUICKEN (MAKE ALIVE)" (Ephesians 2:4-5) those "who were DEAD in TRESPASSES and SINS" (Ephesians 2:1)
      • Although the believer's FAITHFUL MINISTRY "is NOT IN VAIN in the Lord" (I Corinthians 15:58) - it will be IN VAIN "in the DAY OF CHRIST" (Philippians 2:16) FOR UNFAITHFUL RECIPIENTS who are IDLE NOW WHILE it is STILL "the DAY OF SALVATION" (II Corinthians 6:1-2)

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