Philippians 2:12-13

Here are some notes to our men's Bible study on Philippians 2:12-13. Again I am amazed how much theology there can be in two verses. Hope you enjoy these notes as a way to encourage you to study and to mine for these spiritual nuggets of gold.

We are asking some important questions as we come to this section of our study in Philippians.
Question #1 - What is man's role in regard to his own salvation? (Philippians 2:12)
Question #2 - What is God's role in regard to the salvation of man? (Philippians 2:13)

It may help to start with some verses to get our brains warmed up, so to speak.
Philippians 1:6 - "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."
When I have my devotion time it seems that a good bit of the time is spent asking questions to help my understanding. For example in the verse above I would ask the following question:
- Who is it that starts the work of salvation in my life and carries it all the way to completion? Answer: God Himself

1 Corinthians 15:10 - But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

Galatians 2:20 - "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

Hebrews 13:21 - "equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen."

1 Peter 4:11 - "Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

Hopefully in the verses above you are noticing the tension that exists between what you are to do and what God is to do. And though I think it is Biblically correct to call this a tension which exists between the free will of man and the sovereignty of God, one is primary and the other is secondary.

Let's go back into the Old Testament for some study on this subject. In learning "how to study" the Bible we should understand that the first 17 books of the Old Testament are considered to be historical narratives. When you come to the Bible you have 2 primary factors:
1. What God did
2. What God says about what God did

Also since we not that God in one of His attributes is immutable (unchangeable) then if we want to know what God is doing today all we need to do is see what God has already done. Therefore in this issue of man's responsibility and God's sovereignty all we need to do is take a visit back to the Old Testament.
The following verses will give you an idea about how God was sovereignly working in the lives of back then which means how He works today in our lives. At this point let me stop and address a very good point that was brought out by Kelly. Basically Kelly said that he can see how God works sovereignly in certain situations in the Old Testament but can we conclude that He is doing the same thing in "all" lives at "all" times. Kelly, I think that we must understand these texts from the standpoint that God is sovereign over all things all the time. And this is the very reason that He lets us know this through many illustrations in the Old and New Testament. For example:

2 Chronicles 30 - The context of this chapter is a declaration by King Hezekiah for the people of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel. King Hezekiah even had his couriers go from town to town to announce this message. But we read that they were met with scorn and ridicule. However there were some that did not respond this way and read what the Bible says about them in 2 Chronicles 30:11-12 - "Nevertheless, some men of Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem. Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the LORD." (NIV)

However, some people from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem
At the same time, God's hand was on the people in the land of Judah, giving them all one heart to obey the orders of the king and his officials, who were following the word of the Lord. (NLT)

Nevertheless some men of Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem
The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the LORD. (NASB)

Apparently there were some who humbled themselves before the word of God. And the reason giving for them is that God Himself gave them one heart that allowed them to do it.
Do you see the responsibility of man and the sovereignty of God in these verses?
Who is primary and who is secondary?

Do you remember Absalom the son of King David who rebelled? Absalom had an adviser whose name was Ahithophel. There was another adviser in 2 Samuel 17 that comes into the picture whose name is Hushai. In the story Absalom gets advice from Hushai and Ahithophel. The advice from Ahithopel is best but look at how God sovereignly works it out. In 2 Samuel 17:14 - Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel." For the LORD had ordained to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring calamity on Absalom. (NASB) Remember this is historic narrative, what God did then He is doing today!

In Genesis 20 we have the story of Abraham who brought Sarah to King Abimelech but told him that Sarah was his sister. It seems that King Abimelech found her very beautiful to the point of wanting to have sexual relations with her. But read in Genesis 20:6 the way that God sovereingly works this out.
Genesis 20:6 - Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also kept you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her"

Now go back to Philippians 2:12-13 and read it with the tension that exists between the free will of man and the sovereignty of God. Maybe it is best to understand the tension this way:
God is sovereign over everything and at all times in our life. He is sovereign over restraining us from sin and ordaining our sin and yet we as humans are fully responsibile to God for our actions because God in being sovereign over us never once does He violate our free will.

Guys, why must I understand something in order to consider it true for my life? The statement that is listed above is true and right from Scripture but in my finite mind I am unable to understand that infinite truth. It doesn't mean that it isn't true just because I can't understand it. At this point in God's sovereignty and man's responsibility I have to lean on mystery.

Here is the main argument to the sovereignty of God that I am describing in these notes. A person will say "OK Bert, if God is sovereign to the degree that you say then evangelism, discipling, prayer and giving are pointless because God is going to ultimately do whatever He decides and has willed to do." My answer to these people is simply this, the sovereignty of God does not make evangelism, discipleship and prayer pointless but rather it is the sovereignty of God that makes it possible! And according to Philippians 2:13 God's work and will are being accomplished in order that God Himself is pleased. The problem I run into most often are Christians who have a man-centered theology and not a God-centered theology. They think the love of God is God Himself making much of them, instead of understanding that God's love is God allowing them, at the cost of His Son, to make much of Him.

I also encourage you to study Philippians 2:13 from the standpoint of God's work and will and His good pleasure. If you remember yesterday morning we looked at John 4:34. The context is Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman at the well as He sent the disciples in town for some food. When they come back to deliver the food this is what they hear from the Lord Jesus - "Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work." I have said before and I maintain that we read across Scripture and spend far too little time meditating on what we have read. As we discussed yesterday it is obvious from reading the Bible that God has a will. I would argue that God has two distinct wills, one that He reveals and the other that is secret. Let me simply make the point in this manner. Look at 1 Timothy 2:4 - God who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. And now just ask one question - are all men saved? The answer to that question is NO and we know that from experience that we can back up with many Bible verses. However at face value this verse looks to me that God doesn't do what He desire to do. If the verse says and it does that God desires all men to be saved and yet we know that all men aren't saved then how will you handle that apparent contradiction? It is handled first of all by reading your whole Bible in which you understand that God has two wills, one that He reveals to us through His word, and the other that is secret. If you are interested in more on the two wills of God then click on this LINK.

Let me give you an illustration about God's will that is close to home for all of us and may help you understand Philippians 2:13. Look carefully at your marriage and the relationship that you have with your wife. Now I could tell you to go to Ephesians 5 and read what may be the best instruction for us in the New Testament on marriage. Let's say that you get so excited about Ephesians 5 that you memorize it and then over the next 30 years you through the grace of God start living this out in your own marriage. But in doing so the marriage is still hard and it seems that your wife is still very difficult to live with in many of her ways. Here is my theology at work in the day to day of our lives:
1. You are only responsible to the revealed will of God, or to be obedient to the truth of Scripture
2. If God in His secret will wants the marriage to be difficult or vibrant and exciting then you can be sure that He is working that for your good.

However be careful to understand the difference in these two statements. Many times I talk to men who are not obedient to the revealed word of God and have difficult marriages. This in my Biblical opinion would be the consequence or discipline of God for disobedience to His word. Again my point is that you be obedient to the revealed will of God and then rest in the secret will of God to in His sovereignty do what every He thinks is best.


Now lets work on the last part of the verse and that is the pleasure of God. God ultimately does everything that He does for His own pleasure. If you go back to the questions I asked you in an earlier email, one of them was "who is uppermost in the affections of God?" and the answer to that question is God Himself. Here is another question, "what is the chief end of God?" the answer is to glorify Himself and enjoy Himself forever. So when you are at the back end of Philippians 2:13 I think one must conclude that the will and work God is doing in all the universe is for His good pleasure. Here are some other Scriptures that you may want to read and meditate on in this particular area.

Psalm 115:3 - But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.

Psalm 135:6 - Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.

Job 42:2 - I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.

Isaiah 43:13 - "Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?"

Hopefully you see in these verses that God is sovereign over all things and that includes His own pleasure. My question in writing this email is can we as Americans, who live in a culture of "if its to be its up to me" submit and yield totally to the sovereignty of God to do with us whatever He pleases? Yes you are to pray, evangelize, minister, fellowship, serve, study and disciple but in a way that it is God who is working and willing for His pleasure. Do you recognize the tension in this statement? Do you see who is primary and who is secondary? Do you understand your role? Do you understand God's role?

Well this is what, Lord willing, we are going to study and come to some conclusions about in our weekend retreat in August. There are three primary camps in the evangelical church today as to this important subject of God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. I very much think we need to know our Bibles and church history as it regards this critical area of our Christian lives. Guys, I really believe one of the keys to manifesting the glory of God in all that we say and do is tied to the understanding of these things. Hopefully and prayerfully the Lord will use this time together to open our eyes to see Him in a fresh way.

There are several things left to discuss in this verse but I will hold them for another email. As a heads up look at what Hebrews 11:6 tells us about God, "And without faith it is impossible to please Him..." So the pleasure of God is linked to faith, would that be a fair statement? You will never exhaust your Bible but I can guarantee that the Bible will exhaust you. Until next time, may the Lord continue to be gracious unto you as you thank Him, and praise Him and live to please Him in all things!