"The detailed attention just given to the Christ-hymn must not obscure the fact that vv 12-18 are part of a larger parenetic section--1:27-2:18. Exhortation is resumed again through the frequent use of the imperative mood, or through the use of participles with the force of the imperative."79
2:12 The Philippian Christians had been obedient to the Lord and to His servant Paul in the past (cf. 1:27). Even though Paul was no longer with them and might be unable to return to them, he wanted them to continue to obey. The Greek word translated "obey"(hypakouein) contains the ideas of hearing, especially the divine word as proclaimed (cf. 2 Thess. 1:8), and submitting to what is heard.80It was even more important that they purpose to obey with Paul absent since his presence among them provided a measure of external motivation for them.
Specifically they were to work out their salvation. Note that Paul did not say "work foryour salvation."We obtain salvation by receiving it as a gift (Eph. 2:8), but having received it freely we have a responsibility to perfect it. The apostle had in mind the present aspect of our salvation, sanctification, in which we are laborers together with God (1 Cor. 3:9; cf. Titus 3:8).81In justification and glorification, God does all the work (Eph. 2:9; Jude 24). We work out our salvation by keeping in step with the Holy Spirit who leads us in the will of God (Gal. 5:16). In the context the particular aspect of sanctification in view involves achieving unity through humility.
"Paul is not here concerned with the eternal welfare of the soul of the individual. The individual believer is not now being called to self-activity, to the active pursuit of the will of God . . . to a personal application of salvation' (Müller). Rather the context suggests that this command is to be understood in a corporate sense. The entire church, which had grown spiritually ill (2:3-4), is charged now with taking whatever steps are necessary to restore itself to health and wholeness."82
As we work out our own sanctification, we must remember certain things. We serve a holy God, we have a strong and wise adversary, and we are weak and dependent on God for all that we need. Such an awareness will produce the attitude of fear and trembling that Paul advocated. This attitude is not inconsistent with joy and confidence in the Lord.
2:13 In the preceding context Paul had been urging his readers to do right even though he was not in Philippi to motivate and enable them to do so (1:27; 2:12). Here he reminded them that God was at work not just with them but in them to provide motivation and enabling strength (Gr. energein, from which we get the word "energy"). He would enable them to work out their own salvation. God carries out this work through the indwelling Holy Spirit, and His main tool is the Word of God.
"God does not work and has not worked . . . because man has worked. . . . The contrary is true: because God works and has worked, therefore man must and can work."83
This verse is one of the most comforting in the New Testament. Sometimes we want to do right but seem to lack the energy or ability. This verse assures us that God will help us. At other times we cannot even seem to want to do right. Here we learn that God can also provide the desire to do His will when we do not have it. If we find that we do not want to do right, we can ask God to work in us to create a desire to do His will. This verse gives us confidence that God desires both to motivate and to enable us.
2:14 The first word in this verse in the Greek text is "all things"(NASB) or "everything"(NIV), which by its position indicates the writer's emphasis. Most of us can learn to grumble and argue less than we do now, but such activities should be totally absent from our lives.
The first of these words looks at the initial activity and the second what results from the first (cf. 1 Cor. 10:10; Phil. 2:2; 4:2). The great warning of what complaining and disputing can lead to is Israel's 10 instances of complaining in the wilderness. That behavior culminated in the Israelites' refusal to enter and occupy the Promised Land from Kadesh-barnea (Num. 13-14). We frustrate God's work of producing unity, which He does by reproducing the mind of Christ in us (i.e., humility), when we complain and argue (cf. 1:19, 28).
2:15 By working out their own salvation with fear and trembling rather than with grumbling and disputing, the Philippians would show themselves to be blameless and innocent (pure, NIV). "Blameless"(Gr. amemptos) means without blame (cf. 3:6). It does not mean unblemished (Gr. amomos) nor unblameable (Gr. anegkletosand anepileptos).84"Innocent"or "pure"(Gr. akeraioi) means unadulterated, unmixed with anything defiling (cf. Rom. 16:19).
Paul then added the idea of being unblemished (Gr. amomos). The children of God are to be free from defilement and so not chargeable with justifiable criticism even though we live in the midst of a twisted and perverted generation (cf. Deut. 32:5). The word "generation"(Gr. geneas) can refer to a group of people several generations long, not just to one generation of people. Here it probably refers to unbelievers as a whole.
Christians are lights in a dark world (Matt. 5:14; cf. Dan. 12:3). The Light of the World now indwells us (John 8:12). Paul wanted his readers to bear a strong witness rather than having their light shaded by sin or uncleanness (cf. Matt. 5:15-16).
2:16 "There is a break in thought at this point. Paul continues his appeal to the Philippians, to be sure, but he shifts the basis of appeal from the example of Jesus (2:3-15) to himself and to the judgment he must face at the day of Christ. Therefore, he now asks them to do something for his sake."85
Believers are also to hold out the word of life, the gospel (John 6:68), as the Statue of Liberty holds out her torch. This is another way in which we are lights in a dark world. In view of the context, however, it seems more likely that Paul was urging his readers to hold fast to the word rather than to hold forth the word. The former interpretation is possible, nonetheless.
Paul wanted the Philippians to continue serving as he explained so when he stood before the judgment seat of Christ (cf. 1:6, 10) he would have legitimate cause for justifiable pride (cf. 1:26). His investments in their lives would not have been in vain. Running pictures all of Paul's energetic activity as a Christian, and toiling highlights the hard labor that he expended.86
