June 23 – Will to Obey

“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.  – Philippians 2:12-13  (NASB)

Today, we have a promise that gives us hope and encouragement.  Our will of our new nature agrees with God, but in our flesh, there is still a natural disposition which renders us powerless to do what we know we ought to do.  To know that our will is in agreement with God we look to Jesus and to His word to rouse our will which agrees with God. Paul instructs the Philippians, not to work our salvation but to work out that which our salvation has created in us.  We do it with fear and trembling – this does not mean fearful and scared but full of reverence and awe because it is God who is the source of our will.  It is God who makes it possible for us to work out His will to His glory.  That is our promise today.  As we believe that Almighty God is the source of our will, we find that God not only expects us to do His will but He is in us to do it.  God’s will for us is to believe His word and not redefine His word to fit what “makes sense” to us.

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December 31 – The End, Pressing On

“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.”  -Philippians 2:12-13   (ESV)

The year is a little long in the tooth.  The days of this year have been spent one way or another.  As most of us can admit, there have been great times of victory and joy and times of sorrow and defeat. We have made some progress but we have also experienced set-backs.  How did we spend the year?  Perhaps it is better for us to not spend too much time considering this question and instead, consider the testimony of the Apostle Paul, also in Philippians 3:9. “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on…”  And as we press on into the new year and as we forget what lies behind us, if that's what we plan to do, we find in today's letter an encouraging promise.  We are to commit ourselves to obedience of God’s word and in doing so, we are working out God’s purpose for us with a healthy fear because we have respect and awe of God and do not want to risk offending Him with our disobedience.  The promise is this, as we work, God is the one who works in us to produce the good works by grace for His good pleasure and for His name’s sake. 

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