Work, Grow, Rejoice
Philippians 2:12-16
God empowers the humble Christian to desire and accomplish his will, even while living among manifold temptations, and He enables us to rejoice while doing it.
As we continue in our study of Paul’s epistle to the Philippians, we are currently in the middle of his teaching on humility and its bearing on the life of a Christian. As he led into this, he emphasized at the end of chapter 1 that it has been granted for them by God to both believe in Christ and to suffer for him. Thus, their salvation being secured, he now goes on to teach them how to live in the midst of that suffering. To do this, he commanded them to do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but rather to be unified and hold one another in greater esteem than themselves. And in order to illustrate the necessity for this command, he gave us the illustration of our Lord Jesus Christ, who being truly God, willingly condescended and humbled himself by taking the form of a servant - a man. Thus, being truly God and truly man, he continued to humble himself by being obedient to his Heavenly Father’s will unto death on a cross. A death that was intended for us and deserved by us for our sinful rebellion. And yet he went and died willingly in our place. As a result, God highly exalted him - giving him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus Christ every single knee in creation shall bow down in worship, and every single tongue shall open their mouths and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And in that final point, we also saw the Christian hope of being glorified with him.
Now, having given that illustration, Paul now sets out in the next several verses to help them apply that information in practical ways for practical reasons. And this brings us to our passage.
In Philippians 2:12-16, Paul teaches us that Christians who maintain an attitude of humility will be empowered by God to rejoice while living obedient and godly lives in the midst of temptations and sufferings. First we will see the transformed will, then we will see how that affects our growth in godliness, and then we will finally see the Christian's ability to rejoice in the work - in the midst of running and laboring.
EXEGETICAL OUTLINE
The Transformed Will (v12-13)
Growing in Godliness (v14-16)
Rejoicing in the Work (v16)