Philippians 2:12-18

Shining as Stars

12Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

14Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. 17But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.



Dig Deeper

I recently followed a fascinating and emotional story this last year. A coach of a major football program had received news that he had brain tumors and would not live very long. The team that he coached has been pretty bad for years as they hadn’t appeared in a bowl game for many years and he was only in his second year in trying to turn the program around. During the off-season, he gave several speeches to his team, reminding them of the plan that they had to put together a respectable and winning program. They wanted to win but it was also vital to him that they do it by following the rules and having a program filled with young men of character. He was telling them all of this because he did not know how much longer he would be able to coach them. Whether he was there or not, he wanted the players and coaches to continue to build the type of program that he had laid out for them. Sadly, the coach died before the season began, but the coaches and players did carry on. They played with great heart and class, had a winning record and made a bowl game. There was a particularly touching moment when the coach’s widow was invited down onto the field near the end of the game to celebrate with the team as they won the bowl game, and also to celebrate the life of their former coach.

As Paul writes this letter, he is urging his dear spiritual children in Philippians to grab onto the fullness of the life of Christ to which they were called. He has laid the foundation for a beautiful community, but he simply doesn’t know if he will be around to see it completed or not. He is hopeful, of course, but there is the very real possibility that he will never see them again and he doesn’t want them to come apart at the seems if that turns out to be God’s plan. Like the football coach, Paul knows the very real possibility that he will not be able to finish what he started but he still has a passion to see it completed.

Paul knows that the Philippians have demonstrated the strength of their life in Christ, particularly that they have always obeyed the Spirit’s direction in living that life and being transformed progressively into the image of God. What is important to Paul is that, perhaps in contrast with congregations like the one in Corinth, they have consistently shown obedience to the life in Christ, whether Paul was physically with them or not. But Paul knows that as they continue to construct their life in Christ, he may not be there. If that is the case, he wants them to carry on with the work they have begun. Paul says that they should continue to work out their salvation, by which he cannot mean that they should work to earn their salvation. Paul’s view of salvation here is that it is the continuing process of realizing the life of Christ and putting off their old lives when they walked according to the desires of their own flesh rather than the will of the Spirit. This is both an individual and a corporate process, but Paul seems to have the corporate life in the body of Christ more in view. In other words, they should, as he said in 1:27, "conduct themselves in a manner worthy of their calling" so that they will be in right standing, firmly in Christ, on the day of Christ.

When Paul says that they should work out this salvation with fear and trembling, he certainly doesn’t mean that they should be terrified of God. This would contradict Paul’s reassurance in Romans 8:15 that "you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear." Rather he wants them to act with an appropriate attitude of reverence before God. He wants them to be aware of the responsibility and privilege that come with living the life of Christ.

The life of Christ that Paul wants so badly for them does involve our will and attitude to stay in Christ, but Paul wants the Philippians to know that ultimately, their status and salvation do not come from their own efforts. It is God who works in them, allowing them, through the work of the Spirit, to act according to God’s good purpose.

Paul’s overall point is similar to a parent who has been teaching their child to ride a bike without training wheels. He is getting ready to let go of the back of the bike and whether he is around to offer them occasional guidance or will not be around at all, they need to learn to think through difficult situations with a unified and independent mind, while still being obedient to the prompting of the Spirit. They will have to wisely determine what the gospel means for them in their particular situations and what it means to continue to be the body of Christ.

They are to continue to do all of this without complaining or arguing, so that they may become blameless and pure. Rather than living by the principles of the world, they should live as children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation. This is unmistakable language linking Paul’s point back to the Exodus generation. He doesn’t want them to be guilty of the constant complaining against Godlike the first Exodus generation was. Paul always saw the Christian community as the people of the new Exodus, led out of the slavery of sin, having passed through the Red Sea of baptism, and having entered into the promised land of the body of Christ.

Paul wants to ensure that they succeed where the first Exodus people failed. Israel was supposed to be a light to the world (Is. 42:6-7; 49:6) but had failed. Paul does not want them to become crooked and depraved (Deut. 32:5) like the Exodus generation or the culture around them. Rather, they should succeed where Israel failed and be a light to the world around them. They are to shine like stars in the universe, a phrase which comes from Daniel 12:3. In Daniel, those who are wise in God’s law will shine in the culture around them. Daniel intimates that those who have this kind of wisdom will take part in the resurrection, a theme that Paul will turn to in full force in chapter 3. Paul’s point then, is that the Philippians should be a sign of God’s new life and His coming resurrection in a world that knows only the way that leads to death. He wants them to go after the life of the age to come, the word of life, so that all of the work and effort that has gone into building this Christian community will not be for nothing (a metaphor that he draws from Is. 49:4). For Paul, the life that Christians live in the present age should always be determined by the reality of the day of Christ when all things will be made new and the work of Christians would be reviewed (1 Cor. 3:13-14; 4:3-4).

Drink offerings were common in Paul’s day and were usually poured on top of and in addition to the sacrifice that was being made (Num. 15:1-10). It appears that Paul viewed the continued obedience of the Philippians (v. 12) and their steadfastness, as well as his apostolic service as their sacrifice to God. The drink offering, then, would be the possible event of his own death. Even if that were to happen, he would still rejoice and wants them to do so as well. This is yet another way that they can shine as lights to the culture around them. The world lives in ways that only lead to death, and yet it abhors and fears it. Christians, in contrast, are to live lives that demonstrate the life of God’s future age, and because we are part of that age, we know that we have nothing to fear from death. Tertullian, a early church leader writing around 200 AD, reminded his fellow Christians that "Since then, there is certainty as to the resurrection of the dead, grief for death is needless. . . For why should you grieve, if you believe that your loved one has not perished? . . . We wound Christ when we do not accept with equanimity the summoning out of this world of anyone by Him, as if they were to be pitied." In the event of Paul’s death, they should stand strong, be glad and rejoice with Paul because he will have reached the goal for which all Christians strive.



Devotional Thought

Do you shine like a star compared to those around you? Do you live your life with the resurrection and God’s future age in mind to such a degree that it sets your life apart from the generation in which you live? The constant challenge for God’s people is to do precisely that; to wisely discern what it means to live the gospel in their culture and generation.