August 6

Job 39-40; Phil. 2

Two days ago, we started reading Paul's letter to the Philippians. There's a verse in that chapter that serves as a kind of principle for much of what he wants to get across to his friends in Philippi: "Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ" (vs. 27). That's a theme that comes back again and again not only in this letter, but in all his letters.

For Paul, the kind of life we live is highly important for what it means to be believers in Jesus Christ. That's why, here in chapter 2, he talks about "working out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (vs. 12). When I was nearing the end of my high school years, I was feeling a tug to the ministry. As part of that (or the reverse, perhaps), I was becoming fascinated by theology. Our Church School teacher taught a few classes on predestination - still a good Presbyterian topic in those days - and I remember that he pointed to this verse as proof that the doctrine was obviously wrong.

As I read more on the topic later, I noticed that advocates of predestination would point to the next verse in defense of their own position: "for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." That last phrase, "God's good pleasure" has always been popular among supporters of predestination. So both sides had something they could appeal to in these two verses.

What strikes me now, though, is that these verses aren't actually talking about the question of predestination at all. Paul is writing to people who are already disciples of Christ, and they have already been "obeying" - making progress in their Christian lives (vs. 12). Paul is appealing to them to keep it up, or even to work harder. As they do that, they can remember that God underlies the whole process, and it is God's action that will give them success.

If you think about it, isn't that how we experience the Christian life too? We examine ourselves and discover areas of our lives that need some improvement. We determine to make some changes (especially at New Year's!), and then we set out to become better than we have been. Yet, all the while, we also pray to God for guidance, for discipline, for support, for improvement, etc. In short, we "work out our own salvation," knowing that "God is at work in us."

Back to the verse I started with for just a second. What will it mean to live a life "worthy of the gospel of Christ"? Oh, it's pretty easy. We just need to be humble (vs. 3). Most everything else will follow from that. And how can we be humble? Oh, that's pretty easy too. We just need to have the mind of Christ (vs. 5) and follow his model (vss. 6-11)!

Jim