April 29 - Philippians 2:12-13
“Therefore, 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, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
I love being exposed to the Greek because I learn so much of the original intent. When Paul calls the Philippians ‘my dear friends,’ the Greek actually goes so much deeper than this. He calls them ‘my beloved.’ These people are so dear to him – more than a translation can convey.
Most of the time, when I write, whether it is a personal blog, a Christian history piece or a bit of Bible study, I think about those of you who are reading. Many of you I know very well, others I know well and some I’ve never met. It is easy for me to picture most of you in my mind and I find that I write for you because I love you. As I put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), you are at the forefront of my mind and I get excited because I know that you are going to walk this path with me as you read what I write.
Paul had spent time among these people, introducing them to Christ, watching as they took their first steps in learning about the incredible relationship that they had with the risen Lord. As they learned from him and then put that learning into practice, he just fell in love with them.
Their response to his teaching was obedience. They heard the gospel, they responded to the gospel and then they continued to respond, more than likely by changing their behaviors and attitudes to become one with Jesus. From the moment they heard about Jesus and His teachings from Paul, they chose to live within God’s will.
Paul isn’t telling them to do good works to attempt to gain salvation. They already have that. He encourages them to continue in what they have been doing. Their response to the salvation message has been obedience. This shows then in everything they do. Whether or not Paul can come back and spend time with them, he begs them to continue living their lives as proof of this salvation. This puts them in accord with God’s will. When they (when we) are obedient, we allow God’s will to be made manifest within us. We don’t have to question whether or not we are doing what God wants us to do, we will have confidence that God is working within us and that we are acting according to His purpose.
“Therefore, 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, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
I love being exposed to the Greek because I learn so much of the original intent. When Paul calls the Philippians ‘my dear friends,’ the Greek actually goes so much deeper than this. He calls them ‘my beloved.’ These people are so dear to him – more than a translation can convey.
Most of the time, when I write, whether it is a personal blog, a Christian history piece or a bit of Bible study, I think about those of you who are reading. Many of you I know very well, others I know well and some I’ve never met. It is easy for me to picture most of you in my mind and I find that I write for you because I love you. As I put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), you are at the forefront of my mind and I get excited because I know that you are going to walk this path with me as you read what I write.
Paul had spent time among these people, introducing them to Christ, watching as they took their first steps in learning about the incredible relationship that they had with the risen Lord. As they learned from him and then put that learning into practice, he just fell in love with them.
Their response to his teaching was obedience. They heard the gospel, they responded to the gospel and then they continued to respond, more than likely by changing their behaviors and attitudes to become one with Jesus. From the moment they heard about Jesus and His teachings from Paul, they chose to live within God’s will.
Paul isn’t telling them to do good works to attempt to gain salvation. They already have that. He encourages them to continue in what they have been doing. Their response to the salvation message has been obedience. This shows then in everything they do. Whether or not Paul can come back and spend time with them, he begs them to continue living their lives as proof of this salvation. This puts them in accord with God’s will. When they (when we) are obedient, we allow God’s will to be made manifest within us. We don’t have to question whether or not we are doing what God wants us to do, we will have confidence that God is working within us and that we are acting according to His purpose.
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