“Work out your own salvation.” This is an interesting thing to hear from the apostle Paul (Philippians 2:12). We usually keep work and salvation in separate arenas. Isn’t Paul the same guy who said that justification comes not through works but through faith? (Galatians 2:16) But here in Philippians 2, “work out” is exactly what it sounds like – hit the gym! Yes, salvation is an event, the event of Christ inserting himself into history in order to remove the crushing burden of sin from us and take on himself at the cross (the event sung for us in Philippians 2:6-11). But salvation is also a muscle, and it needs exercise just like any other muscle or it will atrophy. And none of this is to say that salvation is squarely on our own shoulders to accomplish, for Paul immediately goes on to say, “For it is God who is at work in you, enabling you to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (2:13) To work out our salvation is one and the same as God energetically working out salvation within us.
Salvation has a shape to it. You know it when you see it, and you know when you’re not seeing it. What does salvation look like? “Do all things without murmuring and arguing, so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world.” (2:14-15) Salvation looks like a lack of complaining and arguing. One the one hand, that seems way too easy. Surely some more items belong on that list, Paul? And on the other hand, could anything be more difficult? We love to complain and argue. The ego loves to make its voice heard when it doesn’t get its way. If cutting out murmuring and arguing were easy, we would have solved all human dilemmas a long time ago. Yes, voicing gratitude instead of complaint is the clear, visible sign of salvation. Self-emptying love that suffocates the ego and its arguments is the clear, visible sign of salvation. According to Philippians 2, that’s all that stands between us and being blameless and without blemish. That’s all it takes to shine like stars in our dark world.
The good news is that God is at work within us to do just this very thing. Somehow a simple instruction to cut out complaining and arguing is also a vast awakening to the presence and energy of God within our very selves. All our work, our energy, our sweat are themselves of God’s life burning within us. And when we fail to love and serve, to empty ourselves into each other, when we do grumble and argue, we’re not just making a mistake or falling short of a high bar. When we fail to love and serve and empty ourselves into each other, we are denying the diving energy that God has placed in us, pretending it’s not there.
But God is indeed hard at work in us. God is in fact removing every blemish and making us blameless. God is making us to shine like stars in our dark world. Do we believe this is possible? We’re polite enough in our religion to say God is capable of anything, but do we believe that he’s capable of doing it in us? So let us lower our defenses, receive the mind of Christ and energy of God. And then watch as love flows from us more and more easily, as complaining and arguing fade away from our conversations, and as we shine forth in the world more and more.
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