The Christian's Serious, Satisfying, and Supernatural Obedience, Part 3

THE GOSPEL-SHAPED LIFE:

THE CHRISTIAN’S SERIOUS, SATISFYING, AND SUPERNATURAL OBEDIENCE

PART 3

An Exposition of Philippians 2:12-13 (Part 3)

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date:   July 1, 2018

Series: Philippians: Gospel Partnership on Mission in the World

Note:   Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION

We are in the process of taking an in-depth look at the profound instruction that God has given to us in Philippians 2:12-13. In last week’s sermon we probed the meaning of what it means to “work out your own salvation” (v. 12). I sought to carefully show that this exhortation calls us to bring about a future reality, namely our own final salvation and glory, by following Jesus on the path that leads to this final salvation and glory. This path is the path of obedience, love, and humble service.

The Bible sets forth this glory-bound path in many places. In Philippians 1:9-11 Paul prays that the Philippians would increasingly abound in righteousness and love as the pathway that leads to unashamed joy in the Lord’s presence on the last day. In Philippians 3:10-12 Paul teaches us by way of his own example: he has not yet “obtained” perfection and resurrection glory, but he “[strains] forward” and “[presses] on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” The instruction in Philippians 2:12 cuts with the same grain as these other two passages: we also must “press on” and pursue and prepare for and in some sense produce the future aspect of our salvation – namely, our resurrection, glorification, and entrance into eternal life. The way that you embrace and lay hold of this future reality is by continually moving forward on the path of loving obedience, which leads to this final glory.

It is impossible to understand these things unless you understand that salvation has a past, a present, and a future reality – and all of it is God’s gracious gift to His people. If the only thing you think about when you think of your salvation is that you have been saved, then it will make no sense whatsoever to speak about the prospect of being saved in the future. So, you’ve got to learn to make distinctions in terms of the different aspects of salvation.

I am currently reading a book by Herman Bavinck entitled Saved by Grace, and on page 9 he has a short, five-word sentence: “To distinguish is to learn.”[1] This is so true! We come to the Lord and to His Word as learners, and in order to learn well we are going to have understand the distinctions, the distinguishing features, the nuances and careful lines of thought that God presents to us.

It is so very important to understand that God’s gracious salvation involves not only our entrance into it, but also our continuation and progress in it, and then finally our glorification with Christ on the last day. All of this – the beginning, middle, and end – is part of the great salvation that God bestows upon His people. In Ephesians 2 Paul says that believers “have been saved” (Ephesians 2:5, 8), in 1 Corinthians 1 he says that believers “are being saved” (1 Corinthians 1:18), and in 1 Thessalonians 5 Paul says that God has destined us “to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:9) – Paul is here speaking of salvation in its future aspect.

GOD COMMENCES, CONTINUES, AND COMPLETES THE WORK OF SALVATION

In the first instance, God commences (or begins) the work of salvation in His people: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6) The Father “began a good work in [us].” He forgave our sins, granted us a right standing in His sight, regenerated our hearts, and put His own Spirit within us.

After God begins this “good work,” He then continues the work of salvation in His people: “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13, italics added) God authored the work, and now He advances that work. One key way that He advances His saving purpose for His people is by leading us along the path of obedience. As we are walking on this obedient path that leads to final salvation, it is God who is at work in us: He renews our hearts, fills us with strength, and enables us to experience “progress and joy in the faith” (Philippians 1:25). God’s work in us enables us to “grow up to salvation” (1 Peter 2:2) and “press on toward the [final] goal” (Philippians 3:14).

In due course, God will complete the work of salvation in His people. Philippians 3:20-21 describes how the Lord Jesus Christ will bring us to share in His resurrection glory: “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” (Philippians 3:20-21)

OBEDIENCE, RIGHTLY UNDERSTOOD, IS PART OF THIS WONDERFUL SALVATION

All this, taken together, is the wonderful salvation that God gives to His people. It is all or nothing! You cannot opt-out of the obedience part, for obedience is part of the package. True obedience – not legalistic, fear-laden, guilt-induced obedience, but – heartfelt, joyful, and loving obedience, demonstrates that God has laid hold of you, has given you a new heart, and is leading you onward to glory. Obedience is crucial, but we must hold the proper distinctions in our mind.

As God’s obedient children, we must understand that our obedience is not the basis of our relationship with the Lord: our obedience doesn’t earn the Father’s love, our obedience doesn’t give us a right standing with God, our obedience doesn’t establish peace with God. However, this doesn’t mean that obedience is irrelevant to our final salvation. Remember: “To distinguish is to learn.” Obedience is totally relevant to our final salvation, in at least two ways.

First, our obedience confirms, demonstrates, and verifies that God truly has forgiven, justified, regenerated, and reconciled us. Therefore, “be… diligent to confirm your calling and election” (2 Peter 1:10) by progressing on the path of obedience, by growing in godliness and love (see 2 Peter 1:3-9)! In this sense, obedience authenticates that we have been born again, whereas disobedience signals that a person remains dead in sin and destined for everlasting punishment.

Second, our obedience also anticipates, moves toward, and prepares us for the glorious day of resurrection when we will see our beloved Lord face to face. The Father has designed our future salvation and glory in such a way that our faithfulness is the necessary pathway to it. Consider the parables of Matthew 25: only the people who are watching for the Lord (Matthew 25:1-13) and being faithful in the Lord’s service (Matthew 25:14-30) and showing love for the Lord’s people (Matthew 25:31-46) will enter into the joy of everlasting life. Everyone else will enter into everlasting punishment.

That said, there is a wonderful promise for every true child of God: the Father ensures that every true believer will remain and grow on the path of faithfulness and thereby enter glory on the last day. I shared this word of promise in last week’s benediction:

“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)

God is faithful to see to it that His true sons and daughters persevere on the path of holiness until the very end. Perseverance and growth verifies that you are His, whereas unfaithfulness signals that a person is spiritually lost and headed toward destruction.

Over and over again, the Bible teaches that spiritually healthy believers do not sit idle on their sofas with their eyes fixated on insignificant trivialities, all self-assured because their eternal life insurance papers are filed away in a dusty cabinet with a dusty Bible on top of it, while they atrophy with “drooping hands” and “weak knees” (Hebrews 12:12). The Bible says to everyone who professes to be a Christian, “… lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:12-14) Make a straight path on the highway of holiness that leads into the very presence of God!

Paul teaches believers “to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” (1 Timothy 6:18-19) Generously loving others for Jesus’ sake is a powerful testimony that your hope is in the glorious future that God has promised to those who love Him, it ripens you for that glorious future because that’s where your treasure is accumulating, and it enables you to lay hold of true and eternal life that comes from God.

THE FOCUS OF THIS SERMON: HELP OTHERS MAKE PROGRESS ON THE PATH TO GLORY

Lord-willing, in the next sermon we will look closely at Philippians 2:13 and what it means that God works in us, “both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Doing so will help us understand how God’s work (verse 13) relates to our pursuit of obedience (verse 12). In this sermon, however, I want to tie up a loose end that carries over from the last sermon.

Here is the main idea: “[working] out your own salvation” means not only that you must keep your feet on the path that leads to final glory (which was the point of last week’s sermon), but also that you must help others keep their feet on the path that leads to final glory. This may be clearly inferred from Philippians itself, but it is expressly stated in several passages throughout the New Testament.

Let me begin in Philippians. Philippians 1:27–2:13 makes clear that loving others for Jesus’ sake is a big and essential part of the path that leads to your final salvation. When the apostle Paul calls the Philippians to “work out [their] own salvation,” he is not calling them to get more religious do’s and don’ts on their daily calendar or take frequent spiritual retreats so they can give attention to self-analysis and introspection. Instead, he is calling them to continue their obedient way of life: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Philippians 2:12) So the instruction to “work out your own salvation” involves ongoing obedience to the Lord and His instruction, especially the instruction given in this section of Philippians. At the heart of this instruction is the Christlike attitude of humility, love, and service. Loving attentiveness “to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4) is the attitude that enables us to participate in congregational life, experience unity with our fellow believers, and serve our brothers and sisters. Being a humble servant who follows Jesus and loves others for His sake is a big and essential part of the God-appointed path that leads to the final goal of resurrection glory.

This being the case, we should proceed to ask ourselves a question: what do you think would be the highest expression of love for another person? Wouldn’t it be to seek after their final salvation and glory? We might legitimately help one another in ten thousand different ways, but how eternally and incomparably helpful is it to help someone make safe passage to everlasting glory?

Philippians 2:12 says to “work out your own salvation,” and it is worth noting that the reflexive pronoun “your own” is not singular but plural.[2] Paul is addressing the Philippians as a congregation and saying, O Church, “work out your own salvation.” Think of it this way: O Church, lean into and lay hold of the wonderful future salvation that God has promised to you all. This obviously includes the individual dimension: Paul has to “press on to make it [his] own,” and so do each of us. But it would be hyper-individualistic to say that each one should only be concerned about his or her own individual glorification, and that each one need not be concerned in any way about the glorification of his or her Christian brothers and sisters. The hyper-individualized approach is wrong because Philippians 2:4 disallows it. How can I truly care for your well-being and interests, but be indifferent to your final salvation and be unwilling to help you remain on the path that leads to it? That’s unthinkable, isn’t it? But in addition to the love principle from Philippians 2:4, we also have Paul’s example as well as numerous passages throughout the New Testament that instruct us to help each other finish the race.

So, let me take you on a mini-tour of the New Testament. The purpose of this mini-tour is that the Holy Spirit, working through Scripture, would persuade you to love your fellow churchgoers (Philippians 2:4) by helping them to make progress on the path that leads to final salvation (Philippians 2:12).

OUR FUTURE GLORIFICATION IS CORPORATE GLORIFICATION

First, when you think about your future glorification, don’t think about it in terms of you being glorified as an isolated individual. Yes, there will be an individual component: you will be resurrected and glorified. But don’t camp out there, and let Ephesians steer you on a better course. In Ephesians 2, we are told that those who belong to Christ are part of God’s household,

“built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:20-22)

The Church is “a holy temple in the Lord.” The apostle Peter says that each believer is a living stone in this spiritual temple (1 Peter 2:5). In terms of our final salvation and glorification, your preoccupation should not be with the glorification and perfection of a single living stone, but rather with the glorification and perfection of the whole temple! Don’t lose sight of the temple’s splendor for the sake of a single stone!

In Ephesians 4, we are told that those who belong to Christ are “the body of Christ,” and God’s vision is for Christ’s body to arrive at maturity together:

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about my every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. (Ephesians 4:11-14)

Elsewhere Paul tells us that each believer is a part of the body, like how a hand or arm or foot is part of the body (1 Corinthians 12:12-26). Your preoccupation should not be with the glorification and perfection of one part of the body, but your preoccupation should be with the growth and eventual glorification of the whole body!

In Ephesians 5, the church is likened to a wife in relation to Christ, and thus we understand that the church is the bride of Christ. No one should make the mistake of speaking of yourself individually as the bride of Christ. Christ has one bride, and that one bride is the whole Church! And Christ came in order to make His bride glorious:

“Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:25-27)

While it is right and proper to be concerned about your own personal holiness, you must also be concerned for the holiness of the Church as a whole. In other words, care deeply about the future splendor and glory of the Church, and care deeply about the Church’s progress along the path that leads to that final glory. Here at South Paris Baptist Church, members covenant with one another “to strive for the growth of this church in knowledge of God’s Word and holiness.” Are you passionately striving for the holiness of this church family?

PAUL MODELED A GODLY CONCERN FOR THE WHOLE CHURCH

Second, I want you to see how Paul models this ‘corporate glorification’ mindset for us. When Paul thinks about the glorification of the church on the last day, he doesn’t just think about his own personal joy. He actually connects his joy with the glory of His fellow Christians. This is implied to some degree in Philippians, and clearly stated in 1 Thessalonians. In Philippians 4 Paul refers to the Philippians as “[his] joy and crown” (Philippians 4:1) and in Philippians 2 he wants the Philippians to prove faithful and holy over the long haul “so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain” (Philippians 2:16). Their perseverance in holiness will increase his joy on the last day! Then in 1 Thessalonians 2 Paul makes a stunning statement about how the Thessalonian believers will factor into His everlasting joy: “For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.” (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20)

Have you ever heard someone say that when they get to heaven, the only thing they are going to care about is personally being with the Lord? They might even go so far to say that they really don’t care whether or not they will recognize anyone else! Well, that’s a bunch of well-intended bologna! It’s not about just you and Jesus! You are part of a spiritual temple, a spiritual body, a spiritual bride, and our everlasting joy is significantly tied to our relational connectedness with the other living stones who make up the temple, with the other living members who make up the body, with our brothers and sisters who together make up the Lord’s radiant bride. Paul understood that the glory of the whole church would be part of his forever joy.

If you are tracking with me, then track a little further, because this truth leads to a sobering and seismic application – an application that is found throughout the New Testament. If the Philippians and the Thessalonians and the Corinthians – and all the rest – are Paul’s “joy and crown” and part of the glorious future that he anticipates in eternity, then what will Paul do? He will do everything in his power to help them make progress on the path that leads to glory so that they finish the race and thereafter enter with him into glory. You’ve got to feel with weight of this, because cheap grace and a superficial understanding of faith and ‘compulsory heaven for anyone who ever prayed a prayer’ will lead you away from faithful Paul-like ministry. Paul was so deeply concerned for his beloved Thessalonians who were experiencing afflictions, that he had “fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain” (1 Thessalonians 3:5). That’s why Paul was so earnest about sending Timothy to them in order “to establish and exhort [them] in [their] faith” (1 Thessalonians 3:2) Here again, Paul’s larger vision was for the Lord to cause their love for each other to increase “so that he may establish [their] hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.” (1 Thessalonians 3:13).  

With this same mindset, Paul pleaded with the Corinthians: “I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:2-3) Paul knew that not all professing Christians are true Christians, and thus he sounded a warning: “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? – unless indeed you fail the test!” (2 Corinthians 13:5) So, in order to keep true Christians moving forward on the necessary pathway to final glory, and to help distinguish the true Christians from the false ones (and perhaps to bring about the conversion of some lost churchgoers in the process), Paul labored to build up, encourage, and strengthen the church.

HELP ONE ANOTHER MOVE FORWARD ON THE PATH TO GLORY

What Paul did, we must do also. Someone might say, ‘Well, Paul was an apostle, and that was his God-given responsibility within the church. But I’m just an ordinary Christian. Who am I to help other Christians stay on the path that leads to glory? Who am I to help weak Christians recover their footing? Who am I to help unsaved churchgoers get converted?’ Answer: You are a Christian, that’s who, and the Lord assigns you this kind of work, and He equips you for this work by His Word and empowers you to do it by His Spirit. When Paul says to the whole congregation, “work out your own salvation,” he implies that Christians should love one another by helping each other make progress toward the wonderful salvation that God has promised to His people – and by evangelizing the lost souls among us in the process, that they too might be saved.

But don’t take my word for it – let me show you what Scripture says.

Let me start with our responsibility to give each other ‘ordinary encouragement’ before moving to the more sobering passages. In that earlier passage from Ephesians 4 about “the body of Christ” growing together in spiritual stability and strength, Paul says: “… speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16). Nine verses later: “let each one of you speak with the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another” (Ephesians 4:25). Four verses later: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29). So, if you are a properly working part within the body of Christ, then you will be seeking to build others up by speaking grace-giving words of truth in an attitude of love (see also 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Hebrews 10:24-25). Brothers and sisters, your presence in the body of Christ is not supposed to be a neutral presence. By neutral I mean you’re not deliberately hurting anybody (which would be a destructive presence) and you’re not helping anybody (which would be a constructive presence) – you’re just in a state of suspended non-influence. Buy neutrality and non-influence is not the goal! Your calling as a Christian is bring spiritual encouragement to others, to build them up in the Lord and stir them up “to love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24), and to help us construct a faithful, mature body of believers. And this is the easy part!

Now to the more sobering passages. Don’t run away from this. As a servant of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, I exhort you to take heed to what Scripture says! This is also part of our calling, and it is vitally important that we seek to help each other stay on track and finish the race. Let me read these five short passages, and let them sink into our hearts:

“And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak….” (1 Thessalonians 5:14)

“And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.” (Jude 22-23)

“If your brother sins, rebuke him….” (Luke 17:3)

“My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” (James 5:19-20)

 “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.” (Galatians 6:1)

If someone among us is weak, they need strength. If someone among us is fainthearted, they need courage. If someone among us is idle, which means that his life is not properly ordered, they need to be admonished.[2] If someone among us is spiritually confused, they need mercy. If someone among us is spiritually compromised, they need to be “[snatched] out of the fire.” If someone among us walks away from the truth and wanders into sin, they need to be pursued, confronted, and rebuked, with a view toward their restoration. Do you know what this means? It means that you cannot be indifferent to the spiritual health of your brothers and sisters. Don’t assume that our congregation is better than the specific congregations that received these New Testament instructions. They needed these instructions, and so do we! Don’t assume that everyone is spiritually well. And when you perceive that someone is not well, don’t assume that it is somebody else’s job to help them. And don’t assume that your only job is to pray. Yes, by all means, pray! But these passages tell us that we must do more than pray: we must also encourage and help; admonish and rebuke; seek and snatch; rescue and restore. And the purpose of all this is to help our brothers and sisters remain on the path, or return to the path, that leads to final glory, as well as to help bring lost churchgoers into the miracle of conversion. I know that this is the purpose, not only because of the many passages that we have looked at today and last week, but also because of the powerful instruction in Hebrews 3.

Hebrews 3:12-14 teaches us that we have a solemn responsibility to help our brothers and sisters remain faithful to Jesus until the very end. Here is what the passage says:

“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” (Hebrews 3:12)

COMMENT: Let there be no presumption among us. This could happen to any one of us. So, in light of this danger, we have a responsibility to one another:

“But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (Hebrews 3:13)

COMMENT: We “exhort one another every day” (Hebrews 3:13) so that no one’s heart becomes “evil,” “unbelieving,” “deceived,” “hardened,” and thus “[falls] away from the living God.” And why it is to absolutely crucial that you not develop this “unbelieving heart” that turns away from God? Listen to verse 14:

“For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” (Hebrews 3:14)

These are stunning verses! They teach us that perseverance in heartfelt faith and in fellowship with God verifies that we truly do belong to Christ: “we share in Christ [now, truly, totally and forever], if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” Staying close to Jesus demonstrates that you truly belong to Jesus! On the other hand, if you depart from the faith, never to return, this is proof positive that you never had a true share in Christ, that you have never been converted unto the saving of your soul.

The author of Hebrews isn’t speaking about these things like someone who loves philosophical abstraction and enjoys playing with theoretical views about fate. He is pleading with us with great urgency to help each other stay close to Jesus, to help each other to persevere in faith and godliness, which thereby demonstrates that we really do belong to Jesus. The apostle Peter says, “be… diligent to confirm your calling and election” by continuing and growing on the path of godliness. When you combine Peter’s instruction with the instruction from Hebrews 3:12-14, we can say: Help others confirm their calling and election by helping them continue and grow on the path of godliness.

All this instruction, from Philippians 2 and Hebrews 3 and the other passages we have considered, is telling us: love others by helping them make progress on the path that leads upward to final glory!

Will you love others in this way? The responsibilities set forth in all these passages are not given to the pastors and elders only, but to all of us who follow Jesus. So, here is my question – and I ask this question with great seriousness, for the Lord would have you undertake this duty “with fear and trembling.” I want you to think about the whole church family here that you are called to love for Jesus’ sake. As you consider our church family think about this: Who is weak? Who is fainthearted? Who is unruly?[3] Who is in the early stages of being taken captive by the deceitfulness of sin? Who is starting to wander from the truth? Who is not resisting temptation but is actually making provision for fleshly lusts? Who has a heart that checked out a long time ago, and now they’re just going through the motions? Who has been absent from the fellowship for too long, for no good reason? Who is putting on a good face and fooling almost everyone, but not you! You know! You know that this person’s heart is far from God, and you know that that weary soul is about to throw in the towel, and you know that another brother or sister under temptation is about to compromise their integrity, and you know that these two churchgoers over there have a broken relationship and don’t speak to each other. And my plea is: don’t let them go down or stay down with you fighting for them! You are your brother’s keeper, your sister’s keeper. Our Church Covenant calls all of us to “watch over one another in brotherly love.” Do it! Pray to God, and plead with them. Trust in God, and speak truth to them. 

On this Lord’s Day, July 1, 2018, I call upon each of you to rise up and fulfill your duty as a Christian: love your brothers and sisters and fellow churchgoers so much, that with fear and trembling and gladness you help them keep their faith in the Lord and their feet to the path. Participate in God’s work of bringing to completion the good work that He has begun in His people, not only by you walking the path of obedience that leads to glory, but also by you helping others walk the path of obedience that leads to glory. Say of your fellow Christians, “my glory and joy,” and help them press on to the everlasting glory and joy that God has promised to His faithful people!

Let us pray.  

ENDNOTES

[1] Herman Bavinck, Saved By Grace: The Holy Spirit’s Work in Calling and Regeneration. Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2008 (orig. 1903): p. 9.

[2] See Philippians 2:12 in the “Philippians 2 Interlinear Bible” with accompanying information and links for additional information, available online at Bible Hub: http://biblehub.com/interlinear/philippians/2.htm.

[3] By the phrase “admonish the idle” (1 Thessalonians 5:14), the ESV has the following footnote: “Or disorderly, or undisciplined.” The Greek word translated “idle” means “out of order” (Strong’s literal definition; NAS Exhaustive Concordance) or “out of God’s appointed (proper) order” (HELPS) as per Strong’s Concordance and NAS Exhaustive Concordance and HELPS Word-studies, available online via Bible Hub under entry “813. ataktos,” at http://biblehub.com/greek/813.htm.

[4] The Greek word translated “idle” by the ESV in 1 Thessalonians 5:14 (“admonish the idle”), is sometimes rendered “unruly” in other translations (e.g., KJV, NASB, and others).