Philippians 2:12–18

TABLE 2.7: The New Covenant Church as the Inversion of Old Covenant Israel

Despite the fact that the Israelites experienced “salvation” or deliverance at the exodus, they were a corrupt people, characterized by grumbling and rebellion. Moses declared they were not God’s children, and their track record of disobedience increased further after his death.

By contrast, the Philippians have a track record of obedience that has only increased in Paul’s absence. Paul calls them now to work out their own salvation because they know God is sovereignly working his good pleasure in their lives. This good pleasure should not sound like grumbling or disputing. The Philippians are children of God that shine bright like stars against the backdrop of the dark and perverse generation in which they live. Paul is a model of not grumbling about or disputing over what God sovereignly works for his good pleasure. Paul rejoices to be poured out as a drink offering upon the Philippians’ faith (2:17), and he calls them to rejoice as well.

The OT continues to serve as a script for Paul and the Philippians. There are several other OT allusions and echoes in this passage, as table 2.8 shows.

TABLE 2.8: Allusions to and Echoes of the Old Testament in Philippians 2:12–18

The Philippians are the shining stars of Daniel 12, while Paul is the sacrificial laborer following in the footsteps of Isaiah’s Servant of the Lord. The commands in this section to work out their own salvation and avoid grumbling should be interpreted as specific examples of what it looks like to “behave as citizens worthy of the gospel” (1:27 ESV mg.).

TABLE 2.9: Philippians 2:15 as a Deliberate Inversion of Deuteronomy 32:5

Paul then draws upon Daniel 12 to spell out the Philippians’ identity as “lights in the world” (Phil. 2:15). The allusion is a strong one, as Daniel 12:3 and Philippians 2:15 are the only places in the Bible containing the idea of God’s people “shining” as “stars” or “lights.” Daniel 12 declares what will happen in the latter days (Dan. 12:1): the dead will be raised. Some will enjoy everlasting life, while others will suffer everlasting contempt (v. 2). Therefore, those who shine like stars in Daniel 12:3 are those whose names are in the book of life (v. 1) and who are raised to enjoy everlasting life (v. 2).

Paul’s already/not yet theology draws upon Daniel 12 and highlights the fact that believers are already raised to the heavenly places in Christ Jesus even though the final bodily resurrection has not yet happened. They really do shine like stars in the sky because they are spiritually raised already with Christ in the heavens. The Philippians live in a dark world—a crooked and twisted generation—but they shine like stars against the backdrop of a dark night sky.

Paul instructs the Philippians to shine like stars amid a dark world by means of “holding fast to the word of life” (Phil. 2:16). The “word of life” is probably a reference to the gospel.² This whole phrase is a participle of means and reinforces the importance of Paul’s call to obedience and to working out their own salvation.³ This phrase probably also comes from Daniel 12:3. The Greek text of Daniel 12:3 says those who shine are “those who hold strong to my words.” The parallel between “hold strong to my words” (Dan. 12:3) and “holding fast to the word of life” (Phil. 2:16) is probably strong enough to suggest an echo.⁴

The last part of verse 16 is the overarching result that will take place if the Philippians hold fast to the word of life: “In the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.” Paul’s pride here is not sinful boasting but appropriate joy in what God has accomplished through him. He keeps his sights set on “the day of Christ” (1:6, 10; 2:16). On that day, Paul will rest, knowing his labor was not in vain. Here he draws upon the language of God’s servant in Isaiah, who, like Paul, has a calling to be a light to the nations and to bring salvation to the ends of the earth (Isa. 49:5–6), but who worries that “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity” (Isa. 49:4).

2:17–18 Paul’s perspective on ministry is a model of not grumbling. Even if he were to be “poured out” in death “as a drink offering” upon the “sacrificial service” (ESV “sacrificial offering”) of the Philippians’ faith, he would not grumble but rejoice. Paul stresses joy so much that he saturates these two verses with four references to rejoicing (using “rejoice” or “be glad” [chairō] and “rejoice with” [synchairō]). The only difference between the two verses is that in verse 17 Paul presents the rejoicing as that which is already the case (he rejoices, and rejoices with them), while in verse 18 he presents the rejoicing as something that should be true (you should “be glad” and “rejoice with me”).

We Work because God Works

I love the way John Murray spells out the significance of the command to work out our salvation:

God’s working in us is not suspended because we work, nor our working suspended because God works. Neither is the relation strictly one of co-operation as if God did his part and we did ours so that the conjunction or coordination of both produced the required result. God works in us and we also work. But the relation is that because God works we work.¹

Therefore, the dual working of God and man is a matter not of cancelation or cooperation but of foreordination. In the same way that we love because he first loved us, we work because he first worked in us. Ephesians 2:10 says that we are God’s workmanship, and we walk in the good works he foreordained for us. Paul can say the same thing when he addresses the way grace has been at work in his life as an apostle. He testifies that he worked harder than all the apostles, but the decisive credit for the work goes to the grace of God (1 Cor. 15:10).