God Helps Those Who _____

God Helps Those Who _____

Philippians 2: 12 – 13

Introduction

Perhaps you are familiar with the expression, “God helps those who help themselves.”  This is such a popular expression that many people actually believe it is a biblical quote…But, it’s not found anywhere in the Bible.

Do you know why it is not in the Bible?  Because this expression does NOT fit into Christian theology.  It presents a vision of God and Grace and humanity contrary to basic Christian theology.

 “God helps those who help themselves,” fits very nicely into American cultural values.  We teach our children about the importance of putting forth the effort to make themselves better.  Get an education; find an “entry-level” job; work hard every day; and eventually you can climb the ladder to success.  If you put forth the effort and make the appropriate sacrifices, then you can achieve your dreams…  Anyone who works hard deserves to have a successful life.

Where does God fit into this view of the world?  God is secondary to human effort.  As long as we work hard to accomplish everything we are capable of doing on our own, God will step in and do the rest.  This is not a good understanding of God.

A second problem with “God helps those who help themselves” is what it says about humanity.  The underlying assumption is that human beings are capable of meeting our own needs and accomplishing good things in our lives.  However, this is not the Christian view of humanity.  Instead, we believe humans are sinful and wholly incapable of doing what is right and good.

Christian theology is all about Grace.  Humanity is sinful and underserving of God’s good gifts.  God does not give us what we deserve.  God gives us what we could never deserve.  “God helps those who help themselves,” does not describe Grace.  Grace is “God’s unmerited favor.”  Everything we have as Christians (from salvation to material blessings) is a direct result of God’s Grace, which does not depend on our merit.

This proper understanding of God and Grace and humanity makes reading our Scripture difficult.  I’m sure there are people who interpret Philippians 2: 12 – 13 to sound like “God helps those who help themselves.”  Such a reading contradicts Paul’s teaching about Grace as well as the entire biblical witness about God and Grace and humanity.

Philippians 2: 12 – 13

12 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, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

There are several things in verse 12 which set the context for what follows.  The Book of Philippians was written by the Apostle Paul and sent to the Christians at Philippi.  He wrote to them, because he was separated from them.  They were enjoying their freedom, while Paul was “in chains” in Rome.

Notice that Paul addresses the Philippians as “my dear friends.”  He has a special relationship with them.  The Book of Acts tells us that Paul was the first Christian preacher / missionary to preach the Gospel in Philippi.  Paul helped those first Christian converts to establish the first Christian church in Philippi—the first Christian church on what we now call the Continent of Europe.  Paul continued to visit his friends at Philippi on his missionary journeys and maintained a close relationship with them.

Also notice how Paul compliments them on their obedience.  Paul never criticizes the Philippians on their faith and obedience.  Instead, he encourages them for what they have been doing and encourages them to continue doing the same things.

Perhaps Paul’s encouragement about obedience should be read in light of the Scripture we read last Sunday.  Philippians 2: 5 – 11 are probably the lyrics from a familiar hymn about Jesus.  One way to read / sing this hymn is to think of Jesus as an example of humility—Jesus had equality with God, but did not consider equality with God something to be grasped / held onto / to be leveraged to his advantage…Instead, Jesus humbled himself by taking on human nature and suffering the death of a slave on the cross.

Another way to read / sing the hymn is to think of Jesus as an example of obedience.  Everything Jesus did (humbling himself, serving other people and suffering the Crucifixion) was in obedience to God.  Jesus fulfilled God’s plan to save sinners and offer us eternal life.  God’s plan was successful, because Jesus obeyed. 

Therefore, Jesus is our model of both humility and obedience. 

Working Out and Working In

Maybe this is what Paul means when he writes, “Work out your salvation…”  Maybe he means something like, “Do everything in your power to live up to the example Jesus set…Be more like Jesus.”

I would believe this is what Paul wanted us to hear, if Paul had stopped writing at verse 12.  But, he didn’t stop at verse 12.  He doesn’t say, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling (PERIOD).”  No.  He goes on from there to add, “…for it is God who works in you.”

Let’s compare what Paul says about salvation in Philippians to what he says about salvation in Ephesians—another one of Paul’s letters:

Ephesians 2: 8 – 10…  8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works, so that no one can boast.10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

According to Paul (in Ephesians), salvation is a work of God’s Grace.  It is not in any way dependent on human effort.  We do not save ourselves.  God saves us by his Grace.  BUT, Paul does not stop when he describes salvation by Grace alone.  He goes on to describe the way saved people are supposed to live.  Saved people are changed people—changed by the Grace of God.  The purpose of this Grace is that we might do good works which God has prepared in advance for us to do.

Another way to describe this is in terms of the relationship between Grace and good works.  Salvation is always God’s work / God’s initiative / God’s gift.  Then, salvation results in a life of good works.

This relationship between Grace and good works is a better way to interpret Philippians 2: 12 – 13.  Paul does not tell us to work FOR our salvation.  Instead, Paul tells us to work OUT our salvation.  There’s a big difference between working FOR salvation and working OUT salvation.  The difference is that every person who works FOR salvation will fail…There is no way to earn salvation through human works.

One way to think of this is to think in terms of cooperation.  Salvation is not a human work.  But once we are saved, there is work to do.  God asks us to work out our salvation in obedience and in following the example of Jesus.

We need to be careful when we talk about the good works that Christian people perform.  It is possible to slip back into the notion that “God helps those who help themselves” by saying something like “God works best when Christians do the right things (or abstain from the wrong things).”

The proper view of working out salvation comes from the next verse.  God is the One who works in us.  Interestingly, Paul uses a different Greek word for work when he is talking about what God does.  He uses a Greek word that is very similar to our English word “energy.”  Therefore, we could translate Paul’s encouraging words like this, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, because God provides the energy to will and to accomplish his good purpose.”

No one can work FOR salvation.  Salvation is God’s work in us.  And, Christians would not even be able to work OUT salvation without God, who provides the energy.

Every Christian has God at work in our lives.  Theologically speaking, we say that we have received the Holy Spirit.  No one has more Spirit than others.  And no one receives the Holy Spirit incrementally—a little bit of the Spirit today and a little more next Sunday until one day we are completely full of the Spirit.  No.  A person receives the Holy Spirit completely and has all the resources he or she needs to live the life God wants.  The question should not be, “How much of the Holy Spirit do you have?”  Instead, the question should be, “How much of you does the Holy Spirit have?”

Many people hold out aspects of their lives and resist what the Spirit wants to do in us.  Some people might say, “God, you can have every Sunday.  But, I’m going to hang on to Monday through Saturday.”  Some people might say, “God, you can have my church life and my family life.  But, I’m going to hang on to my work life.”  There are even people who are willing to give God control over their work life and their church life while hanging on to their sex life or their relationships.

A couple of weeks ago, the City of Lufkin tore up a section of my front yard.  They had to dig a hole to work on some underground lines.  For a few days, I had a section of my yard that was nothing but dirt.  Then, they came back and put down sod.  They told me to keep it watered, because they would not bring more sod.  So, I got out the hose and a sprinkler to water the new grass.  My hose was held together by duct tape.  I had to buy a new hose.  But, I didn’t know how long a hose I needed…So, I bought a 100 foot hose!  I can now water the yards of four of my neighbors!

The problem with having a 100 foot hose is keeping it stretched out.  Once I get the sprinkler in position and the water turned on, I have to go back and make sure there aren’t any kinks in the hose.  Even when the water is turned on and the sprinkler is in the right position, the hose is useless if there is a kink preventing the water from flowing.

This is what happens when Christians hang on to certain parts of life.  We can prevent God’s work in our lives.  God provides the energy we need to accomplish God’s purpose in our lives.  However, willful disobedience, sin, and going back to our old way of life keep us from being the individuals God wants us to be.

Pay attention to what the Holy Spirit is telling you.  He will convict you of your sins and prompt you to confess those sins.  God wants to forgive your sins so that he can continue to work in your life to accomplish his good purpose.

You and Y’all 

There is one more thing I want you to notice about this Scripture.  When Paul describes salvation here, he is describing it as a community experience.  A proper, East Texas translation of these verses would use the word “y’all” instead of “you.”

Work out your (y’all’s) salvation, for God works in y’all.

This is one of those places where our American cultural values come into conflict with what the Bible teaches us.  As Americans, we like to think of salvation only as an individual experience.  It often comes up during election season.  A candidate promises that his Christian faith will not affect the way he governs.  Or, a candidate professes his faith in Jesus, and other people say we shouldn’t talk about such things, because faith is personal and individual.  Faith is something we keep to ourselves.

The Bible teaches something completely different about salvation.  Yes.  Salvation is personal and individual.  Everyone must have his or her own faith in Jesus in order to be saved.  However, the biblical view of salvation is that it is ALWAYS lived out in community with other believers.  The biblical word for this community is “church.”

Oh I know there are people who claim to be Christians and do not need the church.  This is a foreign concept in the New Testament.  The New Testament describes the church as the Body of Christ.  Every member is a part of the Body.  The Body is not complete without every member.  No one Christian is complete by himself or herself.  We need each other.

We need each other to worship together.  We need each other to grow in discipleship.  We need each other to do the work of evangelism and missions.  And, God is at work in the church to accomplish these good works.

Conclusion

Let’s go back to the expression “God helps those who help themselves”…

It is probably better for us to say “God helps those who ALLOW HIM;” or “God helps those who STOP RESISTING the call of the Spirit;” or even “God helps those who GET OUT OF THE WAY.”

There are two ways we allow God to work in our lives…

First, we must yield every aspect of our lives to God…allowing the Holy Spirit to have complete control over everything.

Second, we must become a part of a church which is filled by the Holy Spirit and completely led by the Spirit.

Work out your salvation by allowing God to work in you and in us.

(Inspired by Dr. Roger Olson's sermon: Grace Works)