2  ⁵ Have this attitude which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶  who, existing in the form of God, did not consider
equality with God something to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: even death on a cross. ⁹ For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. ¹² So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; ¹³ for it is God who is at work in you, both to desire and to work for His good pleasure. ¹⁴ Do all things without complaining or arguments; ¹⁵ so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as luminaries in the world, ¹⁶ holding firmly the word of life, so that on the day of Christ I can take pride because I did not run in vain nor labor in vain. [Philipp2:5-16]

As a reminder to any readers following my posts, I am not endeavouring to provide comprehensive textual commentaries. Far more erudite and exhaustive compilations can be found elsewhere. I am not primarily a theologian – rather I am setting out what I believe the Spirit has shown me concerning how Scripture is to be interpreted.

Having set out the full picture in The Little Book of Providence I am complementing that by going through each chapter of the New Testament, drawing out evidence for the broader benign providence being disclosed; at the same time attending to any passages whose usual interpretation might appear to challenge such divine munificence. There is none such in this passage from Philippians, on the contrary:

Paul affirms (v9) that God highly exalted Jesus, the self-styled Son of Man, in part due to His obedience and suffering for mankind’s sake. For His humility also, “being in the form of God, He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped”. On the contrary, the Son of Man (as Jesus always described Himself) was insistent that “My Father is greater than I” (Jn14:28). Even after His glorification, Jesus affirmed that certain matters (with respect to timing and staging) were under His “Father’s own authority” (Acts1:7 cf. Mk13:32). I am always careful to restrict myself to the language of Paul and Jesus Himself regarding Father, Son and Spirit’s interrelationships.

Do not mistake me, like Thomas I affirm Jesus as “my Lord and my God” (Jn20:28); all things were created through Him and for Him, and as this passage affirms, everyone in heaven, hell and on earth will one day be required to bow the knee  to Jesus (or else). Yet the monarchical status of the Father, sometimes lost in trinitarian parlance, must be recognized in order to grasp some of the concepts I am outlining. That especially applies to a disclosure of Paul’s that was (humanly speaking) the catalyst to this whole project. That is the explanation and outworking of  Paul’s “fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ” (Eph3:9KJV).

Secondly, Paul affirms the need for the believer to “work out his own salvation”. That cannot easily be reconciled with the concept of salvation being “all of grace”. For sure, perseverance is dependent upon grace, as is our election to the Covenant of Promise in the first place.

The latter (election)  is all of grace, the former (perseverance) is not; the latter is a gift; the former Paul describes as a course to be run that not all shall complete; a winner’s prize that few shall attain (1Cor9:24 & Phil3:14). What is more, at the point he wrote that statement (to the Philippian church) he was by no means certain he would attain it himself (see also 1Cor9:27).

In Jesus’s language (in Revelation) it is those who overcome who shall attain to glory – if it were “all of grace” and “all of God”, Christ’s language (and Paul’s) would be meaningless. But, as I have been spelling out, this does not pertain to “going to Heaven when you die” (refer rather to Mt25:31-46 & Lk16:25).  I am speaking of what the bible actually means by gospel salvation. In Paul’s language it is attaining to the prize of the high calling of God. In Revelation it is depicted as corporate marriage to the Lord of Glory – even to share His very throne (3:21). It should be evident that few shall attain to such glories.

Yet many more shall be accepted as citizens of God’s Kingdom and be re-untied with those they have loved and lost. Whereas a third category shall do neither, instead receiving post-mortem punishment [e.g., 1Jn3:12; Jude 12; Jn8:44; Mt25:41]. These three soteriological categories are delineated from Scripture in The Little Book of Providence.

 The final point (highlighted in v15) is that God’s elect are intended to “shine as luminaries in the world”. That is what the true Church is intended to be; not merely “an assembly of justified sinners” but (as Paul writes elsewhere) those who have been “redeemed  from every lawless deed, purified for Himself as  a people for His own possession, zealous to perform good works” (Titus2:14).

And such “good works” are not an end in themselves or merely out of a Christian’s gratitude for their salvation. They are so that those Paul has just described as luminaries should benefit the world, whom God loves and intends ultimately to redeem. For this is the Good News: that “the eagerly awaiting creation is awaiting the revealing of the sons of God. For creation has been subjected to futility, not of its own choice, but because of Him who subjected it, in the certain hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God (Rom18:19-21).

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