Letter #5 - Philippians 2:12-18
by Kerry Weathington
verse 13: for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
As soon as I read this verse, I thought “I need to let Him work in me” and, by extension, “We need to let Him work In us”. That means we have to “give in” to God, submit to Him and to Christ as our savior. That’s what it’s all about – giving ourselves to God. Through HIM, not us, we are able to “will and act ….to fulfill HIS purpose”.
That is hard for most of us, I know it is for me. I always think I can do it myself. But this is different – it’s not some work project or task around the house, this is something that is forever, believing, submitting and “working out your salvation”. And we simply cannot do it alone, we need God, we need Christ, to help us through the entire process, to will and act to do all the things necessary to fulfill His purpose. Toward that end, He is there for us, all the time, always working in us to guide us and help us, even when we don’t realize it. That is very comforting to me, just knowing that God is with me and “working in me” all the time.
Paul goes on to tell us that we are “children of God” in verse 15 in a “crooked and depraved generation”. That’s what the world is and we have to live in that world – but we can overcome it through Christ. Think about all the times that Christ has helped you overcome problems you faced, problems of the “world”. He is there walking beside us, giving us strength when we need it, meeting our needs and helping us “shine like stars” in the world around us (verse 15). Again, that is comforting to me!
Through all this, Paul is encouraging the Philippians but it is just as applicable to us today as it was to them 2,000 years ago -- “for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose”.
So, what is “good purpose”? I think this has multiple meanings and could lead to complex theological discussion but let’s keep it simple. On one level, I think that God’s “good purpose” is for us to believe in Christ and to live accordingly. On another, more personal level for each of us, I think God has a specific set of things designed especially for us as our very own “good purpose”. We may or may not figure out those things but it goes together with living our lives, as believers in Christ, with God working in us to achieve that “good purpose” in His kingdom.
After talking about working “out your salvation” in verses 12 thru 18, Paul then shifts to a discussion of Timothy and Epaphroditus. I thought that was strange at this place in the letter but Paul is writing to the Philippian church and wants to tell them that he will be sending these men back to them. We know a lot about Timothy and his work with Paul and in the early church. There are even two books in the Bible about Timothy but not much about Epaphroditus. I searched and Epaphroditus is only mentioned three times in the Bible, all in Philippians. So, I was curious and did some more research about this guy. He was active in the Philippian church and may have been a wealthy man. After Paul was imprisoned in Rome, the Philippian church sent Epaphroditus “who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs” (verse 25). While there, he served as Paul's attendant and assistant in missionary work. He worked so hard that he got sick, almost died and now Paul wants to send him back (verses 26-28) so they can see him again. What a blessing that must have been to the church!
Paul was a devoted disciple of Christ who gave his life for the gospel and kingdom of God. Through his life and letters, he taught and encouraged believers in the early church.
Let us pray that we do our part in bringing Christ to the world around us!!
