So, then, my beloved, even as you always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much rather in my absence, cultivate your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is working in you both to will and to work for the sake of His good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings, that you may be blameless and harmless, children of God, without fault in the midst of a crooked generation, even having been perverted, among whom you shine as luminaries in the world, holding up the Word of Life, for a boast to me in the day of Christ, that I ran not in vain, nor laboured in vain. But if indeed I am poured out on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice; yea, I rejoice with you all, and you also rejoice in the same and rejoice with me.
Phil 2:12-18 [LITV]
Before we tackle this segment of Philippians 2 let’s return to the puzzle I gave you. A number of you are “dying” to know the right. answer. That is to assume there is one right answer.
The Punctuation Puzzle
dear john I want a man who knows what love is all about you are generous kind thoughtful people who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior you have ruined me for other men I yearn for you I have no feelings whatsoever when we’re apart I can be forever happy will you let me be yours gloria
Dear John Letter One
Dear John Letter Two
So what is the point of all this? The first thing to note is the connection back to That Majestic Passage. Notice the words I highlighted in yellow in the previous Gem. This passage related to our response is connected to the Majestic Passage before it. How? Remember that Paul starts with the opening statement “Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus”. So what do we have to do in order to do that? Most of the Majestic Passage concerned what God did. But there are two verbs which relate to Jesus’ response that we have to take note of. Jesus humbled Himself and became obedient. In those two verbs we have the focal point of what we need to do in order to have Jesus’ mind in us.
But notice too that we have to keep reading past “work out your salvation in fear and trembling”. The flow doesn’t end there. The Literal Version above has the words “cultivate your salvation” that clause is joined to the one following with a comma. The full thrust of the statement is:
- cultivate your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is working in you both to will and to work for the sake of His good pleasure. [LITV]
- work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure. [ASV]
- work with fear and trembling to discover what it really means to be saved [, for] God is working in you to make you willing and able to obey him. [CEV]
- keep working out your deliverance with fear and trembling, for [God is the one] working among you both the willing and the working for what pleases him. [CJB]
- you must continue to live in a way that gives meaning to your salvation. Do this with fear and respect for God, who is working in you. He helps you want to do what pleases him, and he gives you the power to do it. [ERV]
- Keep on working with fear and trembling to complete your salvation, because God is always at work in you to make you willing and able to obey his own purpose. [GNB]
- In the same way continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for It is God who produces in you the desires and actions that please him. [GW]
- keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure. [MSG]
- Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear [, for] God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. [NLT]
- be even more careful to do the good things that result from being saved, obeying God with deep reverence, shrinking back from all that might displease him, for God is at work within you, helping you want to obey him, and then helping you do what he wants. [TLB]
In the clips above from the chosen versions I have blended the two verses where I needed to, in order to make them read as one. The free versions like the Message which break the verses into a series of short sentence, I have left alone. However the main point here is that verse 13 must be read WITH verse 12. They are not separated in the Greek text therefore they ought not to be separated in any translation. Allow me to remind you of a verse that we dealt with in the first chapter and for which I gave you a song. Go back and refresh your mind again and listen to song once more. The verse is Phil 1:6 and for that you will have to go back all the way to Gem 1909. I find it hard to believe that I have written 44 Gems since then.
I’m confident of this very thing that He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
Phil 1:6
Have you got the point that you don’t have to work at your salvation? It is not based on your work; it is dependent on HIs work in you. Rest in that fact but do all you can to stay in Him. I will unpack the meaning of all this in the following Gem. This Gem has already grown too long to begin the next stage now. Take a break and soak in all that He has done for you.
An English Professor wrote on the board “a woman without her man is nothing” and said, “Punctuate that”.
Anonymous
The men all wrote “A woman, without her man, is nothing.”
Anonymous
The women all wrote, “A woman, without her, man is nothing.”
Anonymous
An atheist professor wrote: “God is nowhere”.
Anonymous
A Christian student rose and changed it to read: “God is now here.”
Anonymous
Punctuation and text division is very important.
Ian Vail