Philippians 2:13

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. FOR. Encouragement to work: "For it is God which worketh in you," always present, though I be absent. Not, 'work out your own salvation, though it is God,' etc., but 'because it is God which,' etc. The will, and the power to work, being first installments of His grace, encourage us to make full proof of, and carry out to the end, the "salvation" which he has first 'worked,' and is still 'working in' us, enabling us to 'work it out.' 'Our will does nothing thereunto without grace; but grace is inactive without our will' (Bernard). Man is, in different senses, entirely active and entirely passive: God producing all, and we acting all. It is not that God does some, and we the rest. God does all, and we do all. Thus the same things...

13_It is God that worketh_. This is the true engine for bringing down all haughtiness — this the sword for putting an end to all pride, when we are taught that we are utterly nothing, and can do nothing, except through the grace of God alone. I mean supernatural grace, which comes forth from the spirit of regeneration. For, considered as men, we already _are, and live and move in God. _(Acts 17:28.) But Paul reasons here as to a kind of _movement _different from that universal one. Let us now observe how much he ascribes to God, and how much he leaves to us. There are, in any action, two principal departments — the inclination, and the power to carry it into effect. Both of these he ascribes wholly to God; what more remains to us as a ground of glorying? Nor is there any reason to doubt that this division has the same force as if Paul had expressed the whole in a sing

12-18 We must be diligent in the use of all the means which lead to our salvation, persevering therein to the end. With great care, lest, with all our advantages, we should come short. Work out your salvation, for it is God who worketh in you. This encourages us to do our utmost, because our labour shall not be in vain: we must still depend on the grace of God. The working of God's grace in us, is to quicken and engage our endeavours. God's good-will to us, is the cause of his good work in us. Do your duty without murmurings. Do it, and do not find fault with it. Mind your work, and do not quarrel with it. By peaceableness; give no just occasion of offence. The children of God should differ from the sons of men. The more perverse others are, the more careful we should be to keep ourselves blameless and harmless. The doctrine and example of consistent believers will enlighten others, and...

Verse 13. _FOR IT IS GOD WHICH WORKETH IN YOU_] Every holy purpose, pious resolution, good word, and good work, must come from him; ye must be _workers together with him_, that ye receive not his grace in vain; _because he worketh in you_, therefore work with him, and work out your own salvation. _TO WILL AND TO DO_] το θελειν και το ενεργειν. The _power_ to _will_ and the _power_ to _act_ must necessarily come from God, who is the author both of the _soul_ and _body_, and of all their powers and energies, but the _act_ of _volition_ and the _act_ of _working_ come from the _man_. God gives _power_ to will, man wills through that power; God gives _power_ to _act_, and _man_ acts through that power. Without the _power_ to _will_, man can _will nothing_; without the _power_ to _work_, man can _do nothing_. God neither wills...

FOR IT IS GOD THAT WORKETH IN YOU - This is given as a reason for making an effort to be saved, or for working out our salvation. It is often thought to be the very reverse, and people often feel that if God works “in us to will and to do,” there can be no need of our making an effort, and that there would be no use in it. If God does all the work, say they, why should we not patiently sit still, and wait until He puts forth His power and accomplishes in us what He wills? It is of importance, therefore, to understand what this declaration of the apostle means, in order to see whether this objection is valid, or whether the fact that God “works in us” is to be regarded as a reason why we should make no effort. The word rendered “worketh” - ἐνεργῶν energōn - working - is from a verb meaning to work, to be active to produce effect - and is that from which we have derived the word “energe...

EXPOSITION PHILIPPIANS 2:1 IF THERE BE THEREFORE, ANY CONSOLATION IN CHRIST. Mark the fervor of the apostle. Ὅρα πῶς λιπαρῶς πῶς σφοδρῶς πῶς μετὰ συμπαωείας πολλῆς (Chrysostom). He appeals to the Christian experience of the Philippians; if these experiences are real, as they are; facts verified in the believer's consciousness; not talk, not mere forms of speech,—then fulfill ye my joy. _Consolation_;_ _perhaps "exhortation" is the more suitable rendering in this place: if the presence of Christ, if communion with Christ, hath power to stir the heart, to stimulate the emotions, to constrain the will. If any comfort of love; comfort springing out of love. Love is the subjective result of the presence of Christ as an objective reality, and with love comes comfort. If any fellowship of the Spirit

FOR IT IS GOD WHICH WORKETH IN YOU,.... Which is both an encouragement to persons conscious of their own weakness to work, as before exhorted to; see Haggai 2:4; and a reason and argument for humility and meekness, and against pride and vain glory, since all we have, and do, is from God; and also points out the spring, principle, and foundation of all good works; namely, the grace of God wrought in the heart, which is an internal work, and purely the work of God: by this men become the workmanship of God, created unto good works, Ephesians 2:10, and are new men, and fitted for the performance of acts of righteousness, and true holiness; and this grace, which God works in them, is wrought in a powerful and efficacious manner, so as not to be frustrated and made void. The word here used signifies an inward, powe

Philippians 2:1. _If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, be one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things,_ Do not obey the world's maxim «Take care of Number One.» «Look not every man on his own things,» Philippians 2:4 _But every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation,_ Observe that expression: «o

II. CHRIST, THE BELIEVER'S PATTERN CHAPTER 2 _ 1. Oneness of mind through self effacement (Philippians 2:1)_ 2. The humiliation and exaltation of Christ (Philippians 2:5) 3. Work out your own salvation (Philippians 2:12) 4. As lights in the world (Philippians 2:14) 5. The example of Paul (Philippians 2:17) 6. The example of Timotheus (Philippians 2:19) 7. The exampl

PHP_2:12-18. WORK AND SACRIFICE. In view of this wonderful example Paul exhorts his readers to be even more diligent in his absence than they had been when he was present with them. If this is all done without any complaining or quarrelling such as Greek factiousness might produce they would shine as lights in the dark pagan world. Then, even if Paul were martyred, his death would be an offering to God added to the sacrifice and service their faith was producing....