Good Works and Light Bearers

December 12, 2019 - Thursday after Populus Zion

Therefore, my beloved, 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; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me (Philippians 2:12-18).

It is tempting to take Paul’s words here, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” and make them say something which they do not. If the passage stopped at that point, we could hardly be faulted for thinking that Paul was instructing the Philippians, and us, to do good works to merit our salvation. He commends them for having always obeyed, and he continues on by telling them to keep obeying, and to work out their salvation. Perhaps whomever said that Noah was saved, not by grace, but rather by obedience, had a point.

But the passage does not stop there. Paul continues on to reveal just who it is who is doing the work: “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” Paul is indeed calling the Philippians, and all Christians, to do good works; but, he immediately explains that it is not actually we who are doing the works. It is God. In fact, we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.[1] God has made us into good-works-producing machines; He has created the good works for us to do. He calls us now to walk in those good works, i.e. to produce them, not unlike a tree produces fruit. The tree can’t help producing the fruit, it is the tree’s nature to do so, because of how it has been created. We should not make the mistake of thinking that the works we do are accomplished because of us. The works are God’s works. As a new creation in Christ, it is our nature to produce good fruit.

This is why Paul wants us to do all things without complaining or grumbling. God is doing the work. He is the catalyst that causes us “to will”, i.e. to want to do good works, and “to do”, to actually carry them out. In that situation, how could anyone other than God claim credit or responsibility for any of the good works that we do? This is the mistake Sacramentarians[2] make with the Sacraments of Holy Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. They call them works, which indeed they are. And, they say, since we are saved by grace through faith in Christ, and not by works, as Paul writes to the Ephesians, those sacraments are nothing more than symbols of God’s promises, and acts of obedience by which we demonstrate to God our faith. If the Sacraments were our works, this would be true. They are not. They are God’s works; they are sacred acts, instituted by God, in which God has joined His Word of promise to a visible element (e.g., water, bread and wine), and by which He offers, gives, and seals the forgiveness of sins by Christ.[3]

In Baptism, it is the Triune God who washes away sins; it is God the Holy Spirit who works faith in the heart by water and the Word; and it is with Christ’s own righteousness we are clothed, and to His death and resurrection we are joined, even though it is a man who applies the water to us. When we eat the Lord’s Supper, we are not simply acting out a memorial play to demonstrate our obedience to Christ and proclaim His death (though that is certainly part of what is happening); in the Lord’s Supper we receive the very body and blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ to eat and to drink for the forgiveness of our sins: “For My flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.”[4] Who is the one who is active, who is doing all the work in the Sacraments, man or God? If we are honest with ourselves, and we let Scripture speak for itself, the answer is obvious.

And when we walk in these works, prepared beforehand by God for us to walk in, we shine as lights in the world. Paul here echoes Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount: “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”[5] The amazing thing is, that God has created us in Christ for these works, to be lights in the world in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. Paul is encouraging us to act according to the new creation we have been made in Christ, rather than according to the sinful desires of our flesh. He is basically telling us not to be a tree that tries to produce bad fruit. And, if we resist the desires of our old sinful nature, our Old Man, we effectively drown him in the waters of our baptism, and we will shine brighter amidst the darkness of this crooked and perverse generation.

[1] Ephesians 2:10

[2] Sacramentarian: One who holds the sacraments to be simply symbols; a name given to Zwinglians and Calvinists. Webster's Collegiate Dictionary . Third Edition of the Merriam Series. The Largest Abridgment of Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language. 1700 Illustrations. Published by G. and C. Merriam, 1919.

[3] Luther, Martin. Luther's Small Catechism: with Explanation. Concordia Publishing House, 2005.

[4] John 6:55-57

[5] Matthew 5:14-16