In Ephesians 2:5 Paul says that we have been saved by grace. In Ephesians 2:8 he declares, “By grace you have been saved through faith.” It is absolutely true that we are saved only by grace through faith. Without grace, it is not possible for us to be saved. Many Christians today rightly emphasize the fact that salvation is by grace alone. However, although they may stress salvation by grace, they fail to point out the extent of God’s salvation. According to Ephesians 2, God’s salvation brings us into the heavens. This indicates that we have received a salvation with the highest possible standard. We have been saved by grace to be in the heavenlies with Christ (Eph. 2:6).
Although many Christians point out that we are saved from sin, Ephesians 2 indicates that we are also saved from death, for we have been enlivened by God, raised with Christ, and seated with Him in the third heaven. My emphasis in this message is not on the fact that we are saved by grace. It is on the extent and standard of God’s salvation. We have been saved by God’s grace to be with Christ in the heavenlies.
In Philippians 2:12 Paul tells us explicitly to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. To receive salvation is one thing, and to work it out is another thing. To work out salvation is not to accomplish salvation. Rather, it is to carry out through continual obedience the salvation we have received.
Paul’s word about obedience in verse 12 answers to what he has previously said about Christ becoming obedient (v. 8). A very striking aspect of Christ as our pattern is His obedience unto death, even the death of the cross. As God, Christ first took the major step of emptying Himself, of laying aside the expression of His deity. Then, having emptied Himself and having taken the form of a man, He humbled Himself. This self-humbling is particularly related to obedience. The Bible underscores the importance of obedience. For example, in 1 Samuel 15:22 we are told that to obey is better than sacrifice. We who have received Christ as the pattern of our salvation must learn to always obey with fear and trembling. Within we should have fear as the motive, and without we should have trembling as our attitude, an indication that we have no confidence in ourselves.
According to verse 13, God is operating in us. Our salvation is not merely an action; it is a living Person, the Triune God Himself, operating in us. The God Paul speaks of in verse 13 is the Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. According to chapter fourteen of John, the Father is one with the Son, and the Son is one with the Spirit. The God in Philippians 2:13 is not only the Father, but the Triune God. He is the Son and the Spirit as well as the Father.
In order to prove that God in 2:13 is the Triune God, we need to consider the context of the whole book of Philippians. The last verse of the book, 4:23, says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” Certainly the Lord as the One whose grace is with our spirit is not separate from the God who operates in us. The very Christ who is with our spirit is the God who operates in us. Furthermore, 1:19 speaks of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. There can be no doubt that the Spirit who supplies us is the Spirit who indwells us. But this Spirit cannot be separate from the God who operates in us. If we put all these verses together and consider the context of the book as a whole, we shall see that the God who operates in us is the Triune God. He is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. He is the very God who is Christ in us (2 Cor. 13:3a, 5) and the Spirit dwelling in us (Rom. 8:11).
In verse 13 Paul says that God operates in us “both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.” Where within us does this willing take place? It must be in our will. This indicates that God’s operation begins from our spirit and spreads into our mind, emotion, and will. We have pointed out that the grace of Christ is with our spirit. However, God’s operating to will in us involves not only our spirit but also our will. Therefore, God’s operation must spread from our spirit into our will.
As God operates the willing within us, He carries out His working. This corresponds to Romans 8, where we see that God works not only in our spirit, but also in our mind and eventually in our physical body (vv. 6, 11). We will in our will, and we work in our body. The Triune God operates in us from our spirit, through our will, and then into our physical body.
God’s operating is for His good pleasure. His good pleasure is the heart’s desire of His will (Eph. 1:5) that we may reach the climax of His supreme salvation.
Every living being has a good pleasure. This is especially true of God. For this reason, Paul speaks of God’s good pleasure. The good pleasure of a mother can be observed in the way she loves her child. Using this as an illustration of God’s good pleasure, we may say that God’s good pleasure is to love us in a way that makes Him happy. God’s working in us is to enable us to reach the climax of His supreme salvation. Praise Him that we are now in God’s good pleasure! As He operates in us, we cooperate with Him by obeying Him.