Letters from Paul Pt. 10: Shine Bright

Philippians 2:12-13 NLT - 12 Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. 13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

KJV – Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

1. Work Hard

• Work Out - carry out to its full perfection.

Philippians 2:13 KJV - For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of [his] good pleasure.

Ephesians 1:11 NLT - Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out (carry out to its full perfection) according to his plan.

• Salvation – noun (Soteria) - deliverance, preservation, safety, salvation. (Deliverance from the molestation of enemies.)

Ephesians 2:8 NLT - 8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God.

1 Corinthians 1:18 ESV - 18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

2 Corinthians 2:14-15 NLT - 14 But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ's triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. 15 Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing.

1 Corinthians 15:2 NLT - 2 It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message, I told you--unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.

• Salvation verb (Sozo) is a process of being saved, being healed, being restored.

2. Repentance

2 Peter 3:9 ESV - 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

• Metanoia - a change of mind, as it appears to one who repents, of a purpose he has formed or of something he has done.

• Can one lose their salvation?

Romans 1:21 NLT - 21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn't worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused.

• We are all given choices on earth to be obedient or disobedient.

Romans 1:28 ESV - 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

• Reprobate Mind - To have a reprobate mind means that you are living in deliberate sin, knowing you are sinning against God, and that you are so involved in sinning you could care less about it and the consequences of them.  

Philippians 2:14-15 NLT - 14 Do everything without complaining and arguing, 15 so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.

3. Shine Bright like a diamond

Verse 14: Do everything without complaining and arguing.

• Complaining/Grumbling – (gongysmos) Murmuring, muttering, a secret debate.

• Arguing/disputing – (dialogismos) A thought, inward thinking, questioning about what is true.

Philippians 2:16-18 NLT - 16 Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ's return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. 17 But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy. 18 Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share your joy.