Working out by not Grumbling

14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish though you live in a crooked and perverse society, in which you shine as lights in the world 16 16 by holding on to 17 the word of life so that on the day of Christ I will have a reason to boast that I did not run in vain nor labor in vain. 17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice together with all of you. 18 And in the same way you also should be glad and rejoice together with me.

Philippians 2:14-18

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14 Πάντα ποιεῖτε χωρὶς γογγυσμῶν καὶ διαλογισμῶν, 15 ἵνα γένησθε ἄμεμπτοι καὶ ἀκέραιοι, τέκνα θεοῦ ἄμωμα μέσον γενεᾶς σκολιᾶς καὶ διεστραμμένης, ἐν οἷς φαίνεσθε ὡς φωστῆρες ἐν κόσμῳ, 16 λόγον ζωῆς ἐπέχοντες , εἰς καύχημα ἐμοὶ εἰς ἡμέραν Χριστοῦ, ὅτι οὐκ εἰς κενὸν ἔδραμον οὐδὲ εἰς κενὸν ἐκοπίασα. 17 Ἀλλʼ εἰ καὶ σπένδομαι ἐπὶ τῇ θυσίᾳ καὶ λειτουργίᾳ τῆς πίστεως ὑμῶν, χαίρω καὶ συγχαίρω πᾶσιν ὑμῖν• 18 τὸ δὲ αὐτὸ καὶ ὑμεῖς χαίρετε καὶ συγχαίρετέ μοι.

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A Way of Working Out

Verses 14-16 doesn't have any conjunction or connector that would tell us how to relate this passage logically from the preceding verses. The immediate context seems to imply that this is an inference from or at least a way of working out your salvation. For the following reasons: The intended result of doing all things without grumbling and arguing is to become blameless, pure and without blemish. Take note of the word "so that" plus the subjunctive "may be". This is a ἵνα clause functioning as the intended result or purpose of the imperative in the main clause.There's a similar idea in Philippians 1:9-11 . The idea given is that when we abound in love with all knowledge and discernment we will be able to approve what is excellent(i.e. grumbling and arguing free life) and so(ἵνα) be(subjunctive mood of thethe verb to be) pure and blameless for the day of Christ. Which seems to suggest the climax of our sanctification at the coming of Christ Jesus, namely perfection.(The salvation being referred to in verse 12 ) This is not just an appearance of blamelessness and purity but a real conformity to Christ. We know that this is the case because the phrases "at the coming of Christ" and "on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ" are associated with the transformation of our lowly bodies, resurrection from the dead, the coming of the perfect, presenting of the Church without blemish and glorification. These are still yet to come.( Philippians 1:9-11 , 2:14-17 , 3:20-21 , 1 Corinthians 1:8 , Ephesians 5:24-30 , Colossians 1:22 , 1 Thessalonians 5:23 ) The meaning of "all things", at least in the immediate context, is referring to the commands he gave earlier; look to the interest of others, count others as more significant than yourselves, with humility obey even to the point of death as demonstrated by Christ(verse 3-8 ). We are motivated to do all of these because of a promised future reward( verse 9-11 ) and present empowering( verse 12-13 ). These others oriented and self denying attitude is a means to a grumble free life. We will not grumble and argue against God and others if we are not looking to our own interest but to the interest of others. We murmur because we think that we are more significant than others and so demand better treatment.(Philippians 4:10-13 , 17 , Matthew 5:11-16 , Matthew 5:43-48 ) Now how does "not grumbling" would result to blamelessness? If you can control your tongue and not stumble from it, then you can control and bridle your whole body and not stumble from it(James 3:1-2). It means you're already perfect. Sin of grumbling is the most hard to overcome, because it flows from the dissatisfaction of the heart. Scripture says "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks". If we treasure in our hearts earthly things that will never give us lasting satisfaction, our hearts will just abound with complaints hence grumble against God. Therefore if we don't grumble anymore, that only means we're perfectly satisfied in God. Do we really need to strive to attain perfection? Am I being a legalist if I pursue that? Yes and No. Yes, we need to strive because Paul did and we are to imitate him as he imitate Christ. No, we are not being legalist nor perfectionist. Paul strived to make it his own because he already belongs to Christ(Philippians 3:7-21) Therefore the way to work out is by doing all things without grumbling until the completion of our salvation, namely the attainment of blamelessness at the coming of Christ. And the grounds for this command is that God is working in us both the willingness and ability to look for the interest of others which is a means to a murmur free life.

notes

Main point summary

Work out your salvation by doing all things without grumbling and arguing so that you may attain blamelessness until your final salvation

Arc

Philippians 2:12-15

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mine

Ὥστε, ἀγαπητοί μου, καθὼς πάντοτε ὑπηκούσατε,

So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed,

μὴ ὡς ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ μου μόνον

not only in my presence

ἀλλὰ νῦν πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐν τῇ ἀπουσίᾳ μου,

but even more in my absence,

negativepositive

temporal

μετὰ φόβου καὶ τρόμου τὴν ἑαυτῶν σωτηρίαν κατεργάζεσθε•

continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence, 15

comparison

θεὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ ἐνεργῶν ἐν ὑμῖν καὶ τὸ θέλειν καὶ τὸ ἐνεργεῖν ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐδοκίας.

for the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort - for the sake of his good pleasure - is God.

ground

Πάντα ποιεῖτε χωρὶς γογγυσμῶν καὶ διαλογισμῶν,

Do everything without grumbling or arguing,

ἵνα γένησθε ἄμεμπτοι καὶ ἀκέραιοι, τέκνα θεοῦ ἄμωμα μέσον γενεᾶς σκολιᾶς καὶ διεστραμμένης, ἐν οἷς φαίνεσθε ὡς φωστῆρες ἐν κόσμῳ,

so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish though you live in a crooked and perverse society, in which you shine as lights in the world 16

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Diagram 2:12-13

scripturetext

Philippians 2:12-13

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subjectverb

(X)

solid

drop

equal

revrocket

line

pred

κατεργάζεσθε

prepphrase

pstack

cword

μετὰ

directobject

rocketship

φόβου

τρόμου

vertical

καὶ

τὴν

σωτηρίαν

ἑαυτῶν

text

γάρ

free

linemid

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ἐστιν

predicate

θεὸς

shelf

ὁ

ἐνεργῶν

infinitive

τὸ

θέλειν

τὸ

ἐνεργεῖν

καὶ

ἐν

ὑμῖν

ὑπὲρ

τῆς

εὐδοκίας

(You)

continue

bringing

about

salvation

your

with

awe

reverence

and

for

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the

one

forth

desire

effort

both

you

his

good

pleasure

God

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Diagram 2:14-16

Philippians 2:14-16

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(X)

ποιεῖτε

Πάντα

χωρὶς

γογγυσμῶν

διαλογισμῶν

καὶ

obtuse

(X)

γένησθε

τέκνα

ἄμεμπτοι

ἀκέραιοι

καὶ

θεοῦ

ἄμωμα

μέσον

γενεᾶς

σκολιᾶς

διεστραμμένης

καὶ

ἵνα

(X)

φαίνεσθε

φωστῆρες

ὡς

ἐν

κόσμῳ

ἐν

οἷς

participle

ἐπέχοντες

λόγον

ζωῆς

εἰς

καύχημα

ἐμοὶ

εἰς

ἡμέραν

Χριστοῦ

(X)

ἔδραμον

ἐκοπίασα

εἰς

κενὸν

οὐκ

εἰς

κενὸν

οὐδὲ

ὅτι

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vsnum

Philippians 2:14

Philippians 2:15

Philippians 2:16

Reason to boast or grounds to glory

By this, being blameless and pure

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