Humility: A Model Worth Emulating (Part 1)

In Philippians 2, there is an overarching theme of unity the church with the more specific application of obedience that points toward our need for humility. But humility is a slippery thing. When you say you have it, you do not.

In this article, I want to turn our attention to our need to follow the model the Lord Jesus Christ laid out. We need to be humble, and this is shown when we humble ourselves in obedience before the Lord Jesus. Concerning this and the danger of false humility, Charles Spurgeon has written:

I have known persons try to humble themselves by will-worship. I have stood in the cell of a monk, when he has been out of it, and I have seen the whip with which he flagellated himself every night before he went to bed. I thought that it was quite possible that the man deserved all he suffered, and so I shed no tears over it. That was his way of humbling himself, by administering a certain number of lashes. I have known persons [who] practice voluntary humility. They have talked in very humble language, and have decried themselves in words, though they have been as proud as Lucifer all the while. To obey is better than to wear a special dress, or to clip your words in some peculiar form of supposed humility. Obedience is the best humility, laying yourself at the feet of Jesus, and making your will active only when you know what it is God’s will for you to do. This is to be truly humble.¹

Philippians 2:12 states, “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;” (LSB). “So then” (Ὥστε) tells the reader that all that follows is dependent upon what has already been written. The question is, how far back must we go? I believe we should go back as far as Philippians 1:27, but the reference to obedience is closely related to the example of Christ’s obedience in 2:8, “to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Paul is writing to the church with individuals secondarily in mind. What was his theme from Philippians 1:27 to this point in the epistle? It has been the unity of believers. Connected to this unity is how Christians show humility toward one another. One cannot have unity where humility is lacking.

Paul called these Christians “my beloved,” a reference not only to his love for the church but, more importantly, to God’s love for them. Paul’s care and concern for the church’s unity, humility, and obedience are connected to the love of God for his people.

That love is most clearly demonstrated in the incarnation of Christ and his crucifixion for the sins of men (Php 2:5-8). Jesus refused to hang on to his divine prerogatives so that he might take on the role of the suffering servant. His obedience was humbling and even humiliating at times. It drove him to the cross and the gruesome death that awaited Him there as He took upon Himself the weight of sin and death. That, my friends, shows that the child of God is genuinely “beloved!”

Paul goes on to write that the Philippian believers obeyed the instructions he had given them. However, their loyalty was not merely to Paul but to the Lord, who had died for them. In reminding them of Christ’s love and obedience to the point of death on the cross, Paul showed them that obedience is not merely a matter of law-keeping. Instead, the Apostle helps them to see that obedience also has a relational aspect—you know that Christ loves you, and you love Christ, so that love should compel you to obey Him and serve Him. An enslaved person obeys, yes. But a beloved child also obeys his father. Slavish obedience is still obedience, but the obedience of a son is far superior!

That is why Paul refers to their need to obey, “not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence.” Remember, we are not simply talking about obedience in generic abstract terms. In this context, Paul is talking about their relationships with one another in the church. Paul is saying that the Philippians did a great job getting along in humility and service when Paul was around with them, but in his absence, they needed to excel.

This concept is critically important, or we will misunderstand the phrase, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Paul is not saying that justification—the right standing that we have before God—is accomplished by human effort because the Bible teaches elsewhere (including in the writings of Paul himself) that this is untrue.

So, what was the Apostle Paul saying to the Philippian believers? He was telling them that based upon the finished work of Christ upon the cross, they needed to continue in that obedience for which he had set the example.

The verb “work out” (κατεργάζεσθε) means “to cause a state or condition, bring about, produce, or create.”² It is an imperative, a command. On the heels of Christ’s example comes this command to bring about the salvation Christ won for them on the cross. This command doesn’t imply synergism, the wrong belief that we cooperate with God in our justification. We contribute nothing to our salvation other than the sin that needs to be atoned for. Those Paul is writing to are already believers (Php 1:1). Paul means something different than justification.

“Work out your salvation” refers to the need for these Spirit-indwelt believers to take seriously the commands to humbly submit to one another and to be in unity together. Paul knew that this wasn’t easy. He knew that sinful human nature wanted to do its own thing, even in the church. The Philippians would need to strive to “work out” or bear the fruit that accompanies salvation. We often call this the doctrine of sanctification.

So, why the “fear and trembling?”

Notes