Section 2:12–18
Believers should obey God so that they show other people how God wants people to behave
Paul reminded the Philippian believers that when they obeyed God as Jesus did (2:6–8), God would help them to give the gospel to those in spiritual darkness. As long as they were faithful, Paul knew that his work and even his suffering would not be in vain.
Paragraph 2:12–13
The Philippian believers should follow the example of Christ by continuing to obey God and by acting as people whom God has saved. God would give them the power to do this.
In these verses Paul taught about what God does and what Christians do in relation to being saved and doing what is pleasing to him.
The wording in 2:12–13 in the Display is based partly on the SSA.
2:12a
Therefore: This connecting word seems to refer back to Christ’s example of obeying God and God exalting Christ (2:6–11). So it means: “In view of Christ obeying God and God exalting Christ, you also work out….”
my beloved: The Greek literally means “my beloved ⌊ones⌋.” This phrase shows Paul’s affection for the Philippians. There are three ways that Paul addressed the Philippian believers. In the Berean Standard Bible they are translated as “saints” (1:1), “brothers” (1:12, 3:1, 3:13, 3:17, 4:1, 4:8), and “my beloved,” and “whom I love” (2:12, 4:1). In some languages the translations of beloved and “brothers” are almost the same. You could translate the Greek phrase here as:
my dear friends
-or-
my dear fellow believers
-or-
brothers ⌊and sisters⌋ whom I love
In some languages a term of address such as this must come at the beginning of the sentence.
obeyed: It is not clear what the implied object of the verb obeyed is. There are three possible interpretations as to whom the Philippians had always obeyed: (1) God. This would mean that Paul was saying “you have always obeyed God”. (New Century Version)
(2) Paul. This would be translated as “you have always obeyed me” or “…my instructions”. (Good News Translation, New Revised Standard Version, New Living Translation (2004))
(3) The gospel. This could be translated as “you have always obeyed the good news.”
Paul may have meant any (or all) of these. If your language requires an object to the verb, you will need to choose here. In this case it is recommended that you choose “God” as the object.
2:12b
not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence: In the Greek it is not clear how these two phrases connect to the rest of the verse. There are three possibilities:
(1) They relate only to the verb “work out” (2:12c). One way to translate this would be:
Therefore, my dear friends, since you have always obeyed ⌊God⌋, therefore continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. ⌊Do this working out⌋ not only when I am with you, but much more now that I am not with you. (Revised Standard Version)
(2) They relate only to the verb “obeyed” (2:12a). One way to translate this would be:
“So then, dear friends, since you always obeyed ⌊God⌋ when I was with you, it is even more important that you continue to obey now, while I am not with you. Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. (Good News Translation, New International Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version)
(3) The first phrase relates to “obeyed” and the second to “work out.” One way to translate this would be, as Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English:
“So then, my dear friends, since you always obeyed ⌊God⌋ while I was with you, now in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English) (New Living Translation (2004), Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
Interpretation (1) has stronger support from the commentaries and seems to be preferable in this context. It is therefore recommended that you follow it.
2:12c
continue to work out your salvation: There are two interpretations of this phrase:
(1) Each believer had an individual responsibility to work out the salvation that he had already received.
(2) The believers were responsible to work out their salvation as a community.
Interpretation (1) has stronger support. This does not mean that the Philippians should save themselves. They should live in a way that showed to others that God had already saved them.
Be sure you make the verb you use here a command and make it clear that it is the main verb in this verse. This is important because 2:13 relates back to this command.
your salvation: Three passages in Philippians (1:6; 2:12; 3:7–14) show how Paul understood the way God saves people and what their responsibility is. In this verse, salvation includes the whole process of salvation. It starts with God bringing people to repent and believe, continues with him making them holy, and will conclude when he brings them to heaven.
It may be possible to translate this whole phrase as “Work hard so your salvation will be complete.” But in some languages it may be necessary to translate salvation as a verb. The second Meaning Line in the Display shows a way to do this.
with fear and trembling: This phrase is not talking about two separate things. The trembling is a sign of the fear. Using trembling as a verb, the phrase could be translated as “trembling with/from fear.” This means that all believers should be afraid of sinning. They should fear that they might disobey God and fail him. This phrase also suggests that they should revere God and highly respect him.
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