Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Philippians 2:13
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of [his] good pleasure.
13. For it is God &c.] Here is the reason for the “fear and trembling.” The process of “working out” is one which touches at every point the internal presence of Him before whom “the stars are not pure” (Job 25:5). Meanwhile the same fact, in its aspect of the presence of His power, is the deepest reason for strength and hope in the process; and this thought also, very possibly, is present here.
God which worketh in you ] The Immanence, Indwelling, of God in His saints, in deep and sacred speciality and reality, is a main doctrine of the Gospel. The Paraclete is not only “with” but “in” them (Joh 14:17; and see below, on Php 4:23). By the Paraclete’s work, in giving new birth and new life, “Christ, who is our life” (Col 3:3), “is in them” (cp. esp. Rom 8:9-11, and see 2Co 4:10-11 ; 2Co 13:5; Col 1:27); and “in Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead” (Col 2:9). See further on this all-important subject Eph 3:17. In the light of a passage like this we arrive at the animating truth that the “grace” which is present in the Christian is not only a power, or influence, emitted as it were from above; it is the living and eternal God Himself, present and operating at “the first springs of thought and will.”
“Worketh”: the Greek word has a certain intensity about it, “worketh effectually.”
to will ] I.e. His working produces these effects, not merely tends towards them. Effecteth in you your willing would be a fair rendering. Here, though in passing, one of the deepest mysteries of grace is touched upon. On the one hand is the will of the Christian, real, personal, and in full exercise; appealed to powerfully as such in this very passage. On the other hand, beneath it, as cause beneath result, if the will is to work in God’s way, is seen God working, God “effecting.” A true theology will recognize with equal reverence and entireness of conviction both these great parallels of truth. It will realize human responsibility with “fear and trembling”; it will adore the depths of grace with deep submission, and attribute every link in the chain of actual salvation to God alone ultimately [21] .
[21] On the philosophy of the subject see some excellent suggestions in M’Cosh’s Intuitions of the Mind, Bk. iv. ch. iii.
and to do ] Or, as before, and your doing, or better, your working; the verb is the same as that just above. The “will” is such as to express itself in “effectual work.”
of his good pleasure ] Better, with R.V., for His good pleasure; for its sake, to carry it out. The saint, new created, enabled by grace to will and do, is all the while the implement of the purposes of God, and used for them. Cp. Eph 2:10 for a close and suggestive parallel in respect of this last point.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For it is God that worketh in you – This is given as a reason for making an effort to be saved, or for working out our salvation. It is often thought to be the very reverse, and people often feel that if God works in us to will and to do, there can be no need of our making an effort, and that there would be no use in it. If God does all the work, say they, why should we not patiently sit still, and wait until He puts forth His power and accomplishes in us what He wills? It is of importance, therefore, to understand what this declaration of the apostle means, in order to see whether this objection is valid, or whether the fact that God works in us is to be regarded as a reason why we should make no effort. The word rendered worketh – energon – working – is from a verb meaning to work, to be active to produce effect – and is that from which we have derived the word energetic. The meaning is, that God produces a certain effect in us; he exerts such an influence over us as to lead to a certain result in our minds – to wit, to will and to do. Nothing is said of the mode in which this is done, and probably this cannot be understood by us here; compare Joh 3:8. In regard to the divine agency here referred to, however, certain things, though of a negative character, are clear:
(1) It is not God who acts for us. He leads us to will and to do. It is not said that he wills and does for us, and it cannot be. It is man that wills and does – though God so influences him that he does it.
(2) He does not compel or force us against our will. He leads us to will as well as to do. The will cannot be forced; and the meaning here must be that God exerts such an influence as to make us willing to obey Him; compare Psa 110:3.
(3) It is not a physical force, but it must be a moral influence. A physical power cannot act on the will. You may chain a man, incarcerate him in the deepest dungeon, starve him, scourge him, apply red-hot pincers to his flesh, or place on him the thumb-screw, but the will is still free. You cannot bend that or control it, or make him believe otherwise than as he chooses to believe. The declaration here, therefore, cannot mean that God compels us, or that we are anything else but free agents still, though He works in us to will and to do. It must mean merely that he exerts such an influence as to secure this result.
To will and to do of his good pleasure – Not to will and to do everything, but His good pleasure. The extent of the divine agency here referred to, is limited to that, and no man should adduce this passage to prove that God works in him to lead him to commit sin. This passage teaches no such doctrine. It refers here to Christians, and means that he works in their hearts that which is agreeable to him, or leads them to will and to do that which is in accordance with his own will. The word rendered good pleasure – eudokia – means delight, good-will, favor; then good pleasure, purpose, will; see Eph 1:5; 2Th 1:11. Here it means that which would be agreeable to him; and the idea is, that he exerts such an influence as to lead people to will and to do that which is in accordance with his will. Paul regarded this fact as a reason why we should work out our salvation with fear and trembling. It is with that view that he urges it, and not with any idea that it will embarrass our efforts, or be a hindrance to us in seeking salvation. The question then is, how this fact can be a motive to us to make an effort? In regard to this we may observe:
(1) That the work of our salvation is such that we need help, and such help as God only can impart. We need it to enable us to overcome our sins; to give us such a view of them as to produce true penitence; to break away from our evil companions; to give up our plans of evil, and to resolve to lead different lives. We need help that our minds may be enlightened; that we may be led in the way of truth; that we may be saved from the danger of error, and that we may not be suffered to fall back into the ways of transgression. Such help we should welcome from any quarter; and any assistance furnished on these points will not interfere with our freedom.
(2) The influence which God exerts on the mind is in the way of help or aid. What He does will not embarrass or hinder us. It will prevent no effort which we make to be saved; it will throw no hindrance or obstacle in the way. When we speak of Gods working in us to will and to do, people often seem to suppose that His agency will hinder us, or throw some obstacle in our way, or exert some evil influence on our minds, or make it more difficult for us to work out our salvation than it would be without His agency. But this cannot be. We may be sure that all the influence which God exerts over our minds, will be to aid us in the work of salvation, not to embarrass us; will be to enable us to overcome our spiritual enemies and our sins, and not to put additional weapons into their hands or to confer on them new power. Why should people ever dread the influence of God on their hearts, as if he would hinder their efforts for their own good?
(3) The fact that God works is an encouragement for us to work. When a man is about to set out a peach or an apple tree, it is an encouragement for him to reflect that the agency of God is around him, and that he can cause the tree to produce blossoms, and leaves, and fruit. When he is about to plow and sow his farm, it is an encouragement, not a hindrance, to reflect that God works, and that he can quicken the grain that is sown, and produce an abundant harvest. What encouragement of a higher order can man ask? And what farmer is afraid of the agency of God in the case, or supposes that the fact that God exerts an agency is a reason why he should not plow and plant his field, or set out his orchard? Poor encouragement would a man have in these things if God did not exert any agency in the world, and could not be expected to make the tree grow or to cause the grain to spring up; and equally poor would be all the encouragement in religion without his aid.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 13. For it is God which worketh in you] Every holy purpose, pious resolution, good word, and good work, must come from him; ye must be workers together with him, that ye receive not his grace in vain; because he worketh in you, therefore work with him, and work out your own salvation.
To will and to do] . The power to will and the power to act must necessarily come from God, who is the author both of the soul and body, and of all their powers and energies, but the act of volition and the act of working come from the man. God gives power to will, man wills through that power; God gives power to act, and man acts through that power. Without the power to will, man can will nothing; without the power to work, man can do nothing. God neither wills for man, nor works in man’s stead, but he furnishes him with power to do both; he is therefore accountable to God for these powers.
Because God works in them the power to will and the power to do, therefore the apostle exhorts them to work out their own salvation; most manifestly showing that the use of the powers of volition and action belongs to themselves. They cannot do God’s work, they cannot produce in themselves a power to will and to do; and God will not do their work, he will not work out their salvation with fear and trembling.
Though men have grievously puzzled themselves with questions relative to the will and power of the human being; yet no case can be plainer than that which the apostle lays down here: the power to will and do comes from GOD; the use of that power belongs to man. He that has not got this power can neither will nor work; he that has this power can do both. But it does not necessarily follow that he who has these powers will use them; the possession of the powers does not necessarily imply the use of those powers, because a man might have them, and not use or abuse them; therefore the apostle exhorts: Work out your own salvation.
This is a general exhortation; it may be applied to all men, for to all it is applicable, there not being a rational being on the face of the earth, who has not from God both power to will and act in the things which concern his salvation. Hence the accountableness of man.
Of his good pleasure.] Every good is freely given of God; no man deserves any thing from him; and as it pleaseth him, so he deals out to men those measures of mental and corporeal energy which he sees to be necessary; giving to some more, to others less, but to all what is sufficient for their salvation.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
That they might not be negligent in working out their salvation with humility, from any conceit or carnal confidence any might have that they could believe and repent when they pleased, imagining their wills to be as pliable to good as evil; the apostle urgeth the effectual grace of God, as a powerful inducement and encouragement to embrace his exhortation.
For it is God which worketh in you: they should not despond of any attaining salvation, or think they did labour in vain in the diligent use of means, and should altogether fall under the dominion of sin, considering, though they were free agents, yet the efficiency and sufficiency was of God, Rom 6:13,14; 1Co 4:7; 2Co 3:5; who worketh within them powerfully and effectually, carrying on the work through all difficulties and obstacles, with victorious efficacy, till it be wrought, Phi 1:6; Isa 41:4; Heb 13:20,21; God worketh not only by suasion to gain assent, but by a special energy effecting what he would have us to do.
Both to will: and not only in a general way, Act 17:28, but in a special way, making us willing, Psa 110:3, remotely in regard of the principle, nextly in regard of the act: circumcising the heart, Deu 30:6; taking away the heart of stone, and giving a heart of flesh, Eze 11:19; 36:26,27; causing light to shine out of darkness, 2Co 4:6; and so renewing the will, to choose that which is savingly good, the natural bent of which, before the influence of this insuperable grace, stands another way, Joh 8:44, viz. to will and do contrary: yet he doth not necessitate by any compulsion, but powerfully, yet sweetly, and suitably to mans free faculty, incline the will to that which is good, Joh 6:37,44, i.e. to a certain effect. For the will influenced to will that it doth perform, it undoubtedly wills somewhat that is certain, and so is determined by God.
And to do; to do that which is savingly good. Whereupon being made willing, it hath not only an inclination, and doth not only exert a woulding, but, being moved by Gods insuperable grace, 1Co 3:7, that will is effectual, and is the very deed, where the command of the will is executed to the glory of God, as the author. As in alms, not only doth God incline the will to relieve the poor, but further contributes special gracious aids to perform what was deliberated, which evinceth that it is from another principle than ourselves. It is not, that ye may be able to will, and may be able to do; but he worketh
both to will and to do: which connotes the very act itself; that ye will to believe, obey, pray, persevere, and that ye do believe, obey, pray, persevere: of unwilling, he makes willing; and further, to will and to do. It is true, to will, as it is an act of the will, is ours by creation; and to will well is so far ours, we being made effectually willing by Gods grace: yet not ours, as though of ourselves we begin to will, or go on, but it is of him who worketh in us. Not that we cannot will well, but that of ourselves we cannot will well. The precept therefore requiring our obedience does not show what we can or will of ourselves, but what we ought to will and to do by Gods special help. But though God work in us obedience, yet we obey, we ourselves act, being acted of God.
Of his good pleasure; not for any previous disposition in any of us, but of, or according to, his own good pleasure, Luk 10:21; Eph 1:5,9,11; 2:8; 2Th 1:11, with 2Ti 1:9. In working out our own salvation, the very beginning in the will, as well as the perfection, is ascribed to the efficacy of God; his good pleasure is the procreating and helping cause of this work on the will, and not the wills good pleasure.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. Forencouragement to work:”For it is God who worketh in you,” always present withyou, though I be absent. It is not said, “Work out your ownsalvation, though it is God,” c., but, “becauseit is God who,” &c. The will, and the power towork, being first instalments of His grace, encourage us to makefull proof of, and carry out to the end, the “salvation”which He has first “worked,” and is still “working in“us, enabling us to “work it out.” “Our willdoes nothing thereunto without grace but grace is inactive withoutour will” [ST.BERNARD]. Man is, indifferent senses, entirely active, and entirely passive: Godproducing all, and we acting all. What He produced is our ownacts. It is not that God does some, and we the rest. God does all,and we do all. God is the only proper author, we the only properactors. Thus the same things in Scripture are represented as fromGod, and from us. God makes a new heart, and we are commanded to makeus a new heart; not merely because we must use the means in order tothe effect, but the effect itself is our act and our duty (Eze 11:19;Eze 18:31; Eze 36:26)[EDWARDS].
workethrather asGreek, “worketh effectually.” We cannot ofourselves embrace the Gospel of grace: “the will” (Psa 110:3;2Co 3:5) comes solely of God’sgift to whom He will (Joh 6:44;Joh 6:65); so also the power “todo” (rather, “to work effectually,” as theGreek is the same as that for “worketh in”), thatis, effectual perseverance to the end, is wholly of God’s gift(Phi 1:6; Heb 13:21).
of his good pleasureratheras Greek, “FORHis good pleasure”; in order to carry out His sovereigngracious purpose towards you (Eph 1:5;Eph 1:9).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For it is God which worketh in you,…. Which is both an encouragement to persons conscious of their own weakness to work, as before exhorted to; see Hag 2:4; and a reason and argument for humility and meekness, and against pride and vain glory, since all we have, and do, is from God; and also points out the spring, principle, and foundation of all good works; namely, the grace of God wrought in the heart, which is an internal work, and purely the work of God: by this men become the workmanship of God, created unto good works, Eph 2:10, and are new men, and fitted for the performance of acts of righteousness, and true holiness; and this grace, which God works in them, is wrought in a powerful and efficacious manner, so as not to be frustrated and made void. The word here used signifies an inward, powerful, and efficacious operation; and the “king’s manuscript”, mentioned by Grotius and Hammond, adds another word to it, which makes the sense still stronger, reading it thus, “which worketh in you”, , “by power”; not by moral persuasion, but by his own power, the power of his efficacious grace. The Alexandrian copy reads, , “powers”, or “mighty works”: God works in his people
both to will and to do of [his] good pleasure; God works in converted men a will to that which is spiritually good; which is to be understood, not of the formation of the natural faculty of the will; or of the preservation of it, and its natural liberty; or of the general motion of it to natural objects; nor of his influence on it in a providential way; but of the making of it good, and causing a willingness in it to that which is spiritually good. Men have no will naturally to come to Christ, or to have him to reign over them; they have no desire, nor hungerings and thirstings after his righteousness and salvation; wherever there are any such inclinations and desires, they are wrought in men by God; who works upon the stubborn and inflexible will, and, without any force to it, makes the soul willing to be saved by Christ, and submit to his righteousness, and do his will; he sweetly and powerfully draws it with the cords of love to himself, and to his Son, and so influences it by his grace and spirit, and which he continues, that it freely wills everything spiritually good, and for the glory of God: and he works in them also to “do”; for there is sometimes in believers a will, when there wants a power of doing. God therefore both implants in them principles of action to work from, as faith and love, and a regard for his glory, and gives them grace and strength to work with, without which they can do nothing, but having these, can do all things: and all this is “of [his] good pleasure”; the word “his” not being in the original text, some have taken the liberty to ascribe this to the will of man; and so the Syriac version renders it, “both to will and to do that”, , “which ye will”, or according to your good will; but such a sense is both bad and senseless; for if they have a good will of themselves, what occasion is there for God to work one in them? no; these internal operations of divine power and grace are not owing to the will of men, nor to any merits of theirs, or are what God is obliged to do, but what flow from his sovereign will and pleasure; who works when, where, and as he pleases, and that for his own glory; and who continues to do so in the hearts of his people; otherwise, notwithstanding the work of grace in them, they would find very little inclination to, and few and faint desires after spiritual things; and less strength to do what is spiritually good; but God of his good pleasure goes on working what is well pleasing in his sight.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Which worketh in you ( ). Articular present active participle of from (, ) one at work, common verb from Aristotle on, to be at work, to energize. God is the Energy and the Energizer of the universe. Modern scientists, like Eddington, Jeans, and Whitney, are not afraid to agree with Paul and to put God back of all activity in nature.
Both to will and to work ( ). “Both the willing and the working (the energizing).” God does it all, then. Yes, but he puts us to work also and our part is essential, as he has shown in verse 12, though secondary to that of God.
For his good-pleasure ( ). So Whitney puts “the will of God” behind gravitation and all the laws of nature.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
For it is God which worketh in you. Completing and guarding the previous statement. In you, not among you. Worketh [] . See on Mr 6:14; Jas 5:16. The verb means effectual working. In the active voice, to be at work. In the middle voice, as here (used only by James and Paul, and only of things), to display one’s activity; show one’s self – operative. Compare Eph 3:20.
To will and to do [ ] . Lit., the willing and the doing. Both are from God, and are of one piece, so that he who wills inevitably does. The willing which is wrought by God, by its own nature and pressure, works out into action. “We will, but God works the will in us. We work, therefore, but God works the working in us” (Augustine). For to do, Rev. substitutes to work, thus preserving the harmony in the Greek between “God which worketh” and “to work.”
Of His good pleasure [ ] . Rev., better, for His, etc. Lit., for the sake of; in order to subserve. See 1Ti 2:4.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “For it is God which worketh in you” (theou gar estin ho energon en humin) “For God is the one working (operating) in you,” Heb 13:21. God works in the believer preserving them in salvation and leading them to obedient service, Php_1:6; Rom 8:14.
2) “Both to will and to do his good pleasure” (kai to thelein kai to energein huper tes eudokias) ” h to will and to operate (do or work) on behalf of his good will,” Joh 1:13; Joh 7:17. God’s Holy Spirit initiates every impulse in men that enables them to will, to choose and to do the will of God, Rom 7:18; Pro 16:1; Heb 13:20-21.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
13 It is God that worketh. This is the true engine for bringing down all haughtiness — this the sword for putting an end to all pride, when we are taught that we are utterly nothing, and can do nothing, except through the grace of God alone. I mean supernatural grace, which comes forth from the spirit of regeneration. For, considered as men, we already are, and live and move in God. (Act 17:28.) But Paul reasons here as to a kind of movement different from that universal one. Let us now observe how much he ascribes to God, and how much he leaves to us.
There are, in any action, two principal departments — the inclination, and the power to carry it into effect. Both of these he ascribes wholly to God; what more remains to us as a ground of glorying? Nor is there any reason to doubt that this division has the same force as if Paul had expressed the whole in a single word; for the inclination is the groundwork; the accomplishment of it is the summit of the building brought to a completion. He has also expressed much more than if he had said that God is the Author of the beginning and of the end. For in that case sophists would have alleged, by way of cavil, that something between the two was left to men. But as it is, what will they find that is in any degree peculiar to us? They toil hard in their schools to reconcile with the grace of God free-will — of such a nature, I mean, as they conceive of — which might be capable of turning itself by its own movement, and might have a peculiar and separate power, by which it might co-operate with the grace of God. I do not dispute as to the name, but as to the thing itself. In order, therefore, that free-will may harmonize with grace, they divide in such a manner, that God restores in us a free choice, that we may have it in our power to will aright. Thus they acknowledge to have received from God the power of willing aright, but assign to man a good inclination. Paul, however, declares this to be a work of God, without any reservation. For he does not say that our hearts are simply turned or stirred up, or that the infirmity of a good will is helped, but that a good inclination is wholly the work of God. (119)
Now, in the calumny brought forward by them against us — that we make men to be like stones, when we teach that they have nothing good, except from pure grace, they act a shameless part. For we acknowledge that we have from nature an inclination, but as it is depraved through the corruption of sin, it begins to be good only when it has been renewed by God. Nor do we say that a man does anything good without willing it, but that it is only when his inclination is regulated by the Spirit of God. Hence, in so far as concerns this department, we see that the entire praise is ascribed to God, and that what sophists teach us is frivolous — that grace is offered to us, and placed, as it were, in the midst of us, that we may embrace it if we choose; for if God did not work in us efficaciously, he could not be said to produce in us a good inclination. As to the second department, we must entertain the same view. “God,” says he, “is ̔Ο ἐνεργῶν το ἐνεργεῖν he that worketh in us to do. ” He brings, therefore, to perfection those pious dispositions which he has implanted in us, that they may not be unproductive, as he promises by Ezekiel, —
“
I will cause them to walk in my commandments.” (Eze 11:20.)
From this we infer that perseverance, also, is his free gift.
According to his good pleasure. Some explain this to mean — the good intention of the mind. (120) I, on the other hand, take it rather as referring to God, and understand by it his benevolent disposition, which they commonly call beneplacitum , ( good pleasure.) For the Greek word εὐδοκία is very frequently employed in this sense; and the context requires it. For Paul has it in view to ascribe everything to God, and to take everything from us. Accordingly, not satisfied with having assigned to God the production both of willing and of doing aright, he ascribes both to his unmerited mercy. By this means he shuts out the contrivance of the sophists as to subsequent grace, which they imagine to be the reward of merit. Hence he teaches, that the whole course of our life, if we live aright, is regulated by God, and that, too, from his unmerited goodness.
With fear and trembling. From this Paul deduces an exhortation — that they must with fear work out their own salvation. He conjoins, as he is accustomed, fear and trembling, for the sake of greater intensity, to denote — serious and anxious fear. He, accordingly, represses drowsiness as well as confidence. By the term work he reproves our indolence, which is always ingenious in seeking advantages. (121) Now it seems as if it had in the grace of God a sweet occasion of repose; for if He worketh in us, why should we not indulge ourselves at our ease? The Holy Spirit, however, calls us to consider, that he wishes to work upon living organs, but he immediately represses arrogance by recommending fear and trembling
The inference, also, is to be carefully observed: “You have,” says he, “all things from God; therefore be solicitous and humble.” For there is nothing that ought to train us more to modesty and fear, than our being taught, that it is by the grace of God alone that we stand, and will instantly fall down, if he even in the slightest degree withdraw his hand. Confidence in ourselves produces carelessness and arrogance. We know from experience, that all who confide in their own strength, grow insolent through presumption, and at the same time, devoid of care, resign themselves to sleep. The remedy for both evils is, when, distrusting ourselves, we depend entirely on God alone. And assuredly, that man has made decided progress in the knowledge, both of the grace of God, and of his own weakness, who, aroused from carelessness, diligently seeks (122) God’s help; while those that are puffed up with confidence in their own strength, must necessarily be at the same time in a state of intoxicated security. Hence it is a shameless calumny that Papists bring against us, — that in extolling the grace of God, and putting down free-will, we make men indolent, shake off the fear of God, and destroy all feeling of concern. It is obvious, however, to every reader, that Paul finds matter of exhortation here — not in the doctrine of Papists, but in what is held by us. “God,” says he, “ works all things in us; therefore submit to him with fear. ” I do not, indeed, deny that there are many who, on being told that there is in us nothing that is good, indulge themselves the more freely in their vices; but I deny that this is the fault of the doctrine, which, on the contrary, when received as it ought to be, produces in our hearts a feeling of concern.
Papists, however, pervert this passage so as to shake the assurance of faith, for the man that trembles (123) is in uncertainty. They, accordingly, understand Paul’s words as if they meant that we ought, during our whole life, to waver as to assurance of salvation. If, however, we would not have Paul contradict himself, he does not by any means exhort us to hesitation, inasmuch as he everywhere recommends confidence and ( πληροφορίαν) full assurance. The solution, however, is easy, if any one is desirous of attaining the true meaning without any spirit of contention. There are two kinds of fear; the one produces anxiety along with humility; the other hesitation. The former is opposed to fleshly confidence and carelessness, equally as to arrogance; the latter, to assurance of faith. Farther, we must take notice, that, as believers repose with assurance upon the grace of God, so, when they direct their views to their own frailty, they do not by any means resign themselves carelessly to sleep, but are by fear of dangers stirred up to prayer. Yet, so far is this fear from disturbing tranquillity of conscience, and shaking confidence, that it rather confirms it. For distrust of ourselves leads us to lean more confidently upon the mercy of God. And this is what Paul’s words import, for he requires nothing from the Philippians, but that they submit themselves to God with true self-renunciation.
Work out your own salvation. As Pelagians of old, so Papists at this day make a proud boast of this passage, with the view of extolling man’s excellence. Nay more, when the preceding statement is mentioned to them by way of objection, It is God that worketh in us, etc., they immediately by this shield ward it off (so to speak) — Work out your own salvation. Inasmuch, then, as the work is ascribed to God and man in common, they assign the half to each. In short, from the word work they derive free-will; from the term salvation they derive the merit of eternal life. I answer, that salvation is taken to mean the entire course of our calling, and that this term includes all things, by which God accomplishes that perfection, to which he has predestinated us by his gracious choice. This no one will deny, that is not obstinate and impudent. We are said to perfect it, when, under the regulation of the Spirit, we aspire after a life of blessedness. It is God that calls us, and offers to us salvation; it is our part to embrace by faith what he gives, and by obedience act suitably to his calling; but we have neither from ourselves. Hence we act only when he has prepared us for acting.
The word which he employs properly signifies — to continue until the end; but we must keep in mind what I have said, that Paul does not reason here as to how far our ability extends, but simply teaches that God acts in us in such a manner, that he, at the same time, does not allow us to be inactive, (124) but exercises us diligently, after having stirred us up by a secret influence. (125)
(119) See Institutes, vol. 1, pp. 350, 353.
(120) “ Aucuns exposent le mot Grec, bon propos et bon cœur, le rapportans aux hommes;” — “Some explain the Greek word as meaning, a good purpose and a good heart, making it refer to men.”
(121) “ Ingenieuse a cercher ses auantages, et quelques vaines excuses;” — “Ingenious in seeking its advantages, and some vain pretexts.”
(122) “ Cerche songneusement et implore;” — “Diligently seeks and implores.”
(123) “ Car celuy qui tremble, disent-ils;” — “For he that trembles, say they.”
(124) “ Deuenir paresseux et oisifs;” — “To become idle and indolent.”
(125) “ Mais apres nous auoir poussez et incitez par vne inspiration secrete et cachee, nous employe et exerce songneusement;” — “But, after having stimulated and incited us by a secret and hidden inspiration, he diligently employs and exercises us.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(13) For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do.In this famous paradox St. Paul calls on men to work by their own will, just because only God can grant them power both to will and to do. The origination of all in God, and the free action (which is in some sense origination) of man, are both truths recognised by our deepest consciousness, but to our logic irreconcilable. In one passage only (Rom. 9:14-24) does St. Paul touch, and that slightly and suggestively, on their reconcilement: generally Holy Scripturein this confirming human reasonbrings out each vividly and profoundly in turn, and leaves the problem of their reconcilement untouched. Here the paradoxical form of the sentence forces on the mind the recognition of the co-existence of both. If that recognition be accepted, the force of the reasoning is clear. The only encouragement to work, in a being weak and finite like man, is the conviction that the Almighty power is working in him, both as to will and deed.
The word worketh in you is constantly applied to the divine operation in the soul (see 1Co. 12:6; 1Co. 12:11; Gal. 2:8; Eph. 1:11; Eph. 1:20; Eph. 2:2); rarely, as here (in the word rendered to do) to the action of men. It must necessarily extend to the will as well as the action; otherwise God would not be sovereign in the inner realm of mind (as, indeed, Stoic philosophy denied that He was). We are familiar with the influence of one created will over anotheran influence real, though limited, yet in no sense compulsive. From this experience we may catch a faint glimpse of the inner working of the Spirit of God on the spirit of man. Hence, while we cannot even conceive the existence of freedom under an unbending impersonal law or force, the harmony of our will with a Supreme Personal Will is mysterious, indeed, but not inconceivable.
Of his good pleasure.Literally, on behalf of His good pleasure; that is, in harmony with it. On the double sense of good pleasure see Note on Eph. 1:5. Here, probably, the meaning is His gracious will for our salvation.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13. God worketh in you One of the strongest reasons for our working.
Both to will do Both the willing and working, and the one as truly as the other. The volition and execution of it in action are our own, the working in us, that we may resolve and act, is God’s. Our working does not, on the one hand, proceed from ourselves unassisted and uninfluenced by him; and on the other, his working is not of a nature that precludes the necessity of our working. God, then, does not create in us the volition, or necessitate the acting; for, then, they would be his and not ours, except mechanically and unrewardably, and the exhortation to work out, etc., would be as proper as if a bell were exhorted to ring when it is struck. Underlying the passage is the well-known truth that a gracious ability to repentance and holiness is given to all men through the atonement, and while this is inferable from what is said, it is not here affirmed. The Philippians were using this power and had entered upon the way of salvation. Over and above the power just named, and the added power through their new nature and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, they are receiving special influences inciting them to fresh resolution and action in pushing through the life they have begun. The statement is more than God works. Emphasize God, and the meaning is, it is God, and nobody less; your God and Father, who is quickening your thoughts, moving your hearts, stirring your consciences, and rousing your wills; and since he is so earnest, be you earnest also. Add to this the divine motive, of his good pleasure; on which see notes, Eph 1:9.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘For it is God who works within you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.’
And they are not to think that they are on their own in this. This verse is crucial to the whole injunction (the separation of the verses must not be allowed to disguise that fact). Had Paul stopped short with Php 2:12 we might well have been left in fear and trembling, but he now assures them that the enabling and power for what he has required from them will come from God. It is God Who is working powerfully within them both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Nothing therefore can in the end prevent it. Once again we are reminded that while God is sovereign in His activity we are called on to put every effort into ensuring that it is successful.
‘It is God.’ There is no mention here of the Holy Spirit (although see Php 1:27; Php 2:1). But that does not mean that we are to exclude His working. Indeed in all the Spirit’s activity the Father and Son are ever present. It is the Father and the Son Who indwell us when we become Christians (Joh 14:23) and that in the context of the coming of the Holy Spirit (Joh 14:26). Note the ‘we’ which make the multiple presence quite clear. And when Jesus promised the coming of the Paraklete (Comforter, Strengthener, Helper – Joh 14:16-17), He also promised ‘I will come to you’ (Joh 14:18). When we are strengthened with power by His Spirit in the inner man, it is Christ Who dwells in our hearts by faith (Eph 3:16-17). Thus we are indwelt by the Triune God. And it is as we have within us the mind of Christ, that the experience of Christ in His death and resurrection becomes ours (Php 2:5-11).
‘Who works within you.’ The word used here is regularly used by Paul to signify the effective power and working of God. It is God Who ‘works all things according to the counsel of His own will’ (Eph 1:11), Who is at work within them. It was the effective working of His power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead (Eph 1:20), that also raised ‘us’ up when we were dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians (Php 2:1), and it is the same power which is still available to us through prayer (Eph 1:19; Eph 3:20). Thus it is a working that is both effective and irresistible, and yet to some extent very much requires our response.
‘For His good pleasure.’ Some see this as meaning ‘in fulfilment of His benevolent purpose’. Others see it as indicating bringing about in them what pleases him. Both are, of course, true. For He works all things according to the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11), and it is His will that we should do what pleases Him.
Note the twofold ‘to will and to work’. The inner motivation and the actual outworking will result from this powerful activity of God. He will be the mainspring of their willing and working, and that is why they are to take the greatest care to ensure that they do not hinder the process in any way, either as individuals or as a church. He then goes on the demonstrate how this is to be ‘worked out’.
This contrast of ‘working out’ what God has ‘worked in’ is common in Paul. He knew very well the distinction between Christians being ‘sanctified’ (1Co 1:2) and yet being lacking in holiness (as the Corinthians clearly were), and those who were both sanctified and holy. Thus he regularly urged Christians to ‘become what you are’ (see for example Rom 6:2-6; Rom 8:1-11; Eph 4:20-24; Col 2:20; Col 3:1-4; Col 3:9-10), and it is significant that having told Christians that they had died with Christ (Rom 6:2-7; Gal 2:20; Galatians 5:34), he then called on them to start putting themselves to death (Rom 8:13; Col 3:5). But he was nevertheless confident that God would by His inward working finally ensure that His true people did become holy. For in the end, ‘if you live according to your sinful nature you will die, but if you through the Spirit do put to death the misdeeds of the body you will live’ (Rom 8:12-13). Thus he could say to the weak and failing Corinthians, ‘Who will confirm you to the end that you may be unreproveable in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ’. And he based this on the fact of the faithfulness of the God Who had called them, ‘He is faithful Who promised’ (1Co 1:8-9. For he was confident that ‘He who had begun a good work in them would bring it to completion until the Day of Jesus Christ’ (Php 1:6). In the same way the writer to the Hebrews confirms that ‘whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. — If you be without chastening, of which all are partakers, then are you illegitimate children and not sons.’ (Heb 12:6; Heb 12:8). Indeed Jesus Himself made clear that in the end ‘by their fruits you will know them’, which is the constant message of the New Testament (Mat 12:33-37; Luk 6:43-45; 1Co 6:9-11; Gal 5:20-22; Heb 10:39). The wise man who built his house on the rock heard His words and DID them (Mat 7:24-25). Salvation is invalid that does not result in obedience.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Phi 2:13 . Ground of encouragement to the fulfilment of this precept, in which it is not their own, but God’s power , which works in them, etc. Here is placed first as the subject, not as the predicate (Hofmann): God is the agent. It is, however, unnecessary and arbitrary to assume before (with Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theophylact, Erasmus, and others) an unexpressed thought (“be not terrified at my having said: with fear and trembling ”). Bengel gratuitously supplies with the thought: “ praesens vobis etiam absente me ” (comp. also van Hengel), while others, as Calvin, Beza, Hoelemann, Rilliet, Wiesinger, who found in . . . the antithesis of pride (see on Phi 2:12 ), see in Phi 2:13 the motive to humility; and de Wette is of opinion that what was expressed in Phi 2:12 under the aspect of fear is here expressed under the aspect of confidence . In accordance with the unity of the sense we ought rather to say: that the great moral demand . . . . , containing as it did the utmost incentive to personal activity, needed for the readers the support of a confidence which should be founded not on their own , but on the divine working. According to Ewald, the . is to be made good by pointing to the fact that they work before God , who is even already producing in them the right tendency of will. But the idea of the was so familiar to the apostle, that he would doubtless have here also directly expressed it. Khler (comp. Weiss) imports a hint of the divine punishment , of which, however, nothing is contained in the text. So also Hofmann: with fear in presence of Him who is a devouring fire (Heb 12:28 f.), who will not leave unpunished him who does not subordinate his own will and working to the divine. As if Paul had hinted at such thoughts, and had not, on the contrary, himself excluded them by the which is added! The thought is rather “ dulcissima sententia omnibus piis mentibus,” Form. Conc . p. 659.
Calvin (comp. Calovius) rightly observes on the subject-matter: “intelligo gratiam supernaturalem , quae provenit ex spiritu regenerationis; nam quatenus sumus homines, jam in Deo sumus et vivimus et movemur, verum hic de alio motu disputat Paulus, quam illo universali.” Augustine has justly (in opposition to the Pelagian rationalizing interpretation of a mediate working: “velle operatur suadendo et praemia promittendo ”), in conformity with the words, urged the efficaciter operari , which Origen, de Princ . iii. 1, had obliterated, and the Greeks who followed qualified with synergistic reservations.
] not intra coetum vestrum (Hoelemann), but in animis vestris (1Co 12:6 ; 2Co 4:12 ; Eph 2:2 ; Col 1:29 ; 1Th 2:13 ), in which He produces the self-determination directed to the of their own , and the activity in carrying out this Christian-moral volition. [125] This activity, the , is the inner moral one, which has the as its consequence , and therefore is not to be taken as equivalent to the latter (Vulgate, Luther, and others, including Matthies and Hoelemann). Note, on the contrary, the climactic selection of the two cognate verbs. The regenerate man brings about his own salvation ( ) when he does not resist the divine working ( ) of the willing and the working ( ) in his soul, but yields steady obedience to it in continual conflict with the opposing powers (Eph 6:10 ff.; Gal 5:16 ; 1Th 5:8 , al. ); so that he , not , but (Rom 8:4 ), is consequently the child of God, and as child becomes heir (Rom 8:14 ; Rom 8:17 ; Rom 8:23 ). According, therefore, as the matter is viewed from the standpoint of the human activity, which yields obedience to the divine working of the and , or from that of the divine activity, which works the and , we may say with equal justice, either that God accomplishes the good which He has begun in man, up to the day of Christ; or, that man brings about his own salvation. “ Nos ergo volumus, sed Deus in nobis operatur et velle; nos ergo operamur, sed Deus in nobis operatur et operari,” Augustine. How wholly is it otherwise with the unregenerate in Rom 7 !
The repetition by Paul of the same word, , has its ground in the encouraging design which he has of making God’s agency felt distinctly and emphatically; hence, also, he specifies the two elements of all morality, not merely the , but also its premiss, the , and keeps them apart by using twice: God is the worker in you, as of the willing , so of the working . From His working comes man’s working, just as already his willing. [126]
] for the sake of goodwill , in order to satisfy His own benignant disposition. On the causal , which is not secundum , comp. Rom 15:8 ; Khner, II. 1, p. 421; Winer, p. 359 [E. T. p. 480]; and on , which is not, with Ewald, to be taken in a deterministic sense, comp. Phi 1:15 ; Rom 10:1 . Theodoret aptly says: . . . The explanation: “for the sake of the good pleasure , which He has in such willing and working” (Weiss), would amount to something self-evident. Hofmann erroneously makes . . belong to , and convey the sense, that they are to do everything for the sake of the divine good pleasure , about which they must necessarily be concerned, etc. In opposition to this view, which is connected with the misunderstanding of the previous words, the fact is decisive, that only obtains its reference to God through its belonging to . . .; but if it be joined with what follows, this reference must have been marked , [127] and that, on account of the emphasized position which . . . would have, with emphasis (as possibly by ).
[125] “Velle quidem, quatenus est actus voluntatis, nostrum est ex creatione: bene velle etiam nostrum est, sed quatenus volentes facti per conversionem bene volumus,” Calovius.
[126] This is God’s creative moral action in salvation, Eph 2:10 . Comp. Thomasius, Chr. Pers. u. Werk, I. p. 287. Incorrectly, however, the Reformed theologians add: “quae prohiberi non potest. ”
[127] Hofmann groundlessly compares Luk 2:14 (but see on that passage) and even Sir 15:15 , where Fritzsche, Handb. p. 74 f., gives the right view.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Ver. 13. For it is God which worketh ] Therefore work out, &c. As acti agentes, moti moventes, as the inferior orbs move, as acted by the superior. When God hath turned, and doth touch us, we must move; and while the Spirit imbreathes us, we must turn about like the mill.
To will and to do ] Sub laudibus naturae latent inimici gratiae, saith Augustine; who stood so much for grace, that the schoolmen say he yielded too little to freewill. That we live is the gift of the gods (saith Seneca); that we live well, is of ourselves. A base speech! So Cicero (De Nat. Deor.), Iudicium hoc omnium mortalium est fortunam a Deo petendam, a seipso sumendam sapientiam. For which impious sentence Augustine saith of him, Eum, ut faceret homnes liberos, fecisse sacrileges. (De Civ. Dei, 5.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
13 .] encouragement to fulfil the last exhortation for you are not left to yourselves, but have the almighty Spirit dwelling in you to aid you. “Intelligo,” says Calvin, “gratiam supernaturalem, qu provenit ex Spiritu regenerationis. Nam quatenus sumus homines, jam in Deo sumus, et vivimus, et movemur; verum hic de alio motu disputat, quam illo universali.”
This working must not be explained away with Pelagius (in Mey.), ‘velle operatur suadendo et prmia promittendo :’ it is an efficacious working which is here spoken of: God not only brings about the will, but creates the will we owe both the will to do good, and the power, to His indwelling Spirit.
. not among you , but in you , as in ref. 1 Cor., and 2Co 4:12 ; Eph 2:2 ; Col 1:29 . The and are well explained by Calvin: “Fatemur, nos a natura habere voluntatem: sed quoniam peccati corruptione mala est, tunc bona esse incipit, quum reformata est a Deo. Nec dicimus hominem quicquam boni facere, nisi volentem: sed tunc, quum voluntas regitur a Spiritu Dei. Ergo quod ad hanc partem spectat, videmus Deo integram laudem asseri, ac frivolum esse quod sophist docent, offerri nobis gratiam et quasi in medio poni, ut eam amplectemur si libeat. Nisi enim efficaciter ageret Deus in nobis, non diceretur efficere bonam voluntatem. De secunda parte idem sentiendum. Deus, inquit, est ( ) . Perducit igitur ad finem usque pios affectus, quos nobis inspiravit, ne sint irriti: sicut per Ezechielem (11:20) promittit: Faciam ut in prceptis meis ambulent. Unde colligimus, perseverantiam quoque merum esse ejus donum.”
] for the sake of His good pleasure , i.e. in order to carry out that good counsel of His will which He hath purposed towards you: , . , Thdrt. Conyb. would join . with the following verse, ‘do all things for the sake of good will’ and remarks, ‘It is strange that so clear and simple a construction, involving no alteration in the text, should not have been before suggested.’ But surely St. Paul could not have written thus. The sense of indeed, would be the same as in ch. Phi 1:15 : but that very passage should have prevented this conjecture. It must have been in that case here as there, , or at all events, : the insertion of the article where it is generally omitted from abstract nouns after a preposition, as here, necessarily brings in a reflexive sense, to be referred to the subject of the sentence: and thus we should get a meaning very different from that given by Conyb., viz.: ‘Do all things for the sake of (to carry out) your own good pleasure.’ It has been proposed (I know not by whom, but it was communicated to me by letter: I see it also noticed in Ellic.’s note, and Van Hengel’s refutation of it referred to) to take ( Php 2:12 ) as = , and render “with fear and trembling labour heartily for one another’s salvation;” thus connecting the with Phi 2:4 . The suggestion is ingenious, and as far as the mere question of the sense of goes, perhaps allowable; but see Eph 4:32 ; Col 3:13 ; Col 3:16 ; 1Pe 4:8 ; 1Pe 4:10 ; there are, however, weighty and I conceive fatal objections to it. 1) the emphatic position of , which restricts it to its proper meaning: 2) the occurrence of , in the very verse (4) with which it is sought to connect our passage, in its proper meaning , : 3) the context, and inference drawn by , which this rendering altogether mistakes: see it explained above.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Phi 2:13 . must certainly be omitted with all the best authorities. “For God is He that works,” etc. The emphasis lies on for two reasons. First, in the matter of attaining salvation they have to do not with Paul, but with God. Second, they must enter upon this momentous course not lightly, but “with fear and trembling,” for if they miss the goal it means that they have deliberately rejected the purpose of God. This explains the connecting . . It seems always to have the idea of effective working. In N.T. the active is invariably used of God. The middle is always intransitive. The verb has become transitive only in later Greek ( cf. Krebs, Rection d. Casus , ii., 21). Many exx. occur in Justin M. . The first resolution in the direction of salvation takes its origin from God. So also does the , the carrying of this inward resolve into practical effect, the acting on the assurance that God’s promise is genuine. Cf. Eph 2:8 , , , . To Paul the Divine working and the human self-determination are compatible. But “all efforts to divide the ground between God and man go astray” (Rainy, op. cit. , p. 136). . “To carry out His own gracious will.” So Thdrt [1] . (see also Gennrich, SK [2] . , 1898, p. 383, n. 1). His great purpose of mercy is the salvation of men. To realise this He surrounds them with the influences of His gracious Spirit. For the word cf. Ps. Sol. 8:39, . Conyb.-Hows. and Hfm [3] . would join . . with the words following, but this would be unintelligible without . Blass boldly reads ( ) . . ( N.T. Gramm. , p. 132). Such procedure is arbitrary. Zahn and Wohl [4] . (with Pesh. and O.L. versions) connect the words with . preceding, and, comparing Rom 7:15-21 , make . = human inclination to goodness, i.e. , practically equiv. to . But this is the interpretation of a subtle exegete, which would scarcely appeal to a plain reader. The interpretation given above, connecting . . . with ., is thoroughly natural and has many parallels in Paul, e.g. , Eph 1:5 ; Eph 1:9 , etc. See esp [5] . SH [6] . on Rom 10:1 . These verses are a rebuke to all egotism and empty boasting (see Phi 2:3 ).
[1]hdrt. Theodoret.
[2] Studien und Kritiken .
[3] Hofmann.
[4]ohl. Wohlenberg.
[5] especially.
[6] Sanday and Headlam ( Romans ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
worketh. Greek. energeo. Not the same as “work out” (Php 2:12), katergazomai (see Eph 6:13).
will. App-102.
do = work. Greek. energeo.
of. App-104.
good pleasure. Greek. eudokia. See Rom 10:1.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
13.] encouragement to fulfil the last exhortation-for you are not left to yourselves, but have the almighty Spirit dwelling in you to aid you. Intelligo, says Calvin, gratiam supernaturalem, qu provenit ex Spiritu regenerationis. Nam quatenus sumus homines, jam in Deo sumus, et vivimus, et movemur; verum hic de alio motu disputat, quam illo universali.
This working must not be explained away with Pelagius (in Mey.), velle operatur suadendo et prmia promittendo: it is an efficacious working which is here spoken of: God not only brings about the will, but creates the will-we owe both the will to do good, and the power, to His indwelling Spirit.
. not among you, but in you, as in ref. 1 Cor., and 2Co 4:12; Eph 2:2; Col 1:29. The and are well explained by Calvin: Fatemur, nos a natura habere voluntatem: sed quoniam peccati corruptione mala est, tunc bona esse incipit, quum reformata est a Deo. Nec dicimus hominem quicquam boni facere, nisi volentem: sed tunc, quum voluntas regitur a Spiritu Dei. Ergo quod ad hanc partem spectat, videmus Deo integram laudem asseri, ac frivolum esse quod sophist docent, offerri nobis gratiam et quasi in medio poni, ut eam amplectemur si libeat. Nisi enim efficaciter ageret Deus in nobis, non diceretur efficere bonam voluntatem. De secunda parte idem sentiendum. Deus, inquit, est () . Perducit igitur ad finem usque pios affectus, quos nobis inspiravit, ne sint irriti: sicut per Ezechielem (11:20) promittit: Faciam ut in prceptis meis ambulent. Unde colligimus, perseverantiam quoque merum esse ejus donum.
] for the sake of His good pleasure,-i.e. in order to carry out that good counsel of His will which He hath purposed towards you: , . , Thdrt. Conyb. would join . with the following verse,-do all things for the sake of good will-and remarks, It is strange that so clear and simple a construction, involving no alteration in the text, should not have been before suggested. But surely St. Paul could not have written thus. The sense of indeed, would be the same as in ch. Php 1:15 :-but that very passage should have prevented this conjecture. It must have been in that case here as there, , or at all events, : the insertion of the article where it is generally omitted from abstract nouns after a preposition, as here, necessarily brings in a reflexive sense,-to be referred to the subject of the sentence: and thus we should get a meaning very different from that given by Conyb., viz.: Do all things for the sake of (to carry out) your own good pleasure. It has been proposed (I know not by whom, but it was communicated to me by letter: I see it also noticed in Ellic.s note, and Van Hengels refutation of it referred to) to take (Php 2:12) as = , and render with fear and trembling labour heartily for one anothers salvation; thus connecting the with Php 2:4. The suggestion is ingenious, and as far as the mere question of the sense of goes, perhaps allowable; but see Eph 4:32; Col 3:13; Col 3:16; 1Pe 4:8; 1Pe 4:10; there are, however, weighty and I conceive fatal objections to it. 1) the emphatic position of , which restricts it to its proper meaning: 2) the occurrence of , in the very verse (4) with which it is sought to connect our passage, in its proper meaning- , : 3) the context, and inference drawn by , which this rendering altogether mistakes: see it explained above.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Php 2:13. , for God) God alone; He is present with you even in my absence. You want nothing, only be not wanting to yourselves; comp. 2Pe 1:5; 2Pe 1:3. [You can do nothing of yourselves; avoid security. Some, trusting too much to their exalted condition, think that they may hold the grace of GOD on the same footing as the Israelites held the food sent down from heaven, Num 11:8, and therefore that it is at their own will either to struggle against it or anew to grant it admission.-V. g.]- , to will) that you have willed salvation in my presence, and still will it.- , to do) even now in my absence.- , of His good pleasure) To this refer, to will; and to do, to, who worketh.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Php 2:13
Php 2:13
for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.-When a man with reverence and awe does the will of God, it is God in and through him working to will and to do after his good pleasure. Just as when the son follows implicitly the directions of the father in doing the work the father commits to him, it is really the father through the son doing his own work according to his own will; the father is working through the son. When man gives himself up to God to walk as God directs, God works through him to do his own good pleasure. If man refuses the obedience, God may overrule his rebellion to accomplish his purposes; but he does not work in or through him or bless him.
Baptism as an act of faith is a declaration of distrust of self and of trust in God. It is an act in which the believer declares distrust in self and commits himself-heart, soul, and body-to God. It is not a work of man. So far from it, it is a solemn declaration that he is dead and not able to work or do anything of himself; he henceforth commits himself to God. He will let God work through him. To follow the law of faith is for man to do nothing of his own, but to submit through faith, with fear and trembling, to the will of God-to walk in the works of God. To do Gods work allows no room for boasting. It is to seek blessing in walking in the word of God; it is to receive blessing and strength from God in Gods appointed way.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
God: 2Ch 30:12, Isa 26:12, Jer 31:33, Jer 32:38, Joh 3:27, Act 11:21, 2Co 3:5, Heb 13:21, Jam 1:16-18
to will: 1Ki 8:58, 1Ch 29:14-18, Ezr 1:1, Ezr 1:5, Ezr 7:27, Neh 2:4, Psa 110:3, Psa 119:36, Psa 141:4, Pro 21:1, Joh 6:45, Joh 6:65, Eph 2:4, Eph 2:5, 2Th 2:13, 2Th 2:14, Tit 3:4, Tit 3:5, 1Pe 1:3
good: Luk 12:32, Rom 9:11, Rom 9:16, Eph 1:5, Eph 1:9, Eph 1:11, Eph 2:8, 2Th 1:11, 2Ti 1:9
Reciprocal: Lev 20:7 – General Deu 30:8 – General Jdg 5:2 – when 1Sa 14:45 – he hath 1Ch 14:15 – then thou 1Ch 22:16 – Arise Ezr 7:13 – minded Neh 2:18 – So they strengthened Neh 4:6 – had a mind Neh 7:5 – put into mine Job 33:29 – all Psa 51:18 – thy Psa 63:8 – thy Psa 80:18 – quicken Psa 119:35 – Make me Psa 119:112 – inclined Psa 119:176 – seek Pro 16:1 – preparations Son 1:4 – Draw Son 5:4 – put Jer 31:18 – turn Eze 36:27 – cause Eze 37:24 – they shall Hos 14:8 – From me Hag 1:14 – and they Mat 13:33 – till Luk 13:24 – Strive Joh 1:13 – nor of the will of man Joh 3:21 – that his Joh 6:27 – Labour not Act 7:23 – it came Act 16:14 – whose Rom 3:12 – there is none Rom 7:18 – for to will 1Co 12:6 – worketh 1Co 15:10 – yet 2Co 8:3 – beyond Eph 1:19 – exceeding Eph 2:10 – we are Phi 1:6 – begun Col 1:29 – his 1Th 1:5 – but
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
(Php 2:13.) , -For God it is who worketh in you both to will and to work, in consequence of His own good pleasure. The article of the Received Text before is omitted in A, B, C, D1, F, G, and K. Its absence fixes attention upon Divinity, as in contrast to that humanity in which He wills and works. The indicates the connection, not by assigning a reason in the strict sense of the term, but by introducing an explanatory statement:- Engage in this duty; the inducement and the ability to engage in it are inducement and ability alike from God. It is too much to infer that the Philippians were despondent, and that this verse is to be regarded as an encouragement. But that they needed excitement to duty is plain, however, from the statement-and how much more in my absence -though certainly Bengel’s filling up is far-fetched-Deus praesens vobis, etiam absente me. It is as if he had said- Work out with fear and trembling, for God it is that worketh in you. Engage in the duty, for God prompts and enables you; engage in it with fear and trembling-emotions which the nature of the work and such a consciousness of the Divine presence and co-operation ought always to produce. If the impulse sprang from themselves, and drew around it the ability to obey, there might be strife and vainglory; but surely if the motive and the strength came alike from God, then only in reliance on Him, and with special humility and self-subduing timidity, could they proceed, in reference to their own salvation, or in offering one another spiritual service.
The position of shows the emphasis placed upon it by the apostle. God it is who worketh in you-alluding to the inner operation of Divine grace-for is not among you. There is special force in the form . Winer, 45, 5, note; Fritzsche, ad Roman. vol. ii. p. 212. And the result is twofold-
-both to will and to work, first and naturally volition, and then action. Rom 7:18. The double is emphatic. Winer, 53, 4. The apostle uses both of cause and effect— whereas the verb denoting the ultimate form of action was . The difference is very apparent. The latter term, the one employed by the apostle in the exhortation of Php 2:12 th, represents the full and final bringing of an enterprise to a successful issue; whereas describes action rather in reference to vital power or ability, than form or result. The will and the work are alike from God, or from the operation of His grace and Spirit; not the work without the will-an effect without its cause; not the will without the work-an idle and effortless volition.
The concluding words- -have given rise to a good deal of discussion. The phrase has no pronoun, and what then is its reference? The Syriac renders – that which you wish. And so Ambrosiaster, followed partly by Erasmus, Grotius, and Michaelis. But , as is indicated by the article, belongs here to the subject of the verb. The preposition is not according to, as it is rendered by Luther and Cameron, nor pro, as Beza and Bengel write it. It signifies on account of. Joh 11:4; Act 5:41; Rom 15:8; Winer, 47, 1, (3). It is not very different in result from -1:15-though the mode of representation somewhat varies-the giving a reason, not in a logical, but rather in an ethical aspect. See under Eph 1:5. The noun itself is defined by Suidas- . Suicer, 1.1241. OEcumenius gives the true meaning in his paraphrase- . It is in consequence of, or to follow out His own good pleasure, that He works in believers both to will and to work. He is not an absolute or necessary, but a voluntary or spontaneous cause. He does it because He freely wills it, or because it seems good to Him. His efficacious grace is at His own sovereign disposal. Conybeare joins to the following verse, but the connection is neither natural nor warranted.
The sentiments of the preceding verses have been adduced as objections both to Pelagianism and Calvinism. Augustine made good use of them in his day, in defence of the doctrine of divine grace, and in overthrow of that meagre system which is based at once on shallow conceptions of man’s nature, and superficial expositions of Scripture, and which, in denuding the gospel of its mysteries, robs it of its reality and profound adaptations. In later times, commentators on this passage have attacked with it what is usually called Calvinism. The Calvinistic writers, says Bloomfield in his Recensio Synoptica, are exceedingly embarrassed with it; and after reprehending Doddridge for a paraphrase of the verses, not a whit worse or weaker than his ordinary dilutions, he adds, When we see so sensible a writer, and so good a man, acting so disingenuous a part, we cannot but perceive the weakness of the system of doctrines he adopts, which drives him to such unwarrantable measures. Now, if we understand Calvinism at all, these two verses express very definitely its spirit, belief, and practice. Divested of technical points, it is this-profound and unquestioning trust in God, united to the utmost spiritual activity and necessarily leading to it-acting because acted upon, as the apostle here describes. The terms employed by him exclude a vast amount of questions often raised upon the verses-as the injunction is addressed, not to the unbelieving and unregenerate, but to saints in Christ Jesus, to those who not only believed in Christ, but had suffered for Him. The allusion is not to man’s laying hold of salvation, or to his first reception of it, and the necessity of gratia praeveniens, and therefore queries as to free-will and grace-their existence or antagonism-are away from the point. The apostle writes to persons who have received salvation, and he bids them carry it out. And who doubts that man’s highest energies are called out in the work-that every faculty and feeling is thrown into earnest operation? What self-denial and vigilance-what wrestling with the Angel of the Covenant-what study of the Lord’s example-what busy and humble obedience-what struggles with temptation- what putting forth of all that is within us-what fervent improvement of all the means of grace-industry as eager and resolute as if no grace had been promised, but as if all depended on itself! The believer’s own conscious and continuous effort in the work of his sanctification, is a very prominent doctrine of Scripture, and the apostle often describes his own unrelaxing diligence. On the other hand, the doctrine of divine influence is caricatured by any such hypothesis as is implied in the phrase-homo convertitur nolens-or, when even under its Dordracene representation, it is styled, as by Ellicott, all but compelling grace. For in no sense can faith be forced; and the freest act of the human spirit is the surrender of itself under God’s grace to Himself. The rational nature is not violated, the mental mechanism is never shattered or dislocated, and the freedom essential to responsibility is not for a moment disturbed or suppressed. Though God work and work effectually in us to will, our will is not passively bent and broken, but it wills as God wills it; and though God work and work effectually in us to do, our doing is not a course of action to which we are helplessly driven; but we do, because we have resolved so to do, and because both resolve and action are prompted and shaped by His power that worketh in us- agimur ut agamus. This carrying out of our salvation is a willing action; but the will and the acts, though both of man and by him as agent, are not in their origin from him-the vis from which they spring being non nativa sed dativa. Lazarus came forth from the tomb by his own act, but his life had been already restored by Him in whom is life. The Hebrews walked every weary foot of the distance between Egypt and Canaan, yet to God is justly ascribed their exodus from the one country and their possession of the other. As man’s activities are prompted and developed by Him who works in us both to will and to do, so is it that so many calls and commands are issued, urging him to be laborious and indefatigable; for still he is dealt with as a creature that acts from motive, is deterred by warning, swayed by argument, and bound to obey divine precept. And what an inducement to work out our salvation-God Himself working in us- volition and action prompted and sustained by Him who knoweth our frame. It is wrong to say with Chrysostom -If thou wilt, in that case, He will work in thee to will. For the existence of such a previous will would imply that God had wrought already. The exposition of Pelagius was, that as there are three things in man, posse, velle, agere, and that as the first is from God, and the other two from ourselves, so the apostle here puts the effect for the cause- Deus operatur velle, id est, posse, quia dat mihi potentiam ut possim velle. Lex et doctrina are with him equivalent to, or are the explanation of, gratia divina. But law and revelation only tell what is to be done, and as Augustine says, qua gratia agitur, non solum ut facienda noverimus, verum etiam ut cognita faciamus.-Opera, vol. x. p. 538, ed. Paris, 1838. The command, work out your own salvation, is certainly not in itself opposed to what Ellicott calls the Dordracene doctrine of irrevocable election; for the divine purpose does not reduce man to a machine, but works itself out by means in perfect harmony with the freedom and responsibility of his moral nature; so that every action has a motive and character. Were this the place, one might raise other inferential questions-whether this divine operation in the saints can be finally resisted, and whether it may be finally withdrawn? or, in another aspect, whether a man whom God has justified can be at last condemned? or whether the divine life implanted by the Spirit of God may or can die out? But the discussion of such questions belongs not to our province, nor would the mere language of these verses warrant its introduction.
Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians
Php 2:13. for it is God which worketh in you. Thus only can your work have a beginning. The first movement comes from God. He bestows His quickening gift, and then you may improve what He has given by your earnest labour. So St. Peter (2Pe 1:3-7) describes the groundwork of faith as the gift of God, to which, and in the strength of which, the struggling Christian may contribute grace after grace to the building up of the new man to the perfection of Christian love. And Gods work is in the soul of man; the evidence that men desire to foster that working is shown to the world by outward actions, and so this working may be called their own.
both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Even the wish to serve God comes from Himself, is roused first by Him in the heart of man; and when He has so awakened the mind, He bestows the energy, the working power, so that the wish may have its fulfilment. Yet still it is left to men to use, or leave unused, that power; with them rests that co-operation in the work which is needful before their salvation can be worked out. And Gods graces are bestowed because He willeth not the death of a sinner, but that all men should come to salvation. This is His good pleasure, and for the sake of its achievement. He is thus large in His bounty to mens souls.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
God Works In Christians
The follower of Christ needs to carry out his works for God without complaint or question. To do otherwise is to risk giving others grounds for just criticism. Also, God is not pleased with those who murmur. “Nor murmur, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed by the destroyer” ( 1Co 10:10 ).
Christians must have a pure character. If their actions involve no wrong and their motives are free from wrong, the name of the church will not be hurt because of them. This will also help Christ’s followers to be more like God in nature every day. They will stand out as examples of good in the middle of wicked people. The truth will thus be held forth for the world to see. Paul told the brethren that living in the way just described would mean his labors in Philippi would come to a fruitful end at the judgment. Christians can only be the light of the world when they hold up the word of truth ( Php 2:14-16 ). Remember, Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” ( Mat 5:16 ).
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Verse 13
Both to will and to do; that is, the very disposition to turn to him, as well as every act of obedience, comes from his influence and agency. It is very remarkable that this absolute dependence upon God, far from being allowed to encourage sloth and inaction, is made, by the apostle, the motive for the utmost diligence and solicitude in seeking salvation. We might theoretically expect that the effect would be the reverse; but in the experience of believers the result corresponds with this injunction of the apostle. In all ages, they who have felt most fully the helpless condition of the human soul while in its sins, and its entire dependence on a re-creating influence from above, have been most solicitous and most active in personal efforts of preparation for heaven.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
2:13 {5} For it is God which worketh in you both {n} to will and to do of [his] good pleasure.
(5) A most sure and grounded argument against pride, because we have nothing in us praiseworthy, but it comes from the free gift of God, and is outside of us, for we do not have ability or power, so much as to will well (much less to do well), except only by the free mercy of God.
(n) The reason why we are not statues; and yet we do not will well by nature, but only because God has made of our wicked will a good will.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
In the preceding context Paul had been urging his readers to do right even though he was not in Philippi to motivate and encourage them to do so (Php 1:27; Php 2:12). Here he reminded them that God was at work not just with them but in them to provide motivation and enabling strength (Gr. energein, from which we get the word "energy"). He would enable them to work out their own salvation. God carries out this work through the indwelling Holy Spirit, and His main tool is the Word of God.
"God does not work and has not worked . . . because man has worked. . . . The contrary is true: because God works and has worked, therefore man must and can work." [Note: Herman N. Ridderbos, Paul: An Outline of His Theology, p. 255.]
This verse is one of the most comforting in the New Testament. Sometimes we want to do right but seem to lack the energy or ability. This verse assures us that God will help us. At other times we cannot even seem to want to do right. Here we learn that God can also provide the desire to do His will when we do not have it. If we find that we do not want to do right, we can ask God to work in us to create a desire to do His will. This verse gives us confidence that God desires both to motivate and to enable us.