Always Obey

Paul challenges the Philippians to be thankful, to be bold, and to obey God. Just what exactly does Paul have in mind?

First of all, Paul commends the Philippians for their consistent obedience (2:12-13).
The Philippians followed God in obedience both when Paul was with them and when he was not. Not only had the Philippian believers made decisions to follow Jesus when Paul had spent time in Philippi, but they had continued in their walk with Him. How did Paul know this? First of all, they had sent Epaphroditus to minister to Paul. They cared for Paul. Had they not been following Jesus, they wouldn’t have actually cared. Secondly, I’m sure Epaphroditus gave Paul an update on how they were doing. Jesus calls us to walk with Him and to be consistently living in obedience to God. While this doesn’t mean that we don’t still sin, it does mean that we are quick to repent and we seek to grow in grace and holiness.

Secondly, their obedience was evidence of God working in them for His glory.
Obeying God from a motivation that wants to please Him (not from a motivation that wants to earn His favor) can only come by the empowering and enabling of the Holy Spirit. The fact that the Philippians consistently obeyed God was evidence of the Holy Spirit working in them. No matter how much we try to please God with our own efforts, we will always fail. However, obeying God because we recognize His grace in our lives and our daily dependence on Him, shows that the Holy Spirit is working in us to grow us to become more like Him.

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