The Right Stuff

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 Philippians 2:12

Obeyed – The motivation for obedience is not always the same.  Why you obey is sometimes just as important as the fact that you do obey.  In Greek, there are words for this distinction – words that we do not have in English.  One kind of obedience describes submission.  It’s the kind of obedience that comes from putting yourself under the authority of another.  Paul uses this word (hupotasso) in 1 Corinthians 15:27 (“God will put all things under His feet”).  But that is not the word used here, and the difference is important.  Here the word is hupakouo.  This is a word used to describe the obedience of a child to parents.  It has direct links to the Hebrew word shema because hupakouo means “to listen attentively in order to answer.”  Just as the Hebrew shema means both hear and obey, so hupakouo means to hear and respond.  In fact, it comes from the root word akouo which means “to hear.”  Guess what?  Paul is reminding the Philippian Christians about something they already were doing – listening and obeying, just as they did when they responded to the shema.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that the other word for obey does not apply.  We are asked to volunteer to submit to the Lord’s authority.  We do so because it is in our best interest – and He is worthy of our allegiance.  But when it comes to working out our salvation, there is another kind of obedience needed – hearing and doing.

Many Christians concentrate on the last part of this well-known verse, namely, “work out your salvation.”  But do you see now that this is directly connected with hearing and obeying?  So, you might want to ask, “Hearing and obeying what?”  And for the answer, we have to look at the little word pantote (“always”).  Paul commends his brethren because they have always known the secret of hearing and obeying.  They have exercised the properly motivated obedience for a long time.  Now, what do you suppose they were hearing-obeying?   That requires a little research.  In Acts 16:11-15, Luke describes the beginning of the assembly in Philippi.  Lydia was at the center of this group.  She was a devout convert to Judaism.  That implies that she was familiar with, and obedient to, the Torah – the Law of Moses.  When she becomes familiar with the Messiah, she embraces Him as the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham.  So do the others in Philippi.  In spite of the fact that this assembly was not Jewish, these people were already observing God’s way through Jewish roots when the news of Jesus arrived.  They knew all about the shema because it was already part of their lives.  It was a very short step from shema to hupakouo.

We learn something important here.  We learn that submission is not at the heart of working out our salvation.  Listening and doing is!  We learn that listening and doing has been part of God’s plan all along – long before Jesus arrived.  But now we know that listening and doing are only one aspect of obedience.  The other aspect is submitting.  Both are needed.  God is not interested in compliance.  He wants voluntary acceptance demonstrated by attentive listening and responding.

Topical Index:  Obedience