Mid-Week Song and Devotional: Spiritual Growth as Invitation to Relationship

Are you hurting and broken within?

Overwhelmed by the weight of your sin.

Jesus is calling.

Have you come to the end of yourself?

Do you thirst for a drink from the well?

Jesus is calling.

Who come to the altar?

The father open white for him was born with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

Come today, there's no reason away.

Jesus is calling.

Bring your stars and trade them for joy.

From the as just a new life is born.

Jesus is calling.

Oh come to the altar, the Father's arms are open.

Forgive this was born with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

Just talking through and reading through the book of Philippians for a few minutes.

We're in Philippians chapter two.

The question we're going to talk about is what role do I play and what role is God playing in my spiritual growth?

What role do I play and what role is God playing in my spiritual growth?

Is my maturity and growth and depth based in what I do, or is all of it based on what God does?

Is it a meet God halfway, or is it a let go and let God?

So if we look at this Philippians chapter 2, it's an interesting chapter and passage for us.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

Paul's writing to a church that is bickering and complaining and they're divided, and he knows where they need to move.

He knows they need to move into a greater obedience and to a greater way of communication and a holy walk with God.

He wants this for them.

But the question is, is how does that happen?

How does that happen for them, or how does that happen for us?

And so if we pick up in Philippians 2, let's just start in verse 14.

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent children of God, without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.

Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

And so what's Paul doing here?

Well, we love the idea of an equation for spiritual growth.

Right?

Like I do this, God does that, and then this happens.

Right?

Like this happened in life because of that, and then this will happen in life because I do this, and God will do this because I did that, and then I get to where I want to be.

I I will let go and then God will suddenly cause spiritual growth in me.

I will do certain things and God will cause spiritual growth in me.

I will walk halfway and God will walk halfway.

But Paul disorients that sort of equational thinking to spiritual growth because what he says there at the beginning, all the way at the beginning of verse 12 of the intro into this passage, he says, Therefore, my beloved.

So from the very beginning, he says, You're the beloved.

You need to work this out.

You got some grumbling and disputing going on, and you gotta work that out.

But it begins with your identity, my beloved.

You are the beloved.

And by the way, God is doing this work in you.

What a disorienting attention for us.

Because the orientation, we think it would be either I do it or God does it, but this disorientation is the truth that it puts us into relationship.

We can't rely on equation anymore.

We are moved.

It invites us into relationship with the Father, that we know our identity as his beloved children, and the Father is working this out in us even while we are already what we're not yet becoming in this moment.

Meaning we're already proclaimed holy and beloved, righteous, even before we were actually that in this world.

Verses twelve and thirteen read this way, therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and tribbling.

So Paul says, Okay, you're the beloved, work out your salvation, and we would think, okay, well, that's how that's how it's gonna be.

Like I gotta do these things.

But then the verse 13 jumps and says, For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

It just disorients the way that we want to form an equation and make it so simple of if I do A, B, and C, God will cause or do spiritual growth.

And rather, it's we are already proclaimed the beloved.

You are relieved of all the ways that you try to self-justify your worth and righteousness.

You are already righteous because of Jesus.

So work out your salvation out of that identity, work out your salvation, for God is doing this in you.

It's an invitation into mystery, an invitation into relationship, not into equation, not into legalism.

Church, you are the beloved.

Work out your salvation, for God is at work in you.