Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Philippians 2:13 - 2:13

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Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Philippians 2:13 - 2:13


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13. θεὸς γάρ. Here is the reason both for “fear and trembling” and for the assurance that their Apostle’s absence “leaves them not comfortless”: they are indwelt by the eternal Holy One and Loving One Himself; let that fact at once awe them and give them a calm confidence.

ὁ ἐνεργῶν ἐν ὑμῖν. Ἐνεργεῖν (ἐνεργεῖσθαι) carries a certain intensity of meaning, and is used habitually in N.T. of spiritual forces. Cp. Mat 14:2, αἱ δυνάμεις ἐνεργοῦσιν ἐν αὐτῷ: Eph 2:2, τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ νῦν ἐνεργοῦντος ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς τῆς ἀπειθείας: 2Th 3:7, τὸ μυστήριον … ἤδη ἐνεργεῖται. Here it is supremely appropriate therefore.

The In-dwelling and In-working of God in His saints is a main doctrine of the Gospel. The manner is perfectly mysterious; the fact is certain. By the Holy Spirit, Christ is “in” the disciple (2Co 13:5); and “in Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead” (Col 2:9). See further Eph 3:17. In the light of a passage like this we read the deep truth that the “grace” which is in the Christian is not merely an emitted influence from above; it is the living Lord Himself, present and operative at the “first springs of thought and will.”

καὶ τὸ θέλειν καὶ τὸ ἐνεργεῖν. Almost, “both your willing and your (spiritual) working.” Here, though in passing, we touch one of the deepest mysteries of grace. On the one hand is the Christian’s will, real, personal, and powerfully appealed to as such. On the other hand, beneath it, as cause is beneath result, is the will and work of God; God Himself the hidden secret of the right action of the true human will. Let us recognize with equal reverence and simplicity both these great parallels of truth. “With fear and trembling” let us remember human responsibility; with deep submission let us adore the ways of grace, attributing ultimately to God alone every link in the chain of actual salvation.

ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐδοκίας. “For the sake of His good pleasure,” His sovereign and gracious will. The Christian, enabled by the Divine power within to will and to do, wills and does, not for himself, but for Him whose implement he is.