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Note: These questions have been prepared to follow the pattern of the series, based on the sermon content from Elder Brian Bancroft.
Work Out Your Salvation
Will and Work for His Good Pleasure
Sermon by Elder Brian Bancroft · Text: Philippians 2:12–18 · Weekly Devotional Questions
“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 trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 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.”
— Philippians 2:12–15 (ESV)
Day 1 — Therefore: From Christ’s Example to Our Life
Read: Philippians 2:5–13; John 13:3–5
1. Paul begins with therefore. After last week’s vision of Christ emptying himself, obeying to the point of a cross, and receiving the name Lord, why must application come next?
2. The sermon said last week was deep into doctrine and this week is how our lives should follow as we follow Christ. Where are you tempted to admire Christ’s humility without actually taking up a towel?
3. Jesus served from fullness, not from need. How does remembering who you already are in him change the way you enter an ordinary Monday?
4. If the Father, Son, and Spirit bound themselves before time to call, redeem, and seal a people, what does that do to the feeling that your growth is finally up to you?
5. Where, this week, would “to will and to work for his good pleasure” actually change a decision you were going to make on instinct?
PRAYER
Father, thank You for the Son who humbled himself and for the Spirit who still works in us. Forgive us for treating doctrine as a museum piece. Make the therefore of this passage land in our kitchens, workplaces, and church. Align our lives with the Christ we confessed last week.
Day 2 — God Works in You to Will and to Work
Read: Philippians 2:13; Ephesians 1:3–14; Hebrews 13:20–21
1. Verse 13 names the worker: “It is God who works in you.” Why does that sentence keep verse 12 from becoming a ladder of self-reform?
2. The sermon traced the covenant of redemption: the Father calls a people, the Son redeems them, the Spirit lives in them and seals the work. Which person of the Trinity do you most easily forget when you think about your daily obedience?
3. Hebrews says God equips us with every good thing so that we may do his will. What “good thing” in your life still does not look good—and how might God mean to use it later?
4. Cain’s sacrifice failed first in the heart, not on the altar. Where are you doing the Christian thing without desiring the Christian thing?
5. The sermon was plain: God loves you for who you are, not for what you do. You are his child. What changes if you believed that before you opened your task list?
PRAYER
Lord, You are the one at work. Work in us both the desire and the deed. We confess how quickly we turn obedience into a wage we hope You will pay. Remind us that we are children, not hired hands, and that every good work is already Your pleasure.
Day 3 — A New Heart, New Desires
Read: Ezekiel 36:26–27; Romans 12:1–2; Isaiah 6:8
1. Ezekiel promised a heart of flesh in place of a heart of stone. How is that different from trying harder with the old heart still in place?
2. The sermon said the new heart changes not only what we do but what we want. Which of your current desires still belongs to the old heart?
3. God wants us to desire holiness, the Word, obedience, and humble service. Which of those four is thinnest in you right now, and what would feeding it look like this week?
4. “Yes, Lord. Here am I. Send me.” What would it cost you to say that without first negotiating the assignment?
5. Romans 12 calls us not to be conformed to this world but transformed. Where is the world still writing your wants for you?
PRAYER
Holy Spirit, take the heart of stone. Give us a heart that wants what the Father wants. Make holiness lovely, the Word necessary, obedience glad, and service ordinary. When You send, teach our first word to be yes.
Day 4 — Obedience When No One Is Watching
Read: Philippians 2:12; Colossians 3:23–24; Matthew 6:3–6
1. Paul asks for the same obedience in his presence and in his absence. Where does your integrity still change when certain people leave the room?
2. The door-casing test asked whether a worker would paint the top no one sees. What “top of the casing” has God put in front of you this week?
3. The sermon named the honor-system pages, the Bible that only moves on Sunday, and the marriage that would starve on an hour and a half a week. Which of those pictures lands closest to your life with God?
4. Time is among the most important things in a relationship. What would an honest use of time with the Lord look like Monday through Saturday?
5. “Do not take the shortcut. Do the work and get the blessings God has already stored up.” What shortcut are you most tempted to take, and what blessing might you be skipping?
PRAYER
Father, You see the top of the casing. Forgive the obedience we save for an audience. Make us the same people in secret that we are in the sanctuary. Teach us to do all things as unto You, and do not let us miss what You have stored up.
Day 5 — Work Out What God Has Worked In
Read: Philippians 2:12–13; Ephesians 2:8–10; Romans 8:29–30
1. Paul wrote both “work out your own salvation” and “by grace you have been saved through faith… not a result of works.” How do those sentences fit without tearing the gospel?
2. The sermon named three stages: justification in an instant, sanctification as lifelong struggle, glorification when we are with the Lord and sin is gone. Which stage do you most often confuse with another?
3. “Jesus plus anything is a heresy.” Where are you still quietly adding a plus—effort, emotion, church activity, the absence of struggle?
4. Sanctification will not make you sinless before you die. How does that hard sentence become good news because Christ has already paid?
5. Working out salvation looks like walking worthy, counting others more significant, strengthening the local body, and living in unity. Which of those four is your next act of obedience, not your next theory?
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, You finished the work that justifies. Spirit, keep working the heart that is being sanctified. Keep us from a gospel of self-rescue and from despair in the struggle. We will sin until we die, and You have already paid. Teach us to work out what You have worked in.
Day 6 — All Things Without Grumbling
Read: Philippians 2:14–16; Numbers 11:4–6; 1 Corinthians 10:6–11
1. Is grumbling your superpower? What situation this week most easily pulls a complaint out of you?
2. Israel had been rescued through the sea and still wanted the leeks and garlic of Egypt. What old slavery do you still romanticize when present grace feels thin?
3. The sermon said grumbling is finally grumbling against God: “I could do it better.” Where have you appointed yourself as editor of His providence?
4. Paul says all things—no wiggle room. Where do you still reserve the right to dispute facts that do not matter, or to correct the 5:03?
5. If an unbelieving visitor overheard you after service, would they meet a different people or the same talk they hear at work? What would gratitude—give thanks, pray, read the Word, watch your mouth—change in that conversation?
PRAYER
Father, we confess the old tongue. Forgive us for treating grumbling as personality and disputing as precision. Cast off the old self. Give us hearts that overflow with gratitude, mouths that do not hide the light, and a church that sounds like Jesus when a stranger walks through the door.
Day 7 — Poured Out, Not in Vain
Read: Philippians 2:16–18; Acts 9:13–16; Matthew 6:19–21
1. Paul is in jail, with shipwrecks and beatings behind him and possible death ahead, and he still says he is glad and rejoices. What would have to change in you before costly obedience could sound like that?
2. Jesus told Ananias that Saul was a chosen instrument—and that He would show him how much he must suffer. How does that sentence confront a Christianity that treats comfort as the proof of God’s favor?
3. The sermon named the struggle of the pulpit, the hospital room, and the hand held in grief—and said the struggle is worth it. Where is the struggle real for you right now?
4. Pastors and elders named two hours of stories: roofs repaired, grass cut, people coming alongside one another. That is their earthly reward. Whose hidden faithfulness could you thank this week, and whose hands could you hold?
5. Where are you laying up treasure—things that rust, or a seat at the table of the Lamb? If you do not yet belong to Christ, what is keeping you from coming to Him today?
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, the struggle is real, and You are worth it. Keep us from laboring for rust. Teach us to rejoice with those who are poured out, to hold one another’s hands, and to reserve our treasure at Your table. If any among us have not yet trusted You, write their names in the book of life—for that is Your good pleasure.
Family or Group Discussion
1. Which part of the sermon or this week’s readings most challenged or encouraged you, and why?
2. Where is our family or group most tempted to take a shortcut with God—or to grumble when His plan does not look good yet?
3. How do we help one another remember that we work out salvation rather than work for it?
4. Take time to pray for one another: for new desires, hidden integrity, clean mouths, joyful service under cost, and for anyone who still needs to come to Christ.
Weekly Practice
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you.
• Each morning ask the Spirit to work both the desire and the deed before you pick up the day’s list.
• Do one hidden act of obedience no one will see—the top of the casing—and leave it before the Father.
• Give the Word more than Sunday. Choose a set time Monday through Saturday and keep it.
• When grumbling rises, stop and say aloud: “God has a plan for my life. It is for my good and His glory.” Then name one gift you can thank Him for.
• Refuse one needless dispute this week. Let love leave the 5:03 uncorrected.
• Come alongside one person in the body—a meal, a mower, a hospital visit, a word of thanks—and treat that service as treasure, not leftover time.
• Write and finish the sentence: “Working out my salvation this week would change __________ in me.” Then take one step. If you do not know Christ, take the first step: come and tell a pastor or elder.
THIS WEEK’S CHARGE
A church that lives this way does not invent energy it does not have. God works in us to will and to work. Therefore we obey in secret and in public, we put away grumbling so we shine as lights, and we serve with joy even when poured out—together—for the good pleasure of God and the glory of Christ.
These questions are prepared to serve personal, family, and small-group study of the Word as we continue the Philippians series. May the God who works in you both to will and to work form in us a new heart, a steady obedience, a grateful mouth, and a poured-out joy—for the glory of Christ and the strengthening of His church at Crossroads.