From Philippians: The Mind of Christ and Working Out Our Salvation
Orientation
Christian fellowship is often misunderstood as a gathering of needy people trying to draw strength from each other.
- This view misses the biblical starting point: believers are already complete and richly supplied in Christ.
- Fellowship is not a support group for spiritual paupers, but the meeting of those who are full.
- Our position is secure: seated with Christ in the heavenlies, reconciled, and brought near by His blood.
And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: (Colossians 2:10)
— Colossians 2:10
Clarification
Working out your salvation is not about securing eternal life, but the experiential outworking of the life you already possess.
- Salvation in Philippians 2:12 refers to the present, practical manifestation of Christ's life in the believer.
- It is empowered by God's Spirit, not by human effort or willpower.
- This outworking results in unity, love, blamelessness, and a joyful witness, contrasting with the complaining of unbelief.
Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12)
— Philippians 2:12
Structure
True humility and service flow from knowing your exalted position in Christ, just as Christ's condescension flowed from His divine form.
- The 'mind of Christ' begins with the recognition of position, not self-abasement.
- Christ, secure in His equality with God, was free to take the form of a servant.
- Believers, knowing they are sons and co-heirs, are likewise free to condescend in love and service.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (Philippians 2:5-6)
— Philippians 2:5-6
Weight-Bearing Prose
The foundation for all Christian life and fellowship is the believer’s positional truth in Christ. This is not progressive maturity but a settled, judicial reality: complete in Him, seated in heavenly places, blessed with every spiritual blessing, reconciled, and brought near by His blood. From this position of fullness and security—not deficiency—flows the capacity for the mind of Christ. His humility was not self-generated groveling but the voluntary condescension of One secure in His divine status. Likewise, the believer’s ‘working out’ is the experiential manifestation of this possessed life, empowered by God who works in us. This is the Pauline category: our rule of life is our union with Christ in His death and resurrection, not outward commands. The Old Testament priestly pattern confirms this: man brings nothing of himself; the offering is what God provides—Christ. Fellowship, then, is the mutual partaking of this accepted offering, not a drawing from each other’s flesh.
Integration
Your place is secure. You are complete in Christ, a son at the King’s table. This is your identity, not a reward for effort. The call to have the mind of Christ and to work out your salvation is not a pressure to become something you are not, but an invitation to live from the riches you already possess in Him. God is at work in you. The humility and service He produces flow from the assured reality of your inheritance. Rest here. Your fellowship with God and others is anchored in Christ’s finished work and your exalted position in Him. There is no condemnation, only the joy of partaking together of the One who is our all.