Hold fast the word of life

If you step outside on a clear night, you can see light from the moon and stars.  The moon is about 238,900 miles away, according to google.  And the closest star is 4.24 light years away.


Put another way, that is one very bright light!  Paul says thats the way that Christians are to stand out in a dark world, as stars, as lights, guiding the way.  By working out our salvation with fear and trembling, or working out what God has worked in, we do this.  We point people to Christ by being sanctified and becoming more like Christ.


He gives several ways to do that, like doing all things without grumbling, but the last way he tells us to do it is to hold forth the word of life.  By holding out God's word, it is not only a light to us, but to others as well.

Phl 2:12-16 12 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; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. 14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.

No Grumbling or Complaining

The Bible is God's words to us.  Living and active, it is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and training.

But sometimes it can be hard to read.  Not hard to understand, but difficult to listen to and take to heart.

As Paul writes to the church at Philippi, he has instructed them to work out their salvation with fear and trembling.  That is, they are to work out what God has already worked in them.  This is the life of a Christian.  God works salvation in us, justifying us.  Then we are to sanctify ourselves, working out the new life that has come within us.  But how are we to do that?

What Paul writes in Philippians 2:14-16 is one of those passages that is hard to take to heart, because it cuts against the very way we live.  But Paul instructs us to do all things without grumbling or complaining. This is one of the very first ways that a Christian is to work out their new life. And by doing so, they not only honor God, but bring others to Him through your witness.

Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. - Phl 2:14-16 NASB