Philippians 2:13

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do.—In this famous paradox St. Paul calls on men to work by their own will, just because only God can grant them power both to will and to do. The origination of all in God, and the free action (which is in some sense origination) of man, are both truths recognised by our deepest consciousness, but to our logic irreconcilable. In one passage only (Romans 9:14-24) does St. Paul touch, and that slightly and suggestively, on their reconcilement: generally Holy Scripture—in this confirming human reason—brings out each vividly and profoundly in turn, and leaves the problem of their reconcilement untouched. Here the paradoxical form of the sentence forces on the mind the recognition of the co-existence of both. If that recognition be accepted, the force of the reasoning is clear. The only encouragement to work, in a being weak and finite like man, is the conviction that the Almighty power is working in him, both as to will and deed.

The word “worketh in you” is constantly applied to the divine operation in the soul (see 1Corinthians 12:6; 1Corinthians 12:11; Galatians 2:8; Ephesians 1:11; Ephesians 1:20; Ephesians 2:2); rarely, as here (in the word rendered “to do”) to the action of men. It must necessarily extend to the will as well as the action; otherwise God would not be sovereign in the inner realm of mind (as, indeed, Stoic philosophy denied that He was). We are familiar with the influence of one created will over another—an influence real, though limited, yet in no sense compulsive. From this experience we may catch a faint glimpse of the inner working of the Spirit of God on the spirit of man. Hence, while we cannot even conceive the existence of freedom under an unbending impersonal law or force, the harmony of our will with a Supreme Personal Will is mysterious, indeed, but not inconceivable.

Of his good pleasure.—Literally, on behalf of His good pleasure; that is, in harmony with it. On the double sense of “good pleasure” see Note on Ephesians 1:5. Here, probably, the meaning is His “gracious will” for our salvation.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

2:12-18 We must be diligent in the use of all the means which lead to our salvation, persevering therein to the end. With great care, lest, with all our advantages, we should come short. Work out your salvation, for it is God who worketh in you. This encourages us to do our utmost, because our labour shall not be in vain: we must still depend on the grace of God. The working of God's grace in us, is to quicken and engage our endeavours. God's good-will to us, is the cause of his good work in us. Do your duty without murmurings. Do it, and do not find fault with it. Mind your work, and do not quarrel with it. By peaceableness; give no just occasion of offence. The children of God should differ from the sons of men. The more perverse others are, the more careful we should be to keep ourselves blameless and harmless. The doctrine and example of consistent believers will enlighten others, and direct their way to Christ and holiness, even as the light-house warns mariners to avoid rocks, and directs their course into the harbour. Let us try thus to shine. The gospel is the word of life, it makes known to us eternal life through Jesus Christ. Running, denotes earnestness and vigour, continual pressing forward; labouring, denotes constancy, and close application. It is the will of God that believers should be much in rejoicing; and those who are so happy as to have good ministers, have great reason to rejoice with them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For it is God that worketh in you - This is given as a reason for making an effort to be saved, or for working out our salvation. It is often thought to be the very reverse, and people often feel that if God works "in us to will and to do," there can be no need of our making an effort, and that there would be no use in it. If God does all the work, say they, why should we not patiently sit still, and wait until He puts forth His power and accomplishes in us what He wills? It is of importance, therefore, to understand what this declaration of the apostle means, in order to see whether this objection is valid, or whether the fact that God "works in us" is to be regarded as a reason why we should make no effort. The word rendered "worketh" - ἐνεργῶν energōn - working - is from a verb meaning to work, to be active to produce effect - and is that from which we have derived the word "energetic." The meaning is, that God "produces a certain effect in us;" he exerts such an influence over us as to lead to a certain result in our minds - to wit, "to will and to do." Nothing is said of the mode in which this is done, and probably this cannot be understood by us here; compare John 3:8. In regard to the divine agency here referred to, however, certain things, though of a negative character, are clear:

(1) It is not God who acts for us. He leads us to "will and to do." It is not said that he wills and does for us, and it cannot be. It is man that "wills and does" - though God so influences him that he does it.

(2) he does not compel or force us against our will. He leads us to will as well as to do. The will cannot be forced; and the meaning here must be that God exerts such an influence as to make us willing to obey Him; compare Psalm 110:3.

(3) it is not a physical force, but it must be a moral influence. A physical power cannot act on the will. You may chain a man, incarcerate him in the deepest dungeon, starve him, scourge him, apply red-hot pincers to his flesh, or place on him the thumb-screw, but the will is still free. You cannot bend that or control it, or make him believe otherwise than as he chooses to believe. The declaration here, therefore, cannot mean that God compels us, or that we are anything else but free agents still, though He "works in us to will and to do." It must mean merely that he exerts such an influence as to secure this result.

To will and to do of his good pleasure - Not to will and to do everything, but "His good pleasure." The extent of the divine agency here referred to, is limited to that, and no man should adduce this passage to prove that God "works" in him to lead him to commit sin. This passage teaches no such doctrine. It refers here to Christians, and means that he works in their hearts that which is agreeable to him, or leads them to "will and to do" that which is in accordance with his own will. The word rendered "good pleasure" - εὐδοκία eudokia - means "delight, good-will, favor;" then "good pleasure, purpose, will;" see Ephesians 1:5; 2 Thessalonians 1:11. Here it means that which would be agreeable to him; and the idea is, that he exerts such an influence as to lead people to will and to do that which is in accordance with his will. Paul regarded this fact as a reason why we should work out our salvation with fear and trembling. It is with that view that he urges it, and not with any idea that it will embarrass our efforts, or be a hindrance to us in seeking salvation. The question then is, how this fact can be a motive to us to make an effort? In regard to this we may observe:

(1) That the work of our salvation is such that we need help, and such help as God only can impart. We need it to enable us to overcome our sins; to give us such a view of them as to produce true penitence; to break away from our evil companions; to give up our plans of evil, and to resolve to lead different lives. We need help that our minds may be enlightened; that we may be led in the way of truth; that we may be saved from the danger of error, and that we may not be suffered to fall back into the ways of transgression. Such help we should welcome from any quarter; and any assistance furnished on these points will not interfere with our freedom.

(2) the influence which God exerts on the mind is in the way of help or aid. What He does will not embarrass or hinder us. It will prevent no effort which we make to be saved; it will throw no hindrance or obstacle in the way. When we speak of Gods working "in us to will and to do," people often seem to suppose that His agency will hinder us, or throw some obstacle in our way, or exert some evil influence on our minds, or make it more difficult for us to work out our salvation than it would be without His agency. But this cannot be. We may be sure that all the influence which God exerts over our minds, will be to aid us in the work of salvation, not to embarrass us; will be to enable us to overcome our spiritual enemies and our sins, and not to put additional weapons into their hands or to confer on them new power. Why should people ever dread the influence of God on their hearts, as if he would hinder their efforts for their own good?

(3) the fact that God works is an encouragement for us to work. When a man is about to set out a peach or an apple tree, it is an encouragement for him to reflect that the agency of God is around him, and that he can cause the tree to produce blossoms, and leaves, and fruit. When he is about to plow and sow his farm, it is an encouragement, not a hindrance, to reflect that God works, and that he can quicken the grain that is sown, and produce an abundant harvest. What encouragement of a higher order can man ask? And what farmer is afraid of the agency of God in the case, or supposes that the fact that God exerts an agency is a reason why he should not plow and plant his field, or set out his orchard? Poor encouragement would a man have in these things if God did not exert any agency in the world, and could not be expected to make the tree grow or to cause the grain to spring up; and equally poor would be all the encouragement in religion without his aid.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

13. For—encouragement to work: "For it is God who worketh in you," always present with you, though I be absent. It is not said, "Work out your own salvation, though it is God," &c., but, "because it is God who," &c. The will, and the power to work, being first instalments of His grace, encourage us to make full proof of, and carry out to the end, the "salvation" which He has first "worked," and is still "working in" us, enabling us to "work it out." "Our will does nothing thereunto without grace; but grace is inactive without our will" [St. Bernard]. Man is, in different senses, entirely active, and entirely passive: God producing all, and we acting all. What He produced is our own acts. It is not that God does some, and we the rest. God does all, and we do all. God is the only proper author, we the only proper actors. Thus the same things in Scripture are represented as from God, and from us. God makes a new heart, and we are commanded to make us a new heart; not merely because we must use the means in order to the effect, but the effect itself is our act and our duty (Eze 11:19; 18:31; 36:26) [Edwards].

worketh—rather as Greek, "worketh effectually." We cannot of ourselves embrace the Gospel of grace: "the will" (Ps 110:3; 2Co 3:5) comes solely of God's gift to whom He will (Joh 6:44, 65); so also the power "to do" (rather, "to work effectually," as the Greek is the same as that for "worketh in"), that is, effectual perseverance to the end, is wholly of God's gift (Php 1:6; Heb 13:21).

of his good pleasure—rather as Greek, "FOR His good pleasure"; in order to carry out His sovereign gracious purpose towards you (Eph 1:5, 9).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

That they might not be negligent in working out their salvation with humility, from any conceit or carnal confidence any might have that they could believe and repent when they pleased, imagining their wills to be as pliable to good as evil; the apostle urgeth the effectual grace of God, as a powerful inducement and encouragement to embrace his exhortation.

For it is God which worketh in you: they should not despond of any attaining salvation, or think they did labour in vain in the diligent use of means, and should altogether fall under the dominion of sin, considering, though they were free agents, yet the efficiency and sufficiency was of God, Romans 6:13,14 1 Corinthians 4:7 2 Corinthians 3:5; who worketh within them powerfully and effectually, carrying on the work through all difficulties and obstacles, with victorious efficacy, till it be wrought, Philippians 1:6 Isaiah 41:4 Hebrews 13:20,21: God worketh not only by suasion to gain assent, but by a special energy effecting what he would have us to do.

Both to will: and not only in a general way, Acts 17:28, but in a special way, making us willing, Psalm 110:3, remotely in regard of the principle, nextly in regard of the act: circumcising the heart, Deu 30:6; taking away the heart of stone, and giving a heart of flesh, Ezekiel 11:19 36:26,27; causing light to shine out of darkness, 2 Corinthians 4:6; and so renewing the will, to choose that which is savingly good, the natural bent of which, before the influence of this insuperable grace, stands another way, John 8:44, viz. to will and do contrary: yet he doth not necessitate by any compulsion, but powerfully, yet sweetly, and suitably to man’s free faculty, incline the will to that which is good, John 6:37,44, i.e. to a certain effect. For the will influenced to will that it doth perform, it undoubtedly wills somewhat that is certain, and so is determined by God.

And to do; to do that which is savingly good. Whereupon being made willing, it hath not only an inclination, and doth not only exert a woulding, but, being moved by God’s insuperable grace, 1 Corinthians 3:7, that will is effectual, and is the very deed, where the command of the will is executed to the glory of God, as the author. As in alms, not only doth God incline the will to relieve the poor, but further contributes special gracious aids to perform what was deliberated, which evinceth that it is from another principle than ourselves. It is not, that ye may be able to will, and may be able to do; but he worketh

both to will and to do: which connotes the very act itself; that ye will to believe, obey, pray, persevere, and that ye do believe, obey, pray, persevere: of unwilling, he makes willing; and further, to will and to do. It is true, to will, as it is an act of the will, is ours by creation; and to will well is so far ours, we being made effectually willing by God’s grace: yet not ours, as though of ourselves we begin to will, or go on, but it is of him who worketh in us. Not that we cannot will well, but that of ourselves we cannot will well. The precept therefore requiring our obedience does not show what we can or will of ourselves, but what we ought to will and to do by God’s special help. But though God work in us obedience, yet we obey, we ourselves act, being acted of God.

Of his good pleasure; not for any previous disposition in any of us, but of, or according to, his own good pleasure, Luke 10:21 Ephesians 1:5,9,11 2:8 2 Thessalonians 1:11, with 2 Timothy 1:9. In working out our own salvation, the very beginning in the will, as well as the perfection, is ascribed to the efficacy of God; his good pleasure is the procreating and helping cause of this work on the will, and not the will’s good pleasure.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

For it is God which worketh in you,.... Which is both an encouragement to persons conscious of their own weakness to work, as before exhorted to; see Haggai 2:4; and a reason and argument for humility and meekness, and against pride and vain glory, since all we have, and do, is from God; and also points out the spring, principle, and foundation of all good works; namely, the grace of God wrought in the heart, which is an internal work, and purely the work of God: by this men become the workmanship of God, created unto good works, Ephesians 2:10, and are new men, and fitted for the performance of acts of righteousness, and true holiness; and this grace, which God works in them, is wrought in a powerful and efficacious manner, so as not to be frustrated and made void. The word here used signifies an inward, powerful, and efficacious operation; and the "king's manuscript", mentioned by Grotius and Hammond, adds another word to it, which makes the sense still stronger, reading it thus, "which worketh in you", "by power"; not by moral persuasion, but by his own power, the power of his efficacious grace. The Alexandrian copy reads, "powers", or "mighty works": God works in his people

both to will and to do of his good pleasure; God works in converted men a will to that which is spiritually good; which is to be understood, not of the formation of the natural faculty of the will; or of the preservation of it, and its natural liberty; or of the general motion of it to natural objects; nor of his influence on it in a providential way; but of the making of it good, and causing a willingness in it to that which is spiritually good. Men have no will naturally to come to Christ, or to have him to reign over them; they have no desire, nor hungerings and thirstings after his righteousness and salvation; wherever there are any such inclinations and desires, they are wrought in men by God; who works upon the stubborn and inflexible will, and, without any force to it, makes the soul willing to be saved by Christ, and submit to his righteousness, and do his will; he sweetly and powerfully draws it with the cords of love to himself, and to his Son, and so influences it by his grace and spirit, and which he continues, that it freely wills everything spiritually good, and for the glory of God: and he works in them also to "do"; for there is sometimes in believers a will, when there wants a power of doing. God therefore both implants in them principles of action to work from, as faith and love, and a regard for his glory, and gives them grace and strength to work with, without which they can do nothing, but having these, can do all things: and all this is "of his good pleasure"; the word "his" not being in the original text, some have taken the liberty to ascribe this to the will of man; and so the Syriac version renders it, "both to will and to do that", , "which ye will", or according to your good will; but such a sense is both bad and senseless; for if they have a good will of themselves, what occasion is there for God to work one in them? no; these internal operations of divine power and grace are not owing to the will of men, nor to any merits of theirs, or are what God is obliged to do, but what flow from his sovereign will and pleasure; who works when, where, and as he pleases, and that for his own glory; and who continues to do so in the hearts of his people; otherwise, notwithstanding the work of grace in them, they would find very little inclination to, and few and faint desires after spiritual things; and less strength to do what is spiritually good; but God of his good pleasure goes on working what is well pleasing in his sight.

Geneva Study Bible

{5} For it is God which worketh in you both {n} to will and to do of his good pleasure.

(5) A most sure and grounded argument against pride, because we have nothing in us praiseworthy, but it comes from the free gift of God, and is outside of us, for we do not have ability or power, so much as to will well (much less to do well), except only by the free mercy of God.

(n) The reason why we are not statues; and yet we do not will well by nature, but only because God has made of our wicked will a good will.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Php 2:13. Ground of encouragement to the fulfilment of this precept, in which it is not their own, but God’s power, which works in them, etc. Here Θεός is placed first as the subject, not as the predicate (Hofmann): God is the agent. It is, however, unnecessary and arbitrary to assume before γάρ (with Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theophylact, Erasmus, and others) an unexpressed thought (“be not terrified at my having said: with fear and trembling”). Bengel gratuitously supplies with Θεός the thought: “praesens vobis etiam absente me” (comp. also van Hengel), while others, as Calvin, Beza, Hoelemann, Rilliet, Wiesinger, who found in μετὰ φόβ. κ. τρ. the antithesis of pride (see on Php 2:12), see in Php 2:13 the motive to humility; and de Wette is of opinion that what was expressed in Php 2:12 under the aspect of fear is here expressed under the aspect of confidence. In accordance with the unity of the sense we ought rather to say: that the great moral demand μετὰ φόβ. κ. τρ. τὴν ἑαυτῶν σωτ. κατεργάζεσθαι, containing as it did the utmost incentive to personal activity, needed for the readers the support of a confidence which should be founded not on their own, but on the divine working. According to Ewald, the μετὰ φόβου κ. τρόμου is to be made good by pointing to the fact that they work before God, who is even already producing in them the right tendency of will. But the idea of the ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ was so familiar to the apostle, that he would doubtless have here also directly expressed it. Kähler (comp. Weiss) imports a hint of the divine punishment, of which, however, nothing is contained in the text. So also Hofmann: with fear in presence of Him who is a devouring fire (Hebrews 12:28 f.), who will not leave unpunished him who does not subordinate his own will and working to the divine. As if Paul had hinted at such thoughts, and had not, on the contrary, himself excluded them by the ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐδοκίας which is added! The thought is rather “dulcissima sententia omnibus piis mentibus,” Form. Conc. p. 659.

Calvin (comp. Calovius) rightly observes on the subject-matter: “intelligo gratiam supernaturalem, quae provenit ex spiritu regenerationis; nam quatenus sumus homines, jam in Deo sumus et vivimus et movemur, verum hic de alio motu disputat Paulus, quam illo universali.” Augustine has justly (in opposition to the Pelagian rationalizing interpretation of a mediate working: “velle operatur suadendo et praemia promittendo”), in conformity with the words, urged the efficaciter operari, which Origen, de Princ. iii. 1, had obliterated, and the Greeks who followed qualified with synergistic reservations.

ἐν ὑμῖν] not intra coetum vestrum (Hoelemann), but in animis vestris (1 Corinthians 12:6; 2 Corinthians 4:12; Ephesians 2:2; Colossians 1:29; 1 Thessalonians 2:13), in which He produces the self-determination directed to the κατεργάζεσθαι of their own σωτηρία, and the activity in carrying out this Christian-moral volition.[125] This activity, the ἐνεργεῖν, is the inner moral one, which has the κατεργάζεσθαι as its consequence, and therefore is not to be taken as equivalent to the latter (Vulgate, Luther, and others, including Matthies and Hoelemann). Note, on the contrary, the climactic selection of the two cognate verbs. The regenerate man brings about his own salvation (κατεργάζεται) when he does not resist the divine working (ἘΝΕΡΓῶΝ) of the willing and the working (ἘΝΕΡΓΕῖΝ) in his soul, but yields steady obedience to it in continual conflict with the opposing powers (Ephesians 6:10 ff.; Galatians 5:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:8, al.); so that he περιπατεῖ, not ΚΑΤᾺ ΣΆΡΚΑ, but ΚΑΤᾺ ΠΝΕῦΜΑ (Romans 8:4), is consequently the child of God, and as child becomes heir (Romans 8:14; Romans 8:17; Romans 8:23). According, therefore, as the matter is viewed from the standpoint of the human activity, which yields obedience to the divine working of the θέλειν and ἘΝΕΡΓΕῖΝ, or from that of the divine activity, which works the θέλειν and ἘΝΕΡΓΕῖΝ, we may say with equal justice, either that God accomplishes the good which He has begun in man, up to the day of Christ; or, that man brings about his own salvation. “Nos ergo volumus, sed Deus in nobis operatur et velle; nos ergo operamur, sed Deus in nobis operatur et operari,” Augustine. How wholly is it otherwise with the unregenerate in Romans 7!

The repetition by Paul of the same word, ἐνεργῶν … τὸ ἐνεργεῖν, has its ground in the encouraging design which he has of making God’s agency felt distinctly and emphatically; hence, also, he specifies the two elements of all morality, not merely the ἐνεργεῖν, but also its premiss, the ΘΈΛΕΙΝ, and keeps them apart by using ΚΑΊ twice: God is the worker in you, as of the willing, so of the working. From His working comes man’s working, just as already his willing.[126]

ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐδοκίας] for the sake of goodwill, in order to satisfy His own benignant disposition. On the causal ὑπέρ, which is not secundum, comp. Romans 15:8; Kühner, II. 1, p. 421; Winer, p. 359 [E. T. p. 480]; and on εὐδοκία, which is not, with Ewald, to be taken in a deterministic sense, comp. Php 1:15; Romans 10:1. Theodoret aptly says: ΕὐΔΟΚΊΑΝ ΔῈ ΤῸ ἈΓΑΘῸΝ ΤΟῦ ΘΕΟῦ ΠΡΟΣΗΓΌΡΕΥΣΕ ΘΈΛΗΜΑ· ΘΈΛΕΙ ΔῈ ΠΆΝΤΑς ἈΝΘΡΏΠΟΥς ΣΩΘῆΝΑΙ Κ.Τ.Λ. The explanation: “for the sake of the good pleasure, which He has in such willing and working” (Weiss), would amount to something self-evident. Hofmann erroneously makes ὑπὲρ τ. εὐδοκ. belong to ΠΆΝΤΑ ΠΟΙΕῖΤΕ, and convey the sense, that they are to do everything for the sake of the divine good pleasure, about which they must necessarily be concerned, etc. In opposition to this view, which is connected with the misunderstanding of the previous words, the fact is decisive, that τῆς εὐδοκίας only obtains its reference to God through its belonging to ὁ ἐνεργῶν κ.τ.λ.; but if it be joined with what follows, this reference must have been marked,[127] and that, on account of the emphasized position which ὑπ. τ. εὐδοκ. would have, with emphasis (as possibly by ὙΠῈΡ Τῆς ΑὐΤΟῦ ΕὐΔΟΚΊΑς).

[125] “Velle quidem, quatenus est actus voluntatis, nostrum est ex creatione: bene velle etiam nostrum est, sed quatenus volentes facti per conversionem bene volumus,” Calovius.

[126] This is God’s creative moral action in salvation, Ephesians 2:10. Comp. Thomasius, Chr. Pers. u. Werk, I. p. 287. Incorrectly, however, the Reformed theologians add: “quae prohiberi non potest.”

[127] Hofmann groundlessly compares Luke 2:14 (but see on that passage) and even Sir 15:15, where Fritzsche, Handb. p. 74 f., gives the right view.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Php 2:13. ὁ must certainly be omitted with all the best authorities. “For God is He that works,” etc. The emphasis lies on Θεός for two reasons. First, in the matter of attaining salvation they have to do not with Paul, but with God. Second, they must enter upon this momentous course not lightly, but “with fear and trembling,” for if they miss the goal it means that they have deliberately rejected the purpose of God. This explains the connecting γάρ.—ὁ ἐνεργῶν. It seems always to have the idea of effective working. In N.T. the active is invariably used of God. The middle is always intransitive. The verb has become transitive only in later Greek (cf. Krebs, Rection d. Casus, ii., 21). Many exx. occur in Justin M.—τὸ θέλειν. The first resolution in the direction of salvation takes its origin from God. So also does the ἐνεργεῖν, the carrying of this inward resolve into practical effect, the acting on the assurance that God’s promise is genuine. Cf. Ephesians 2:8, τῇ γὰρ χάριτί ἐστε σεσωσμένοι, διὰ πίστεως· καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐξ ὑμῶν, Θεοῦ τὸ δῶρον. To Paul the Divine working and the human self-determination are compatible. But “all efforts to divide the ground between God and man go astray” (Rainy, op. cit., p. 136).—ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐδοκίας. “To carry out His own gracious will.” So Thdrt[1]. (see also Gennrich, SK[2]., 1898, p. 383, n. 1). His great purpose of mercy is the salvation of men. To realise this He surrounds them with the influences of His gracious Spirit. For the word cf. Ps. Sol. 8:39, ἡμῖν καὶ τοῖς τέκνοις ἡμῶν ἡ εὐδοκία εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Conyb.-Hows. and Hfm[3]. would join ὑπὲρ τ. εὐδ. with the words following, but this would be unintelligible without αὐτοῦ. Blass boldly reads ὑπὲρ (οὗ) τ. εὐδοκίας πάντα ποι. (N.T. Gramm., p. 132). Such procedure is arbitrary. Zahn and Wohl[4]. (with Pesh. and O.L. versions) connect the words with τὸ ἐνεργ. preceding, and, comparing Romans 7:15-21, make εὐδ. = human inclination to goodness, i.e., practically equiv. to θέλειν. But this is the interpretation of a subtle exegete, which would scarcely appeal to a plain reader. The interpretation given above, connecting ὑπ. τ. εὐδ. with ὁ ἐνεργ., is thoroughly natural and has many parallels in Paul, e.g., Ephesians 1:5; Ephesians 1:9, etc. See esp[5]. SH[6]. on Romans 10:1. These verses are a rebuke to all egotism and empty boasting (see Php 2:3).

[1]hdrt. Theodoret.

[2] Studien und Kritiken.

[3] Hofmann.

[4]ohl. Wohlenberg.

[5] especially.

[6] Sanday and Headlam (Romans).

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13. For it is God &c.] Here is the reason for the “fear and trembling.” The process of “working out” is one which touches at every point the internal presence of Him before whom “the stars are not pure” (Job 25:5). Meanwhile the same fact, in its aspect of the presence of His power, is the deepest reason for strength and hope in the process; and this thought also, very possibly, is present here.

God which worketh in you] The Immanence, Indwelling, of God in His saints, in deep and sacred speciality and reality, is a main doctrine of the Gospel. The Paraclete is not only “with” but “in” them (John 14:17; and see below, on Php 4:23). By the Paraclete’s work, in giving new birth and new life, “Christ, who is our life” (Colossians 3:3), “is in them” (cp. esp. Romans 8:9-11, and see 2 Corinthians 4:10-11; 2 Corinthians 13:5; Colossians 1:27); and “in Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead” (Colossians 2:9). See further on this all-important subject Ephesians 3:17.—In the light of a passage like this we arrive at the animating truth that the “grace” which is present in the Christian is not only a power, or influence, emitted as it were from above; it is the living and eternal God Himself, present and operating at “the first springs of thought and will.”

“Worketh”:—the Greek word has a certain intensity about it, “worketh effectually.”

to will] I.e. His working produces these effects, not merely tends towards them. Effecteth in you your willing would be a fair rendering. Here, though in passing, one of the deepest mysteries of grace is touched upon. On the one hand is the will of the Christian, real, personal, and in full exercise; appealed to powerfully as such in this very passage. On the other hand, beneath it, as cause beneath result, if the will is to work in God’s way, is seen God working, God “effecting.” A true theology will recognize with equal reverence and entireness of conviction both these great parallels of truth. It will realize human responsibility with “fear and trembling”; it will adore the depths of grace with deep submission, and attribute every link in the chain of actual salvation to God alone ultimately[21].

[21] On the philosophy of the subject see some excellent suggestions in M’Cosh’s Intuitions of the Mind, Bk. iv. ch. iii.

and to do] Or, as before, and your doing, or better, your working; the verb is the same as that just above. The “will” is such as to express itself in “effectual work.”

of his good pleasure] Better, with R.V., for His good pleasure; for its sake, to carry it out. The saint, new created, enabled by grace to will and do, is all the while the implement of the purposes of God, and used for them. Cp. Ephesians 2:10 for a close and suggestive parallel in respect of this last point.

Bengel's Gnomen

Php 2:13. Ὁ Θεὸς γὰρ, for God) God alone; He is present with you even in my absence. You want nothing, only be not wanting to yourselves; comp. 2 Peter 1:5; 2 Peter 1:3. [You can do nothing of yourselves; avoid security. Some, trusting too much to their exalted condition, think that they may hold the grace of GOD on the same footing as the Israelites held the food sent down from heaven, Numbers 11:8, and therefore that it is at their own will either to struggle against it or anew to grant it admission.—V. g.]—τὸ θέλειν, to will) that you have willed salvation in my presence, and still will it.—τὸ ἐνεργεῖν, to do) even now in my absence.—ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐδοκίας, of His good pleasure) To this refer, to will; and to do, to, who worketh.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 13. - For it is God which worketh in you. "Prmsens vobis," says Bengel, "etiam absente me." Worketh (ἐνεργῶν); not the same word as "work out" (κατεργάζεσθε) in Ver. 12; acts powerfully, with energy. In you; not lnerely among you, but in the heart of each individual believer. Both to will and to do; translate, with R.V., to work; the same word as before, ἐνεργεῖν. "Nos ergo volumus, sed Deus in nobis operatur et velle: nos ergo operamur, sed Deus in nobis operatur ct operari" (Augustine, quoted by Meyer). The grace of God is alleged as a motive for earnest Christian work. The doctrines of grace and free-will are not contradictory: they may seem so to our limited understanding; but in truth they complete and snpplement one another. St. Paul does not attempt to solve the problem in theory; he bids us solve it in the life of faith (comp. 1 Corinthians 9:24. he "So run that ye may obtain;" and Romans 9:16, "It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy"). Of his good pleasure (εὐδοκίας). As the glory of God is the ultimate end (Ver. 11), so the good will of God is the first cause of our salwttiou: "God will have all men to be saved" (1 Timothy 2:4.). Philippians 2:13

Vincent's Word Studies

For it is God which worketh in you

Completing and guarding the previous statement. In you, not among you. Worketh (ἐνεργῶν). See on Mark 6:14; see on James 5:16. The verb means effectual working. In the active voice, to be at work. In the middle voice, as here (used only by James and Paul, and only of things), to display one's activity; show one's self-operative. Compare Ephesians 3:20.

To will and to do (τὸ θέλειν καὶ τὸ ἐνεργεῖν)

Lit., the willing and the doing. Both are from God, and are of one piece, so that he who wills inevitably does. The willing which is wrought by God, by its own nature and pressure, works out into action. "We will, but God works the will in us. We work, therefore, but God works the working in us" (Augustine). For to do, Rev. substitutes to work, thus preserving the harmony in the Greek between "God which worketh" and "to work."

Of His good pleasure (ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐδοκίας)

Rev., better, for His, etc. Lit., for the sake of; in order to subserve. See 1 Timothy 2:4.