Philippians 2:12

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

Lights in the World So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence,

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

Ὥστε, ἀγαπητοί μου, καθὼς πάντοτε ὑπηκούσατε, μὴ ὡς ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ μου μόνον, ἀλλὰ νῦν πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐν τῇ ἀπουσίᾳ μου, μετὰ φόβου καὶ τρόμου τὴν ἑαυτῶν σωτηρίαν κατεργάζεσθε.

Transliteration

Therefore, agapētoi of me, as always you hypēkousate, not as in the parousia of me only, but now much more in the apousia of me, with phobou and tromou the of yourselves sōtērian katergazesthe.

Grammar Details

• *agapētoi*: vocative, masculine, plural - beloved/dear ones
• *hypēkousate*: aorist active indicative, 2nd person plural - obeyed/listened to
• *parousia*: dative, feminine, singular - presence/arrival
• *apousia*: dative, feminine, singular - absence
• *phobou*: genitive, masculine, singular - fear/reverence
• *tromou*: genitive, masculine, singular - trembling/quaking
• *sōtērian*: accusative, feminine, singular - salvation/deliverance
• *katergazesthe*: present middle imperative, 2nd person plural - work out/accomplish/achieve

Word Meanings

• *agapētoi*: beloved/dear ones/dearly loved
• *hypēkousate*: obeyed/listened to/heeded
• *parousia*: presence/arrival/coming
• *apousia*: absence/being away
• *phobou*: fear/reverence/awe
• *tromou*: trembling/quaking/fear
• *sōtērian*: salvation/deliverance/preservation
• *katergazesthe*: work out/accomplish/achieve/bring to completion

Referenced Verses

• 2 Pet 1:5-9 : 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith excellence, to excellence, knowledge; 6 to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance, godliness; 7 to godliness, brotherly affection; to brotherly affection, unselfish love. 8 For if these things are really yours and are continually increasing, they will keep you from becoming ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately. 9 But concerning the one who lacks such things– he is blind. That is to say, he is nearsighted, since he has forgotten about the cleansing of his past sins. 10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to be sure of your calling and election. For by doing this you will never stumble into sin.
• 1 Cor 15:58 : 58 So then, dear brothers and sisters, be firm. Do not be moved! Always be outstanding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
• Luke 13:23-24 : 23 Someone asked him,“Lord, will only a few be saved?” So he said to them, 24 “Exert every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.
• Phil 3:13-14 : 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have attained this. Instead I am single-minded: Forgetting the things that are behind and reaching out for the things that are ahead, 14 with this goal in mind, I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
• 1 Pet 2:11 : 11 Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to keep away from fleshly desires that do battle against the soul,
• Heb 4:11 : 11 Thus we must make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience.
• Gal 6:7-9 : 7 Do not be deceived. God will not be made a fool. For a person will reap what he sows, 8 because the person who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 9 So we must not grow weary in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not give up.
• John 6:27-29 : 27 Do not work for the food that disappears, but for the food that remains to eternal life– the food which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has put his seal of approval on him.” 28 So then they said to him,“What must we do to accomplish the deeds God requires?” 29 Jesus replied,“This is the deed God requires– to believe in the one whom he sent.”
• Rom 13:11-14 : 11 Motivation to Godly Conduct And do this because we know the time, that it is already the hour for us to awake from sleep, for our salvation is now nearer than when we became believers. 12 The night has advanced toward dawn; the day is near. So then we must lay aside the works of darkness, and put on the weapons of light. 13 Let us live decently as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in discord and jealousy. 14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to arouse its desires.
• 2 Tim 2:10 : 10 So I endure all things for the sake of those chosen by God, that they too may obtain salvation in Christ Jesus and its eternal glory.
• Heb 12:28-29 : 28 So since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us give thanks, and through this let us offer worship pleasing to God in devotion and awe. 29 For our God is indeed a devouring fire.
• Matt 11:29 : 29 Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
• Heb 5:9 : 9 And by being perfected in this way, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,
• Heb 6:10-11 : 10 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name, in having served and continuing to serve the saints. 11 But we passionately want each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of your hope until the end,
• Heb 12:1 : 1 The Lord’s Discipline Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us,
• 2 Pet 3:18 : 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the honor both now and on that eternal day.
• Eph 6:5 : 5 Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ,
• Phil 1:27 : 27 Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ so that– whether I come and see you or whether I remain absent– I should hear that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, by contending side by side for the faith of the gospel,
• Phil 1:5 : 5 because of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now.
• Phil 4:1 : 1 Christian Practices So then, my brothers and sisters, dear friends whom I long to see, my joy and crown, stand in the Lord in this way, my dear friends!
• 2 Cor 7:15 : 15 And his affection for you is much greater when he remembers the obedience of you all, how you welcomed him with fear and trembling.
• Rom 2:7 : 7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality,
• Isa 66:2 : 2 My hand made them; that is how they came to be,” says the LORD. I show special favor to the humble and contrite, who respect what I have to say.
• Ezra 10:3 : 3 Therefore let us enact a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in keeping with your counsel, my lord, and that of those who respect the commandments of our God. And let it be done according to the law.
• 1 Cor 9:20-27 : 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew to gain the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law(though I myself am not under the law) to gain those under the law. 21 To those free from the law I became like one free from the law(though I am not free from God’s law but under the law of Christ) to gain those free from the law. 22 To the weak I became weak in order to gain the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that by all means I may save some. 23 I do all these things because of the gospel, so that I can be a participant in it. 24 Do you not know that all the runners in a stadium compete, but only one receives the prize? So run to win. 25 Each competitor must exercise self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one. 26 So I do not run uncertainly or box like one who hits only air. 27 Instead I subdue my body and make it my slave, so that after preaching to others I myself will not be disqualified.
• Phil 4:15 : 15 And as you Philippians know, at the beginning of my gospel ministry, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in this matter of giving and receiving except you alone.
• 1 Thess 1:3 : 3 because we recall in the presence of our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
• Phil 1:29 : 29 For it has been granted to you not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for him,
• Heb 4:1 : 1 God’s Promised Rest Therefore we must be wary that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it.