Work out Your
Salvation with Fear and Trembling . . .
"Continue to work out your salvation
with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to
will and to act according to his good purpose." (Phil
2:12-13)
I spent the first 35
years of my leaving believing that I had to "do" something
to be saved, and that I could never "be sure" of my
salvation. All honor, glory, and praise to our
gracious Father in Heaven and His persistent Spirit who
never gave up on me, for over the course of about a year,
I slowly began to understand the truth of the gospel: That
all of my works are like filthy rags (Is. 64:6), that ALL
have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom
3:23), and "For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the
gift of God-not by
works, so that no one can boast." (Eph
2:8-10). I must say that it took a long time for me
to break out of the religious mindset that anything I
did could possible bring me any closer to salvation,
but thanks be to God, I now understand that it isn't about
anything I did or ever could do, it's
about what God already did through Christ Jesus!
But what about Phil
2:12? " . . . work out your salvation with fear and
trembling . . ." Doesn't this verse imply that
we do, indeed, have to "work out [our] salvation"?
Doesn't it lie in direct contradiction with the gospel
message? This bothered me, for after all, it had
been necessary for me to de-program myself from the idea
that "my work" had any value in my salvation. But as I
read the next vs., vs. 13, it all became clear.
I would like to
suggest that to fully appreciate the meaning of vs. 12, we
must finish the sentence: "for it is
God who
works in you to
will and
to act according
to his good purpose." (vs. 13). What does this mean?
It means that any propensity for good in us comes from
God! Any desire we may have to do His will or to act
according to His good purpose is placed there by God!
It doesn't come from any human tendency or desire.
It is only God that can place the desire in our hearts to
act godly!
Now let's go back to
vs. 12 and read it in context with vs. 13:
"Continue to work out your salvation with fear and
trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to
act according to his good purpose." We see here
that we are admonished to "work out" our salvation because
God has placed this ability in our lives! We are
told to cultivate our Salvation, because God has placed in
us the power to do what is right! We are told to
carry out to the goal our salvation because God has
created in us the ability to live a sinless life!
In other words, if
God has placed within us the power to "work out [our]
salvation", than the only thing that could possibly stop
us from doing so is ourselves!!! What is Paul really
telling us here? He's telling us to act like what we
are -- He's telling us to "act saved"! God has
already placed within each of us the power to do so.
Our responsibility is to use it! If we don't do so,
we don't "act saved", then God's work in us is goes to
waste!
Are you
saved, my friend? If not, then don't wait another
minute to have that blessed assurance that "it is by grace
you have been saved, through faith-and this not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no
one can boast." (Eph 2:8-10). Answer the Savior's
Call. To do so, just click on the following link: Click
here (http://www.answers2prayer.org/saviours_call.html)
But if you ARE
saved, then act like it! Remember, God has already
place in you the will, the desire, AND the power to live
Christ-like lives. Don't waste what God has placed
in you already! Use it! Act saved!
"Continue to work
out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God
who works in you to will and to act according to his good
purpose."
(Phil 2:12-13)
Love in Christ,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart,
Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets (
www.sermonillustrator.org/minisermons/ ), Answers2Prayer Ministries,
www.Answers2Prayer.org ,