#21 Work Out Your Salvation Text: “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; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12 – 13 NASB). Truth: Salvation is not a onetime event but a lifelong process. Commentary: When Paul was with the believers at Philippi, establishing a church there (Acts 16:19 – 40) he came to love them and they willingly obeyed his instruction. Now in his absence, Paul is drawing upon the example, given in verse 8, of the obedience of Jesus to encourage them to continue to obey his instruction. Paul’s instruction is for them to “work out [their] salvation with fear and trembling.” For some this is a point of confusion because they think of salvation as being the time when they believed the witness from God about his Son and accepted Jesus Christ into their life and were born again. However, salvation is not a onetime event. It is an event that may begin during the process of becoming acquainted with Jesus Christ and lead up to the new birth, but it doesn’t stop there. Like a child born physically, there is now the process of growth. To “work out your salvation” is reference to this growth process, which will or should continue until physical death stops the process here on earth. The process of working out your salvation is not something you do by yourself, but is something that involves God and others. Salvation implies that we are saved from the penalty of our sin and made part of a community of believers. As members of that community, we have the responsibility of learning how to be effective participants. Exercising God’s love, we are to encourage unity “by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, [and] intent on one purpose.” We are to see others as more important than ourselves and to look out for their interest in addition to ours (Phil. 2:2 – 4). God’s children are members of this community, the Church, and God has determined that he will conform them into the image of his Son (Romans 8:28 – 30) and when we need encouragement in this process he will discipline us (Hebrews 12:4 - 11) and prune us (John 15:1 – 5) as needed to accomplish his results. As God works with us and within us he gives us the will and the strength to do that which will result in bringing him pleasure. Application: In the beginning God created man to have fellowship with him and bring him pleasure as we experience the kindness of his grace. The ultimate life, according to design, is our complete surrender to God and his will. As a new creature in Christ living in a body of flesh with its desire of independence from God, gives meaning to the idea of working out your salvation. Life is like fighting a fight or running a long race. There will be times when we feel like lying down and giving up, but we must press on to the finish line. Explain how “[working] out your salvation with fear and trembling” is an integral part of your life. What struggles do you face in that process? Prayer: Father, thank you that you give both the will and the strength to go on. Encourage me to turn from my own desires and by faith accept my weakness that I would be strengthened by Christ (2 Cor. 12:9 – 10; Phil. 4:13) to live in a way that will bring pleasure to you and greater meaning and purpose to my life.
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 15:40:24 +0000