Work it Out

So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose.-Philippians 2:12-13

I have been mediating on Philippians 2:12-13 in my quiet time these past two weeks and I wanted to share a few thoughts. 

To understand what Paul is talking about in Philippians 2:12-13 we must understand what he is NOT teaching. He is not teaching we obtain salvation through our works. He is not saying that Christ's death on the cross was only sufficient to make it possible to obtain salvation and through infant baptism and our hard work we will see Heaven. If he were teaching salvation by our works than he would undermine his own statements in Ephesians 2 & Philippians 3 as well as countless other places including Jesus's very own words. If he is NOT teaching salvation by works than what IS he teaching? When Paul uses the word salvation in this context he is referring to sanctification. The word salvation in this context means progressively coming to experience all of the aspects and blessings of knowing Christ. To put it another way salvation in this context means the process by which we are molded into the image of Christ. 

As Christians we are to be actively involved in our sanctification. There is much work to be done as a Christian. Depending on your age when you became a Christian there is a lot of bad theology, philosophy and practice which has been taught to you. As a Christian we must go to work renewing our mind, taking every thought captive and making WAR on our sin. We are not passive in our sanctification but active. We work out our salvation by being disciplined to read our Bible, pray, and evangelize. We work out our salvation through involvement in a local church; no longer sitting in a pew but rolling up our sleeves and becoming involved through service. We work out our salvation by allowing no unwholesome talk to come out of our mouth, we aren't involved in sexual immorality, we are kind and compassionate, forgiving one another just as God in Christ forgave us. We work out our salvation by making WAR on our sin. We go to war attacking those areas of our lives which we have surrendered to the enemy. Most Christian murmur about their imperfections and failings; we must no longer murmur but make WAR! John Owen said it best, "be killing sin or sin will be killing you."

If Philippians 2:12 was the only verse I meditated on it would be easy to become discouraged or puffed up. I shutter to think of the number of times I have failed to work out my salvation. I shutter to think of the number of times I have been passive in my sanctification and active in my sin. Thankfully, the chapter does not stop at verse 12, it continues to verse 13. For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose. As Christians we must remember that beneath our working and willing is God's working and willing. God hasn't asked you to do anything which He hasn't given you the ability to accomplish! As Christians we rejoice in God's empowering presence; the Holy Spirit. At the moment of your salvation the Holy Spirit came to dwell within you and God imputed your unrighteousness to Christ and imputed Christ's righteousness to you. We now have the ability to say "NO" to sin, and "YES" to God. God gives to us the ability and the desire to read His word, spend time with Him, and serve others. Every desire to work out and be active in our sanctification comes from God and every desire to be lazy and  passive in our sanctification comes from us. I repeat, God hasn't asked you to do anything which He hasn't given you the ability to accomplish. In the end it's all about God. God saved you. God choose you. God pursued you. God regenerated you. God opened you eyes. God gave you His Spirit. God took out the heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh. God works in you both to desire and to work out His good purpose. God will not lose one of His elect. God will continue to mold you into the image of Christ until the day you stand before Him. 

In conclusion, we are to work out our salvation. We work out our salvation through bible study, prayer, making war on our sin, etc. In the midst of our working we understand and take heart that underneath our working is God's. We are encouraged knowing that God hasn't asked us to do anything which He hasn't given us the ability to accomplish. He who saved us by grace and not works will progressively mold us into the image of Christ by His grace and not our works.