Philippians 2:12-13
Work Out Your Salvation (Part 1)
Last week we looked into verses 9-11 to see the exaltation of Jesus Christ. He was super exalted to the highest place, and given the name above every other name. Jesus is above all, and, He will be acknowledged by all: every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Remember, Paul is giving this portrait of Jesus Christ in verses 6-11 as an illustration for our Christian living. This magnificent picture of Jesus Christ is couched between two passages of instruction on how to behave worthily of the gospel within the Church - within the community of believers; Christian to Christian. Verses 1-4 were Paul’s exhortation’s on Christian humility. And now, in verses 12-18, we see Paul giving instruction on Christian obedience.
The link between these passages is in verse 8. “Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!” Paul uses verse 8 as a link, or a bridge, to connect his teachings on Christian humility in verses 1-4 with his instructions on Christian obedience in verses 12-18. This marvelous portrait of Christ in verses 6-11 include in it the humility and obedience that is the model and example to be imitated by every Christian. Without proper Christian humility, proper Christian obedience is impossible. That’s why Paul gives commands first on humility, and then his commands on obedience.
How many of you have ever made a New Year’s resolution to get into shape, and, as a result, joined a gym? How many of you have joined the gym, and, long before your membership expired, your motivation expired and you quit going? Many times our membership lasts longer than our motivation. I know of someone who became a member of the new Spring Lake H.S aquatic center. They were telling me about all the things there that were available to members. After they bought their membership they began to use all the benefits: the weight room, the cardio bikes and the track, the pool, the lazy river, the sauna and the hot tub. They even had neat things like an infrared board by the competition swimming pool that gave off heat so that swimmers could stand next to it to stay warm in between swims, and the bathing suit dryer that dries swimsuits in like 15 seconds, and all sorts of other little benefits. All of these things were theirs to make full use of as members. Once they became a member, all these benefits were theirs to put to use.
Our passage this morning describes for Christians what it is to put to use our membership in the family of God. Paul gives us instruction for putting our salvation to use. Now, this passage can and has caused some confusion for people. It did me when I first read it. But, with some study today, we can have a clear understanding of what Paul meant. Let’s read it together. Paul says, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed - not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence - continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling”.
“Continue to work out your salvation.” We might read this and think that Paul is perhaps saying that we must earn our salvation; that we must somehow work for and accomplish our salvation. But, this is not what he is saying. If Paul were saying this then he would be contradicting the message of his entire ministry. He would be throwing away everything he has worked and suffered for to communicate. Salvation is not by works. “Continue to work out your salvation” does not mean a man can save himself. This is not what Paul is saying here.
***I want to mention this: that when we come to a passage in the Bible that seems to be in conflict with other parts of the Bible, not to worry. There are no contradictions in the Bible, only what are called “apparent contradictions.“ An apparent contradiction is a passage that looks at first glance like it is a contradiction, but, if we take a closer look, and study the passage we see that it is in fact supportive of everything else in Scripture.
Apparent contradictions are just that: apparent; at first glance they seem to be confusing, but, they require a second look to find the wonderful treasure stored in them. Only the person who doesn’t take the time to investigate and study will begin to have shades of doubt regarding the trustworthiness of the Bible.
Remember, this is the Word of God. The Word of God is completely congruous, harmonious and in agreement with itself. That is because God is the Source of the Bible, and God is one. He Himself is not divided or conflicted within Himself. He is not in contradiction with Himself. So, when His Spirit inspired those 40 men to write the Bible and He carried them along in His power and influence (2 Tim. 3:16; 1 Pet. 1:11-12; 2 Pet. 1:20-21), the product of those men would be their writings, and, what they say in their writings would be completely harmonious with each other because the same harmonious Source was at work in each of them. That Source is God, and God is perfectly one.
The point of this is that the Bible is true and trustworthy. The whole Bible, and every single word are inspired, authoritative, and trustworthy because God is the source.
This is the first point on paper for any good church worth attending. The first point on our statement of faith is what we believe about the Bible. Here is what the first point on our statement here at EFC says:
We believe the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of man, and the divine and final authority for all Christian faith and life
Many people outside the church attack the Bible for sure, but, there is an erosion, a subtle undermining of the Word of God happening within the Church in America today. People question things like whether the Bible is the inspired Word of God and they relegate it to a product of man and not God. They also question whether it is without error, or, whether it is the final authority for life and living; whether some parts are literal and others are myths and so on.
But the Bible is true entirely. Each word is inspired by God and penned by the Biblical authors. The Holy Spirit super-intended every word and therefore, the communication God has made with the world is reliable, trustworthy, accurate, and dependable. There is no reason to doubt or be skeptical.
Only the person who refuses to investigate and who is hard-hearted will not draw this conclusion. I have many times been fascinated in conversations with people who will raise every objection to the reliability of the Scriptures, and at every point when I answer them and invite them to find out more by investigating their objection, they have absolutely no interest.
So many people want any and every excuse not to believe the Bible, and they don’t want to risk taking any time to follow up and see if their objections hold water because they either don’t care, or it’s not really what they need, or, they’re afraid they will be wrong. Hard hearted. There are only apparent contradictions, not, actual contradictions.
So, back to our verse. Paul is not now in verse 12 demolishing everything he has been preaching in his ministry by saying we must earn salvation.
He is saying to work outward FROM your salvation that you have ALREADY received. Remember these are believers he is talking to. When you‘re reading your bible it is important to know who the author is writing to so as to help understand the context of the book. Paul is talking to believers - he addresses them as believers and not as unbelievers. So, he’s not telling them how to earn their salvation - they already have it! Instead, he is urging them to put it to use - put it into practice. In other words, Salvation is the starting point and not the finish line. You’ve already received your membership, now, do what a member is supposed to do - work out! You‘ve already received salvation, now do what a saved person is supposed to do - live worthily of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
So many people are deluded into thinking salvation is only a get-out-of-jail free card and a license to go on sinning. The complete saving work of God includes far more than “accepting Jesus.”
It started with the wooing of your heart by His holy Spirit, then the opening of your eyes and ears to hear the gospel, opening your mind to understand, convicting your heart that you’re guilty of sin, and that Christ is your only hope of righteousness, opening your heart to receive the gospel, giving you the ability to accept by faith His Son Jesus Christ and then putting the Holy Spirit within your very body as a deposit guaranteeing His return, and so then the process of transforming you into the likeness of Christ more and more as time goes on and on until that day when Christ appears and God’s perfecting work is accomplished in you and you are made perfect in Christ.
You are saved - you are positioned in Christ and saved from the penalty of your sins - that is established. But, the process of undoing and unraveling the chains of the power of sin in your life and surrendering more and more of your behavior and thinking and speech to the power of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God goes on until you are dead. Paul says in chapter 3, “Not that I have already obtained all this or have already been made perfect…” Paul knew he was saved from the penalty of sin, but, he knew full well too that the transforming process of his character into the likeness of Christ’s character was ongoing and unfinished. He was being perfected, but, was not yet perfect.
If you have “accepted Christ” but in no way have been changed by your salvation then who are you? What salvation did you accept? Paul is confident in chapter 1 verse 6 that God began a good work in the believers, that He is still at work, and that He will carry it on all the way until Jesus Christ returns. Is your salvation being worked out, or, do you have a “membership” but are way out of shape? Do you have all the rights to using the gym but are in the same shape now as you were before you got it? Do you have salvation but in no way look like you’re a person who has been saved by the power and grace of Jesus Christ?
Let me be more direct: Are you growing in godliness from the God-given salvation you’ve received, or, are you still remaining in your worldly ways, un-affected by your new position in Christ and God‘s grace? Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:10, “But, by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them - yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” God’s grace effects us. Our salvation that we’ve received changes us. Again, that is why Paul began chapter two with an appeal to their relationship with the Lord before giving them instructions on right behavior, “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, any comfort from His love, any fellowship with the Spirit, any tenderness and compassion … then do these things ….” Our relationship with the Lord - our salvation - is the basis for our forward progress and maturing in Christ-likeness. Work out your salvation means to operate and function and behave and talk and think and live up to the high calling you have received. Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:12, “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called…” Take hold. Unpack it. Put it to use. Dig out the riches of it so that in your living you will have the profit of godliness and holiness.
It’s important to note that Paul wants them to “continue” to work out their salvation. Work out your salvation in the Greek is what is called a “present tense imperative”. Imperatives are commands - “Do this”. Present tense means that we are to always be doing this command, meaning, there is never a time when we are not to be doing it. We are to always to be working out our salvation. Continue to be obedient as you have always been obedient.
Notice too that the phrase “work out your salvation” is synonymous with “obedience” in the verse. “…as you have always OBEYED” he says. They have been obedient up until this point. They’ve been carrying out faithfully all the instructions Paul has given them; they’ve been obedient to the commands and teachings of Paul and the Scriptures; they’ve wholeheartedly devoted themselves to godly living in their new life in Christ - in their position of salvation. He’s talking about their great track record of obedience. Then he says, “as you have always obeyed…CONTINUE to work out your salvation”. What have they always done? Been obedient. What does he say to do? CONTINUE that which you’ve always done - keep on working out your salvation, keep on being obedient. You can replace the phrase “work out your salvation” with the word “obedient”. Continue to be obedient as you have always been.
So, working out your salvation simply means to be obedient. Obedience comes from salvation, salvation does not come from obedience. It does not mean to work for your salvation.
How do we put our salvation to work? How do we work out our salvation? I want to take this week and next week to work our way through verses 12-18 to help us understand what Paul is saying about working out our salvation. There are 6 principles for us: Revere, Rely, Refrain, Recognize, Reach out, and Run. We will do the first 2 this week and finish next.
First of all, to work out our salvation we need to Revere God. Look at verse 12, “Therefore my dear friends, as you have always obeyed - not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence - continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.“ We need to work out our salvation with an attitude and emotion of fear and trembling before God. Does this mean I am to be scared of Him? Does this mean I am to live in constant terror of Him? Yes and no. For the believer, we do not live in fear of God the way the non-believer should. People have the attitude that God will strike them with lightning any moment, or, that He is the big bearded cop with his arms crossed he’s going to judge them and cast them away and punish them.
This is not the fear and trembling of the believer. As Christians, we don’t fear God actually punishing us - because He won’t. He has punished Christ for our sins. Instead we fear His ability to punish us. In other words, as we grow in our knowledge of who God is we come to know that awesome and unmatched power of His that could have punished us. We are helpless before Him and we have cast ourselves at His mercy and He has had mercy on us. So, there is the fear and trembling of being in the presence of the all-powerful One who spoke everything into existence, and knowing that my life is utterly dependant on His mercy and love.
And that’s just it, knowing that I am a sinner, and that this holy God has loved me by substituting Jesus Christ on the cross in my place, and punishing him instead of me for my sins, makes me love and respect Him. I stand in awe of this Great God all the more because He would love me enough to save me.
Listen: This fear and trembling is not being scared of punishment. It is deep reverence and deep awe. It is deep and sincere honor for the One who considered me while I was in my sin …. and loved me. It’s the kind of fear that makes us mindful of Him in all our ways. It’s the kind of reverent fear that causes us to stop and consider whether we are pleasing Him in our ways, or, whether we are displeasing Him. Out of an awe-filled love and respect for God, we seek to make Him pleased with our ways. That is fearing Him.
(Psalm 147:11, “the LORD delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in his unfailing love”.)
It’s important to mention here too that without this kind of fear there is no way to grow wise. Proverbs begins with these words, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but, fools despise wisdom and discipline.” The quickest and easiest way to be considered a fool according to the Bible is to not fear God. Fools hate wisdom, and, fools don’t fear the Lord. The word “fool” actually means “one who is morally deficient.” A fool has an extremely low “moral IQ”. They are lacking. They are missing some serious hardware. They are deficient.
On the other hand, to fear the Lord is to be morally sufficient. To say it another way, you will have all you need to begin attaining wisdom and discipline (… add Proverbs 1:2-6 here) . This by the way is the list of benefits in the first 7 verses of chapter 1 in the book of Proverbs.
But, there is no wisdom without the fear and trembling of God. The first way to work out your salvation and put the fullness of it’s riches to use, is to revere God. Revere Him in fear and trembling because of His greatness.
Secondly, we are to rely on God. Rely on God. Look at verse 13. “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” God began the work, God continues the work and God will finish the work. Paul began his letter to the Philippians you’ll remember, with this teaching when he said in chapter 1 verse 6, “[I am] confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” There is the Work in Progress here. All the raw materials have been given, now, the Father is continuing His transforming work in us for us to transfer it out of us. In other words, what God works in, we are to work out.
***God put His Holy Spirit in us to do work in us. John 14:26 says that the Holy Spirit teaches us all things and reminds us of Jesus’ words. In chapter 16 God’s Spirit convicts us and guides us into truth. In Romans 8 the Holy Spirit’s work in us is to lead us away from deeds that lead to death and He confirms us as belonging to Christ and He confirms us as sons of God; He also gives life to our mortal bodies. In 1 Corinthians 13, the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual gifts. In Ephesians 1 He seals us and acts as a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance; and in chapter 3 He strengthens us in our inner-being. God, by His Spirit, is at work in us.
There are several things in this verse I want to highlight: our will is affected by God, and, our actions are affected by God.
I love the dictionaries definition of “will”. It says, “the power of making a reasoned choice or of controlling one’s own actions. Determination.” We have power, it says, to reason, to choose, and to determine as human beings. It is within our ability to evaluate and to reason in order to make a choice concerning ourselves. Here is the thing though, an unbeliever reasons from His own view - a faulty view. His view of God is wrong because He does not believe in Christ Jesus, and he does not have the Spirit of God to teach Him and to lead Him. His reasoning and therefore his choices will be based in the worldly values he knows.
When God saves that man, He is always at work in him to impact, effect, to weigh in on, to change the man’s ability to reason so that the man now reasons out of his knowledge of God. The man’s starting point for making decisions is what he knows to be true of God. Without the knowledge of God, a man cannot reason from that knowledge, and, therefore HE-HAS-NOT the power to make choices that please God.
Where does knowledge begin? The FEAR OF THE LORD is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom. The beginning of right living begins with right knowledge of God. Here we are again at the concept that right doctrine is absolutely indispensable for right conduct. We must have truth told in order to have correct conduct.
Where is that Pastor? Right here in our passage! Paul spends 7 verses telling us the truth of Jesus Christ’s identity, accomplishment, and position all for the purpose of helping us live worthily of that truth! Our ‘will’ affects our behavior and our will is affected by the truth we know. Paul says this in chapter 3 verse 16, “Only let us live up to what we have already attained“. Live up to what you know. Or, live out what you know. Or, better yet, work out what you know - work out your salvation! God is at work in us to will and act according to His good purposes.
Let’s stop here for today and pick up at verse 14 next week. Remember, we are studying Paul’s words to see what it means to work out our salvation - NOT work for salvation, but work from it. We saw the first two principles this week in verses 12 and 13: Revere God, and Rely on God. Next week we’ll move into the rest of this passage and find more on working out our salvation as believers.
Work Out Your Salvation (Part 1)
Last week we looked into verses 9-11 to see the exaltation of Jesus Christ. He was super exalted to the highest place, and given the name above every other name. Jesus is above all, and, He will be acknowledged by all: every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Remember, Paul is giving this portrait of Jesus Christ in verses 6-11 as an illustration for our Christian living. This magnificent picture of Jesus Christ is couched between two passages of instruction on how to behave worthily of the gospel within the Church - within the community of believers; Christian to Christian. Verses 1-4 were Paul’s exhortation’s on Christian humility. And now, in verses 12-18, we see Paul giving instruction on Christian obedience.
The link between these passages is in verse 8. “Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!” Paul uses verse 8 as a link, or a bridge, to connect his teachings on Christian humility in verses 1-4 with his instructions on Christian obedience in verses 12-18. This marvelous portrait of Christ in verses 6-11 include in it the humility and obedience that is the model and example to be imitated by every Christian. Without proper Christian humility, proper Christian obedience is impossible. That’s why Paul gives commands first on humility, and then his commands on obedience.
How many of you have ever made a New Year’s resolution to get into shape, and, as a result, joined a gym? How many of you have joined the gym, and, long before your membership expired, your motivation expired and you quit going? Many times our membership lasts longer than our motivation. I know of someone who became a member of the new Spring Lake H.S aquatic center. They were telling me about all the things there that were available to members. After they bought their membership they began to use all the benefits: the weight room, the cardio bikes and the track, the pool, the lazy river, the sauna and the hot tub. They even had neat things like an infrared board by the competition swimming pool that gave off heat so that swimmers could stand next to it to stay warm in between swims, and the bathing suit dryer that dries swimsuits in like 15 seconds, and all sorts of other little benefits. All of these things were theirs to make full use of as members. Once they became a member, all these benefits were theirs to put to use.
Our passage this morning describes for Christians what it is to put to use our membership in the family of God. Paul gives us instruction for putting our salvation to use. Now, this passage can and has caused some confusion for people. It did me when I first read it. But, with some study today, we can have a clear understanding of what Paul meant. Let’s read it together. Paul says, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed - not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence - continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling”.
“Continue to work out your salvation.” We might read this and think that Paul is perhaps saying that we must earn our salvation; that we must somehow work for and accomplish our salvation. But, this is not what he is saying. If Paul were saying this then he would be contradicting the message of his entire ministry. He would be throwing away everything he has worked and suffered for to communicate. Salvation is not by works. “Continue to work out your salvation” does not mean a man can save himself. This is not what Paul is saying here.
***I want to mention this: that when we come to a passage in the Bible that seems to be in conflict with other parts of the Bible, not to worry. There are no contradictions in the Bible, only what are called “apparent contradictions.“ An apparent contradiction is a passage that looks at first glance like it is a contradiction, but, if we take a closer look, and study the passage we see that it is in fact supportive of everything else in Scripture.
Apparent contradictions are just that: apparent; at first glance they seem to be confusing, but, they require a second look to find the wonderful treasure stored in them. Only the person who doesn’t take the time to investigate and study will begin to have shades of doubt regarding the trustworthiness of the Bible.
Remember, this is the Word of God. The Word of God is completely congruous, harmonious and in agreement with itself. That is because God is the Source of the Bible, and God is one. He Himself is not divided or conflicted within Himself. He is not in contradiction with Himself. So, when His Spirit inspired those 40 men to write the Bible and He carried them along in His power and influence (2 Tim. 3:16; 1 Pet. 1:11-12; 2 Pet. 1:20-21), the product of those men would be their writings, and, what they say in their writings would be completely harmonious with each other because the same harmonious Source was at work in each of them. That Source is God, and God is perfectly one.
The point of this is that the Bible is true and trustworthy. The whole Bible, and every single word are inspired, authoritative, and trustworthy because God is the source.
This is the first point on paper for any good church worth attending. The first point on our statement of faith is what we believe about the Bible. Here is what the first point on our statement here at EFC says:
We believe the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of man, and the divine and final authority for all Christian faith and life
Many people outside the church attack the Bible for sure, but, there is an erosion, a subtle undermining of the Word of God happening within the Church in America today. People question things like whether the Bible is the inspired Word of God and they relegate it to a product of man and not God. They also question whether it is without error, or, whether it is the final authority for life and living; whether some parts are literal and others are myths and so on.
But the Bible is true entirely. Each word is inspired by God and penned by the Biblical authors. The Holy Spirit super-intended every word and therefore, the communication God has made with the world is reliable, trustworthy, accurate, and dependable. There is no reason to doubt or be skeptical.
Only the person who refuses to investigate and who is hard-hearted will not draw this conclusion. I have many times been fascinated in conversations with people who will raise every objection to the reliability of the Scriptures, and at every point when I answer them and invite them to find out more by investigating their objection, they have absolutely no interest.
So many people want any and every excuse not to believe the Bible, and they don’t want to risk taking any time to follow up and see if their objections hold water because they either don’t care, or it’s not really what they need, or, they’re afraid they will be wrong. Hard hearted. There are only apparent contradictions, not, actual contradictions.
So, back to our verse. Paul is not now in verse 12 demolishing everything he has been preaching in his ministry by saying we must earn salvation.
He is saying to work outward FROM your salvation that you have ALREADY received. Remember these are believers he is talking to. When you‘re reading your bible it is important to know who the author is writing to so as to help understand the context of the book. Paul is talking to believers - he addresses them as believers and not as unbelievers. So, he’s not telling them how to earn their salvation - they already have it! Instead, he is urging them to put it to use - put it into practice. In other words, Salvation is the starting point and not the finish line. You’ve already received your membership, now, do what a member is supposed to do - work out! You‘ve already received salvation, now do what a saved person is supposed to do - live worthily of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
So many people are deluded into thinking salvation is only a get-out-of-jail free card and a license to go on sinning. The complete saving work of God includes far more than “accepting Jesus.”
It started with the wooing of your heart by His holy Spirit, then the opening of your eyes and ears to hear the gospel, opening your mind to understand, convicting your heart that you’re guilty of sin, and that Christ is your only hope of righteousness, opening your heart to receive the gospel, giving you the ability to accept by faith His Son Jesus Christ and then putting the Holy Spirit within your very body as a deposit guaranteeing His return, and so then the process of transforming you into the likeness of Christ more and more as time goes on and on until that day when Christ appears and God’s perfecting work is accomplished in you and you are made perfect in Christ.
You are saved - you are positioned in Christ and saved from the penalty of your sins - that is established. But, the process of undoing and unraveling the chains of the power of sin in your life and surrendering more and more of your behavior and thinking and speech to the power of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God goes on until you are dead. Paul says in chapter 3, “Not that I have already obtained all this or have already been made perfect…” Paul knew he was saved from the penalty of sin, but, he knew full well too that the transforming process of his character into the likeness of Christ’s character was ongoing and unfinished. He was being perfected, but, was not yet perfect.
If you have “accepted Christ” but in no way have been changed by your salvation then who are you? What salvation did you accept? Paul is confident in chapter 1 verse 6 that God began a good work in the believers, that He is still at work, and that He will carry it on all the way until Jesus Christ returns. Is your salvation being worked out, or, do you have a “membership” but are way out of shape? Do you have all the rights to using the gym but are in the same shape now as you were before you got it? Do you have salvation but in no way look like you’re a person who has been saved by the power and grace of Jesus Christ?
Let me be more direct: Are you growing in godliness from the God-given salvation you’ve received, or, are you still remaining in your worldly ways, un-affected by your new position in Christ and God‘s grace? Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:10, “But, by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them - yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” God’s grace effects us. Our salvation that we’ve received changes us. Again, that is why Paul began chapter two with an appeal to their relationship with the Lord before giving them instructions on right behavior, “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, any comfort from His love, any fellowship with the Spirit, any tenderness and compassion … then do these things ….” Our relationship with the Lord - our salvation - is the basis for our forward progress and maturing in Christ-likeness. Work out your salvation means to operate and function and behave and talk and think and live up to the high calling you have received. Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:12, “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called…” Take hold. Unpack it. Put it to use. Dig out the riches of it so that in your living you will have the profit of godliness and holiness.
It’s important to note that Paul wants them to “continue” to work out their salvation. Work out your salvation in the Greek is what is called a “present tense imperative”. Imperatives are commands - “Do this”. Present tense means that we are to always be doing this command, meaning, there is never a time when we are not to be doing it. We are to always to be working out our salvation. Continue to be obedient as you have always been obedient.
Notice too that the phrase “work out your salvation” is synonymous with “obedience” in the verse. “…as you have always OBEYED” he says. They have been obedient up until this point. They’ve been carrying out faithfully all the instructions Paul has given them; they’ve been obedient to the commands and teachings of Paul and the Scriptures; they’ve wholeheartedly devoted themselves to godly living in their new life in Christ - in their position of salvation. He’s talking about their great track record of obedience. Then he says, “as you have always obeyed…CONTINUE to work out your salvation”. What have they always done? Been obedient. What does he say to do? CONTINUE that which you’ve always done - keep on working out your salvation, keep on being obedient. You can replace the phrase “work out your salvation” with the word “obedient”. Continue to be obedient as you have always been.
So, working out your salvation simply means to be obedient. Obedience comes from salvation, salvation does not come from obedience. It does not mean to work for your salvation.
How do we put our salvation to work? How do we work out our salvation? I want to take this week and next week to work our way through verses 12-18 to help us understand what Paul is saying about working out our salvation. There are 6 principles for us: Revere, Rely, Refrain, Recognize, Reach out, and Run. We will do the first 2 this week and finish next.
First of all, to work out our salvation we need to Revere God. Look at verse 12, “Therefore my dear friends, as you have always obeyed - not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence - continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.“ We need to work out our salvation with an attitude and emotion of fear and trembling before God. Does this mean I am to be scared of Him? Does this mean I am to live in constant terror of Him? Yes and no. For the believer, we do not live in fear of God the way the non-believer should. People have the attitude that God will strike them with lightning any moment, or, that He is the big bearded cop with his arms crossed he’s going to judge them and cast them away and punish them.
This is not the fear and trembling of the believer. As Christians, we don’t fear God actually punishing us - because He won’t. He has punished Christ for our sins. Instead we fear His ability to punish us. In other words, as we grow in our knowledge of who God is we come to know that awesome and unmatched power of His that could have punished us. We are helpless before Him and we have cast ourselves at His mercy and He has had mercy on us. So, there is the fear and trembling of being in the presence of the all-powerful One who spoke everything into existence, and knowing that my life is utterly dependant on His mercy and love.
And that’s just it, knowing that I am a sinner, and that this holy God has loved me by substituting Jesus Christ on the cross in my place, and punishing him instead of me for my sins, makes me love and respect Him. I stand in awe of this Great God all the more because He would love me enough to save me.
Listen: This fear and trembling is not being scared of punishment. It is deep reverence and deep awe. It is deep and sincere honor for the One who considered me while I was in my sin …. and loved me. It’s the kind of fear that makes us mindful of Him in all our ways. It’s the kind of reverent fear that causes us to stop and consider whether we are pleasing Him in our ways, or, whether we are displeasing Him. Out of an awe-filled love and respect for God, we seek to make Him pleased with our ways. That is fearing Him.
(Psalm 147:11, “the LORD delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in his unfailing love”.)
It’s important to mention here too that without this kind of fear there is no way to grow wise. Proverbs begins with these words, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but, fools despise wisdom and discipline.” The quickest and easiest way to be considered a fool according to the Bible is to not fear God. Fools hate wisdom, and, fools don’t fear the Lord. The word “fool” actually means “one who is morally deficient.” A fool has an extremely low “moral IQ”. They are lacking. They are missing some serious hardware. They are deficient.
On the other hand, to fear the Lord is to be morally sufficient. To say it another way, you will have all you need to begin attaining wisdom and discipline (… add Proverbs 1:2-6 here) . This by the way is the list of benefits in the first 7 verses of chapter 1 in the book of Proverbs.
But, there is no wisdom without the fear and trembling of God. The first way to work out your salvation and put the fullness of it’s riches to use, is to revere God. Revere Him in fear and trembling because of His greatness.
Secondly, we are to rely on God. Rely on God. Look at verse 13. “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” God began the work, God continues the work and God will finish the work. Paul began his letter to the Philippians you’ll remember, with this teaching when he said in chapter 1 verse 6, “[I am] confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” There is the Work in Progress here. All the raw materials have been given, now, the Father is continuing His transforming work in us for us to transfer it out of us. In other words, what God works in, we are to work out.
***God put His Holy Spirit in us to do work in us. John 14:26 says that the Holy Spirit teaches us all things and reminds us of Jesus’ words. In chapter 16 God’s Spirit convicts us and guides us into truth. In Romans 8 the Holy Spirit’s work in us is to lead us away from deeds that lead to death and He confirms us as belonging to Christ and He confirms us as sons of God; He also gives life to our mortal bodies. In 1 Corinthians 13, the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual gifts. In Ephesians 1 He seals us and acts as a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance; and in chapter 3 He strengthens us in our inner-being. God, by His Spirit, is at work in us.
There are several things in this verse I want to highlight: our will is affected by God, and, our actions are affected by God.
I love the dictionaries definition of “will”. It says, “the power of making a reasoned choice or of controlling one’s own actions. Determination.” We have power, it says, to reason, to choose, and to determine as human beings. It is within our ability to evaluate and to reason in order to make a choice concerning ourselves. Here is the thing though, an unbeliever reasons from His own view - a faulty view. His view of God is wrong because He does not believe in Christ Jesus, and he does not have the Spirit of God to teach Him and to lead Him. His reasoning and therefore his choices will be based in the worldly values he knows.
When God saves that man, He is always at work in him to impact, effect, to weigh in on, to change the man’s ability to reason so that the man now reasons out of his knowledge of God. The man’s starting point for making decisions is what he knows to be true of God. Without the knowledge of God, a man cannot reason from that knowledge, and, therefore HE-HAS-NOT the power to make choices that please God.
Where does knowledge begin? The FEAR OF THE LORD is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom. The beginning of right living begins with right knowledge of God. Here we are again at the concept that right doctrine is absolutely indispensable for right conduct. We must have truth told in order to have correct conduct.
Where is that Pastor? Right here in our passage! Paul spends 7 verses telling us the truth of Jesus Christ’s identity, accomplishment, and position all for the purpose of helping us live worthily of that truth! Our ‘will’ affects our behavior and our will is affected by the truth we know. Paul says this in chapter 3 verse 16, “Only let us live up to what we have already attained“. Live up to what you know. Or, live out what you know. Or, better yet, work out what you know - work out your salvation! God is at work in us to will and act according to His good purposes.
Let’s stop here for today and pick up at verse 14 next week. Remember, we are studying Paul’s words to see what it means to work out our salvation - NOT work for salvation, but work from it. We saw the first two principles this week in verses 12 and 13: Revere God, and Rely on God. Next week we’ll move into the rest of this passage and find more on working out our salvation as believers.
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