PHILIPPIANS - Working Out Our Salvation

This week's focus book to read is PHILIPPIANS (NLT)


There's a passage in chapter two that has always kind of jumped out at me. At first sight, verses 12 and 13 seem to throw a curveball at us "by faith alone" kind of believers.

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, ¹³ for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Wait a minute. Work out my salvation with fear and trembling? What's there to work out, Jesus? Ahem, I seem to remember the little detail in the four gospel accounts that YOU worked out our salvation already! I mean, you died on the cross for us, right? You paid the price for our salvation, correct? It's not something we could earn on our own... we're not capable of bringing about our own salvation... are you with me so far? SALVATION AIN'T POSSIBLE APART FROM GOD... so how in the world are we supposed to "work out our salvation"? And, for that matter, why the fear and trembling? Didn't Jesus absorb the punishment for the sins of mankind on that same cross (hence, "salvaging" us from God's garbage heap)? What's to fear?


Well... I learned this amazing phrase in seminary that helps to explain this kind of situation. Yes/and. (Wait... I can hear you asking: you went to seminary for the better part of a decade to learn that?) Yep, but rest assured, I learned a couple of other tidbits too.  :-)  Anyway, yes/and. YES, our High Priest (Jesus) stepped into our world and took our place on the altar of death... shedding his priestly robes and becoming the sacrificial lamb on the cross. Yes, in so doing, he did indeed bring about our salvation. That is God's gracious act in this covenant relationship. AND, we Christians - having accepted the gift of life, now are called to fulfill our part of the bargain... by living our lives by faith, seeking to reflect the nature and character - a.k.a. love - of our Lord and Savior. As it says in Matthew 5:48 (The Message), "In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you."


Exactly... you've been given the gift of salvation... now live like it. Act like it. Believe it. Let that eternal fact saturate your soul. Work it our in your life each and every day. And, while you're at it... do it with fear and trembling. No, not the kind of fear you experience when you watch Saw IV... that's carnal fear. The kind of fear (and trembling) this passage is getting at is the kind that comes from being overwhelmed by the presence of something... or someone that make you draw back in total awe. Like if you met the President or something (hmmmm... perhaps Sarah Palin is a better example if meeting the current president wouldn't get your adrenaline pumping)! You get the idea, right? God is big, He's powerful, He's awesome, He's holy... and because of that, mere humans couldn't help but shrink in His presence. He may be GOOD, but I guarantee you... He ain't safe. He's GOD for goodness sake! If the thought of encountering Him someday (and we all will) doesn't bring about a sense of fear and trembling... then you are what the Palmists would call a fool. An Englishman might call you a bloody fool. But I would just call you very, very brave... or maybe just plain stupid.


Anyway, you gotta admit... this whole thing is a yes/and situation. You and I are saved and salvaged, brothas and sistas who embrace the cross... so let's respond to and confirm the covenant by doing what we ought... by working out our salvation with fear and trembling!