“Wherefore, my
beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more
in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is
God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure”
(Philippians 2:12-13).
Introduction
This passage of Scripture explains
the effects of saving grace in a believer’s life. Though we are saved by the
grace of God, salvation is evidenced by conduct that is righteous and godly. “For
by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift
of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we
should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10). Therefore salvation was never
meant to be a stagnant or complacent experience but instead the work of power
that transforms the believer as he grows more and more like Christ. “I am
come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly”
(John 10:10).
Working
it out
“Work out” comes from the Greek
word ‘katergazathe’ which means ‘to work to the finish’. The work that
we are engaged in is never perfectly complete until it is completely perfect.
While we do not promote ‘sinless perfection’, surely it is wrong for a
believer to be happy with imperfections in his life! We ought to aim for such
perfection as soon as we begin to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. How strange it
is then that so many accept Christ as Saviour but will not follow Him as Lord!
No one can work it out on our
behalf, nor has God promised to live the Christian life for us while we indulge
ourselves in the world. Salvation is something we receive from God and live out
personally by faith and obedience. We must be busy about the Lord’s business.
A huge section of the church are taught that once they accept Christ there is
nothing that can rob them of salvation. They are taught that they can do as they
please and God is obligated to receive them into His Holy Kingdom. To such
people being ‘born again’ is the end of the matter whereas the Bible says it
is only the beginning. Only those who “endure unto the end … shall be
saved” (Matthew 24:13). To uphold the ‘once-saved-always-saved’ notion
is to suggest that there is such a thing as halfway salvation in the plan of
God. Some ‘Calvinistic Theologians’ suggest that Paul is simply asking the
church in Philippi to work out their problems, but one has to sidestep the
obvious meaning of the text to arrive at such an awkward interpretation. These
teachers seem afraid of any mention of works being part of the Christian
experience and thus play down their necessity. Salvation must be “worked
out” through daily obedience.
“Fear and trembling”. This is
not a call to slavish terror while obeying countless rules and regulations, but
a wholesome caution not to involve ourselves in worldly practices that will make
us the enemies of God. “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that
the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a
friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). We must know the
truth and live it. “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it
not, to him it is sin” (James 4:17). The Christian life is not a bed of
roses, for trials and tribulations beset us while we travel the pathway of
holiness. “And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons
judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here
in fear” (1 Peter 1:17). Maybe one of the reason why many Christians see
no need to “work out” their “salvation with fear and trembling” is
because they do not “tremble” at God’s word (Isaiah 66:2). Let us
have that holy fear of falling short of God’s will for our lives. “Let us
therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of
you should seem to come short of it” (Hebrews 4:1).
Here the Biblical doctrine of free
will is clearly seen, for God does not “work out” our salvation for us, but
instead gives us the means to put it into action in our daily lives. Only those
who are determined to live godly have eternal life. In short “faith without
works is dead” (James 2:20) and “as the body without the spirit is
dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26). We ought to fear
and tremble at the thought denying or dishonouring the Lord in any way. “For
the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us
that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Titus 2:11-12) … “That
the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at
the appearing of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7).
Working
it in
We are called to work out what God
works in. “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord
Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting
covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you
that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory
for ever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:20-21). It is an undeniable truth
that God’s grace is at work in every true believer’s life. The word
“worketh” here is where we get the word ‘energise’ (Gk. ‘energon’).
He stirs our hearts and motives us by His Holy Spirit to obey Him and to aim for
complete salvation. It is at this point many refuse to listen to His voice. “Wherefore
(as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your
hearts” (Hebrews 3:7-8) … “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in
any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But
exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened
through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we
hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end” (Hebrews
3:12-14).
Whatever God asks us to do, He also
gives us the grace and power to perform it, but the choice to obey or not is
freely ours to make. It must break God’s heart when He sees His people
refusing to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit. “For if ye live after
the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of
the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are
the sons of God” (Romans 8:13-14). God never forces or compels us to do
what we do not want to. Irresistible grace is a doctrine found elsewhere rather
than in Scripture. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but
according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing
of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our
Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to
the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will
that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be
careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men”
(Titus 3:5-8). The work of God’s grace in us is always limited by our lack of
faithfulness and cooperation. The desire and the action is ours. “If ye
then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ
sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on
things on the earth” (Colossians 3:1-2) … “But the anointing which
ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you:
but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no
lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2:27).
Conclusion
It should be a comfort to us to know
that God is concerned about us and wants to be active in every aspect of our
lives. This is the way we can truly glorify and honour Him. What would happen if
Christians really did allow Jesus to be the “author and finisher” of
their faith (Hebrews 12:2)? Not only would their own lives be transformed but
they would also be an example for others. “Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power” (Psalm 110:3) … “Wherefore also we pray
always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil
all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power”
(2 Thessalonians 1:11).
