Continue to work Out Your Salvation...

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

Philippians 2:12-13


People who love someone act in that person's best interests because they want to not because they have to. Paul calls the believers in the city of Philippi to obey God the Father's will as an everyday lifestyle. Not because someone like Paul is looking over their shoulder but because they are in love with their Savior and are eager to serve Him. Do we love Christ? Then we don't need anyone policing us to make sure we live for Him. It is enough to know that he gave his all for us. Our love for him makes me want to give my all for him.

But do I? Do you? Often I am not sure that I live out my faith the way Paul is speaking of.

Lord, What do I do? What do we do?

Paul says, "Continue to work out your salvation."

Hold on there, Paul! I thought we were to trust God? That sounds a bit "works" oriented. A bit legalistic doesn't it? Not at all.

Paul says, "Continue" to work out your salvation.The word "continue" means an activity that has a starting point and which is ongoing. That is what unpacking our salvation is like. It is not just a one time event. It begins with an initial encounter and is meant to continue on. To percolate through and penetrate our whole lives with a new reality that gets more real to us the more we live in it. Salvation does not just apply to eternity. It applies to all of Life. To every situation. We are called to put our eternal souls in the hands of the Savior, Jesus. We are also called to live every moment of every day in His strength and by the power of His Spirit. The word "salvation" has an interesting synonym - "deliverance" which means "to be set free from something that binds us".

To work out your salvation means to apply that salvation to every situation of life. To live "delivered" from lostness and aloneness. Because of Christ's gift of the cross, you and I are not alone. Our Savior is with us. And by his presence and power we are called to serve those he loves in every situation He takes us into. As we increasingly call upon Jesus' saving power and live in His Spirit's presence on a daily basis, we become increasingly free to sense his love for others and to experience the gratitude that this kind of freedom brings. We begin to want others to experience what we experience.

Jesus didn't just save his disciples, he served His disciples. But he didn't serve them in the way we are inclined to view "serving" someone. He certainly didn't park them on recliners somewhere and shower them with grapes and other dainties while they had their feet massaged. Jesus' disciples went through some real stretching! He led them into one situation after another where they were helpless and taught them to trust him there. He knew that the human tendency is to rely on our own strength when we get into trouble. He also knew that the only way to teach reliance on God was to take his disciples into places where only the mercy and power of God could bring them through. Places where they had to practice turning to him in trust for salvation and deliverance from whatever threatened to overwhelm them.

So we are called to work out our salvation. But why "with fear and trembling"? It is because of our tendency to wander back to the old way of living that we are familiar with. We tend to drift back to depending on ourselves and our strength to get through the day. We who begin with Christ in new freedom often wander back to the old slavery.

How many of us remember when we experienced the power of God? When we knew his love closely? When we were active in sharing our faith? Maybe we saw visions and had ecstatic experiences too? Where have those things gone? Maybe the reality that we live with is that the passion for Jesus and the joy we once knew has gone and now we just live and struggle to cope with the stresses of life and family.

Paul calls us to fear this tendency to wander! To beware! To care for our relationship with Jesus and walk in it deliberately. To not drift back to the old ways we once lived in.

As we walk in Jesus; as we live in God's service, know this: it is God himself who works in us to accomplish his will and his good purpose. As we live daily, situation to situation, in dependence on the Spirit of Jesus, he works in us. We will come once again to know his presence and the freshness of his love just like we used to.


Prayer time: Take a moment to relax.

Pray : Come Holy Spirit. I give this time to you in Jesus name.

Sit back. Close your eyes. You are in God's presence. Take approx 1 minute.

Pray: Jesus save me from my own strength. Deliver me from self-dependence. Let me apply today and everyday the salvation that I have in you. Let that deliverance from self-strength be worked all the way through my life just like a baker works the yeast through the dough. Lord, I know my tendency to wander. I know my tendency to take life on in my own strength. Forgive me. I renounce my strength and place myself at your mercy for your strength.
Father, I want to sense your Spirit working in me to bring about your will. I want to look back at the end of each day and be able to see the hand of my God evident. To that end I renounce my will that your may be done. I give you the coldness and aloofness of my heart so that I can be filled with your passion to serve others in your name and power. Come Holy Spirit! I say "Yes!" to you. In Jesus name, amen.