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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 in order to fulfill his good purpose. Philippians 2.12-13
These well-known verses raise a very important question – what part do we play in the outworking of our salvation? St Paul says here that we have to work it out with fear and trembling!
For all of us the tension is this. We know there is nothing we can contribute to our salvation. It is only through the death and resurrection of Jesus that we can be made right with God. Each of us are sinners in need of a saviour. We know we cannot save ourselves. We may be able to forgive others sins against us, but we can’t forgive ourselves.
As Paul has already reflected, it was all because of Jesus sacrificial death on our behalf.
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Philippians 2.5-7
All of us who preach strive to make this point again and again! It was his grace and his grace alone that is the means of our blessing.
So how do we work out our salvation with fear and trembling?
1. The Christian life involves obedience!
We see this in verse 12. When we become Christians, we were acting in obedience to God’s gracious invitation to follow him. He spoke and we listened and responded. We can only hear and respond because of the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and minds. We only have the option to respond because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross. Yet we must act!
Even if we believe that we were predestined to believe it is still the reality that at some point each of us, as real people made a real decision. God’s will is eternal, but we live in real time, and we have to make real decisions as we go through our day to day lives. If we are to go on in the Christian faith, then we need to keep on being obedient.
Responding to God involved us being obedient to God. Accepting the reality of our need for him and taking his word seriously by asking for his forgiveness. We invited Jesus to be the Lord of our life, so we no longer live for ourselves but for God and we commit ourselves to seek to live according to his will.
As we first obeyed Christ then we need to continue to obey Christ.
Are you being tempted at present? Are you relying on your own strength? As the Holy Spirit is prompting and prodding you to not sin, how are you responding to his gracious help?
2. We keep working at it while God keeps on working in us
The really encouraging aspect of verse 13 is that God is at work! Did you see that?
for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
As we seek to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, we know that it is God who is at work in us. He wants the best for us and part of that is that he is at work in our heart and life. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus dwelling in our hearts to strengthen and enable us to live for God and to be guided into God’s good and perfect will.
Don’t you like the dynamic here!
As we work, he works! It’s not all of us and none of God and it’s not God working in a vacuum.
God is at work to enable us to be the person he wants us to be. To reflect more of Jesus in our heart and life. For us to be dealing with the hard parts of the sort of people that we are. To help us to be more Christ like and to do as he did – being other person centred and not self-preoccupied! Not looking to our own interests but the interests of others!
In Philippians 1.6 we have a wonderful promise
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
God wants us to go on in our faith and he is at work to enable that to happen.
In recent years many young adults have seemingly walked away from their faith (perhaps this is a western phenomenon). In many cases this wasn’t an active decision but something that began as a drift that over time became seemingly settled. God gets put onto the back burner as they pursue their careers and relationships! For parents and Christian friends this can be very dispiriting.
What I always want to say is that we shouldn’t give up on them because God hasn’t given up on them. It may not be obvious, and it may take a long time, but God is still at work in their hearts and minds. He who began a good work will bring it to completion. Part of how God may continue to be work will be through your ongoing love and prayers!
Bishop Stephen Hale
Acting General Secretary EFAC Global
