February 5
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WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION WITH FEAR & TREMBLING
12 So then, my beloved, just as you 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; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to desire and to work for His good pleasure.14 Do all things without complaining or arguments; 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, 16 holding firmly the word of life, so that on the day of Christ I can take pride because I did not run in vain nor labor in vain. 17 But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. 18 You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.
– Philippians 2:12-18
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In this letter of Paul to the Philippians, he reminds them of the importance of obedience more than anything now that he isn’t with them. He wanted them to continue to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. “Working out your own salvation” has been so misunderstood by many Christians. Some believers misconstrue it as to work hard to earn their salvation, which is the opposite of what it really means. When Paul tells this to people who already committed their lives to Christ as their Lord and Savior, he meant for them to work in their process of sanctification and living their professed belief in the Lord.
Spurgeon says: “These words, as they stand in the New Testament, contain no exhortation to all men, but are directed to the people of God. They are not intended as an exhortation to the unconverted; they are, as we find them in the epistle, beyond all question addressed to those who are already saved through a living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.”
When Paul says to work out your own salvation in fear and trembling, he meant for all believers to follow a life that is pure and so they can follow the Spirit instead of their flesh. In verse 14, he cautions them from complaining and arguments because they hamper the progress of their growth. They also delay the fulfillment of their purposes for God’s kingdom work. Can you imagine being led to Jesus by whiny people? Would you be a true witness to the gospel? Sadly, many of us Christians fail to refrain from complaining and arguing. Paul urges us to share our faith with rejoicing.
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REFLECTION
• How can the phrase “working out your own salvation” mislead some Christians?