Working Out Our Salvation
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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 salvation with fear and trembling;
for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
The great Christian Myth
The great Christian Myth
Mainly the church’s fault
Once one accepts Christ, their life will be perfect.
Once one accepts Christ, all their flaws, whether it be moral or even lifestyle will immediately change.
However, all of us, from our personal experience know this is not true.
But because the church has sown a false hope, the enemy uses it to bring shame and guilt.
Why am I like this? Am I the only one?
Some may ultimately even question the power of blood of Christ. (Am I actually saved?)
The Lie
The Lie
It is all a lie.
Jesus never mentioned, not even once, that when we become His disciples, our lives will pan out for the easy.
Luke 9:23-24
And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.
Matthew 10:38
“And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
It’s actually the complete opposite.
Jesus tells us that becoming His disciple is a difficult task. Difficult to a point where we must lose our own life.
Working out Our Salvation
Working out Our Salvation
Paul taught us in our passage that we must “work out” our salvation.
What does this mean? I thought I just have to accept Christ and I am saved.
This is true, you accept Christ and you are saved. There are countless verses to back this up
Romans 10:9
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
Romans 10:13
for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Acts 4:12
“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
Acts 16:13
And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.
I can give you a dozen more.
So what does Paul mean in Philippians 2?
Working out
Working out
There are two aspects of salvation
We ARE saved when we receive Christ.
We are BEING saved through the sanctification process
James 2:17-20
Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?
Within these two, there are also two implications.
Things only God can do.
Things God will NOT do.
A farmer wants to grow corns.
Only God can give his crops rain and sunlight.
God will not sow the seed for him nor reap the crops for him.
Only God Can Do
Only God Can Do
Only God defeat the effect of sin and death.
He came as a man do to the work that was only possible by Him.
Give His children His Spirit.
God Will Not Do
God Will Not Do
God will not force you and twist your arms into receiving Him and His Son.
Once you receive Christ, He will not force you to become like His Son.
He may put pressure in your life to place to in positions where you have to make a decision.
But the key here is the decision making.
The Holy Spirit will convict you and guide you, however, YOU have to make the decision.
At the end of the day, it’s all YOUR decision. It’s called free-will!
God gave you all free-will to freely love Him by choice, not by some sort of programming or force.
So What is Working Out Our Salvation?
So What is Working Out Our Salvation?
Your relationship with others.
Do you, in your dialogue or interactions with your friends display the love of Christ?
Remember, this is the second greatest commandment of them all.
Are you quick to forgive? Are you quick to repent? Do you incite rumors and harsh feelings? Or are you a peace-bringer?
In all these things, you have to make the active decision to forgive, to repent, to bring peace.
Over come the difficulty.
Of course, I completely understand this is not an easy thing and we all struggle with it on different levels.
My story with Joseph.
Second is your priorities in life.
“If you do not prioritize, it’s just a wish list.” -Jordan Peterson
You have to sit down a figure out your priorities in life.
What is the number one thing that’s most important in your life? Then what is the second thing? Third thing, so on and so forth.
If you do not prioritize, it all becomes nothing but a wish list that you will never get to in life.
My unequivocal advice to you is to prioritize God and spiritual maturity as your uttermost first in life.
What benefit is it if you set money as first and then lose your soul?
Come home from school and take a 5 to 10 minute quite time with God.
Place gathering at church for worship your number one priority for Sundays
Even if you have to lose 30 minutes of sleep, put in scriptural meditation into your daily activity.
PRIORITIZE and work out your salvation in FEAR AND TREMBLING
Fear and trembling
Paul means work our your salvation as if your life is depended on it....because it is!
Don’t ever get comfortable with your Sunday life as it is!