Working It Out

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.
Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 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, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. 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. You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me. Philippians 2:12-18

Paul’s beloved are those whom he has evangelized and instructed in the doctrines of Christianity. Paul, having been a Pharisee of the first order, knew the Old Testament scriptures and all the rituals of the temple service that illustrated and foretold of the Messiah. For this particular Pharisee (Saul of Tarsus), it was not just a lucrative career or a fulfillment of ambition, but he truly believed in God and wanted to serve Him faithfully. That’s called positive volition toward God. God recognizes that in anyone in any walk of life, and when the time is right He presents Himself to that individual in such a way that the blinders are removed and he is given the evidence he needs to believe. The risen Jesus interrupted Saul’s fervent pursuit of the early Christians intent upon killing them and recruited Saul, renamed Paul, as an Apostle to the Gentiles. I find that a delicious irony, of the type only God can accomplish. Paul then spent the rest of his life proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ and teaching everywhere that this Jesus was the fulfillment of the law and the only executor of the Plan of God.

When a person or group first hears the gospel message, they have a choice: either submit to the authority of God and believe in His Messiah, or deny, ignore, reject the perfect atonement and disobey His Truth. If you continue to live, you may have other opportunities, but that is not guaranteed. Apparently, these Philippians were ripe and ready to receive and believe when the message was made clear to them. They obeyed the gospel by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and were saved. That salvation was instantaneous and permanent at the moment they believed. So what is this about working?

The working out of one’s salvation is the personal realization that one is IN CHRIST forever. Secure. Safe. God the Holy Spirit is now in the believer to teach, train, comfort and console as one continues the process of learning everything he can about the plan and purpose of God for his life. This is true, because it is God’s pleasure to hold us to Him in this way. It is His work. We obey by submitting to His authority in every detail of our lives. We “work it out,” not so we can become His, but because we ARE His forever. Royal Family of God. We represent the King.

No matter what is going on in the world, we are WHOSE we are and our lives should always reflect that. Paul was extremely pleased with the progress of those Philippians and he wanted to keep it that way. He compared his life and work to the drink offering, poured out in service to Jesus along with the believers he was leading. Imprisoned for his testimony, he still experienced great joy in the growing faith of these believers. He wanted to be sure they understood that, and that they, too, could be joyful for the salvation and growth to maturity they were sharing with Paul.

In the “day of Christ” (judgment seat of Christ), Paul expects to “glory” in these converts because of their faithfulness to the “word of life.” It will mean his work with them was not in vain.

How do we work out our salvation? We daily confess our known personal sins to God the Father and receive cleansing. We pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit in all we do, and for the will of God to be done in all the details of our lives. We study His Word with a good Bible teacher every day. We grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, and share what we know about Him with anyone who will listen.

Like Paul, we rejoice in everything the Father has done for us through His Son. The more we know Him, the more we’ll love Him. That’s working it out.