Working Out Your Salvation
Philippians 2:12b-13 “…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.”
What does it mean to work out my salvation? Do I have to attempt to earn my salvation by works, by doing good deeds, by working for it? The Scripture says, by grace through faith you are saved; it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). Then does it mean, after I have believed in my heart and confessed Jesus with my mouth as my Lord and Savior, do I have to work to assure that my salvation is secure? No, I cannot lose my salvation, it was a gift and I am secure in Christ (John 6:37).
Working out my salvation means that having received salvation, it is worked out to the finish, to its completion. But how can I possibly accomplish that? I know the weakness of my flesh, the daily temptations, the struggles to persevere. Rejoice with me, read the good news in the next verse: it is God who is at work in me! He does the work by His divine power, by His grace and mercy, according to His will, and for His good pleasure. Therefore I must align my thinking to His will as revealed in Scripture, and determine in my heart to willingly surrender, to submit in reverent obedience. The wondrous, glorious result is spiritual growth and change! I am being confirmed into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). What an honor and a privilege.
Working out my salvation is progressive sanctification. It is a process that God begins, a work that God is going to accomplish because He wills it, but I must also be actively engaged. It requires work and effort on my part. I cannot be passive. I must be active in learning and applying biblical principles to my life with an attitude of reverence and a singleness of purpose in response to His call upon my life. I am not my own, I have been bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20). This working it out begins with God at my salvation, it is a process accomplished by God and by His divine power working in me throughout my entire life. And it ends in God because He is working for His good pleasure. He delights in creating vessels of honor and mercy, and making known the riches of His glory (Romans 9:23). That thought causes me to respond with thankfulness and rejoicing!
Like the apostle Paul, I too can be confident, that He who began a good work in me will perfect it, will carry it on to completion, until the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6). He will do it! He is able! By allowing Him to work in me, then He can work through me as His vessel. It is all for His glory!