Sunday, October 25, 2009

This week’s promise: God promises that you will work out your salvation

This week’s promise: God promises that you will work out your salvation

Philippians 2:12-16 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 according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.

What does it mean when Paul says we are to work out our salvation? Does this mean we can lose it? Is it not free after all? Rest assured that it does not mean we can lose our salvation or that it’s not free. Our salvation was freely given to us, but many seem to look at their salvation as though it is like a free ticket to heaven. They get their ticket, put it in safe place where it sits until the day they die when they figure they will get it out and use it. That is not how it works however.

Over the years I’ve given my children many gifts. Some of the gifts were things like Lego’s. When they got the lego’s, they didn’t empty out the box and sit and look at them, expecting the lego’s to jump into place on their own. They spent hours building all kinds of great things with their legos. The legos were free, but they required work in order for them to be of any use at all. This is very similar to what our salvation is like.

When we become saved, the Lord gives us a new spirit and we become a new creation. We die to our old self and now have the “new self”. The question then is what are we going to do with that “new self”, that new creation? For many the answer is, nothing at all. They seem to think that their new self should just automatically be able to know everything and do everything needed. They wonder why their life hasn’t changed much. They probably go to church every Sunday and think that is all that God ever expects from them. So when things get tough, they may even fall away because God didn’t work for them. They fail to realize that the legos aren’t going to jump into position and make themselves into new and greater creations. They fail to realize that they must work out their salvation, just as the child has to pick up the individual legos and connect them together and keep at it until his creation is complete.

While our salvation is assured from the moment we’re saved, we cannot partake or experience all the great things that the Lord has in store for us if we are not doing our part. The passage above gives us some clues as to what “our part” is in this. The very first one that tends to catch our eye is the world “obeyed”. Paul reminds them that just as they always have, they must continue to obey God. We are told that we are to put into practice in our daily lives the things God shows us and works in us. We are to cultivate and grow the things He gives us and works in us. We need to be reading His Word and reflecting on it daily as this is the food and drink that will cause us to grow. When Paul says we are to do this as we hold out the word of life, He means that as we grow we are to share our testimony and His Word with others and tell them how they too can be saved.

Our salvation then is secure, but it is also something which we need to work on. I like to think of it as a seedling that’s been planted. We need to water it, feed it, nurture it, and protect it so that it will grow. When we do that, then we are like shining stars in a dark world. What a wonderful way to think of how the light of Christ shines through us to reach others! Throughout this week we’ll continue to look at how God expects us to work out our salvation, what our part in this is; what happens when we do this, as well as what happens to those who don’t do this.

Romans 13:11-12 And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Come and join us on Fresh-Hope.com!