Work It Out
Have you ever wrestled with a passage in scripture? You know what I am saying, right? You come across a verse or two and want to check other translations to make you feel a little more easy with what it is saying. You wish you could use some 'spiritual whiteout' and reword somethings.One of those verses for me has been Philippians 2:12.
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.Philippians 2:12-13 (ESV)
I love the promise of 2:13, but at times I've wrestled how to reconcile verse 12 with being saved BY FAITH, THROUGH GRACE (Eph. 2:8-10). Maybe I'm not the only one...The truth is that our external actions as Jesus people have to be tied to an inward reality. If I want the external expressions of my faith in Jesus to be right, it has to be tied to internal realities that are right.[quote align="center" color="#999999"]OUR BEHAVIORS ARE FED BY OUR BELIEFS.[/quote]It's important for us to remember that Paul reminds us to WORK OUT, not WORK FOR our salvation. This is what I found myself getting caught up on.As you study the idea of "work out" it is the same concept used in mining out the full potential and value that resides in a mine. We don't work FOR salvation, because salvation can only be acquired by trusting the work that Jesus did on our behalf on The Cross. However, in light of the salvation that we have received as we trust in Jesus, we are called to WORK OUT - to pull out the full potential and value that reside within that gift. This is a process.[quote align="center" color="#999999"]JESUS OFFERS SALVATION THAT IS SIMPLY RECEIVED AND YET DEMANDS A RESPONSE.[/quote]In light of salvation we are called to WORK IT OUT.In Ephesians 4:17-24 we see one of the practical ways we can work it out.
But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.Ephesians 4:20-24
In this we see three practical ways to mine our the full potential of our salvation:PUT OFFTake the old patterns and old ways of life off. If we have been raised to new life in Jesus, it doesn't line up for us to be wrapped up in the death of old patterns of sin. We need to put them off.BE RENEWEDThe word salvation means a 'change of mind.' Right believing in our lives leads to right behaving. Through God's grace and the truth of scripture we allow the patterns of our thinking to be renewed and line up with our standing in Christ.PUT ONWhat are the characteristics of this new life? Righteousness and holiness. We continue to pull out the full potential of our salvation. I don't pursue righteousness and holiness because I am trying to earn something - I put it on because Jesus has made it available for me to walk in.For those of us who are Jesus people, continue to mine out and pull out the full expression of the salvation that you have received through Jesus. Don't get trapped in a religious pattern where you are trying to work FOR your salvation! Instead, each day, make the decision in light of the salvation that you have received to WORK IT OUT.