Rev. David Holwick
First Baptist Church
West Lafayette, Ohio
June 24, 1984
Work Out Your Salvation
Philippians 2:12-18, KJV
Salvation is hard work - don't let anyone try to tell you otherwise. You can toil away in your garden and you can put in a double-shift at your factory but the task that requires more sweat than any of them is salvation.
In our passage today Paul is dealing with salvation and he says we have to work it out, shine it out and hold it out. First let's look at verse 12:
"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."
This statement has caused a lot of confusion because people disagree over just what Paul is talking about. It boils down to this question: How are people saved? Is salvation a reward for all the good works we do or is it really a free gift from God? Most people seem to think salvation is a reward for our good deeds. Often they'll mention following the Ten Commandments and going to church. Those who believe salvation is a reward usually don't set a standard. They don't pin it down so that seven good deeds get you in heaven but only six send you to hell. This view is attractive because it appeals to our ego. Americans like to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps and earn our own way. "Work out your own salvation" seems to support this view.
The other view of salvation is more humbling. It insists that people do not deserve salvation because of their sinfulness. The only way to receive salvation is as a free gift from God. Since Jesus died on the cross for our sins, God saves those who accept Christ as their Savior. This is the clear teaching of the Bible but "work out your own salvation" seems to contradict it. The apparent contradiction disappears when we look at the context of the passage. Verse 12 may say:
"Work out your own salvation..."
but verse 13 adds,
"...For it is God who works in you."
If God is working in a person, then salvation has already taken place, at least as far as the initial experience is concerned. Therefore, verse 12 is not talking about initial salvation, the moment when our sins are forgiven and we are reconciled back with God. Instead, it's talking about our on-going experience of salvation, what the Bible calls "sanctification." In other words, if you have accepted God's free gift of salvation, you'd better be obedient to God and work out what he has started in your life. The Greek word for "work out" always has the idea of bringing something to completion. Paul is saying, "Don't stop halfway. Keep at it until God's work of salvation is finished in you."
It's interesting how this passage deals with both our part and God's part in salvation. Once you are a Christian it becomes a cooperative effort. God's part comes first. As verse 13 says,
"It is God who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."
When we first feel the desire to be saved God is the one who caused this. The Bible teaches that God reaches out to us before we ever really think about him. The on-going aspect of salvation also depends on God - he works in us to do, or accomplish, his good pleasure in our lives. Without God's help there can be no progress in becoming a better Christian. He has to work in our lives from beginning to end.
But, there is also a human side to salvation. I want to be careful not to minimize this. Some Christians stress God's work so much there's nothing left for us to do. We become puppets that God manipulates as he wants. This isn't the biblical view at all. God created us as responsible beings. We can make choices. When God offers us the gift of salvation we must choose to accept it. When we are confronted by sin in our lives we must choose to reject it. That is why this passage is so important for Christians. If you're not a Christian the emphasis on "work" may lead you into the false doctrine of salvation by works. But if you are a Christian it's aimed right at you.
Living out your salvation is hard work and too many Christians are trying to get by on welfare. We want all the benefits without any of the effort. Part of the problem is that we put all the emphasis on the "decision" for Christ. Everything is made to boil down to the one moment you first accept Christ. In some churches every sermon and every Sunday School lesson are made to focus on it and nothing else is mentioned.
Paul didn't see it this way. For him the decision of faith must go hand in hand with obedience. In verse 12 he says:
"...as you have always obeyed, work out your own salvation."
Churches are filled with disobedient Christians who smugly trust in their eternal security. We should be glad we're saved but we should also try to make it more evident in our lives. The goal is found in verse 15:
"That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke in the midst of a wicked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world."
Blameless is the first word used. This kind of blamelessness means that we should deal with the things in our lives that stick out like sore thumbs. Paul focuses on grumblers and argumentative people in verse 14. There is no way that a professional grumbler can shine. The grumbling and arguing have to go if the shining is to start.
Our world needs people who shine. Paul says we live in a nation (literally it should read-a generation) that is twisted and warped. However, the darker things are, the less difficult it is to shine. I had an experience on Friday that fit right in with this thought. I was downtown in Coshocton getting license plates for the van when I ran into a problem: it wouldn't start. Fortunately, there was a Sohio gas station a short walk away, so I asked for some assistance. They sent a young mechanic over and he ended up working on the distributor. He was a good mechanic but I could tell from some of the expressions he used that he wasn't exactly "sanctified." When he found out I was a preacher he told me about a friend of his. He said this guy was once the biggest drug dealer in the county. He could supply you with anything you wanted if you had the cash. But one night while he lay drunk in bed the drug dealer realized he was throwing his life away. He immediately stopped dealing in drugs in gave his life to Christ. More than this, he went to a Bible College and will soon be a preacher in Kentucky.
After telling me all this the young mechanic said, "It's hard to believe people can change like that. I guess it's what they call being re-born." The drug dealer had been part of the darker side of society and by changing directions he stood out like a light. His non-Christian friends could see the difference.
We have to work out our salvation. We have to shine it out and we also have to hold it out. Paul says we must "hold forth the word of life." The word of life is the good news about Jesus and how he can change lives. To hold it forth means we have to evangelize. Everyone believes in witnessing but few people actually do it. Evangelism is more than knocking on doors or passing out tracts at airports. On the simplest level it involves sharing with your friends how important Jesus Christ is to you.
The apostle Paul certainly thought his relationship to Christ was important. In verse 17 he describes his life as an offering. Literally this was a drink offering which was poured on the altar before the sacrifice was made. So Paul is saying his life is being poured out for God's service.
Is yours?
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Typed on October 30, 2005, by Sharon Lesko of Ledgewood Baptist Church, New Jersey
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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