Philippians 2:12-18 and Colossians 2:6-10
In verse 12 Paul uses his favorite
transition word; “therefore”… he basically says; “therefore, since Jesus gave
his life in this way, this is what you should do; and he says “work out your
salvation”…
Now, this principle can be hard to
understand and even easily misunderstood. However, one thing Paul is not saying
by this is that our salvation is somehow obtained by works! We don’t have to work in any way to earn our
salvation…Salvation is a gift, a free gift, it is only given by the grace of
God. Salvation is never a work of mankind for God; it is always a work of God
for mankind! The Apostle Paul knew that
salvation was not in any way a “reward” for the righteous…But a gift for the
guilty! But, the Bible also teaches us that Jesus has not only graciously saved us from something that is in our future…But, he also saved us for something, here and now. In other words, eternal life is not the only benefit of our salvation.
Let me give you a little better understanding of the term “work out” and we’ll see what Paul is getting at here. This term is translated from the Greek, and it was the same word used when giving an account of the once-famous silver mines of Spain. They spoke of “working out” the mines, meaning that the owner would operate the mines in a manner that would get the utmost value from them. Now, the mine’s owner already had the mine in their possession, but now they were to derive the full benefit of their ownership by “working out” all the ore from all the various tunnels and shafts and caves.
So what Paul is really saying here is that as Christians, we are to strive to get the greatest potential benefit from our salvation. God has put a tremendous capacity for good in our lives - like the “mother-load” in a silver mine…and he wants us to realize that potential to its absolute fullest. Jesus said; “I have come that they may have life and life abundantly!”
The term “work out” also means to “carry through” or to “complete.” So, we are to grow and mature in our faith; or as 2nd.Peter 1:5 puts it; “Make every effort to add to your faith…goodness; knowledge; self-control; perseverance; godliness, brotherly kindness, and love…For if you possess these qualities in ever increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive.” These are all a part of the “working out” of our salvation…getting the maximum out of the potential God created within us!
Whenever I think of this verse, I think of the many Christians who look back on a mountain top experience of faith when they first met Jesus and became believers; and, tragically, that’s it! I mean, it’s like; “Well I accepted Jesus on June 17th. 1951…and they never grow from that point. Now, don’t get me wrong, this is the first, foremost, and greatest experience anyone can have…but, true discipleship is not just a one-time experience…Discipleship is a succession of forward growth and transformation that does not stop until we reach our conclusion or Jesus comes back!
Colossians 2:6 - reads “As you receive Jesus Christ as Lord…so WALK in him… rooted and built up in him.” You see, God wants to continue His saving work in us…everyday…refining, strengthening, chipping away, and making us more and more into His likeness…And, that is a lifelong process. So Paul here urges us to get on with that process…to continually strive to “work out” all that we can from our salvation…To “mine” all the benefits that are ours, and to constantly seek to grow and mature and become more like Christ.
Oliver Cromwell once wrote this in the front of his Bible; “He who ceases to become better, ceases to be good.” When do we stop “working out” our salvation? When do we become good enough? Paul says; “work it out”…“with fear and trembling”…
We will pick it up here next time.
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