Work Out Your Salvation

The Apostle Paul wrote five different letters (Prison Epistles) from a Roman prison during the early 60’s AD: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon and Laodiceans (this letter did not survive). It is interesting to note that Paul spent a short time in a Philippian jail (see Acts 16:19-40) and now writes to the church from prison. This church had supported him on multiple occasions, so he had a special affinity for them. The church saw him as an ambassador of Christ, but he uttered the oracles of God with great authority. They treated him with great praise. Paul wanted them to develop the same measure of convictions that he had, and it began with an understanding of the work of God inside each believer. In Philippians 1:6, For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. God will complete His work.

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed [hupakouo – taken heed], not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out [katergazomai – work intensely, carry out to complete perfection] your salvation with fear [phobos – reverence, respect] and trembling [tromos – dread]; for it is God who is at work [energeo – operative] in you, both to will [thelo – to determine] and to work [energeo –accomplish] for His good pleasure.                             Philippians 2:12-13

The previous verses in Philippians 2 speak of the humility of Christ. His attitude does nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, regards one another as more important than himself (verse 3). This is the mind that became a servant, even unto death (verse 8). As a result, He has become the one exalted above every name. His greatness is measured by His humility and service to His Father. So then, my beloved introduces this vital message that they should recognize that working out of one's salvation is the result of what God has worked in. Whether in their presence or not, Paul wanted them to place their confidence in the work of Christ and not in themselves: I can do all things through Him who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13). Isaiah 26:12 tells us that the Lord performs all our works when we walk with Him: Lord, You will establish peace for us, since You have also performed for us all our works.

God’s Workmanship

For by grace, you have been saved [sozo – spiritual deliverance] through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works [ergon – labor, human effort], so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship [poiema – something made, a workpiece], created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them [peripateo – a manner of life].                  Ephesians 2:8-10

Paul saw the work of salvation more clearly than any other New Testament writer. It was God's work, not man's effort, to keep specific rules and regulations or create a work on behalf of God as a holy offering that would result in God's favor. Instead, Paul states that man is the object of God's work, His workmanship so that the believer might walk in His works, as demonstrated by Jesus Christ and His death, burial, and resurrection. When the believer is led by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:14), they will walk in maturity and fulfill the Spirit's leading to accomplish God's work, empowered by the Spirit. It is evident that when God created in six days, He completed all His work so that He could rest (Hebrews 4:10). In the same way, Christ’s work as the slain Lamb was complete before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). The working out occurred during His physical life 2,000 years ago.

Some of Moses’s last words are found in Deuteronomy 5:33 when he said, “You shall walk in all [kol – entire, every, all] the way [derek – the path that is traveled] which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live [hayah – be alive] and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess.” The Lord promised that the one who walked in all the ways of the Lord is alive and will be blessed. The Apostle John spoke similar words in 1 John 2:5-6 where the one true believer (the one in Him) abides or remains in Him, he walks in the same manner as Jesus walked, and God's love is perfected in him: but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this, we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

The Potter’s Hand

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying, "Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will announce My words to you." Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter, so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, "Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?" declares the Lord. "Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.               Jeremiah 18:1-6

The above passage speaks of the method the Lord uses to work within the people of the house of Israel. He is like a potter, molding, shaping, and remaking the clay, a man's heart that needs the work that only He can perform. Jeremiah had stated previously that man's heart is deceitful and desperately sick in its natural state (Jeremiah 17:9). God's work is to transform the heart and the mind of each believer, as Paul presents in Romans 12:2, And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. This work connects man's heart and mind to God's good, acceptable, and perfect will. In the new covenant age, this work is accomplished by the Holy Spirit, who conforms the believer to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). It includes the enlightening of the heart to come to know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe (Ephesians 1:18-19).

Reasonings

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations [reasonings] and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.  2 Corinthians 10:3-5

There is great spiritual warfare surrounding a believer's decisions to honor God in his life. He tends to determine for himself what he should do in his attempts to honor God. The battle Paul speaks of centers on man’s thoughts. In his book, “Spiritual Authority,” Watchman Nee observes from the above passage the following:

Paul mentions that we must destroy reasonings and every high thing that lifts itself up against the knowledge of God. Man likes to build reasons as strongholds around his thought, yet these reasons must be destroyed and thought taken captive. Reasons are to be cast aside, but thought is to be brought back. In spiritual warfare, the strongholds need to be stormed before the thought can be taken captive. If reasons are not cast aside, there is no possibility of bringing man’s thoughts into obedience to Christ.

Man tends to try to solve all his problems and challenges by reason and his ability to map out a conclusion to any difficulty, utilizing his cognitive skills. The spiritual man recognizes that he must follow a different pathway. Once the believer has found obedience to divine authority apart from reason, deferring the decision process to the Divine will opens the door to true spirituality (that which is born of the Spirit is spiritual – John 3:6) and provides a victory over the strength of sin. When man relies on his own ability apart from God, he restricts himself to the natural. But when he allows the Holy Spirit to take charge, the supernatural becomes possible. Consider the following:

There is a story in Judaism’s oral tradition about a rabbi named Yehoshua who went on a journey with the prophet Elijah in an effort to understand God's mysterious ways. On the first night of the journey, the pair stayed at the rundown home of a kind elderly couple. Much to Yehoshua’s surprise, Elijah prayed that the couple’s cow would die immediately. The next day, the two men approached the home of a wealthy man and asked for some food, but the man refused to give them even a morsel. Yehoshua was surprised again when Elijah prayed that the weak foundations of the man’s home never collapse. The rest of the journey was filled with more of the same; Elijah prayed for good things to happen to bad people and for bad things to happen to good people.

At the end of the journey, Elijah explained the purpose of his prayers to his very perplexed companion. At the home of the elderly couple, Elijah foresaw that the wife would die the next day. He prayed that the couple’s cow be taken instead. At the home of the miserly man, Elijah saw that there was a treasure buried under his home. He prayed that the foundation stays intact so that the man would never find it. Elijah explained all of his prayers similarly. On the surface, none of it made sense, but when Elijah explained the unseen context of each scenario, everything made perfect sense.

One Shepherd

"My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd, and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them. "They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob, My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons' sons, forever; and David, My servant, will be their prince forever. "I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. "My dwelling place also will be with them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people. "And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”                             Ezekiel 37:24-28 

In Ezekiel 37, given to Ezekiel before the final siege of Jerusalem in 587 BC, God gave Ezekiel the prophecy that in future times and not during Ezekiel’s time, the Jews would return to their land and become an independent nation again. The fulfillment of this process began on May 14, 1948, with the acceptance of Israel as a nation, but it will not be completed until the Kingdom Age is introduced to the world upon the defeat of the Antichrist and the subsequent elevation of David to his throne. When the people have one shepherd (Jesus Christ, the Messiah), they will walk in My ordinances and, keep My statutes and observe them. They will occupy their promised land under a covenant of peace, an everlasting covenant where I will be their God, and they will be My people. When He speaks of His dwelling place being with them, He is referencing the indwelling Holy Spirit, who sanctifies the believer to walk in all His ways.

Much of Proverbs is written to address righteousness and distinguish between the righteous, those who conform to God’s standards, and the wicked, those who willingly abuse those standards. In Proverbs 10:16-17, The wages [pullah – rewards for work] of the righteous is life, the income [tebuah – increase, revenue] of the wicked, punishment. He is on the path of life who heeds [shamar – protects, guards] instruction, but he who ignores reproof goes astray. The righteous one guards and protects God’s instructions as a means of the highest quality of life available to him. Proverbs 13:4-6 states that diligence makes one healthy and satisfied. The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the soul of the diligent is made fat [dashen – good health, satisfied]. A righteous man [saddiyq – one who conforms to God’s standards] hates falsehood, but a wicked man acts disgustingly and shamefully. Righteousness [sedaqah – blameless conduct, integrity] guards the one whose way is blameless, but wickedness subverts the sinner.

Believe in Him

Do not work [ergazomai – labor, work] for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal." Therefore, they said to Him, "What shall we do so that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."                     John 6:27-29 

When Jesus said, Do not work for food that perishes, He was saying that people should labor for what is eternal and lasts forever. In Matthew 4:4, Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Physical food is temporary, but spiritual food leads to eternal life. The Son of Man will provide this spiritual food, that is, Christ (John 6:35). God the Father Himself acknowledged Jesus's claim that He is true heavenly food. The people recognized that Jesus was saying that God had a work for them. They would do God's requirement if He would inform them what it was. They believed that they could please God by performing good deeds. Jesus's response was a significant correction to their understanding. They could not please God by doing good works. There is only one work of God, that is, one thing God requires. They need to put their trust in the One sent by the Father. Man cannot please God by doing good works for salvation. God demands that people recognize their inability to save themselves and freely receive His gift on the basis of faith alone.

The more the believer walks by faith, the more he will recognize that every work that God does is meant to expand his faith. The working out of what has been worked in is the process of being sanctified in truth. For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth (John 17:19).