{"id":2024,"date":"2022-09-18T13:13:35","date_gmt":"2022-09-18T18:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/?p=2024"},"modified":"2022-09-18T13:13:35","modified_gmt":"2022-09-18T18:13:35","slug":"work-out-your-salvation-with-fear-and-trembling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/2022\/09\/18\/work-out-your-salvation-with-fear-and-trembling\/","title":{"rendered":"Work out Your Salvation with Fear and Trembling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
\u201cWherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.<\/strong>\u201d
Philippians 2:12 <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Paul wrote the book of Philippians to a\nchurch he had established on his second missionary journey while accompanied by\nSilas, Timothy, and Luke (see Acts 16). Paul rejoiced after hearing about the\nchurch at Philippi and the growth they had experienced,\nencouraging them to continue growing in Christ. They were to live every part of\ntheir lives pleasing to God. A very important part of that was to learn to have\nthe mind of Christ. \u201cLet this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus<\/strong>\u201d\n(Philippians 2:5). Paul took them to the ultimate example for every Christian:\nJesus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the example of Jesus looking upon the\nneed of sinful man instead of Himself. \u201c6. Who, being in the form of God,\nthought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7. But made himself of no\nreputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the\nlikeness of men: 8. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself,\nand became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9. Wherefore God\nalso hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:\n10. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things<\/em> in\nheaven, and things<\/em> in earth, and things<\/em> under the earth; 11. And that<\/em>\nevery tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is<\/em> Lord, to the glory of\nGod the Father<\/strong>\u201d (Philippians 2:6-11).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus, God, laid down his glory to become in the likeness of man,\nhumbling himself to the death upon the cross for the sins of all mankind. By\ndoing this, anyone has the opportunity to be saved from the penalty of sin \u2013 if\none would only \u201cconfess that Jesus Christ is<\/em> Lord.<\/strong>\u201d There has\nnever, nor will ever be, a greater selfless act than Jesus\u2019 death upon the\ncross. Because of Jesus\u2019 obedience to His Father, God, He was lifted up by God,\nHimself, who \u201chighly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every\nname.<\/strong>\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul believed that the Christians at Philippi\nneeded to be reminded of what Jesus did for them. Paul wanted the Believers to\nunderstand the seriousness of the Christian life, and the diligence it takes to\nlive it. Although they had listened to Paul and followed his instructions, it\nwas extremely important that they understood why they were to do the things he\nhad taught them to do. \u201cWherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not\nas in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own\nsalvation with fear and trembling<\/strong>\u201d (Philippians 2:12). This verse does not\nmean that you \u201cwork\u201d for your salvation. The words work out<\/strong> means \u201cto\naccomplish; finish; toil; commit.<\/em>\u201d Christians are to allow the salvation\n(that they already have because of Jesus) to be manifested (revealed by how\nthey live Christ-like) in the expression of this new life. It is the\nactualization of what one already possesses!<\/em><\/strong> Christians need to live\nChrist-like for their own benefit and to encourage non-Believers to want what\nthey have through Christ. See how it is further explained in the following\nverse. \u201cBeloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common\nsalvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you<\/em> that\nye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the\nsaints<\/strong>\u201d (Jude 1:3). All Christians have to \u201cearnestly contend for the\nfaith<\/strong>\u201d which reveals to us that each one must work diligently to accomplish\na faithful Christian life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do we understand happens when a Christian works diligently to live a\nChrist-like life, even through many times of testing? \u201c7. That the trial of\nyour faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be\ntried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the\nappearing of Jesus Christ: 8. Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though\nnow ye see him<\/em> not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and\nfull of glory: <\/strong>9. Receiving\nthe end of your faith, even<\/em> the salvation of your<\/em> souls<\/strong>\u201d\n(1 Peter 1:7-9). Christians understand that at the end of our time here on this\nearth, we are to desire to be found unto \u201cpraise and honour and glory<\/strong>\u201d\nwhen we see Jesus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Would they have to do all of this work on their own? \u201cFor it is God\nwhich worketh in you both to will and to do of his<\/em> good pleasure<\/strong>\u201d\n(Philippians 2:13). God promises\nthat He will work in our lives, helping us to do what is right and pleasing to\nHim. When you read \u201cboth to will<\/strong>,\u201d it is letting us know that it is to\nbe our desire to do what God expects of us. When you read \u201cand to do<\/strong>,\u201d\nwe understand that we are to actually complete what God wants us to accomplish.\nOnce Christians remember that our life is no longer our own, for we have been\nbought with a price (see 1 Corinthians 6:20),\nand remember what it was Jesus did to purchase each Christian\u2019s salvation, Christians\nare to want to live a life pleasing Him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you learned to work\nout your own salvation with fear and trembling, understanding God will help you?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paul wrote the book of Philippians to a church he had established on his second missionary journey while accompanied by Silas, Timothy, and Luke (see Acts 16). Paul rejoiced after hearing about the church at Philippi and the growth they had experienced, encouraging them to continue growing in Christ. They were to live every part […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[318],"tags":[992,993,345,149,186,764,991,359,990,517,329],"class_list":["post-2024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-picture-with-verse-and-blog","tag-appearing","tag-christ-like","tag-christians","tag-fear","tag-god","tag-gold","tag-jesus-christ","tag-salvation","tag-trembling","tag-trial","tag-work"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2024"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2026,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024\/revisions\/2026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}