Working It Out/Living It Out

Have you ever wondered about Philippians 2:12, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling”? Have you ever asked yourself, what does that mean, what does that look like, what is the purpose and/or reason? I have. It can be a perplexing statement, but it is an instructive one. To understand the statement it is important to put it in its context.

In chapter one Paul begins to talk about his resolve to continue in life in order to continue ministering to the churches. His one request of the Philippians is that they conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel (1:27). He then gives them his reasons, the ultimate of which is that “...to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for his sake...” (1:29). He then begins to talk about all the benefits found in the Christian faith: encouragement, consolation or comfort, fellowship, affection and compassion. He then says, if you have these things in Christ, and you do, then live like it; be unified; look out for one another; be selfless. The sum of this would be that Christians, who have been granted the privilege of suffering with Christ will love one another even to the point of dying for one another.

Having said this, he gives them a perfect example and shows them how Christ subjected himself to humiliation in order to serve others. He faced and went through the miseries of this life, including a cruel death, in order to deal compassionately with us. As a result God exalted him. God lifted him up above all others in stature and worth and made him Lord over all with the power to subdue the nations and one day judge all people. This is our example. It has been granted to us to share in that humiliation. So it has also been granted to us to share in that exaltation. Christ faced his humiliation with tears and sweat drops of blood, but through it he was exalted. Through his selflessness he became the highest sovereign.

When Paul says that we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling he is saying to us, abandon your perceived rights to comfort, privilege, and respect, and give yourself over to the humiliation of Christ, which comes inherently when you live for others to save them from hell. Live out the privilege of your salvation, the privilege of suffering with Christ. It will be no easy thing, and so you must do it with great fear and trembling, weeping through the sorrow that you must surely endure for the sake of Christ and others.

This is what it mean to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. You are not earning something, you are living something out and doing so is a fearsome thing. But, oh the reward, to share in his exaltation, his resurrection. This is a gift worth looking forward to, even through tears.

Grace

I have been thinking a lot this week about the state of my soul and grace and a thought occurred to me this morning that I wanted to share.

Hebrews 13:9 says, "Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace..."

So often we think of grace as connected to our salvation, that thing that God gives us to save us. I think we often miss the fact that it also strengthens us. As I struggle with sin and holiness issues I usually rely on my strength or the impact of other people and their influence to strengthen me. I look to external things for the resolve to live to the glory of God. But as Hebrews says, I haven't really been benefited by those things. I've realized that this week and have been wondering how grace can help me not only be saved but grow in my salvation. I've at least realized this, that is its purpose, i.e. to help me grow in my salvation.

So what do I do now? Well, I engage God in prayer to have grace, which is greater than all my sins, strengthen me to live like a man whose been saved by grace.

I'm sure there is more, but I'll discover it in God's word as he reveals it to me. For now it's just good to know that God thought about sanctification as much as he thought about salvation when he planned all this before he made it.

Praise His Name!

Heavenly Petitions

Is it ever wrong to ask God for something? I think most of us wonder about this from time to time. We think to ourselves, "my problem/need/desire can't be important enough to bother the creator and ruler of the world over." In fact, I think there is a strong tendency in the human heart to abstain from prayers of petition because such prayers seem to reflect a weakness on our part. Well, what about that? In fact that is the point of prayers of petition; they do indeed reflect our weakness, because we are weak. Without him we can do nothing. He holds all things together. These are biblical truths that we give lip service to, but our pride in not taking our petitions to God exposes the lie in our affirmation of these truths.

What about the idea that God's too big and my petition is too small? Does that carry weight? Well, let's see: he's the God who clothes the lilies of the field which are here today and gone tomorrow; he's the God who knows when a single sparrow falls from the sky; he's the God who's interested enough in you to count the exact number of the hairs on your head. No, I don't think the "God's too big, my petitions are too small" argument carries any weight.

But, if you are still hesitant to take all your cares to the throne of God, let me give you one care that you should have no doubt about your need for help in addressing and God's interest in hearing and responding to it. That care is the condition of your heart. You are powerless to improve it, you are prone to do harm to it, and only God can repair and keep it. What is more, God wants to repair and keep it. So, if you are remiss to take your petitions to God, leave this one out of your list of "I'll take care of that myself", and rush to his throne, and lay it at his, and by the power of Christ's shed blood he will heal your heart and keep it always fixed upon him. At least cast that care on him.

Tolerance

I was recently talking with a close friend about the seeming harshness of Christianity's claim to the exclusive means for salvation, i.e. through belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, who died on a cross, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. I completely understood his trouble with that truth claim because it leaves a vast amount of the earth's population without any hope for salvation and condemns them to hell. This does seem harsh. I tried to think of the best way to respond, and the only thought that came to my mind was that it is consistent with the Christian faith to declare this truth as taught in the Bible as a loving act of kindness toward those who do not believe this truth. In fact, to hide this truth from the unbeliever is callous and uncaring if indeed I believe that it is true.

However, the Christian's claim of exclusive access to God and salvation has been labeled as intolerant. In reading a book today -"Promoting the Gospel" by John Dixon the truth about tolerance has become clearer to me. Dixon writes, "True tolerance does not involve accepting every viewpoint as true and valid; it involves treating with love and humility someone whose opinions you believe to be untrue and invalid."

This statement confirms my belief that being tolerant of other beliefs does not dictate that I stop believing what I believe. What it does dictate is that while I consistently hold and proclaim my belief, I also treat with respect and dignity those who disagree with me and whom I am attempting to convince to believe as I believe.

Christians have been labeled as intolerant, I think, for two reasons. One, because people find our beliefs to be repulsive, which should not surprise us given the Bible tells us that the natural man (or the lost) will consider the gospel foolish and those who believe it, fools. Second, because Christians in their evangelistic efforts have often been unkind, disrespectful and prejudicial toward those who disagree with them and hold opposing views.

If we truly want to be tolerant, we must learn to hold our beliefs dearly, proclaim them clearly, and love others passionately, treating them with kindness and respect.