Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence–continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Philippians 2:12 NIV
I’m glad God inspired Paul to tell us to “work out our salvation.” The relevance of that statement gives me hope! Obtaining salvation is easy, it’s a free gift from God, but living a righteous life is hard work! It takes determination and focus. No one gets it right all the time, we all need to work out our salvation with fear and trembling!
Paul understood this as much as you and I. Check out what he said in Romans 7.
So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. Romans 7:21-23 NIV
But here’s the good news: God is patient and He is committed to personally help us live out our faith!
For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Philippians 2:13 NIV
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. Philippians 1:6 NASB
We must continue to work out our salvation until the day Christ appears, and God is committed to keep working in us until that day!
Let’s keep praying for each other, the same prayer that Paul lifted up for the Philippians:
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:9-10 NIV