Work Out Your Own Salvation

Php 2:12 Wherefore, 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.

The first word Paul says is Wherefore. This means “for this reason.” Therefore also means “for this reason.” Same Greek word. The translators used Wherefore and Therefore interchangeably.

What Paul’s giving us is application to everything that came before it. What came before it? All the famous passages we know. Let this mind be in you, the mind of Christ Himself. Let your mind put on the humility of Christ Himself. Christ, who was in the form of God, who made himself of no reputation, who took upon the form of a servant, who humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. This same Christ whom God has highly exalted and given a name above every name and at that name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth. And every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Then Paul says, Wherefore. For all these reasons, dearly beloved, just as you have been obedient in my presence and in my absence, do this thing. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Paul doesn’t say WORK TO OBTAIN your own salvation. He doesn’t say to work FOR your own salvation. He says to work OUT your own salvation. The idea is that every one of you saved by grace through faith, spiritually regenerated through the baptism of the Spirit, identified with Christ, given a newness of life, now freed from the dominion of sin, every single one of you should WORK IT ALL OUT to its logical conclusion in the outliving of your faith. In other words, you know the doctrine. Now live the doctrine. You gotta work it all out.

Notice the comparison Paul makes in this verse. Php 2:12 Wherefore, 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.

So we get a Wherefore… with an aside about how they’ve always obeyed in his presence and in his absence… and THEN he gets to his point – WORK OUT your own salvation. If I wrote a sentence like that, people would say, “That’s a bit wordy, Joel.” Sure, it’s okay if the apostle Paul does it because he’s INSPIRED by the Holy Spirit. But me? No. LOL People would say, “Maybe you should edit out that part about obedience in his presence or absence?” But, see, Paul’s making a comparison here in his application for everything he’s written up to this point. He makes application by comparing spiritual with spiritual. Notice he says, AS ye have always obeyed… WORK OUT your own salvation. He’s saying that just as they have shown faithfulness in their obedience to him, he wants to see that same faithfulness applied to them working out their own salvation. Just as you have been faithful to the will of God, so too, be also faithful in working out your own salvation. Work it out to its logical conclusion in your life!

So if you are righteous in the eyes of God as Paul declares you to be, then live like a righteous saint. If you are freed from the bondage to sin in the flesh, as Paul declares you to be, then live like a saint who’s freed from sin. If you have the life of God inside of you, then rejoice! Be at peace! Put on all of His attributes. Live a life of love and grace! Think like He thinks. Feel like He feels. Treat others as He would treat others. Work it all out!

Be faithful in your journey of aligning your earthly walk with your heavenly identity. Be faithful about living in light of who you are. Be faithful about allowing this gift God has given you to reach its fullest potential in your life. Be faithful about taking full advantage of His life in you. Aspire to experience the fullness of His life in you. Work it all out!

It’s not enough to know the doctrine. You gotta live the doctrine! So work it out!

Then Paul would say work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Of course, non-grace commentaries say, “You need to be afraid all the time, careful to do good works to keep your salvation, or you’re going to lose it!” That’s not it at all. This is just an expression marking great reverence and humility in how you serve God with exceptional care and a high degree of excellence.