What does it mean to “work out” your salvation? The Apostle Paul uses this term ‘working out your salvation’ in the letter he wrote to the Philippian Church. He says, “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” (Philippians 2:12).
Ask yourself, “What does it mean to work out my salvation?” How you answer this question is directly influenced by your view of God and how you expect to receive from Him. Some people think they don’t have a part in receiving their salvation or whether they receive anything from God once they are saved. After all, God is sovereign and therefore it’s all up to Him. Other people have come up with their own rule book on how to live the Christian life, deciding what they need to do to be worthy enough for God to bless them.
Do we continue to earn our salvation (and all its benefits) once saved? Are there things you have to do to be worthy to receive something from God beyond going to Heaven? To answer these questions, it’s important to understand what salvation is, God’s role, and ours in receiving it.
So let’s delve into the Bible’s explanation of salvation, and God’s plan to carry it out. (For more on salvation, see my article Basics of Salvation)
Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
We understand that God has forgiven us of our sins, but do we realize salvation is God’s rescue plan to save us, to deliver us from all sin, to heal, preserve, and rescue us from the power of darkness; reconciling us back to him?
Salvation is translated from the Greek word sozo, and it means to save, heal, rescue, preserve, and deliver from bondage of sin.
This is the truth! Man’s relationship to God and divine things is solely founded on what God has said to be true in His Word. Anything outside of this is a lie and has no merit when relating to God! So it is important to be sure our view of God and the way we relate to Him is based on what He says! Amen.
God initiated it and carried it out in the person of Jesus Christ on our behalf. Once you see this, you realize that nothing we could ever do ourselves would be enough to accomplish it. And He isn’t asking for us to earn anything from Him or earn our right for Him to give it to us either! It is a gift! By His grace, (unearned, undeserved provision for man’s every need) God has saved us!! Amen.
Scripture tells us in Galatians 1:4 “…who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.”
What is our part then in salvation?
If we don’t need to qualify or earn it, how do we receive? Everything in salvation is given to us the moment we accept God’s plan and provision. However, we must accept responsibility for taking it by faith! This is our part in receiving salvation, and all the benefits that come with it!
In Galatians 3:2, Paul is speaking to the Galatians who were beginning to mix works of the law with faith, and he says to them, “I want to learn only one thing from you: did you receive the Spirit by doing the actions of the Law or by believing what you heard?”
Many Christians today are also caught up in self-performance based righteousness, trying to earn the rights to their salvation by their actions; and they don’t simply put their trust in what God has done for them. Do you ever find yourself trying to be good enough to receive from God? Or guilty when you mess up and think you have to make up for it?
Isaiah tells us our righteousness, or our acceptance with God is of God’s doing.
Isaiah 54:17 “…. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.”
Scripture repeatedly states now that we have been made righteous or justified through our faith in Jesus Chris, we are to continue to conduct our lives with that same faith.
“The Just shall live by faith” Habakkuk (2:4), Romans (1:17), Galatians (3:11), Hebrews (10:38)
We receive salvation by faith in God’s grace toward us, the forgiveness of our sins, and continue to receive all the wonderful blessings included in salvation by also believing God for them. As we do this, we work out our salvation which began in the spirit part of us, and continues outwardly until we are walking in the fullness of God’s love and provision, manifesting the fruit of our righteousness.
The only effort on our part is to believe and rely on the Holy Spirit to accomplish this within us. As it says in the very next verse after the Apostle Paul tells us to work out our salvation:
Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
God did this all FOR us and is within us to accomplish it. All He asks for is our faith! For a more detailed study on Philippians 2:12-13, see “Working out your salvation and receiving from God” booklet.