Work Matters (4)

Therefore, my beloved, as you 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; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Philippians 2.12, 13

Work out your salvation!
Growing in the Lord Jesus is not an option for the follower of Christ. Peter commands it (2 Pet. 3.18). Paul chided the Corinthians because they were not growing (1 Cor. 3.1-3), and the writer of Hebrews stung his readers with the charge that they were mere infants when, in fact, they should already be teaching others (Heb. 4.12-14).

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ then you need to be growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, and working out your salvation in fear and trembling. And growing in the Lord is hard work, indeed. We will not make progress in the Lord unless we devote some of our Kingdom time to working at becoming more like Jesus, to increase in godliness and holiness (1 Tim. 4.7; 2 Cor. 7.1).

Growth in the Lord can only occur in the time of our lives, but it will not occur unless we devote some of that time to working at becoming the new people in Christ He has redeemed and is calling us to be.

Paul is exactly right in saying that we have to “work” at this salvation, because it doesn’t come automatically or easily. The law of sin within us operates to keep us distracted from and indifferent to growing in the Lord (Rom. 7.21-23). The world is filled with temptations and distractions that can gobble up our interest, time, and strength (Jms. 4.4). And the devil himself is working overtime to lead us to find “better” things to do with our time than to work at our salvation (Eph. 6.10-20).

The work of working out our salvation
Salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ is all of grace; no work that we might do can make us acceptable to the Lord. The same is true of our sanctification, which is the formal theological term that describes the process of Christian growth. Sanctification is by grace, through faith, as the Spirit of God works within us to transform us into the image of Jesus Christ.

Thus we do not work for our salvation, and we do not work for our sanctification, as though it were some reward for good behavior.

But workat our salvation we must, or else admit to the Lord and one another that we are rebellious, disobedient children. He has given us His Spirit to dwell within us, Who has exceedingly abundant power to bring to bear on the task of helping us to grow in the Lord (Eph. 3.20). God, the Giver of every good and perfect gift, has also provided all the means we need to work out our salvation: the Word of God, prayer, worship, the fellowship of other believers, good books and courses taught by competent writers and instructors.

Work at it!
But we must take up the work of growing in the Lord – the work of sanctification – if we would know real progress in Him. Seeking the Kingdom and advancing the Kingdom economy of the Lord requires that we work hard to overcome the sin that lingers within us and be transformed increasingly into the image of the Lord (Rom. 12.21; Eph. 4.17-24). Growing in the Lord is the most important aspect of the work we’ve been given to do. Unless we work hard at this, we shall not be able to fulfill God’s purposes for any of our work.

Thus, we need to garner the time necessary for the practice of spiritual disciplines, taking some of our time back from other diversions, and even from sleep, so that we can read and meditate in God’s Word and come before Him in prayer. And while we may expect to find this work to be satisfying and fruitful, we will also find it to be work, requiring devoted and consistent effort on our parts.

We need to learn how to study our Bibles and improve our prayer lives, and then to work consistently to grow in each of these areas. We will be helped in this work by having the kind of Christian friends who will sharpen us, like iron sharpens iron (Prov. 27.17). This work will require constant vigilance on our parts (Eph. 5.15-17), and, when necessary, practicing repentance from all known sin. The work of sanctification is nothing other than taking up the life of holiness, and doing good works of love for others (Eph. 2.8-10).

This much is certain: we will not be able to do any of our other work as unto the Lord unless we are daily working to improve in our walk with Him. This makes the work of sanctification supremely important.

The harder and more conscientious we are about working out our salvation, the more effective we will be at bringing honor and glory to the Lord in all the work we’ve been given to do (Jn. 17.4), and at using the time of our lives in a manner than coincides aptly with the progress of the Kingdom economy.

For reflection
1.  Why do you suppose so many Christians find the work of sanctification not to their liking? Why is it so hard for people to make the time for studying Scripture, prayer, and other spiritual disciplines?

2.  We need to make time to work out our salvation; however, all the time of our lives should find us involved in this effort. Explain.

3.  How can Christians help one another to work hard at the work of sanctification? What would be most helpful to you?

Next steps – Transformation: If you could make one improvement to enhance your work of sanctification, what would it be? What steps can you take today to implement that improvement?
T. M. Moore

This week’s ReVision study is Part 3 of a 10-part series, “The Kingdom Economy.” You can download “Work Matters” as a free PDF, prepared for personal or group study. Simply click here. Start your day in the Word of God. Study with T. M. in our daily Scriptorium newsletter, as he walks us through the ongoing work of Christ in the book of Acts. You can subscribe to receive Scriptorium each day at 5:00 am Eastern, or go to the website to download each week’s study in a free PDF.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.