Working It Out

We continue this morning through the beautiful letter to the Philippians.

12So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence, 13for the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort – for the sake of his good pleasure – is God. 

Philippians 2:12-13 NET

Really, it is helpful to read these verses backwards.  (Oh that Paul and his writing style!)

For the sake of His good pleasure, for His glory....God brings forth in His children (by the Holy Spirit in their hearts) the desire to live out their salvation.  And, Christians should do that, with a reverential attitude toward the One who makes it possible for them to do it.  We should be constant in this, whether anyone is watching or not.

Now, these verses have been twisted by some to "say" that our salvation is not certain if we have trusted Christ.  These say we have to "work for" it.  But, that is not what these verses say, because that interpretation would fall in direct conflict with the overwhelming majority of Paul's similar teachings on the grace of God - - - grace and grace alone.

Think of a bridegroom, newly married, gloriously in love with his wife.  Out of his seemingly boundless love for her, he jumps out of bed each morning and goes off to earn a living to support her. He doesn't do this out of duty, but as a love offering.  That's the kind of "working out" that's described here.  He doesn't have to work to earn his bride; that bargain has already been sealed.  He works to demonstrate his love for her.

In his Concise Commentary on these verses, Matthew Henry put it like this:

God's good-will to us, is the cause of his good work in us.1 

A good companion verse to today's verses is Philippians 1:6 (NET) - -

For I am sure of this very thing, that the one who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

All works of righteousness flow FROM righteousness, that righteousness which can only come from a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

This is why Jesus said, "By their fruits you will know them." (Matthew 7:16).  It is the Son's Holy Spirit who creates "the tree" and Who then produces the fruit which grows on it.  If the Holy Spirit is not present in a person's life, there will be no or little "fruit" (good works).  If the Spirit is present, He will produce in that person's life the evidence, the "fruit of salvation".

If I look past my laptop screen this morning, I can see one of our apple trees just outside the basement window.  Never has it borne figs.  At the moment, it has some apples on it.  In a couple of weeks they should be ready to pick, if the deer don't get to them first.  But, the tree has some issues...it is not filled with apples, and some of the branches are brown.  It has weathered some hardship, although it appears to be fighting valiantly to overcome.  Last year, due to a late "cold snap" in March, it bore no apples at all.  The year before that, its branches were heavy with apples in July.

What am I trying to say?  Sometimes our Christian lives are "uneven" also.  Even when opening ourselves up fully to the Holy Spirit's fruit-producing work, we are at times beset by evil, or deceived by the Enemy or tripped up by a temptation or just plain weary.  And, our "working out our salvation" takes a dip...or a dive.  But, if we trust in our Savior, if we trust in His plan for us, we will bear fruit again.   In a later season, our boughs will again be heavy with fruit.

For my fellow believers, I don't know about the "state of your tree" today.  I would say that I hope your boughs are heavy.  But, I know that the Lord allows us to go through difficult seasons - - - drought, cold snaps, hail that pummels us, etc.  Other times, He prunes our branches for His own purposes.  And, praise Him - - - always praise Him!

Whatever season in which you find yourself today, don't harden your heart against Him.  If we revere and worship Him, we will "work it out" by allowing His Spirit to "work it out" in us.

Father....not by works of righteousness which I have done, but according to Your mercy You saved me. Grace and divine grace alone could save a wretch like me.  I don't even want to contemplate walking through this earthly life without Your Holy Spirit to move and work in me.  Fortunately, I don't have to.  Work in me the fruits of righteousness, so that Your name may be further glorified.  In Jesus' name, amen.


Source:

http://biblehub.com/commentaries/philippians/2-12.htm

Churchy Stuff

Good morning!

As we move deeper into the book of Titus, we read that Paul left Titus in charge of the baby church in Crete. The bulk of this letter is to mentor Titus in how to pastor that church.

It must have frustrated Paul to move around that part of the world and then be called to another area, leaving things unfinished and in the hands of others.  Have you ever felt that way?  Felt God calling you to leave one thing and start another, when what you wanted to say was, "I'm not finished here yet!" In God's plan, you had finished the work He called you there to do, but you weren't feeling that yet.
God's perfect timing and His perfect way do not always seem right to us.
"We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps."  Proverbs 16:9
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of it is the way of death." Proverbs 16:25
"As for God, His way is perfect..." 2 Samuel 22:31
We have to trust God's promises when things don't go the way we think they should or when we don't understand God's timing.  (I never said this was easy...)

Paul goes on to warn Titus to appoint godly leaders in the church, and to beware of those who would stir up trouble and dissension by teaching false doctrine.
He then gives Titus advice about how to effectively lead groups of people in the church - - - older men, older women, younger women, young men, slaves.

Paul makes a powerful point in chapter 2, verse 7.  He emphasizes that Titus must show the Cretans how to live in Christ by living right himself...that this is the only way to be authentic and to win others for Christ, as well as to help new Christians grow in the faith.

Some of my favorite verses from Titus are at the end of chapter 2, verses 11-14.   Here they are in the NIV:
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
Here, Paul is making the point that, although our eternal salvation is a certainty in Jesus Christ, we are learning as we grow in grace to say "no" to ungodliness. This is an ongoing, purifying process that the Holy Spirit will do in our lives, if we yield to Him and let him purify us.  I love the word for that process:  Sanctification!
Paul reminds us in verses 4-8 of chapter 3 that we had nothing to do with earning our salvation, that it was all God's doing, not ours.
As a saved people, though, a people that Jesus can be proud of, we must live as those who have been washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit.
Paul said something similar to the Philippians in 2:12 when he instructed them to "work out their salvation".

The final point Paul makes to Titus is to stay away from mindless, pointless quarreling over "fine print in the law code" (Message version).  The major doctrines of our faith are worth fighting over, but all too often Christians harm their testimony in their communities by allowing their pride to lead to arguing over things that are much less important.  You know the things I'm talking about - - - whether the words to worship music are in a hymnbook or on a screen, whether the pastor should wear a jacket or a Hawaiian shirt, etc.  Satan loves to use these silly disagreements to disqualify the message of the gospel to unbelievers in our neighborhoods, when what we should be doing inside our churches is valuing others above ourselves.
Philippians 2:3 [Let] nothing [be done] through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves...{King James Version}
Love one another.

"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

 (John 13:35)When we do that, we honor Christ.

Good morning, Father!  Thank you for the rain that is falling on us here this morning.  As the water cleanses the earth so your Holy Spirit waits to cleanse our hearts, minds and spirits by your amazing grace!  I am so grateful for that.  Lord, remind us to take to heart the admonitions you gave to Titus in this inspired book.  Some days we seem so surrounded by evil that we despair of seeing your glorious appearing, and maybe we won't see it in our earthly lifetimes.  But, that only goes to show that our plans are not your plans.  Work Your will in me today.  Be King over my life today.  In Jesus' name, Amen.