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

Privileged Children

The parents left the house early in the morning, telling the children they could not say when they would return.  Before leaving, however, they gave the children a list of jobs to complete in their absence.  The list included tasks that would care for the family, but also a list of tasks to reach out to those outside the family.  After some time, the parents returned.  They found that the children had completed pretty well the items on the list most closely affecting their comfort and well-being. Unfortunately, the items designed to bring others relief and comfort were left undone.  The children had chosen to bless themselves instead of blessing others.

25 As he also says in Hosea:

“I will call those who were not my people, ‘My people,’ and I will call her who was unloved, ‘My beloved.’”
26 “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”

Romans 9:25-26

"Not my people!"  Isn't that what we, the Church, often say?  Although we have been commanded by our Lord to take the gospel to the ends of the Earth ("to every creature" - - Matt. 28:19-20), we often wallow in our largesse, turning a blind eye to those who have not heard.  American Christians are like the children in the story, choosing to spend our time and energy on our own "happiness".

Let me make a polarizing, yet thoroughly scriptural statement:  every Christian is a missionary, in some capacity.   Last week, my church held a powerful missions conference.  Many missionaries from the Far East, from Russia, from South America, from other U.S. states, and from "across town" came to be loved on, to tell us about their ministries, to encourage us to support the spreading of Jesus Christ's gospel.  My family was very blessed to meet new, dear friends and to be challenged to do the following:

1.  Love More
This is the basis for being an obedient missionary (that is, an obedient Christian!).  When we love God supremely, we will be supremely obedient to His mandate to spread the gospel.
When we love Him madly, we also love people to an equally insane level.  The two cannot be separated.  This is why, when asked what God's greatest commandment is, Jesus gave two new ones which supersede, overarch The 10:  "Love God with all that is in you, and then love your neighbor as much as you love yourself." (Mark 12:29-31)  The love we have received through Jesus Christ compels us... (2 Cor. 5:14)

2.  Look More
This means forming the habit of looking for opportunities to spread the gospel in your everyday life. There are opportunities all around us.  As we shower God's love on other people, doors will open to tell them of His amazing grace.  God honors our obedience.  If we are an unloving people, a close-handed people, stingy with our love, our time, our money, our hearts, we will not see many opportunities to witness to others.  The opportunities will still be there; we will just not see them.
If we sincerely pray that God will open our hearts and eyes, He will.  And then, if we pray for additional opportunities, He will reveal them to us.

3.  Obey More
It is not enough to merely see; we must then obey.  When God opens a door, we must walk through it.  Now listen, Christian friend: God does not call every one of us to the foreign mission field. However, He places each one of us IN a mission field - - this field called our "circle of influence". Here is how it works:  as we work diligently, obediently in our current field, He will enlarge it.  He will give us more opportunities to spread His good news of salvation.

Let's not live our Christian lives in disobedience, as privileged children.  You can bet that the parents in my story disciplined their children when they returned home.   God has entrusted to us life-changing news and a love that knows no measure.  Let's "let it shine"!

Father, I thought of Hebrews 11:38 at the women's brunch with the lady missionaries last week, as they told of illnesses and threats on their lives and other horrors, as they told of souls saved and lives transformed.  "People of whom this world was not worthy".  Oh Lord!  Please move our bowels to compassion!  May we all become those people, a Body that is always ready to, in exercising our spiritual gifts, "go and tell".  In Jesus' name, amen.