Work Out Your Salvation.

     So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;
     for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
                                  Philippians 2:12-13 NASB

     Many people become confused when they read the words of the Apostle Paul in this passage of scripture. They view salvation as something that cannot be earned or worked for, which is true. Paul states in Ephesians, that salvation is the gift of God and not of works (Ephesians 2:8-9). He states in Romans that one who works earns his wage. It is not a favor, but what is due. However, the one who believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, is made righteous by faith (Romans 4:4-5). Salvation is the gift of God received by faith.
     To understand what it means to work out your salvation, it is helpful to have a good understanding of salvation; what it means and what it entails. Many of us understand the aspect of salvation that deals with the guilt of sin. We understand and believe that Christ has paid the penalty for our sin, and canceled the debt against us. We understand that we are justified in His sight, and freely forgiven, for Christ's sake.
     There is more to salvation however. The concept of salvation is that of deliverance. It includes deliverance from the guilt of sin, but goes beyond that to the deliverance from sin itself. Paul writes that Christ "Gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age" (Gal 1:4).  He also writes that we were dead in trespasses and sins, walking according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, and the spirit that is at work in the sons of disobedience. We indulged in the desires of the flesh and mind, and were by nature children of wrath. God who is rich in mercy, in love, has made us alive in Christ; raising us up, and seating us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ (Eph 2:1-7).  In Colossians He proclaims that we have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness, to the kingdom of His Son (Col 1:13-14).  This is salvation; to be delivered from our sinful, rebellious lives. It is to be delivered from the lusts and desires that at one time controlled us, and to be set free to live for Christ. We were at one time slaves of sin, but we are now to present ourselves to God as slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:12-13, 15-18). Our lives will be filled with works and deeds of some kind. Either we will live selfishly, fulfilling the lusts of our flesh and mind, or we will live soberly and righteously. We are controlled by our nature; the old man with his deeds, or the new man with his deeds (Eph 4:22-24). 
     The new birth is a change of nature. It is referred to as the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5). The man who is born again is a new creation. The old is gone, and all things are made new (2 Cor 5:17). Again, this means that we no longer live the way we once did. We now have a new set of principles written upon our hearts by the Holy Spirit. This is the promise made under the new covenant (Hebrews 8:10). We are His workmanship, prepared to do good works (Eph 2:10). We read above that it is God who is at work in us to will and to do His good pleasure. This is what we must work out. We are to walk in this deliverance by faith. We are to follow Christ. We are to be led by the Spirit. This is what it means to work out our salvation. It is nothing less than living for the glory of God, surrendered to the lordship of Jesus Christ.
     We are admonished to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. The idea of fear seems foreign to many of us. It is easy to focus on God's love and mercy, which is central to our salvation. If God did not love us, why would He show us mercy? We are also concerned that we do not slip into legalism; driven by a slavish fear of punishment. Many people live motivated by this kind of fear. They do things to earn God's favor; they avoid other things to escape His wrath. These individuals are only motivated by self preservation. They have no real regard for the will of God. This is not the fear of the Lord that we are called to by the scriptures.
     The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy one is understanding (Proverbs 9:10 NASB). To properly fear God, we must have a right understanding of Him. If we focus only on wrath and judgment, we will be driven by slavish fear. The opposite of this is to view God as love, while neglecting the fact that He is holy and just as well. The danger here is that we begin to presume upon grace, and fail to live in obedience to His word. "After all", we think, "God is love, and understands our weakness."
     We need to understand, deep within our hearts, that not only is God love, but He is also righteous and just in all His ways. As the Holy God, He cannot tolerate sin. We do not always like to hear this, but His wrath flows from His justice. It is misrepresenting the character of God to declare that a loving God would never send anyone to hell. His holiness, righteousness, and justice, are just as real as His grace and mercy.
     When we look at God, and ponder the fact that He has existed from eternity, that He is everywhere present, that He is all knowing, we should be overcome by a sense of awe. There is not a thought in our minds that God does not know. He sees all; nothing is done in secret, that He is not aware of. In fact, from eternity past, God all ready knows the end from the beginning. The thought of this should make us feel very small in comparison to God, the maker of heaven and earth. When you look at the creation, you cannot help but know that there is a God who made all of this. In fact the Bible records that His invisible attributes, eternal power, and divine nature, are clearly seen in His creation (Romans 1:20).
     To fear the Lord is to understand who we are in relation to Him. We are His creation, made for His purpose and pleasure. We are not our own, but owe our lives in allegiance to God. It is only right and fitting that we yield ourselves to Him for His use. The proper fear of the Lord requires that we would stand in a holy awe of Him, to be deeply struck by His majesty and splendor; to understand that while this God loves us, and desires our love in return, yet in His holiness, He cannot look upon our sin. It is the dark stain of sin that separates us from this majestic God, and places us under His just wrath.
     Knowing this, we should have a dread, even a hatred for sin itself. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way, and the perverted mouth I hate (Proverbs 8:13 NASB). This hatred goes beyond the fear of punishment, to actually hate sin for what it is: rebellion against God. Sin grieves the heart of God, and breaks our fellowship with Him, and one who fears the Lord, will learn to hate sin, even dread it, lest they grieve the Savior who gave Himself for them. By the fear of the Lord one keeps away from evil (Prov 16:6)!
     Working out our salvation is to walk in the ways of the Lord. Psalm 128:1 declares that those who fear the Lord and walk in His ways are blessed. We are to offer God an acceptable service with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:28-29).
     
    

Trusting God Wholeheartedly.

     Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
     In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
          Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV

     If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
              James 1:5 KJV
    
                                                                           

Whole hearted trust
     What does it mean to trust in God with the whole heart? It is one thing to believe the promises we read in the word, but quite another thing to fall upon Him with an active faith when called to do so by the circumstances of life. It is easy to identify with Peter, sinking, as the wind driven waves crashed around him (Matt 14:28-31).
     James tells us that if we lack wisdom, God is more than willing to give it to us, if we will only ask. However, we must ask in faith,

     But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering: for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
     For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.
     A double minded man is unstable in all  his ways.
                                         James 1:6-8 KJV

     Peter was able to walk on the water, at Jesus command, as he kept his eye on Christ. When he looked at the storm around him, Jesus grew dim, and he lost his faith. Likewise, we are tossed about like waves of the sea, if we are double minded. A double minded man is a man who is not committed. This kind of person has no settled convictions or principles. He might have a half hearted commitment to Christ, but in reality, he is on the fence. It is impossible to have a living vibrant faith in Christ, if we are not surrendered to Him. This is why we see so many individuals falling apart today. They cannot trust Christ, if they do not really know Him. They are tossed about in all areas of life. Their opinions waver as the tossing sea. As the storms of life buffet them, they find it impossible to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7), and to look at what is unseen, rather than what is seen (2 Cor 4:18). 
     We are exhorted to come boldly to the throne of grace for help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16), and to draw near to God with a true heart, in full assurance of faith (Hebrews 10:22). This is trusting God with all of your heart. It is to be confident in Him; that He is good; that He is dependable; that He can be taken at His word; that He desires our highest good. 
     To trust Him with all the heart implies that we mean business with God; that we are serious in our pursuit of Him. Diligence is a forgotten word nowadays, but it is something that God desires us to be. We are to be diligent, making every effort, in our knowledge of Him. This includes our trust in Him as well. Proverbs 2:1-5, gives us a good idea of what it means to seek wisdom with diligence. It involves a conscience effort to hear; to apply the heart to understanding, to cry after knowledge, to lift up the voice after understanding. a diligent effort is compared to one seeking after silver and other treasures. This is what it means to trust in the Lord with all of the heart.

Our faulty understanding
      We must forsake our own understanding, if we would truly desire to know the way of God. Take a look at Abram and Sarai (Genesis 15:1-6,  16:1-4). God had promised Abram that he would have an heir. In the natural this would seem impossible, as both Abram and his wife Sarai were past child bearing age. After a long while, Sarai, decides to take matters into her own hands, and gives her maid Haggar, to Abram as a wife. They leaned unto their own understanding, and tried to bring about the promise of God, through their own efforts. This resulted in disaster, as so often happens when we decide to do things in our own way, instead of waiting on God. I admit, it can be difficult to trust God, when things do not seem as they should be. We often face impossible situations, and feel that the odds are insurmountable, but does not Jesus tell us that if we have faith, we can move mountains (Mark 11:22-24)? When we have a promise from God, we need to cling to that by faith, and forsake our own natural reasoning, no matter how ridiculous it may seem. Remember, we walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7).
    
Acknowlege Him in everything
     We often want to trust God with some things, but not everything. However, we are to acknowledge God in all of our ways. Every decision we make, every obstacle we face, every plan and purpose that we have, should be placed in God's hands, if we would want to walk in His will. James tells us that it is presumption to make plans without considering God (James 4:13-15). We often take things for granted, but we do not know what tomorrow will bring. Once again, this is often where our own understanding of things gets in the way. It is not a matter of God's plans that we will follow, and then our own plans that we will also pursue, but God is all. Too many people are guilty of merely adding Jesus to their already full lives. He says make Me all! This is what self denial is about. It is losing our lives for His sake (Mark 8:34-35).
     If we do this, trust Him with all of our heart, forsake dependence on our own understanding of things, and consider Him in every area of our lives, God promises to direct our steps. His wisdom will flood our hearts and minds, and we will find ourselves walking in His perfect will for our lives!