WEEK THREE
Day Two
DAILY SCRIPTURE
Philippians 2:12
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Know: Read Philippians 2:12
Note: Read slowly, carefully marking keywords.
work , salvation, fear, trembling
Observation:
Why is fear and trembling involved in salvation?
What: Have you worked out your salvation?
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; Philippians 2:12
Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
Have you ever been in a relationship where you judged the other according to a preferred standard? Perhaps you don’t like it when someone doesn’t open the door for you, so you judge them for their lack of care. Or perhaps someone in your life reminds you of someone who hurt you in the past, so you judge them based on your lack of forgiveness. The person you projected your pain and standards on was innocent. It was your beliefs that changed who they were in your eyes. The way to change your mind about them is to consider their character. When you have seen them for who they truly are, it dispels the lies and heals the relationship.
This is what repentance is. Repentance is to change our minds about God.
Salvation doesn’t just equal forgiveness, it is so much more than that.
Salvation is the word soteria, which includes “deliverance, preservation, safety, and salvation.” It is a picture of a new life where all your needs—your need for forgiveness, deliverance, healing, and provision—are supplied according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Psalms 4:19). Jesus provided for your complete salvation, healing, and deliverance on the cross. If your old way of life was characterized by poverty, curses, and never enough, then your new life in Christ is one of abundance, blessings, and more than enough.
But you might say, I don’t see it. I’m not healthy. I’m not prospering. I’m not overcoming. Perhaps you feel like God is distant, angry with you or holding a whip over your head. What do you do?
Work it out.
You lack nothing in Him (Eph 1:3). Jesus already provided for your healing, deliverance, and freedom and provision. Jesus came to earth to show us the Father; He came to change our minds about who we believed God to be.
Asking God to do things he’s already done makes us passive and requires no faith. Paul exhorts us to work out the power of Christ’s sacrifice in our lives.
How?
It begins by changing the way you think. Renew your mind. Declare his goodness and grace over your situation. Declare that God is for you and not against you; declare His character. Grace and peace will be multiplied to you as you grow in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord (2 Pet 1:2).
With fear and trembling…
I used to think that this phrase described our proper state before God—that we should be afraid and tremble because even after a lifetime of service, God might judge that we haven’t done enough for him. That once we get to Heaven, we may be cast aside because we didn’t get it right while on Earth.
Thank God for the cross! God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. Jesus laid down His life to redeem us from the curse of sin and death, not from an angry God. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit were in complete agreement when Jesus died. They were working together for our redemption- OUR REDEMPTION! This means that my salvation has nothing to do with my behavior- it has only to do with Jesus’ perfect work finished and completed so that we would be set free from the bondage of slavery and made free to be sons of God.
I no longer fear judgment because my sin has been punished, and I am clothed with Christ.
In the passage above, Paul is not talking about judgment but the outworking of our salvation. This is the fruit of God’s work in our lives.
Why are fear and trembling involved? Because trusting God can be scary.
When we take steps of faith, it can be scary. What if I fail? Praying for the sick can be scary. What if they don’t get healed?
But what if they do?
Faith is risky. Faith does not come naturally and is often accompanied by fear and trembling.
How do you think Abraham felt as he was about to kill his son Isaac? We know that Abraham was fully persuaded that God would raise the dead – that’s faith – but he was human, not made of steel, so I can imagine the tears of agony as he stood over his son.
Or what about Daniel in the lions’ den?
Or David facing the giant?
Or Esther standing before the King?
Or Moses standing up to Pharaoh?
Faith often involves putting something on the line. It might be your comfort, your reputation, your family, your funds, even your life – but something is risked or else it’s not faith.
Fear often manifests as a desire to run away. The words “fear” and “flight” are connected in the Greek language. So, our choice is often one of faith versus flight.
Under law, we work for God, but under grace, we do the work of God. The work of God is believing in Jesus and revealing his finished work in our broken world.
…for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)
If God is the one working, what part do we play? We decide who gets to see his work.
God has chosen to reveal himself through the faith of his saints. We preach with our mouths and his signs and wonders follow. We lay our hands on the sick, and his healing is released.
Paul didn’t want to go to Corinth but he went anyway. Despite his fear and trembling, he preached Christ crucified, and the result was that many Corinthians believed and were baptized (Acts 18:8).
Jonah didn’t want to preach in Nineveh but he did and an entire city was saved. Both Jonah and Paul took faith-risks despite their fears. As a result, the kingdom of God came to two cities and thousands of people were saved.
Fear and trembling are normal. What you do with fear is the thing. We can live afraid and see nothing change, or we can face our fears and see the kingdom come.
Working out our salvation means that at some point we’re going to have to get out of the boat and take a risk. God won’t punish us if we hold back – this has nothing to do with punishment.
But we will blessed, and the nations will be blessed through us, when we reveal Jesus.