Continue to Work Out Your Salvation

"Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed - not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence - continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling..." - Philippians 2:12

This verse always use to leave me a bit perplexed. I wondered what it meant to "work out your salvation". I was thinking about that verse again tonight as I was reading. You know how something reminds you of something else and your mind starts rambling. Now when I think of Php 2:12, I'm not confused because of a "blurb" I read in my Bible a while back. Scofield really made it clear to me.

The Hebrew and Greek words for "salvation" imply the ideas of deliverance, safety, preservation, healing, and soundness: "Salvation" is the great inclusive word of the Gospel, gathering into itself all the redemptive acts and processes: justification, redemption, grace, atonement, imputation, forgiveness, sanctification, and glorification.

Salvation is in three tenses:

1) The Christian has been saved from the guilt and penalty of sin (Lk 7:50; 1 Co 1:18; 2 Co 2:15; Eph 2:5,8; 2 Ti 1:9) and is safe.

2) The Christian is being saved from the habit and dominion of sin (Ro 6:14; 8:2; 2 Co 3:18; Gal 2:19-20; Php 1:19; 2:12-13; 2 Th 2:13). And

3) The Christian will be saved at the Lord's return, from all the bodily infirmities that are the result of sin and God's curse upon the sinful world (Ro 8:18-23; 1 Co 15:42-44), and brought into entire conformity to Christ (Ro 13:11; Heb 10:36; 1 Pe 1:5; 1 Jn 3:2). Salvation is by grace through faith, is a free gift and is wholly without works (Ro 3:27-28; 4:1-8; 6:23; Eph 2:8). The divine order is: first salvation, then works (Eph 2:9-10;

Tit 3:5-8).

"...for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose." - Philippians 2:13

Because of salvation, we as Christians are being saved from the dominion of sin because God works in us to will and act according to His good purpose. Praise the Lord that because of Jesus' redemptive act on the cross, we are no longer slaves to sin (Ro 6:6)! Now if only we would act that way...