PHILIPPIANS 2:12-13 – Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
THEME OF THE DAY. RESPONDING TO GOD’S WORK IN US. There are three theological words comprising the whole of the Christian life; salvation, sanctification, and glorification. They form an inseparable chain of the work God does in the life of His children. In the same Bible book of today’s scripture, the Apostle Paul writes of this work of God – “And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). And each of these theological words reveals to us the phases of the Christian’s journey to heaven.
Salvation is the beginning. We are taken out of spiritual darkness into spiritual light. We go from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive; from enemies of God to children of God. And that is just the start of God’s work in us. He then commits to spiritually maturing us which is the work of making us like His Son, the Lord Jesus. We call this “sanctification” or the process of daily separating us from our old life into the image of Him who is our new life. This phase is the life of the Christian. In fact, it is the Christian life and demands regular self-examination to see if we are being changed, being separated from our old selves. Such examination will be a source of assurance of our salvation as we look back over the past days, weeks, months, and years and see how God has been working in us to make us more and more like His Son.
The final work God does in us is future. From salvation – putting us in Christ; through sanctification making us like Christ; comes glorification bringing us to Christ. This will occur at death or when our Lord returns. That day will be the day all God’s construction work is done and we are presented to Him blameless (Jude 24). So, as God does this work in us, how should we respond? Today’s scripture gives us two attitudes to embrace as we go through the phase in the Christian life called “sanctification.” These attitudes are “fear and trembling.”
When it comes to living out the Christian life, the most important attitude to have is the fear of God. It is the dominant trait in the scripture appearing hundreds of times from Genesis to Revelation. It is what God puts in the heart of His people at salvation (Jeremiah 32:4). It is also the “google map” guiding us through life – “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1). This fear is not of terror or dread, but of affectionate reverence for God. And when this fear controls Christians, they will be sensitive to all sin. In the daily course of life, they will strive to do nothing, view nothing, go nowhere, or say anything which would bring displeasure to the Lord. They flee all sin, not because of the fear of consequences, but out of the fear of sinning against God’s amazing grace and love. They simply don’t want to break His heart. Walk in the fear of God and see how we experience more and more growth in grace. That leads to the second attitude we are to have in responding to God’s work in us – trembling.
The Apostle Paul writes, “Work out your own salvation in fear and trembling”. If the fear is directed toward God, then the trembling is toward us. And we should tremble over ourselves. Why? Because we are weak, frail, prone to wander from God, easily tripped up by temptation, sometimes commit willful sin . . . this trembling is a sign of humility knowing that if God let go of His grace-filled hands on us, we would fall quickly and mightily. Yes, the correct response to God’s work in us is a trembling over ourselves. As we do, it will build a more dependent life on God’s grace and allow us to gladly submit to the work He is doing in our lives. So, remember, God is at work in us. He has committed Himself to three phases in the work; salvation, sanctification, and glorification. As we live out phase two – sanctification, let’s do so with the right attitudes – fearing Him and trembling over ourselves.
PRAYER: “Father, I praise you for the work you started in me and will complete.”
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QUOTE: “God is at work in His children through the ordinary events and routines of life.”