Working out One's Salvation

“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, (Philippians 2:12). How does one ‘work out’ their own salvation? We know this cannot mean that we must do good works in order to be saved, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6). Even our best acts are no better than a ‘polluted garment’ (ESV), so we are helpless to do anything that would make us worthy of God’s attention, let alone His saving grace, for “There is none who does good, no, not one” (Romans 3:12).

I believe the term working out our salvation is referring to diligently seeking God since the greatest command is to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37). If our desire is for eternal life, we will seek to know God through His word and strive to live in obedience to His teaching. John 3:36 tells us that “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

Jesus said, “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him” (John 6:54-56). We know this is not meant to be taken literally. In verse 57 and 58 of John 6, Jesus said, “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.” Jesus is speaking in a spiritual sense. “And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6: 35). He is the Word made flesh “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14), and we must in a spiritual sense, feed on Him through the Word, if we are to live.

As those who are in Christ, we will understand the meaning of the following verse in Hebrews 4:12 which tells us that “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart,” and we will take to heart the verse in 2 Timothy 2:15, which tells us to“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” In John 14:6 Jesus’ words are, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Since Jesus is the ‘bread of life’, the ‘Word become flesh,’ the only way to access the Father by Him is through diligent study of God’s word. Proverbs 8:17 reads, “those who seek me diligently find me” (Proverbs 8:17). The only way to seek God is through the study of His Word and in prayer. The more serious we are in our desire to know Him better, the more diligent we will be in our study of His word. Matthew 5:6 tells us that,“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” If we truly hunger after something we will pursue it until we are able to satisfy our desire for whatever it is we are hungering after. If we are genuine in our faith we will truly hunger and thirst after righteousness, and as we grow and mature in the faith, we will better understand the wickedness of our own hearts, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it” (Jeremiah 17:9)? Knowing how easy it is to deceive ourselves into thinking we are doing right, let us keep in mind the following admonishment in 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.”