January 30, 2023: Philippians 2:12-13 - May We Let God Work in Us
“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; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” - Philippians 2:12-13
I think a major stumbling block for people who have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and who haven’t turned hearts to Him is to see people who profess to be Christians living their lives just like the world, living a life of hypocrisy. Let me be very clear that you absolutely cannot earn your way to salvation; it is only by believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior that we can be saved. Lest we forget, let us read these words from Jesus Christ Himself:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16-18)
Once we are saved by believing in Jesus Christ as our Redeemer, we are filled with His Holy Spirit. Jesus also referred to the Holy Spirit as the “Helper.” Jesus told His disciples:
“These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” (John 14:25-26)
Jesus also told them:
“I still have many things to say to you but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” (John 16:12-14)
Before Jesus told His disciples these things about the Holy Spirit, He said to them: “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15) When Jesus was asked by a lawyer, who did not believe Jesus is the Messiah, what is the greatest commandment in the law, Jesus replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment.” (Matthew 22:34-38)
When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are immediately saved from all our sins. That is salvation. Next begins a process of sanctification, which is to sanctify us - to set us apart from the world - through the power of the Holy Spirit. We should not be imitators of the world but imitators of Christ. If we let Him, the Holy Spirit helps us to do exactly that. If we fight against this, we should ask ourselves, why do we want to imitate those who reject Christ? Sadly, there are many people who say they are Christians but are embracing the sinful ways of the world in order to be accepted by it. They twist God’s word and say that what God calls sin is not sin and what God calls good they call evil. Truly, what is the point of turning to Christ if we have no intention of letting Him change our hearts to be more like Him? Yes, I know it takes time, and it definitely took time for me, but in the headlines today we hear of people who say they have been saved for decades, with some even leading churches, who look more like the world than they do Jesus Christ.
Putting it another way, how would you feel if you went to a nutritionist or a doctor because you wanted to lose weight and get healthy and he was extremely overweight? Would you trust in his advice? What if you went to a personal trainer who was obese and out of shape? Would you trust in her recommendations when she does not seem to apply them in her own life? The same is true in our faith. If we profess to unbelievers that we are saved by Jesus Christ and yet we live our lives like we did prior to our salvation, perhaps hanging out at bars, drinking, swearing, using drugs, living in sexual sin, what are we saying to those unbelievers who know us? We are saying that Jesus did not have the power to change us, to turn our hearts to Him.
As Paul wrote to his beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, he told them to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” The world is filled with temptation and sin, and it is a battle every single day to fight against it. Satan wants to lure us back into that sinful life we used to live, or perhaps are still living, so that we can casually drift away from God, a little at a time, perhaps not even realizing we are drifting, and then one day, Satan says, “Gotcha!” because we decided it’s too hard to stand out in this world, to stand in our faith in Jesus Christ, no matter the cost. We are quickly devolving as a society in the United States. We are a sad example of what a country that once followed God and was blessed by Him in many ways and has done a 180 and turned completely against Him. May those of us who have not turned against Him continue to let Him work in us, through His Holy Spirit, for His good pleasure. When we stumble and sin, may we not continue in it but ask for forgiveness, and keep on going, keep running this race of faith, until we finally cross that finish line, for His glory and for our good. ✝️