PhilippiansSample

C.S. Lewis pulls no punches as he boldly says what we are all thinking when we read the words “workout your own salvation with fear and trembling.” He says, “It looks as if everything depends on us and our good actions...", and if I’m honest, that was my first impression, and I’m sure many of yours as well. But we know because of verses like Ephesians 2:8 that we are saved solely by the grace of God, not by anything we’ve done. It is very easy to be caught off guard by our first impressions of that verse; so much so that we miss the gravity of the next verse where it says, “For it is God who works in you.”

Lewis goes on to say that with this statement things take a twist as now, “It looks as if God did everything and we nothing.” That checks out with Ephesians 2:8, but it doesn’t answer the question of what Paul meant when he said, “Work out your own salvation.” This isn’t talking about becoming saved, but rather what life is like once you are saved. Think of “working out your salvation” more like God working His salvation into your life. God will begin to show you things that need to be worked out of your life, but every time He does, He will have something in store for you to take that thing’s place. I encourage you to trust that truth today, and whatever God is showing you you need to “workout” of your life, be obedient to Him and seek what better He has in store.

Prayer points:

• Ask God what needs to be “worked out” of my life?
• Listen to what God wants you to put in that things place.