"Paul's Letter to the Philippians — Work Out Your Own Salvation”

The verses set before us today are the focus of much teaching in the churches, much of it sadly erroneous.  Those that want to impose legal restrictions on believers require works-keeping and often use verses 12 & 13 here to support that error.   Salvation by faith PLUS works and not faith alone as the apostle clearly teaches is not what we find here.  Rather, the apostle writes here about the “working out” of one’s salvation simply living out that redeemed life that we have received as a gift by God’s abundant grace.  He mentions however the gravity of that and emphasizes it so strongly by these memorable words: “fear and trembling”.  But, he is saying here, this is most appropriate considering what the exhortation here is, namely, to “let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus”.  He had considered well the costs of entering into humanity in the Incarnation, and then having well considered fully, leapt boldly into the world’s stage living that life that could lead only to his death and then glorious resurrection.  Should not the realization of the magnitude of God’s abundant grace towards us sinners cause such a reaction in each of us, that with fear and trembling we would live out our salvation here within the realm of his all sufficient grace?  Amen.