Fall 1990

Working out our Salvation
Bethel

"Wherefore, my beloved, as ye 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 which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure" Phil 2:12-13.

"Work out ... for it is God which worketh in you." What is the nature of that which we are to "work out?" The Word tells us that it is "our own salvation." This word, "salvation" is far-reaching in its meaning. It goes beyond our initial experience of redemption. It includes our deliverance from all that resulted from the transgression of Adam: forgiveness, healing for the body, grace for victory in the battles of life, and all that pertains to our being built into the image of Christ.

This word to "work out our own salvation" is written to each one, into whom Christ has entered through the experience of a New Birth. Those who are yet unregenerate have nothing to "work out," for Christ has not "entered into" their heart to work within them. But the Christian has the Master Workman abiding within. Our spiritual development, along with our daily walk among men is dependent upon the out flowing of the life of Christ that is resident within us. We are to live under the power of "The Indwelling Christ" so that which is manifest in our life experience will be the outflow of what the Lord is doing within us.

Jesus, as He walked among men, lived in this manner in His relationship to the Father. "Then said Jesus unto them, when ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him" John 8:28-29.

We also, apart from the indwelling Christ, can not please our Heavenly Father. Only as we abide in harmony with the Indwelling Christ, who is, can there be of a developing Christian character, "clear down to the finishing point of salvation," as rendered by one translator. He is to be our life, our wisdom, our righteousness, our holiness, our all.

Our text tells us that we are helpless to make ourselves any better, except as a result of God working within us. As He works to enable us to "will and to do of His good pleasure," we are to cooperate with Him in the outworking of all that He has worked within. Otherwise, His gracious inward working will not result in its intended purpose, and all will all have been in vain.

Israel's older generation entered not into the Land of Canaan because of their unbelief. The word translated "unbelief" means "willful unbelief; obstinacy; disobedience. It is rendered "disobedience" in some translations. We are not called to a path of obedience to the Law by our own self-efforts. We are called to the "obedience of faith" in the outworking of all that He has worked within.

It is not by self-motivated obedience to a code of laws that we live. Rather, it is by our having faith in and consequent obedience to the Lord, that it is made possible for Him to actuate us, to control us, to energize us, and to express His nature and life through us. Say not that you believe Him while you are disobedient to Him. No! Faith and obedience go together in the way of the Gospel. To obey is to believe; and to believe is to be empowered unto greater obedience; for to believe is to come under the power of the Obedient One.

We see from our text that God works in us to will according to His good pleasure. This is wonderful! God does not merely move upon our emotions to give us pleasure. This seems to be the primary thought in the minds of many of God's children. There is a self-centeredness, instead of a Christ-centeredness, even in their seeking God. They seem ever to be looking for an emotional blessing, instead of looking for God to be pleased and glorified. They may say "Yes" to the Lord; but when the "working out" proves to be over a path that crosses the "pleasure" of self, and calls for obedience to death at the cross, they do not yield to His inner workings that would enable them "to do of His good pleasure."

God is working for the "good pleasure of His will" in our lives; and this, if we yield to it, will always be for our highest good, and will give us a joy so deep that it will be unspeakable and full of glory. We cannot reach this deep, abiding joy except as we yield our wills to come under His will, in an obedience to the death of all desires of self in the place in which God is dealing. Our wills must come into harmony with God's will if we are to enter into His best. A blessing now and then is not the object. The object is the subjecting of our wills to the will of God in every place; and this means a life in the heavenlies in Christ, where we are blessed with every spiritual blessing.

God works in us, first of all, to will for His good pleasure, His satisfaction, His glory. He speaks to our hearts of the beauty of Jesus, revealing the perfections of His character, the great loveliness of His life; and then He works upon our wills to work in us a strong desire to be conformed to Christ's image by letting Him become our very life.

But the Word not only says that He works in us to will, to desire, for His good pleasure. We are told that He also works in us to work, to do, for His good pleasure. Rotherham says that He "energizes within you both the desiring and the energizing, in behalf of his good pleasure." If there is a yielding to His inward working upon our wills, we shall find ourselves inwardly energized, made strong and vigorous, to work for His good pleasure.

Nothing remains, then, but for us by faith and obedience to work out these God-given, inward desires and energies, with a view only to His glory, His good pleasure. And if, in the holy hush of a deep reverence for God and His will, we thus yield to let these inward movings find outward expression in word and act, we shall be carried "clear down to the finishing point" of our salvation, in that ever-increasing character-building into the image of Christ.

"Work out your own salvation." This is individual. No one can work out your salvation for you: no one can obey the Inner Voice or come under the Inner Working for you. No other human being, of himself, knows what the Spirit is speaking to you, is working within you; not even the one nearest to you.

It is a most marvelous thing of grace that God gives us such individual attention, with a personal concern over every moment of our lives. We need never feel alone with our problem. We need never be without guidance. If we will be quiet and attentive enough in our inner being, we can hear the Inner Voice: we can receive the inner impression of His will; we can be energized to will and to do that which is pleasing unto God. Thus, we are the only one who can work out our own salvation from those things that must needs go from our life, if we are to mature in Christ likeness and be to the praise of God's glory.

There is no need of our being led astray, no need of our being ignorant of God's will, no need of our being powerless to do it. We have a power house right within us, because Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God, is there. If we, with constant attention to His Voice and his working, by faith and obedience work out what He works in, we shall be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding; we shall walk even as He walked; and the works that He did, shall we do also - all for His good pleasure and for the glory of His Name!