What does ‘working out our salvation in fear and trembling’ really mean?
Php 2:12-13 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. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
To keep this short, let me get straight to the point. “Working
out our own salvation” is not us doing good works to justify our salvation. It
is not acts of kindness. It is not giving money to the church. It is not
activities of any kind that make us feel we did something right or good. To put
it bluntly, it is not any type of ‘physical’ actions that we do in this world that
‘works out our salvation’. How can I know this and confirm this? Well, consider
this to start with. If our salvation is ALREADY SECURE in Christ
(Rom.3:21-28), just by us believing in Jesus and trusting His death, burial,
and resurrection (1Cor.15:1-4), then what is this ‘work’ I must do in fear and
trembling? What can this ‘work’ do to contribute any more to a salvation I have
that is ALREADY 100% SECURE? That does not make sense! In this regard, the ‘work’
being mentioned here has a different context than, to earn, or contribute to,
or justify, salvation.
