We are going through Philippians in our Bible study. Paul was in jail and writing to the congregation in Philippi. In verse 2:12-13, he writes, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence by 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 work for his good pleasure.” I could see that if you have not accepted Christ as your savior, you might think that Paul was saying you are free to work out your own salvation outside of Christ. Don’t feel embarrassed; it is basically a worldly thing to do: to not understand God’s message. The world likes to shout out a Bible passage and fails to dig deeper into the context, translation, and meaning of a verse in the context that it was written.
You need to first understand the context of the message. Paul was writing to the church in Philippi. Paul loved this church because they accepted God’s Word without the fuss of other churches of that day. Paul knew that he was talking to fellow Christians. Although Christians are saved, we are not without our struggles. As in that day, we struggle to obey Christ. It is quite a battle that falls to each of us to be more Christ-like. Because of that struggle, we work with God’s Spirit to help fight the constant fight to obey Him. Our job is to help one another in that fight. And in that light, we are constantly working to our own salvation of obeying Jesus. So, the verse might be better translated as to show or demonstrate your obedience to Christ.
I used to believe that God was found in nature. Some believe that God is in a Church. Although God is in both of those places, He wants to be in our hearts. It isn’t enough to try to do good works and “buy” your way into heaven. Let’s face it, none of us has that much to offer. The path is simple, yet everyone seems to miss it. It isn’t the life of Christ that saves us; it is His death. He died for all of us, and for the few who accept his gift of salvation, we will see Him again. This is called being born again. In this new life, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide our way. It is through this internal process that we work out our own salvation. But you cannot accomplish it without accepting Christ first.
You don’t have to trust me on this; listen to the Lord Himself: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6. There is no other workaround.