sup guys,
took a break from psalms and ended up in philippians (currently my favourite in NT =D). phil 2:12-13 says for us to "...work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose" and i came away with this question: work out my salvation? what happened to faith and grace?
apologies in advance for sounding preachy, but here's my take on this passage - if i may borrow from john piper and uncle joe. grace is still wonderfully real and true, that doesn't change, but i think the part so many of us forget is that faith should produce works. Therefore, it is not "work to obtain salvation" but "work because of salvation." work is, therefore, an indication of our faith/salvation. This is not to be taken as a way of judging ppl's salvation (in the words of uncle joe, that is God biz), but as a means of self examination. Faith, if we have it, WILL produce good works in us (phil 2:13), in fact we can't produce genuine good works w/o it. We can't disconnect the two, as if we could separate eternity from "real life."
with that in mind, i want to point out that sanctification, that is our struggle against sin, is one of the "works" that i think paul wrote of. how much are we ourselves struggling against sin? we can't come to the cross and say faith will save us and holiness is merely extra credit; thats not how it works, the two are the same battle. I want the urgency of sin to sink into each of our minds, sin WILL destroy us if we leave it unchecked, or worse, protected and hidden. we need to attack the sins in our lives with the kind of zeal and seriousness that jesus described in Mathew 5:29. this is important because our struggles against sin will tell us if we are for God or not. No wonder paul used the words "fear and trembling!" just because faith alone is necessary for salvation does NOT mean obedience is optional. "Test yourself to see if you are of the faith" (2 cor 13:5) this is one of those tests: our struggles against sin, or lack thereof..
lastly, I want to point out that this is actually very, VERY good news! it means God will have victory over sin, and not merely tolerance of it. it means that He is fighting with us to fulfill his promise in romans 6:14. Sanctification and holiness is not something we can achieve on our own, what we ARE responsible for though, is to decide to initiate that struggle against sin and to rely on God's grace. i will be the first to humbly admit that i have a lot of work ahead of me in this struggle, i want to be surrounded by brothers and sisters who actively face this this same struggle together in loving community and accountability =) lets build a church whose members pursue holiness.
Happy Wednesday,
edward
This one's for the cat lovers, hilarious!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1qHVVbYG8Y
"Be killing sin or it will be killing you" - john owens
"We constantly remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." - 1 Thes 1:3
"...think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." Rom 12: 3b
"For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace." Rom 6:14
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