Another Year of Choices
By Barbara Dahlgren
Hopefully we all know that God has forgiven us for our sins – past, present, and future. Nothing we can do will ever earn us salvation because it is a gift from God. (Ephesians 2:8) Nothing we can do will make God love us anymore than He does. Christians who perform lists of do’s and don’ts trying to get God to love them do not understand God’s grace. God’s love is freely given to us!
Since our salvation is not earned through our “works” and is guaranteed – a done deal – some would have Christians think they have no responsibility to make changes that reflect their life in Christ. I think they miss the mark. Paul clearly states we are to “work out our own salvation.” (Philippians 2:12) It is interesting to note that this verse does not say to work “for” our salvation, but rather it says to “work out our salvation.” But what exactly does that mean?
Consider this… While it’s true that good works do not produce salvation, shouldn’t salvation produce good works?
We are specifically told that we are saved by grace, not by works. (Ephesians 2:8-9) However in the very next verse we are told we were created to do good works. (Ephesians 2:10) So… although we are not saved by our works, we should be doing good works.
Maybe that’s why the Bible tells us to be doers of the word, not hearers only. (James 1:22) As we read the next few scriptures in James we see that if we don’t live as Christ would have us live, we soon forget who we are. (James 1:23-24) Also when we walk with God and try to live a Christian life, we are blessed. (James 1:25)
God wants us to do what He tells us to do for our own happiness. “If you know these things, happy are you if you do them.” (John 13:17) Not only will we be happy, we will gain wisdom. (Matthew 7:24)
When we look at the whole scripture about working out our salvation we see Paul telling the Philippians that he’s not there to guide and set an example for them. (Philippians 2:12-13) They are on their own so they need to practice what they have learned from him. They need to work out their salvation without Paul standing over them and saying, “Better rethink what you are doing. That may not be a good idea.” In other words, think it through. Make wise choices. And then he adds, “…with fear and trembling.” “…work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” That’s just a fancy way of saying, “Hey, don’t take this lightly – it’s serious stuff!”
Then he continues, “For it is God that works in you to will and do his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13) Which is a way of saying, “You may do some of the work, but God gets all the credit because you cannot do it without Him.”
We cannot save ourselves. God does that. We cannot do what God does and God will not do for us what we can do for ourselves. He will not give us good habits or moral character. He will not force us to walk with Him. He will help us, but He won’t do it for us. We must “work out our own salvation.” In other words – God gives us salvation and we work out what we will do with it.
Christians are expected to grow spiritually. Technically we need to grow up spiritually and stop being whiney babies. (Ephesians 4:15-16) “Wah, wah, wah… I wanna say I’m a Christian but I don’t wanna do Christian stuff!” (Ephesians 4:15-16; Hebrews 5:12) Well, words are cheap, baby! Our actions are evidence of our identity in Christ. With God’s help we need to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.
So… we’ve been given salvation, now what are we going to do with it? Perhaps we should try to live a life worthy of our calling. (Ephesians 4:1)
Suggestions for practicing this choice…
- Stay close to God through prayer and ask Him to guide your Christian walk with Him.
- Read God’s word, especially the New Testament, and ask God to help you personalize what it says.
- Keep a spiritual diary where you write down what God has been teaching you.
- Don’t be so hard on yourself. Think of how far you’ve come not how far you have to go.
- When you fall down and make mistakes, get back up and start all over again. We are not perfect and God doesn’t expect us to be. If we could do it all ourselves, we wouldn’t need God.
