Phil 2:12 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.
With our young people on Monday Night’s, we have spent some time with the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians. There have been a number of serious and wonderful discussions about some of the truths contained therein. This evening, I would like to just deal with certain aspects of what can be seen before us in this passage of our consideration. This is in nowise intended to be a theological discussion, because theologians have argued about this passage from the ages before our time. Entire churches and religious organizations have based their doctrinal lives upon the phrase concerning working out our own salvation. The inherent reality, I leave before the Holy Spirit to deal with in each one of our hearts. I bring before us the simple aspect of looking at the Word of God for the expressed concern that we have an understanding of our position in Christ before God. We will touch upon the facet of working out our own salvation in terms as discussed with the young people, but the focus, the heart of our fellowship, is held in the last aspects of this verse, the manner in which we are to approach everything in our lives before the Lord God Almighty, with fear and trembling. It is here that I feel that some of us may be lacking in our understanding of what God means to us, in us, and through us unto others. It is here that we need to find out, in our own hearts before God, how we are to conduct the course of our lives upon this earth. It is here, that the previous statement of working out our own salvation has its essence and purpose. 
To see the pattern of our discussion, let us look at this passage in the Amplified translation with the emphasis in place as described within the context it contains. Therefore, my dear ones, as you have always obeyed [my suggestions], so now, not only [with the enthusiasm you would show] in my presence but much more because I am absent, work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ). 
The element of working out our own salvation becomes more delineated in the Amplified as we see the fact of the completion of our salvation at hand. Our salvation is to be completed, carried out to its due course, finished with the idea of the reverence, awe and trembling before God as its focus. The whole context is not on us, but on God, centered in Him, Alone. This is where we sometimes find ourselves without the proper appreciation of the significance of all that God has done in our lives. There are those who take the scripture and make it something that fits what they desire to have it say. They mold it to personal preferences and ideas, rather than to what is at the very heart of the issue. We cannot separate salvation from the effective work of Christ. Neither can we add anything to what Christ so perfectly accomplished on the cross through His death and resurrection. Nothing can be added to nor detracted from that work of God’s Grace. It is fully by God’s Grace alone that we are saved. We cannot earn salvation through any work that we do. Being a good person, in the sense of what this realm considers being a good person, holds no weight in the sight of God. Either we have accepted Christ into our hearts and are covered by His gracious work, or we are lost. There is no middle area of compromise with the supposedly forward thinkers of this world age. Separation from the offered salvation through Jesus Christ means separation, eternal separation from God.
How then, do we look at the element of our Philippians text? It is through the effectual work of God’s salvation in our lives. Consider several aspects of the perfection of God’s salvation work in us. First of all, while we are spiritually perfect in Christ, there is an element of our earthly life that needs to come into conformity with our spiritual reality. We are sojourners on this earth, as Dave has so eloquently dealt with over the course of our previous meetings. We are on this earth, but we are not of this earth any longer, in Christ. Our earthly lives do have a set purpose in Christ. We are the living witnesses of what God has accomplished through Jesus Christ. We are here for the set purpose of showing forth, day by day, how a life hid in Christ is different, is changed, is being daily brought into line with what God desires and will have to His Glory. This is an on-going process that is the evidence of the Holy Spirit in action in our lives. 
There is nothing more terrifying to me than the idea that I would be left alone by the Holy Spirit to do as I please. That would be an indication that the Lord has no further interest in my life, no more effort will be expended in bringing me into that conformity which He desires in those who love Him and trust Him and seek after Him with all their hearts. To become completely comfortable in the way things are in our lives is to lose the desire to go on with the Lord. We must never allow ourselves to be so engrained in our doctrinal beliefs that we turn off our hearts to the Lord and the depths of Christ into which He desires to lead us. It is a pathetic life that simply tells the Lord that we are no longer interested in being guided into all the reality of Christ, that we are satisfied with the meager portion of our limited understanding and have no more desire for a living relationship in Him.
	The other aspect of this is that we are willing to have the Lord reveal that which needs to be dealt with in our beings, in our lives, to become those witnesses that He desires on this earth. Mat. 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. This is not an easy aspect to consider. It is so effortless to tell the Lord to have His complete way in our lives, to take us down whatever road He chooses, to make us that which will be completely pleasing unto Him, until we begin to tread that path. When the Lord begins to show us what needs to be dealt with in our lives, we begin to balk and to make excuses and to find reasons not to have to change. We are so good at justifying why we are the way we are, that we forget that we have asked the Lord to make us that which would please Him Alone. This is an all-encompassing reality that we must face in Him. We are not to cling to the old desires, wants, and excuses for our existence. We are completely new in Christ and to be seeking that which is the true evidence of what God has accomplished in Jesus Christ in our lives.
	This path of becoming what God desires is never completed through our best intentions and personal effort. It can only be real and complete as God makes it so in us. I know that the best manner for the Lord to deal in my life is to face myself through the eyes of my family. It becomes so quickly evident where God needs to deal, to knock off the sharp edges, to put to death the attitudes and the notions of what is important in my eyes and what is truly of value in the heart of God. The family of God’s choosing for us is a perfect choice. He knows exactly what it takes through the voice and the encouragement of spouses, children, parents, brothers and sisters, to break our hearts asunder. I thank the Lord for the family that is so loving as to point out my faults, because it truly makes me search my heart and my entire being to see what it is that so intensely irritates them about me, because that is an area that needs to be cleansed in me to the Lord’s good pleasure. This is the difference that has to be in place, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We need to set aside those hurt feelings and those bursts of anger when the Holy Spirit uses a loved one to point out where our lives are off the track of being wholly unto Christ. That is why the Holy Spirit can use a loved one, because they are dealing with us in love. It is not always apparent, but it is the fact that we are held in their hearts that they are so bothered when they see us not being the true witnesses that we should be. If they didn’t care, it would not be an issue with them or with us. Let us never react to the pointing out of our faults with anything less than the prayer of our hearts unto the Lord in thanksgiving that we are so loved by God and by our dear ones. 
	Whenever we face criticism, it needs to be taken to the Lord for what He is trying to tell us, to work in us, and to allow Him the freedom to make a change in us to His glory. Sometimes the criticism, while well-intended, is nothing less than someone blowing off steam, and we just happen to be the handy target of that outburst. Sometimes it truly is an area that the Lord has deemed time to expose in our lives. Whatever the object, whatever the intent, we need to take it before the Lord and, with hearts full of love and desire after Him, let the Holy Spirit deal effectively to His purpose. We must never allow ourselves to have hurt feelings and resentment which would further serve to hinder our on-going with the Lord. 
We must keep before us the fact that what we suffer in this realm will never compare with the betrayal and the anguish that was heaped upon the Lord Jesus Christ. We must always learn to keep our eyes upon Him as the goal of our lives, and seek after Him to be more firmly established in our lives, especially the lives that we live before Him unto others. 
	In our discussions about this text, our young people discovered that there were several facets that could be seen in the work of God’s salvation in our lives through Jesus Christ’s redemptive work. One is that, as we have hopefully realized, our lives are the examples of what God has accomplished in Christ. While we are fully saved by God’s Grace alone, we are still on this earth as the testament to what God has done. Our physical lives should be reflective, clearly reflective of the great work of God in them. Therefore, our salvation should be seen in everything we do. There is no area where we can hide it or shield the eyes of others from it. We are who we are because of the work of Christ. In that course, our daily efforts should be focused on what will bring glory to God in our every thought, action, and reaction on this earth. This is only possible as the Holy Spirit is allowed to exercise His guidance and majesty in these lives. As we study the Word of God and lift our hearts in prayer before Him, God is faithful and true to bring about those circumstances and those elements in our lives that will develop the men and women of faith through whom He has free access to express His loving-kindness and tender mercy on this earth. He will use us as the prime examples of how a life hid in Christ has a complete and perfected relationship with Him. We are not exempted from the elements of this world age, but as we encounter them, we are kept firmly protected and shielded in Him. 
	This element of working out or cultivating and carrying forth our salvation unto the goal that God has set before us in Christ, therefore contains the element of our complete obedience to the plan and purpose of God in our lives. Our focus must remain firmly set in Him and our desires honed to the reality that everything we are, everything we do, everything we say depends upon God and reflects the relationship we have in Him. I Pet. 2:12 Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works, which they behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
	The next element of this consideration is that aspect of having our salvation before us on a very personal level. There is no blanket salvation for mankind. It is set in each person’s response to the salvation work of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are not saved by our parent’s goodness, or by the virtue of our spouse. We are only saved as we individually come under the salvation ministry of the Holy Spirit. No one but Christ can be our redemption and that only as we accept Him into our hearts. We can give guidance to others, after we have come into His life, but we cannot save anyone else and cannot be saved by anyone else. It is Christ Alone by Whom eternal life is granted unto all who will call upon Him. Our relationship with Christ is a most personal one. Each of us comes to know Him as our personal Lord and Savior. While He may be working the same truths in all of us, He deals with each one of us in the most effective manner that shows just how much He loves us.
Just as there is no blanket salvation, so also are there no blanket dealings in the Lord. We are brought before Him on the basis of our individual desire after Him. This is seen in even the manner in which scripture is opened into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. A seemingly simple passage can blossom to fit the needs of each reader as the Holy Spirit ministers the truth of God into our hearts. Does this mean that each person can find their own truth in scripture? Does this mean that there can be competing realities in the Word of God, much like this world’s pressure to minimize concrete moral right and wrong? Never! The Word of God is never twistable and subject to the whims and fancies of this realm. It is Truth and it is certain in its every teaching. That is not what we are seeing at this point. What we are seeing is that each person’s individual need will be met through the effective working of the Holy Spirit through seemingly the same passage. In one case, the need might be the reinforcement of the Love of God, while in another person’s study of the same text, the majesty of God might be brought to the forefront. God knows what is needed in each life and serves to gather together all the resources that will meet each individual while at the same time ministering to the entire flock of His people. 
	Another element that may well be contained in this passage of working out our own salvation is the aspect that we are being daily enlightened by the Holy Spirit as to our position in our salvation experience. Kip described it along the lines of working out Math problems at school. As we struggle with the manner in which the figures come into line with the mathematical equations, so will our understanding of the process and the reality of the mathematical principles become more understandable and appreciated. James makes this known in verse 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. It is through the process that we learn the truth of the process. Our salvation is worked out as we become aware of what it means in our lives. We see it in action as we trust the Lord to have His way in our beings. We live it on a day to day basis, and as He works in us, we come into a greater understanding of what is true of our salvation in Him. This is a great distinguishing attribute that is ours in Christ. We come into a working understanding of what God is doing through the salvation that He made for us in Christ. The worlds of creation are yearning to see what God has accomplished in Christ Jesus. The natural world has no understanding of what is happening as Christ is more and more establishing His kingdom in the hearts of His people. There is a longing to see what God is doing and a dread at the consequences of what that will entail. The whole earth is in travail to have the plan of God finalized in this realm. 
	The spiritual realm, as well, is waiting for the final outcome of the resurrection of Christ. No one can see into the heart of God, except those covered in the robe of Christ’s right standing before God. While the rest of creation is yearning to know and trying to pry open the doors that have shielded the mystery of Christ, we, the saved of God, because of the relationship that we now have as the very family of God in Christ Jesus, know that Christ now reigns eternally over the entire realm of the creation as Lord God Almighty. His incarnation has placed Him in the arena of creation as its Lord and Our Savior. All beings will be brought to the point of giving glory to God for the great accomplishment of Christ’s victory over sin and death. At that day, in His time, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. We know this now and we are willingly giving Him all praise and glory and adoration at this moment in our lives. That is an aspect of working out our own salvation. We are realizing, day by day, Who Christ is and we are being brought into that living relationship which this whole creation yearns to know, Jesus Christ is Lord! 
As our understanding of Who Christ is grows, so does our heart after Him. We continue in what should be the normal development into the deeper and deeper things of God, in Christ. Our hearts, enlarged with the increase of Christ living His life forth from us unto others, seek after a life that is more purely reflective of Him. Our entire being becomes centralized in the goal that Jesus Christ will be exalted above all else in our lives and in the lives of those surrounding us. Our salvation is to find its completeness, its fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ. Our entire essence is no longer that which we once were apart from Him, but He is now the consummate facet of everything that we are and ever will be.
In all of these observations on the text this evening, we must recognize that the part we play is that of being the willing vessels through which Christ can spread forth His Love unto this world. We are not the focal point of this text, as is often the interpretation by many who have read this passage before. The focus is upon God and what He is doing in our lives through the salvation that He has wrought in Christ Jesus. We are the means by which that salvation is given a living witness on this earth. Please note the last segment of this passage which returns the entire focus back to God from Whom our salvation flows forth, with fear and trembling. That fear and trembling is before God, and it is definitely not an element of our own beings that can bring any glory unto us, but fully unto God. What God chooses to do in our lives becomes the focus of our desires. Everything else is set aside in consideration of our Lord God Almighty. This is what we will take up in the near future, Lord willing, as we look into the Word of God with which we have been so fully blessed.
 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. Or, as stated in the Amplified Bible, … with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ).