12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
In our verses for today, Paul lovingly tells us both divine enablement and human responsibility are involved in getting God’s work done. Believers are to be partners with God, laboring together with Him for the furtherance of the kingdom. Paul does not say we must work for our salvation – that is the free gift of God - rather we are to work out our salvation – proof that we are God’s children, that we belong to Him and that it is through His power we are accomplishing His works at hand. It boils down to being a matter of our will. The secret to a changed life is willful submission to God’s control allowing Him to work in and through us. God’s grace to us is not to be without effect:
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 1 Cor 15:10 (NIV)
God works in the life of the believer to accomplish His purposes - the outworking of His good pleasure and works kindly comes through His enabling. In other words, He equips us to do His will which brings Him much glory and us great satisfaction. He uses our need and desire for fulfillment propelling us to accomplish His purposes.
“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” John Piper
“Desire only God, and your heart will be satisfied.” Augustine
We are merely called to be willing vessels – whatever His choice purposes are for us. To be sure, His will is always good and pleasing and perfect for every believer. He has a plan for each life and uniquely equips us for that purpose. Paul writes in Romans:
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
The Prophet Jeremiah also writes:
11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jer 29:11 (NIV)
To be sure, there remains no room for a spiritual “big head” or pride as God can use a donkey or even a rock to do His bidding! Therefore, the outworking of His will is to be done with “fear and trembling” with a complete trust in God and not in ourselves. Works done in the flesh - Scripture refers to as wood, hay and stubble - in the end will be burned up. How foolish to pour out our lives for flames to consume. We are to be careful how we build:
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. 1 Cor 3:10-15 (NIV)
“We may easily be too big for God to use, but never too small.” D. L. Moody
Paul exhorts believers to seriousness and diligence in the matter of the Christian walk as it is always for our best interest. Indeed, the wording he used means to listen to something, to hearken, to give heed, to follow and to yield. It refers to the manifestation of the faith – producing and accomplishing God’s purposes, pleasure, intent and inclination in and through us.
“One of the best ways to discover a Christian's chief anxieties and ambitions is to study the content of his prayers and the intensity with which he prays them. We all pray about what concerns us and are evidently not concerned about matters we do not include in our prayers. Prayer expresses desire. Prayer is the soul's sincere desire...Paul pours out his soul to God...The basis of Paul's prayer was the knowledge of God's purpose.” John Stott
“Ecstasy and delight are essential to the believer’s soul and they promote sanctification. We were not meant to live without spiritual exhilaration, and the Christian who goes for a long time without the experience of heart-warming will soon find himself tempted to have his emotions satisfied from earthly things and not, as he ought, from the Spirit of God. The soul is so constituted that it craves fulfillment from things outside itself and will embrace earthly joys for satisfaction when it cannot reach spiritual ones... The believer is in spiritual danger if he allows himself to go for any length of time without tasting the love of Christ and savoring the felt comforts of a Savior’s presence. When Christ ceases to fill the heart with satisfaction, our souls will go in silent search of other lovers... By the enjoyment of the love of Christ in the heart of a believer, we mean an experience of the “love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us” (Rom. 5:5)... because the Lord has made himself accessible to us in the means of grace, it is our duty and privilege to seek this experience from Him in these means till we are made the joyful partakers of it.” John Flavel (1630-1691)