Most Christians hope for God to do a great work through them, yet far too many miss the biblical truth that God must first work in us before He can work through us. When teaching from Philippians 2:12-13, the late Warren Weirsbe once wrote, “Before God works through us, he works in us, because the work that we do is the outgrowth of the life that we live.” What is the work God desires to do in His people? Thankfully, the Bible gives us the answer.
When Paul tells the Philippian believers to “work out your own salvation,” he was not implying that our salvation is based on works. Scripture does not contradict itself. As Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8, salvation is a gift of God not of works, lest any man should boast. So, what does he mean by working out our salvation?
The word picture Paul uses is of working a gold mine. The imagery is if someone owned a gold mine, would they not work to extract the value within it? As of this writing, gold is valued at $1,800 per troy ounce. How would you react if you discovered I owned a gold mine, but had never done anything with it? Imagine your shock if you heard me say, “I don’t know anything about mining gold, and the equipment is hard to figure out,” or what if I said, “Things are busy in my life right now, and when it calms down, I’ll get serious about mining gold?” Would you let any excuse keep you from $1,800 per ounce?
Paul is telling Christians that we have a spiritual gold mine, and it is our responsibility to extract the value from it. Once again, Warren Weirsbe helps me understand this text. He used to say, “We do not work for salvation; we work because of salvation.” So, are you working out your own salvation? Are you mining the spiritual truth that is literally worth its weight in gold?
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