Work Out Your Salvation with Fear and Trembling

Paul writes to the believers of the church at Philippi. While he was with them they had stood firm in the faith, but once they were left on their own they began competing to rise above one another, and in their pride they expected to be served by their brothers. Paul urges them to turn back without delay and to work out their salvation with fear and trembling.

To work out one’s salvation is not to be saved all over again; it is to hold fast to the grace already received. When the fear of God fades, worship turns into a burden and the Word that pierces the heart grows uncomfortable, until at last people walk out of salvation of their own accord. Like the disciples who fled even though Jesus had told them beforehand of the betrayal, a heart that has heard the warning and still grown dull stands in the most dangerous place of all.

Paul tells them that their growing well in the faith is his boast and his fruit, and confesses that for their sake he would gladly die. What believers must do is nothing grand. Before the salvation Jesus has already accomplished, they are to let their faith be seen wherever they are, like a lamp lit in each place, and to serve one another in humility. That is the life of working out salvation with fear and trembling.