Work Out Your Own Salvation

My sermon today is a fulfillment of a request that came in probably about a month and a half ago from one of our members in the congregation. She emailed me and said, you know, here's a topic that you might consider speaking on because, you know, you can go on to the sermon website at the UCG website, and she says there's not many sermons related to this topic. And I thought, well, that's interesting. I'll put it into the hopper.

And honestly, I got to thinking about it again this week, which she had recommended, and I thought, you know, it ties in actually with the thread of what I've covered over the last couple weeks. So today, I think I'll go ahead and cover the message that was recommended. There's a particular phrase that can be found in the book of Philippians that's kind of interesting to consider. The Apostle Paul expressed it to the church in Philippi through that letter and by extension to us as well. And it's a phrase I've heard often in the Church of God.

And in fact, in some ways, it's almost become church speak, as in we've taken that phrase and used it in particular way. And sometimes if you're a part of the church and you have the inside scoop, you'll know what's being referenced. But perhaps on the outside, it wouldn't be quite as clear. This phrase I've repeated myself oftentimes over the years. I've heard others repeat it as well. And I would have to say the manner in which it sometimes expressed isn't necessarily according to the original spirit in which it was given in the Scripture. So I want to look at that phrase today.

Let's go over to Philippians chapter 2, and we're going to look at verse 12. Philippians chapter 2 and verse 12 hear the Apostle Paul. And he says, Paul says, You know, what does that mean exactly? What was the point he was expressing? He says, Again, I've heard that used in various ways and maybe not necessarily fully true to the intent of the Scripture. In fact, I would have to say, as I thought about it, my knee-jerk reaction in terms of association with the Scripture honestly isn't positive.

Not that the Scripture itself and the admonition doesn't have good merit, but commonly I've heard this used most often as some sort of parting phrase between brethren. As in, you have your idea, I have my idea, we're separating, going different ways, we have to work out our own salvation.

And again, like I say, that's not the fullness of the intent of the Scripture, but just in terms of how I've heard it expressed more so over the years, that's just the association that comes to mind for me. And I would say that's unfortunate. This is an essential instruction pertaining to this way of life that God has called us to, and it is a fully legitimate and purposeful instruction. We are called, brethren, indeed, to work out our own salvation. But what exactly does that mean? What's Paul wanting us to embrace as we consider his instructions here? Well, let's first consider the context of Philippians chapter 2 and the lead-up to it.

As again, as I said, oftentimes when I've heard it, and again, I've used it myself often, but in many cases, as generally as you're parting waves with someone, it's, well, we have to work out our own salvation. But the context here of the Scripture leading up to that, I won't necessarily read through it, but it's expressing the fact that we need to have a mind of love and humility.

It says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Jesus Christ, a mind that laid down his life in service for others, a mind that was, you know, humble and not willing to take his position as something to be grasped at. And Paul says, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, and consider one another with this mind.

So this is the run-up in Philippians chapter 2, then up to verse 12. Look out not only for your own interests, but the interests of others. And again, verse 12 says, therefore, you know, let's come before, consider these things. Now therefore, my beloved, as you've always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, you know, he's talking about obedience and action.

And following through with what you know to be right, as Steve was talking about in the first message. He says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. The Greek word here, rendered work out, indicates a command that has a continuing emphasis. As in, it's not just a window in time or the sliver of a moment where you do something and go on your way, and it's finished and done, and wrapped up in a package with a bow on it. No, it's a continuing emphasis, as in continually work to bring something to completion or fruition. So again, working out your own salvation, it's not talking about a short-term, one-time event, and then it's done. It's pointing to the fact that our efforts are going to take place over the long haul.

It's going to take place over, frankly, the duration of our spiritual life, as we at least are living it here in the flesh, as we seek first the kingdom of God. We're going to be actively working out our own salvation, but we'll need to understand what that means. Verse 13, it says, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to do, for his good pleasure.

So the point is, God has called us into a personal and a direct relationship with him. As I spoke about a couple of weeks ago, he has put his spirit in us, and by responding to God's Spirit, we become partakers of the divine nature. His very character is being formed in us, and we begin to look less like ourselves and more and more like God in us. All right, so he has called us into a personal relationship with him, and he's working with us. And it's not just for the purpose of our good, although that is what God has in mind. It says it is for his good pleasure, for his good pleasure. So God is doing a work in us for his good pleasure, but the point is we have our part to play as well. This isn't just sit back and let God do his thing, and I'll receive the prize at the end, rather than we indeed have our own part to do as well. Verse 14, it says, do all things without complaining and disputing. We're complaining essentially means grumbling or murmuring under your breath. It's kind of like what the Israelites did against Moses in the wilderness, that complaining against him. And Paul says that's not to be how we interact within the body. Again, remembering the context here of the chapter. Do all things without complaining and disputing that you may become blameless and harmless children of God, without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. There's going to be something different about the people of God in this world.

Verse 16, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. And so the inconclusion of what it is we've been called to is eternal salvation, as in eternal life in the kingdom of God at the time at the return of Jesus Christ, when we are glorified. It's to be glorified in the Spirit, along with God the Father, and Jesus Christ. And Paul says, if you're there when the time comes, then I'll rejoice, because I put my life's effort into this, and my work will not be in vain. If you are there, what a wonderful blessing and reward it will be to see that, Paul is saying. We won't go through it, but as the chapter goes on, he talks about being poured out as a drink offering, as in he invested his life fully. The drink offering wasn't something that was, you know, a portion given to the priests, and they got to go and do something with it. It was poured out on the sacrifice on the altar. Paul says, my life literally has been poured out in service to you, and my rejoicing will come to see you in that day, at the day of the return of Jesus Christ.

So he cared for the God's people very seriously. He took that responsibility to serve them seriously, and that's why he admonishes them all, and us by extension in verse 12 again, to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, to take responsibility personally for the calling that God has extended to you, to take it seriously, to respond to God's faith and obedience. The admonition here was written to the body as a whole. It was written to all of us, that admonition, but honestly the responsibility for implementing it as a very personal and individual process for each of us. Paul said, work out your own salvation. So if you're taking notes and you write that down, I would circle up to you. I'm going to start with the word, put parentheses around it, whatever you want to do. It's kind of like when we come up to Passover, you examine yourself, not your spouse, not your neighbor. When it comes to working out salvation, we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.

Last week I spoke about the fact that God has placed us in the body of Christ for the benefit of all. And if that benefit's going to be realized, we can't forsake the assembling of ourselves together. And we have to, you know, provoke one another, encourage one another to love in good works, and use the gifts and the blessings that God gives us by His Spirit among the body to strengthen and encourage each other. And we're actually given the opportunity and the responsibility to help one another spiritually grow in this process. So it is a collective effort in that sense, all right? But in the end, we cannot live this Christian life on behalf of anyone else.

I cannot live it on behalf of you. You cannot live this way of life on behalf of me. We have to work out our own salvation. I can't go to pray to God on your behalf, as in, maybe you're not spending enough time in prayer, but I can go do it for you. That doesn't work. Nor can you do the same for me. Studying God's Word, yielding to God's Spirit, obeying the instructions, and doing what we know we must do. Again, as was mentioned in the first message, we can't do that for one another. It's a personal choice and responsibility that has been laid on each and every one of us.

All those things are personal and direct to you and me.

As a parent, there's times where our kids come home with homework from school, and they're looking for help. And sometimes it would almost be easier just to do it for them than to try to explain it, right? As an adult, I would say you could do it, but I think my kids pass me up in math by about the fifth grade with what they learn these days. But the fact is, is you can give them a hand, you can help them, but it serves them and does them no good in order for you to simply do it for them and have them turn it in. Because they're the one that has to learn the lesson. They're the one that has to walk through the process. And at the end of the day, when the time of test and the time of judgment of their skill and knowledge comes, it won't be there if they haven't taken ownership of it for themselves. So again, God calls each of us to live this life personally and directly, and to be responsible personally for the relationship that He's called us to. And we can't get into the kingdom of God on anyone else's coattails.

Working out our own salvation with fear and trembling means that your salvation is specific to you. God didn't call us in en masse. Like, I'll call, you know, I'll go to Costco and buy a bulk, you know, size congregation and put them here. He called us in individually, right? He gave us His Spirit individually. We responded to Him individually as well. So in that sense, our salvation is the same in terms of what God has called us to, but the relationship between us and God is direct and personal and individual. Blessings God has given us with the body is that we have an opportunity to assist one another in the process, but we cannot take ownership for what it is someone else must do.

It may be that I have certain challenges to my faith that could threaten to take me out of this race. You can't solve that for me. I have to solve that on my knees before God. And the same for you as well. We know in our hearts what it is each of us has to work through as we work out our salvation, and it's not going to be the same for each person. We have different history, different backgrounds, different experience, different levels of baggage that even we might bring into this way of life, and the things we work through are personal and direct between us and God.

God's given us the body for the sake of our spiritual growth, but the actual working out of our salvation is personal. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 1. I guess in my mind this almost comes together like a string of sermons of two weeks ago talking about God's Spirit in us, developing the divine nature in our response to God. And then He brings us as well through this process into the congregation for the benefit of each other, and that's a blessing.

And yet as we help one another and provoke one another to love and good works, the question is, then what do we do with the Spirit God's given us in the benefit of this body? It must affect us personally and directly, brethren, in our relationship with Him. Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 1.

Paul says, Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proves steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard them? So the point is, is there's actually a risk associated with turning away from this way of life. Verse 1, Paul said, you know, we need to take earnest heed to the things that we've heard, lest we drift away. As in, if we're not paying attention, we can start to let these things slide.

What it is God has called us to, the standard that we would hold.

And as you consider the term of working out your own salvation being a continual effort, it ties in as well to the earnest heed that we must pay at all times. But again, he says, how, in verse 3, how should we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? So this is a personal calling.

We must pay the earnest heed not to neglect what God is doing in us. Because salvation is a precious thing. Salvation is a precious thing. Where would we be, brethren, without the saving grace of God?

Fact is, once we come under the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we are saved. Are we not? We've repented. We've been baptized. We're saved from our sins, saved from the death penalty under which we've come. But salvation is an ongoing process whereby we're being saved even today. And that plays out until the ultimate expression of our salvation at the return of Jesus Christ, where our change comes in that ultimate sense. And at time, we're granted eternal life.

We are saved. So salvation is an ongoing process where we have been saved. We are being saved as we respond to God. It's grace. It's not like it was for a window of time. It's God's grace that covers us all along as we go. But we respond to God in faith and obedience.

Salvation is nothing we can generate on our own. We can't wake up one morning and say, you know, I think today I'm going to muster up some salvation. It's about time, don't you think?

It's not something we can generate or pull together on our own. Salvation is of God.

God is the originator of our salvation through Jesus Christ. He sent His Son, Christ died, so that we could, through His sacrifice, now be reconciled to our Father. God extends that mercy and grace to us. I can't generate it for myself, apart from God, in any fashion.

And it is God upon repentance and baptism, then that extends that to us.

So God does His part, and He does His part in salvation faithfully. We can depend on that.

But we must do our part as well. We must respond in this calling we've been given, and do so faithfully as well. People would argue and wrestle with the fact that you're not saved by works, and we're not. But if we trust in God and are given over to His love and mercy, that He's extended to us, will we not respond in obedience? Will not that obedience ultimately lead to the most precious gift of eternal life that God desires we would have?

So our response, you actually have to do something, it begins with repentance. It begins with baptism.

It's where we first receive salvation, and then our response carries forward from there by faithfully living according to the righteous requirements of God.

By seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. By taking on His nature, by His Spirit. These are all things that we're actively engaged in along the way.

And again, I'm not saying we're saved by works.

Because I hope we understand no amount of works, or no level of good works, or no works that are better than other works, will earn us salvation in the kingdom of God. It is God's gift.

But our good works and obedience towards God will be a reflection of our faith and repentance, if indeed we are living in that relationship with Him. If we responded to the grace He has offered, and our nature is being changed, and we're living by faith, indeed the works will follow, and they will be evident. To the degree that we're not responding to God in obedience and good works is the degree to which our faith is lacking.

We need to examine ourselves for those things. Obedience and good works towards God is a demonstration of our faith.

James 2 James, the half-brother of Jesus Christ.

Some don't like the book of James because it talks about works.

In some people's mind, it almost seems like it's saying you're saved by works. But it's not at all what James projects to us here. James 2 and verse 4, James chapter 2 and verse 14, he says, What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?

He says, Can faith save him?

If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, Depart in peace, be warmed and filled. I just know you'll have a good day.

I feel it in my heart. But you do not give them the things which are needed for the body. What does it profit? Thus also, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

About a month ago, a number of our youth up in Spokane, it was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, and they decided they'd go wander around Riverfront Park, you know, just take some pictures and enjoy some time together. And almost immediately, once they got to downtown Spokane and down by the river and take the camera out, almost immediately they have a group of individuals come up to them and engage them into a religious conversation. And honestly, it ended up lasting the entire time they were there, then they had to just kind of pack up and leave. But the conversation was interesting, and from what I understand of it, it was a conversation largely based on faith and works. And the point that was being presented from these other individuals was, you can't do both faith and works. You can do faith, right? Or you could do works.

And maybe you'll do works for a while, and then maybe later you'll do faith for a while, but you can't do them both together. And so that really didn't make sense to our young people from what they knew of God's Word. And it was brought up, well, what about the book of James? James says, faith without works is dead. And the response was, well, you can't pay attention to James. James was talking, you know, 12 times in James that says, my brethren. It says, you. It says, James was just talking to them, and that doesn't apply to us. It's, you know, you, my brethren, that, you know, it's faith or works. It's not, you know, you just can't reconcile those things. So after their swap of scenery for religious conversation on those grounds, they eventually said, well, I guess time's up and we got to go home. But I was proud of them from what I heard, because they stood their ground. They gave an answer, and actually the people that engaged them said, hey, thanks for talking to us. I'm actually glad someone stopped and would engage us on this. But again, the point here that James is bringing up is that if you're faithful, and you're living in faith to God, that's going to be evident by what it is that you do.

Works will be the evidence, obedience will be the evidence of your faith in God. Again, works don't save you, but works are a display. We are saved by grace through faith. All right? Verse 18 says, but if someone will say, you have faith and I have works, show me your faith without your works, James says, and I will show you my faith by my works. Again, it's through our works that God's obedience and faith in Him is demonstrated. In verse 19, he says, you believe that there is one God, you do well. Even the demons believe and tremble, but do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead. Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? I mean, wasn't his faith in God the result of that to respond in this action? Verse 22, do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works, faith was made perfect, and the scripture was fulfilled, which says Abraham believed God and was accounted to him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. Verse 24, you see, then, that a man is justified, made right with God, justified by works and not by faith only.

So it's not faith or works, all right? It's faith and works together. We respond to God and faith, and if you are responding in faith, you're going to be obedient. You're going to be working out your salvation in terms of your response of faithfulness to God in this relationship he's called you to.

Again, we're not saved by works. Verse 25, likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified, made right, by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Let me say, I have faith in the Son of God. I have faith in God the Father, and, you know, go play baseball on Saturday, go do whatever you want to do, trample on the Word of God. How is your faith even being expressed or believable or even legitimate? Again, our faith in God will demonstrate how we've chosen to live in our response to Him. Romans chapter 2 and verse 4.

Romans 2 and verse 4, again the Apostle Paul writing, he says, Where do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and long suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance, but in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart, you are treasuring up for yourselves wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Notice verse 6, Who will render to each one according to his deeds? Well, what's deeds? Well, deeds are our actions. Deeds are our works that we would do in response, so we will be doing something. We don't just sit back and let grace just sort of fall upon us, and that's all there is required to it. We actually do things in response to God, and the fruit of our faith is obedience. The fruit of our faith is obedience. So again, verse 6, Who, speaking of God, will render to each one according to his deeds? Eternal life to those who by patient continuance and doing good. That patient continuance sounds an awful lot like the working out portion of our faith. Again, it's continually working to bring something to fruition. It's an ongoing process. Eternal life to those who by patient continuance and doing good, seek for glory, honor, and immortality. He says, But to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, to them indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil of the Jew first and also the Greek. But glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God. And again, the Bible does not teach that we're saved by works, because no amount of works can earn salvation, but our works do demonstrate whether our faith is sincere or not, whether we're living according to it. The fact is, God is not going to give eternal life to anyone who's not living according to his instructions, who's not taking on the nature of him and his son by the Spirit. If we've not made that transformation, we will not receive eternal life. It's not just, all right, I accept Jesus Christ and there's no more I need to do, or that the grace of God, I'm under that and now I can live just as I've always lived.

Our response is to respond in faith. And if we believe God is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him, then we'll respond with obedience and our works will make those things evident. To work out our own salvation with fear and trembling means that we are doing our part to uphold this covenant we've made with God. You go back probably a year and a half ago I gave a sermon on our covenant with God, and the fact that a covenant is something that is agreed to by two parties and there's conditions in terms that both parties agree to uphold. And in this covenant, God agrees to forgive our sins, to extend to a salvation in the kingdom of God, and we agree to work to take on his nature and to live according to his word. And so we have our part to play in all of this as well. By faith, we respond to walk in newness of life and obedience to God, and all of that takes continual time and effort.

So the question I would have for us, brethren, is how are we doing?

How are we doing in this process? Again, it's an investment of a complete change of nature and character. It is no small thing. How are we doing? As I mentioned a few weeks ago as well, baptism is not the end of the process. Baptism is the beginning of our reconciled relationship with God. It's the beginning of when we now then receive his Spirit by which we can make these changes and our growth can truly begin to take place. Baptism isn't the goal of end result. It is the starting point of true growth and true response to God. Ephesians 4 and verse 1. Ephesians 4 and verse 1.

Let me help one another in this process, but again, the accountability is personal and direct.

Ephesians 4 verse 1. Paul says, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love. And so there is a response to this way of life that's appropriate to each of us in light of what God is doing. And Paul says, walk worthy of the calling of which you are called. There's an action, there's an attitude, there's a change of heart that comes along with this calling, and frankly, it is hard work.

It's personal and intimate work. It is heart work. God searches the heart, searches the soul. God knows what it is that we deal with, even if one another doesn't fully understand what we deal with. God knows. And this is very personal and intimate work, and no one else can do it for us. And so if we're going to simply sit back and take our leisure thinking that, you know what, I'm in the right church group, I'm in the right corporate organization, I'm married to the right person, I tell you my spouse, there's a righteous person, so I'll just kind of scoot into the kingdom on their coattails. I have the right friends. If we think that is what is the line of accountability unto salvation, then we've completely misunderstood the concept of both grace and salvation. And it is a personal experience that we must work out directly with God.

Salvation is God's gift, and we cannot earn it, but God does give salvation to those who respond to Him in diligence and obedience and faith, and indeed we must do our part. Let's go back now to Philippians, this time chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3, during his ministry, the Apostle Paul understood that he'd not yet obtained the fullness of salvation. You know, he had been saved in that sense by baptism, but he realized that, you know, that's not the be-all and end-all of everything, that salvation still lay before him, and he had a part to play in reaching for the prize. Philippians chapter 3 and verse 12, Paul says, not that I have already attained. He says, I'm not there yet.

This is a process, but it's not completed yet in me. Not that I have already attained or am already perfected. He says, but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. He says, brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Sounds like a degree of effort and work and dedication to me. Verse 15, he says, therefore, let us, as many as are mature, have this mind, and if anything you think otherwise, if anything, if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.

Paul's saying there is a continual effort on our part to obtain the prize that God has laid before us. It's not like we can respond with repentance and baptism and say, well, I've done all I need to do, and I just need to sit back now and wait for the kingdom, wait for my change. We must be pressing towards the goal, continually putting in the effort. Remember, working out our salvation is a continual process. It's not just a sliver or a moment in time. And in doing so, we demonstrate our faith towards God through obedience. Additionally, Paul recognized the fact that he could actually preach salvation to other people, bring the gospel to them, bring them to Jesus Christ, and they could be saved, but he could miss out himself. That at the end, he himself could be disqualified. 1 Corinthians chapter 9.

The sobering reminder for us, brethren, that we must continually be working these things out, continually responding to God in obedience and faith, seeking his nature. 1 Corinthians 9 and verse 22. Paul says, To the week I became as weak that I might win the week. I've become all things to all men that I made by all means save some. He's saying, I'm working towards bringing these people to a relationship with God to salvation. Verse 23. Now this I do for the gospel's sake, that I may be partaker of it with you. We're all in this together. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus, not with uncertainty. Thus I fight, not as one who beats the air, but I discipline my body and I bring it into subjection. He says, Lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

Sobering lesson. That's a sobering reminder for all of us that we can demonstrate to somebody else this way of life. And we could answer their questions, we could introduce them to the teachings of Scripture, and they can go on to have a relationship with God ultimately unto salvation. And we ourselves, if we let up, if we turn back, if we have a change of heart, and this calling can miss out on the ultimate goal in salvation ourselves.

The Bible does not teach once saved, always saved. It teaches we can actually lose out on salvation if we turn aside from this calling of God. Hebrews 10 verse 26.

Hebrews 10 verse 26.

Again, you're not saved by work, so you can't just do all these good works, and you're saved, but the fact is the Bible also does not teach. Once saved, always saved, we can become disqualified or obedience and response to God must be according to faith. Hebrews 10 verse 26 says, For if we sin willfully, after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, as in our own willful behavior can actually break the salvation process by our own willful response.

There is no sacrifice for sin, and if there is not, because we've chosen to put ourselves in a position of rejecting God willfully, then there is no salvation.

Willfully, you say, God, no thank you. I think I'm going to go my own way, and you don't turn back in repentance. It says there is no salvation because sacrifice for sin will no longer apply. Verse 26, again, if we sin willfully after we receive the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and firing indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment do you suppose will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God under foot and counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing and insulted the Spirit of grace?

This is describing a willful rejection of the sacrifice of Christ in the Spirit of God.

It's describing the unpardonable sin, that which will not be forgiven, because it's something we will not return in repentance to God. Willfully going the other way. Verse 30, For we know him who sent vengeance his mine, I will repay, says the Lord. And again, the Lord will judge his people. He says, It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

But recall in the former days in which you were illuminated, you endured great suffering and struggle, partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulation, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated. For you had compassion on me and my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. He says, Therefore, in light of all these things, in light of what you've accepted, in light of what you've endured on account of those things, says, Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance. Again, here's that term, maybe in a little bit different words, but endurance, again, our working out our own salvation, is not simply that narrow window in time. It is a continual progression of work. And he says, You have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. Verse 27, For yet a little while, and he who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him. He says, But we are not of those who draw back to perdition or destruction, but we are of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

So again, brethren, the Bible shows that salvation is not just a one-time event. It's not once saved, always saved, and there's nothing you could possibly do to disqualify yourself from salvation. That's not what the scripture teaches. Salvation is not something that we can earn by works.

Salvation is a gift, and the source of that gift is not any man. The source is God himself, and it's a gift that God has extended to us upon repentance and the remission of sins through his son. But it is also something that we can become disqualified. If we draw back, Paul says, We are not of those who draw back unto perdition, and that is what we must set our will in our heart to be living according to. We must be those who believe, he says, to the saving of the soul.

So salvation is a free gift of God, but it does require work in terms of our efforts to uphold our part of the responsibility, because we've entered a covenant with God through the sacrifice of his son, and we do have our part to play. He says, We are not of those who draw back to perdition. Hopefully this gives us an understanding as to why salvation must be worked out with fear, which is a right and proper reverence of God.

It's not just a quaking and terror under a chair somewhere. It is respect and reverence and awe for God and who he is and what he's offered us. But this must be worked out in fear and in trembling on our knees before God, personally and direct. Matthew chapter 25 gives a stark contrast to consider between a group of people who took their salvation seriously and a group of people who were not willing to be so diligent. And at least as the parable plays out, when the moment of truth came, there was quite a different outcome between them. Matthew chapter 25 and verse 1.

Again, this is serious and sobering work, but it is work that we must be up for and we must work out our own salvation. Matthew chapter 25 and verse 1, it says, In the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. This is Jesus Christ speaking. Verse 2, Now five of them were wise and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them. It says, But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. And so we have ten virgins here who are going out to meet the bridegroom.

All are virgins. All have oil. So as this is laid out for us, it would appear to be a type of the end-time church. Oil represents God's Holy Spirit. And these are all virgins who have been called by God and indeed have entered into a relationship with Him. Verse 5, it says, But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. They all did. And at midnight a cry was heard, Behold, the bridegroom is coming. Go out to meet Him. It says, Then all those virgins rose, trimmed their lamps, and the foolish said to the wise, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered, saying, No, lest there should not be enough for us and you. Go rather to those who sell and buy for yourselves. There's an important point here, brethren, that we have to recognize, and that is the degree to which these ten virgins were prepared to meet the bridegroom depended solely on their own personal preparation.

This was an individual process, and the degree that they were prepared to meet the bridegroom was dependent on their own personal efforts. Those who had bought enough oil and brought it with them, or had not bought it, but had brought it and worked it up in their life, again, this is an effort that takes place over time. It doesn't just happen instantly, but they had stored it up in advance for this moment, so that when the time came, they were supplied. But the indication is five of them had not put in the effort. They had a relationship with God to a degree. They had God's Spirit to a degree. But as I mentioned a couple weeks ago, what's the option? We can either stir it up or we can quench it, or certainly smother it into a spark. So now the time comes to go out to meet the bridegroom, and each one had to stand individually on their own merits. They said, give me some of your oil, and the answer was, I'm sorry, it doesn't work that way. You need to go and acquire it for yourselves. Or, Stinn says, and while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him, and the wedding to the wedding, and the door was shut. Verse 11, afterwards the other virgins came also, saying, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, assuredly I say to you, I do not know you. I would say for you and I, these are the most frightening words we could ever hear from Jesus Christ. To have him look at us not as a group, but individually, and to say, I do not know you. Again, it's a sobering warning. Verse 13, the instruction, watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. So Jesus Christ said, we are to watch. Well, watch what? Watch the evening news?

Watch world prophecy? Watch the democratic presidential debates? Well, I'm not going to deny that that watching is a part of the watching and the awareness that we're to have as God's people, but the main and critical point that Jesus Christ is making here is watch your spiritual condition.

Watch your relationship with God. Watch that you're stirring up the Spirit of God within you.

And watch that you're prepared to meet the bridegroom when He comes, because He will come at an hour when you least expect. Again, we have those virgins here. Ten virgins, five are wise and five are foolish. A type it would seem of the end-time church, rather than those virgins are us. And the question is, for us, are we going to be the wise or are we going to be the foolish?

And you can't work that out for me, and I cannot work that out for you. This is a personal calling.

Working out our own salvation means we aren't daydreaming away the time that God has given us. We're actually using it wisely to prepare to meet His Son.

Romans 13 gives a similar expression and warning.

Romans chapter 13 verse 11.

The answer is to whether we're going to be a wise virgin or a foolish virgin can only be worked out on your knees in a personal relationship with God and in your response to Him.

Romans chapter 13 and verse 11. It says, Verse 12, he says, That is our calling today. Not next week, not next month, brethren. That's our calling today to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh.

Recall to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, and recall to do so today because our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. And indeed, as this physical life is merely a breath, that salvation is just around the corner, closer than when we first believed.

I can't work out your salvation for you, only you can do that. Brethren, you cannot work out my salvation for me. That calling is intimate and personal to me, and we cannot do it for our neighbor or our spouse or even claim what church we sat in as we stand before God. In His presence, we stand alone and direct. For ourselves, brethren, our own diligence and response to God is what we must be working out. The question for us is, in that day, what will our account look like?

Because Paul says, you, everyone, must stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and we will give account. So what will that account look like? Well, my account depends on me, and the account that you give depends on you. And before God, we stand alone.

Let's conclude today in 2 Peter, 2 Peter chapter 1. He is our serious matters, brethren, in some ways sobering. We understand the fear and trembling, but you know what? This is also a matter to rejoice in. Because we're under the grace of God through His Son, He's called us unto salvation. He's forgiven our sins, given us opportunity to walk in newness of life. The question is, what is our response going to be? If we indeed rejoice in these things, our response will be to walk in obedience as evidenced by our faith. 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 5. Peter says, But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness. This is an effort that we're building, one on top of the other, but it is our part we must play. Do godliness brotherly kindness, do brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful, and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even unto blindness, and he has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

You know, Peter says such an individual has actually forgotten that he was even saved to begin with.

Can you imagine just kind of neglecting what it is God's called us to do?

Just kind of, you know, pouring a little water on that spark of spirit that he's put into us by becoming lax, the daisical in what God has called us to do. You can actually come to the point that you don't do these things and follow through, become shortsighted, even to blindness, and you forget that God's Son even died for you. Let that not be so among us. Verse 10, therefore brethren be even more diligent, more diligent, again the effort continually that goes into this, to make your call in your election sure. That sounds a lot to me like work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Therefore brethren be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble, for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly and to the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.