Therefore, my beloved, as you 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. Philippians 2:12 (NKJV)
What does it mean to work out your salvation with fear and trembling?
Some think it means we still need to work for our salvation. Others counter that it can’t be about works if we’ve given our lives to Jesus, because He earned salvation for all who believe on Him.
The truth is, we simply need to understand what we’re working out. We’re not working to earn salvation or any of God’s blessings. Those are free gifts from God we receive by faith. But as believers, it involves work to continually renew our minds to understand this new life in Christ.
The early church struggled to comprehend how God had come to live inside of them. For todays’ believers, accustomed to self-reliant living, it can be just as scary to let go and trust God. It takes faith to learn to submit our mind and heart to Him. And like the early church, if we’re new believers or were raised with legalistic religion, working to understand that we serve a loving God, not an angry God, can present a challenge too.
Second Timothy 2:15 says to “work hard so you can present yourself to God as one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth”. In other words, time spent marinating your heart and mind in God’s Word helps you work toward growing in an understanding of all that salvation truly means. It causes faith to rise up, which helps to bring those gifts of salvation out into your world!