What It Means to Work Out Your Salvation

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Philippians 2:12–13 (ESV)

So, are we saved by grace or do we need to work something out in order to be saved? It is Paul himself that asserts in multiple letters that faith and grace is the means to salvation. What is he saying here that we must ‘work out your own salvation with fear and trembling’?

We are certainly familiar with the reality that when we are saved God does something for us and to us. This is our starting point in understanding this scripture.

For us

When we are saved, God forgives our sin. He fully justifies us so that we are no longer considered guilty of sin. That is God’s free gift to us. His mercy forgives, his grace justifies and we are free from sin. He removes all condemnation.

He also gives us the gift of spiritual birth and adoption. We are now considered his children and are welcomed into the family of God!

To us

When we are saved, something also happens to us. We no longer suffer with guilt. God removes our guilt. We can feel the load lifted from our lives. There is something that profoundly changes.

He begins the work of transforming us into the people he wants us to be. This transformation is real and continues throughout our lives as we follow Jesus.

But there is a third thing that happens to us when we are saved.

God begins to do something through us

We are saved, so we can participate in the kingdom of God. In Ephesians 2:10, we discover that we have work to do! Certainly, we are saved so we can go to heaven but to think that there is nothing for us between now and heaven is simply not biblical. Throughout the New Testament we see repeatedly the charge to do the work of the kingdom.

When Paul tells us to work out our salvation, I believe he is talking about two things. Here is what they are and what it means for us to work it out.

God doing something to us

We saw previously that God does something to us when we are saved. He begins a transforming work in our lives. But he needs our cooperation for that to work. His desire is for us to be transformed into the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13).

We work out our salvation when we submit to his leadership and allow him to work in our lives. He will root out bad habits and replace them with good habits, he will change our affections and thought patterns, words and deeds but we must be willing to do our part in order to make those changes.

God doing something through us

We also work out our salvation as we allow God to work through our lives. Being obedient to God and following the perfect leadership of Jesus as revealed by the Holy Spirit takes us down a path where we are engaged in kingdom work. God wants to work his purposes through our lives. He has prepared work for us to do and once saved we can do that work. As long as we walk on this earth, we should be engaged in kingdom work.

God wants to do profound things through your obedience. It may be big, it may seem small but when it is the work he wants you to do, he works through your efforts to change your world.

We work out our salvation when we strive to allow God to transform us and use us for his glory and purposes.

So, I will join with Paul to urge you to work out your salvation with fear and trembling (awe and respect).

What will you do?

Take some time to think about these words. What does God want to do for you, to you and through you? Allow him to do and join with him in the great kingdom work he will do through your life.

This post was written in response to a question someone posed to me. If you have a question about a specific passage of scripture, let me know. You can email me or even put a comment on our Facebook page.