Work Out ... Not Work For

One of the statements in the Bible that use to confuse me was the strong statement written by the Apostle Paul to the Philippian Church urging them to live out their faith even though he was no longer with them in person. He wrote, “… continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:12-13 TNIV).

For years, I struggled to know how to square these Bible verses with passages like …
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV).

I think that the best explanation of the tension that exists between these verses is found in Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Life. Warren writes the following describing the verses found in Philippians: “This verse, written to believers, is not about how to be saved, but how to grow. It does not say “work for” your salvation, because you can’t add anything to what Jesus already did. During a physical “workout,” you exercise to develop your body, not to get a body” (Warren, Page 181; PDL).

I was thinking about this quote during an afternoon run and I think that there are a lot of interesting parallel between a physical workout and a spiritual workout. My salvation is a gift, just as my physical body. Working out spiritually cannot earn my salvation, but it develops my spiritual life, just like working out physically does not make my body, but it can make a huge difference in my physical well being.

Another parallel that “hit me” while running, was that if you don’t apply yourself to physical training (like myself the last 10 years … ok 15 years), then you can lose some of your physical strength. The same is true spiritually, if you don’t apply yourself to spiritual training, then you can grow weaker spiritually.

I am grateful that I don’t have to “work for” my salvation, but I am reminded to “work out” my salvation, and prayerfully wait for God to “work in” me so that I can grow and develop spiritually “to fulfill his good purpose” in my life.