Philippians 2:12-13
(ESV)
12 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,
13 for it is God who works in you, both to
will and to work for his good pleasure.
It is in these two
verses that we see a very important principle for the follower of Jesus: 1) we
must intently work toward becoming more like Jesus, and 2) God works intently
to make us more like Jesus.
Someone who is on
their way to Heaven isn't going to get rid of sin and evidence a growing number
of evidences of holiness unless they roll up their sleeves and get to work.
They must spend much time in Bible study, prayer, obedience to God's Word,
submission to the Lord, serving others, and other spiritual exercises.
Yet, the second
verse points out that it is God who is at work in us to make us more like
Jesus. If God did not work in us to help us get rid of sin and grow in
holiness, it simply wouldn't happen.
It's like this:
Someone who wants to get fit may decide to go to a local gym and start working
out. They'll pump weights and will initially get pretty sore. But get this,
when they work out, they aren't becoming stronger. They are actually tearing
their muscles down. Micro tears are occurring (muscle damage!).
If that was the end
of the story, working out with weights would be horribly detrimental to our
overall fitness. It only tears our body down.
Yet, something
happens to our muscles after a workout - if our body is healthy, our muscles
will begin to rebuild. Those tears are healed but in a slightly greater
capacity. And what's the result? Stronger, bigger muscles!
In some ways, this
is like our pursuit of becoming more like Jesus. Sure, we absolutely must go to
the spiritual gym and read our Bibles and pray and do so many of the other
spiritual exercises. That's absolutely necessary.
But, we cannot give
ourselves any credit for spiritual growth. God must come along behind us and do
His work in us if there is to be any spiritual growth at all.
So, we cannot take
credit when we are becoming more like Jesus. It's God that has done it. Sure,
we participate in the process but ultimately He's the One who completes the
work.
Philippians 2:12-13
(ESV)
12 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,
13 for it is God who works in you, both to
will and to work for his good pleasure.
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