By: Dale Weckbacher
Philippians 1:6
And I am sure of this,
that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion
at the day of Jesus Christ.
(ESV)
All people, including believers in Jesus as savior, are
perfect, perfect messes. While this
statement appears true as we see each other’s and our own faults, in God’s eyes
all who have accepted Jesus as their savior are perfect, for God sees them as
righteous (Romans
3:21-24). However, the
sanctification component of salvation means we are a work in progress with
flaws that require the work of the master carpenter, Jesus Christ.
In Philippians
2:12-13, the Apostle Paul speaks of believers working out their salvation
in fear and trembling. However, this
appears to contradict scripture teaching fear is not of God (2
Timothy 1:7). Such contradictions,
like this one, find resolution through looking at the word in the original text
and the context in which the passage occurs.
The word fear in 2
Timothy 1:7 is the Greek word deilias which means cowardice or
timidity. This passage occurs in the
context of the Apostle Paul encouraging Timothy not to be timid in preaching
the Gospel. The word fear in Philippians
2:12, however, is the Greek word phobou, resembling the English word
phobia. The context preceding this
passage speaks of Christ’s example of humility demonstrated by Jesus leaving
His position with God to humbly become one of us and die for our sins (Philippians
2:1-11). The fear in this context is
a phobou or phobia of failing to surrender our lives to God’s will in response
to God sending His Son to die for our sins.
Working out our salvation is learning the power of a life fully
surrendered to God, following the example of Christ which is our perfect
example.
When one lives a life of full surrender to God, their life
will become fruitful or full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control against which there is no law (Galatians
5:22-23). However, living a fruitful
life in a corrupt world full of anger will come with persecution and even the
risk of imprisonment or death as it has for millions of Christians throughout
history. Even Jesus, who lived a
perfectly fruitful life did not escape this persecution and warned his
followers they to would have trouble in the world (John
16:33). The good news in the second
half of John
16:33 is that Jesus overcame the world through His resurrection and that
through the surrender of our lives to Him, we too can overcome.
However, just as one must physically take time to rest when
one becomes physically tired, one must also spiritually rest to prevent
becoming spiritually tired in their ministry for the Lord. The Bible warns believers twice about becoming
weary or tired in ministry (Galatians
6:9; 2 Thessalonians 6:13). The
context of Galatians
6:13 is Paul’s teaching on bearing one another’s burdens as the fulfillment
of the law of Christ (Galatians
6:1-10). In Galatians
5, Paul taught about how Christ has set us free (Galatians
5:1-15) and the need to keep in step with the Spirit of God (Galatians
5:16-25). While our justification
through Christ because of the work of grace on Calvary sets a believer free
from sin, we are not free from becoming weary in spirit as we bear one another’s
burdens. To avoid this weariness in
spirit, one must regularly take time to be alone with God, finding rest in His
presence through the study of God’s Word and prayer.
The warning against weariness in 2
Thessalonians 3:13 is in the context of a warning against idleness (2
Thessalonians 3:6-12) or one not having a living faith through his or her good
works (James
2:14-26). However, good works do not
provide justification with God, for that is a work of grace accomplished by
Christ on the cross (Ephesians
2:8). The purpose of our good works
for Christ must come from the treasure of our hearts that love Christ and a
desire to share that treasure with others (Luke
6:45). This sharing of the Gospel is
also in obedience to the command of Jesus to share the Gospel message with
others and make disciples (Mark
16:15; Matthew 28:19-20). However,
even Jesus took time out of the busyness of ministry to rest in the presence of
His Heavenly Father, something we too must practice, to avoid weariness in
ministry (Luke
5:16). While it is not good for believers
to be idle in their faith (2
Thessalonians 3:6), we must balance the work of ministry with times alone
with God in prayer to avoid becoming weary or tired in ministry.
Everyone professing faith in Jesus as their Savior is a work
in progress. The purpose of this work of
the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer is perfection which will occur at the
return of the Lord (Philippians
1:6). During this sanctification
process, a believer will experience transformation in his or her life and
become more fruitful (Galatians
5:22-23; Romans 12:2). While a
believer has total justification through the finished work of Grace because of
the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ (Ephesians
2:8), it is crucial for a believer not to rest on his or her laurels due to
their freedom in Christ and instead bring life to their faith through good
works coming from a heart that loves God (Luke
6:45; James 2:14-26). However, to
avoid spiritual heart disease, a believer must regularly detach from the work
of ministry to spend time alone with God in the study of the Word and prayer,
following Jesus’ example (Luke 5:16). We
are all perfect messes in need of the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in
our lives to clean up the mess. We may not
be perfect but should be making progress towards perfection in our lives.
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