The hardest battle for a believer is to continue living by faith each day, trusting God.  We have at our disposal, many resources by which we could alter our surroundings, the very idea of the “American Dream” exalts this idea – that you can be whatever you make yourself to be.  How do we manage the tension, as Christians, between trying to work things out on our own, and being inactive; waiting when God wants us to be moving?

Many of us have heard the familiar scripture to “work out your own salvation”, have have seen that as license to take the reigns of our sanctification, or progressively being made holy, out of God’s hands, and put it into our own.  What is interesting is if you look at the verse that follows, you get a fuller picture of how God’s work is accomplished in us.

Phillippians 2:12-13 – “¹²Therefore, 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, ¹³for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

So how does that work?  How is it that we work in a way that it is God accomplishing it?  The apostle Paul, who wrote the letter to the church at Phillippi, from prison, also wrote to the church of Galatia.  I think we might gain some insight on what Paul meant in Phillippians from his lamenting over the church of Galatia’s return to pursuing righteousness through their works based on the Jewish law, instead of trusting in Christ’s righteousness.

Galatians 3:2-3 – “²Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? ³Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

When we first believed on Christ, through the hearing of the gospel message, the Bible says God gave us Himself, in the form of the Holy Spirit, to live within us.  Our sanctification, is a work of the Holy Spirit, not of our flesh.  That being said, the Holy Spirit will prompt us to act in our flesh, He will give us a new delight in God that will grow, as we pursue God.  As we seek after the truth of God, we will find a delight in God that outweighs our temptation towards sin.  This heart and mind, that the Holy Spirit is forming in us, is the heart and mind of Himself, of Christ.  This heart and mind, formed by the Spirit will prompt action in our lives, so that our actions are compatible with the will of God.

So then, how is it that we can ensure we are acting from the Spirit’s prompting, and not turning back to our flesh?  What are the things we can do to facilitate the Spirit’s work in our hearts/minds?

First and foremost is prayer.  There is nothing that is a better pride-killer, and glorifying to God, than coming to Him in prayer, seeking his guidance.  God LOVES this.  God will ALWAYS bless you for this.  Matthew 7:7-11 – “ ⁷ “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. ⁹Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? ¹¹If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” 

Here it seems prudent to note – is what you’re asking God for going to draw you closer to him, or create an idol in your life?  Some people would read this and say, GREAT!  I’m going home and asking God for a Ferrari!  I hope that’s not you, but in the spirit of self-disclosure, I’ve probably misunderstood this verse to mean that myself before.  That being said, if God gives you a Ferrari, you owe me a ride, ok?  God loves us so much that he will not answer affirmatively our prayers for things that would be unhelpful, and create idols for us, but He will always answer affirmatively our prayers to draw nearer to Him.  God will always answer our prayers that will be helpful in accomplishing His will for our lives.

Secondly, the Word of God.  Do you read your Bible?  This is not an ordinary book.  This is God’s revelation of Himself to us as believers.  Most of us look at it and say – whoa, that’s a thick book!  We open it up, and we don’t know where to begin.  We see stories, and poetry, and letters, and wonder how it all fits together.  Here my encouragement is to not allow yourself to be overwhelmed – just start in the book of John, and start reading forwards.  Then when you realize that all of the Old Testament is pointing to Christ, read that as well.  Here’s what I want you to see though – Do you realize that when you are reading your Bible, the Spirit is at work in you, conforming you into the image of God?  2 Corinthians 3:15-18 – “¹⁵Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. ¹⁶But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. ¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”  When we read the Bible, we see a picture of who God is, we see all of his character and nature, his glory.  As we see it, we are transformed into it.  If you want to love God more, if you want more God in your life, read your Bible over and over, it will always bear fruit in your heart.

The Bible is how our minds are renewed to know and do the will of God daily – Romans 12:1-2 – “¹ I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Lastly, humble yourselves before other Christians.  In our culture of individualism, this is perhaps the hardest to follow for some.  Are you accountable to anyone?  One of the saddest things to see is the pastor of a church fall to sexual sin, drugs, alcohol, or some other sin that disqualifies him from service as a pastor.  Do you know the one common gap in 100% of those men’s lives?  They did not have any real accountability, where they submitted to the wisdom and counsel of other Christians.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 – “¹²And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

James 5:16 – “¹⁶Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

If you show me a Christian that considers faith a “private” thing, it tells me two things.  One is that they do not read their Bible, and two is that they are about to fall – hard.  God never meant for us to go through life alone, we were meant to process our decisions with others, to have others who love God and love us help guide us for our good.

My exhortation is to seek after the things of God today.  Trust him with everything in your life, and seek to facilitate His work in you.  God is faithful, and loves to be at work in His children.

Grace and Peace,
Adam