While taking a prisoner from an Ontario correctional center to be arraigned on charges of attempted armed robbery, police constable John Bolton noticed a cross around the prisoner’s neck.
Knowing that the man was not religious, Bolton took a closer look.
The prisoner attempted to conceal something protruding from the top of the cross, saying it was a good-luck charm.
But Constable Bolton thought the ornament looked like a handcuff key and he was right.
When he took the cross, he discovered that it would open almost any set of handcuffs!
That cross had the power to set a prisoner free – just as the Cross of Christ, which Paul preached has the power to liberate us from the bondage of Satan, the Law and the power of Sin.
Philippians 2:12-13 says:
“Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
The phrase “work out your salvation” doesn’t mean “work for” salvation. Salvation is by grace through faith, not of works.
The idea is to carry out to the ultimate goal, which is maturity in Christ.
The salvation here is our victory over sin, purchased at the cross, whereby we grow to maturity in Christ individually or corporately as a body.
The cross saves us not only from our sins and Hell; it saves us from sin’s power to control us.
We are set free from Satan, the Law and the power of sin.
This is the salvation we are to carry out to its ultimate conclusion.
We are set free so we are to live out our freedom.
We are to carry out our salvation to its ultimate conclusion; which is to let Christ live out what He has done on the inside.
We are set free, so we are to live free in our experience.
We are victorious, now we are to live that way.
What we are on the inside (new man) we are to life it out.
The Holy Spirit reproduces Christ’s life in and through us.
We are to do this with “fear and trembling.”
This is not a fear or terror like a slave of his master.
It is wholesome, serious caution.
It is a healthy respect for the Lord.
It is a distrust of self and our own ability because of the weakness of the flesh.
It is a distrust of our own self-sufficiency and being conscious that all depends on the grace of God.
We saw our responsibility in vs. 12, now we see our power in working out the Christ-life in vs. 13:
“For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
The reason we can work out to the ultimate conclusion, our salvation in Christ, is because God works in us.
God is in the emphatic position here, so Paul is emphasizing that it is God who is constantly working in us or energizing us.
“God is the One who is constantly putting forth His power in you to the point that things are accomplished.”
The Holy Spirit is our resource for maturity as we cooperate with the Him.
He must work in us before He can work through us.
The toaster cannot produce toast unless it is plugged in the wall outlet.
Only as we are plugged into Christ and remain in living contact with Him will we have the power for victory and move to maturity.
Blessings!
Pastor Ken Keeler, Director of Church Ministries