Don’t Work to Earn Your Salvation
Now, back to my original thought from last week: The teaching pastor at the church I attend is good at what he does. He communicates effectively, digs deep into the biblical text, and provides new information. He prepares well, and it shows.
His passage was Philippians 2:12-13 where Paul tells the church in Philippi to “work out your salvation.” It’s a challenging text.
“You’ve got to work out what God works in,” he says by way of introduction. He talks about grace, integrity, accountability, and obedience.
As he speaks, another person comes up front and begins kneading some dough to make bread. He talks; she kneads. The dough takes shape, beginning to resemble a loaf.
“Before she started, all the ingredients were there,” he says. “But she had to work with them to make it become all that it could be.” Of course he was more elegant than my simple paraphrase in my notes.
The point is that from now on, every time I read the command to “work out your salvation,” I’ll recall the visual of my friend kneading bread, working it out to produce something good. And I will remember what that verse means.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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