Philippians 2:12-13 gives us another of these
principles. We call it (actually Paul
refers to it this way) the work in/work
out principle. God is always
working in every situation for the accomplishment of His purposes, His
will. We must always be working
out our salvation. This is not a
complicated thought. As has often been
pointed out, we are never working for
our salvation; but we are always to be showing the effects of our
salvation. In every situation in our
lives we can be confident: God is always at work in us to do His will; we must
always be at work doing works fit for salvation.
When I say this I usually think of Exodus
14:13-14 when, at the Red Sea, Moses told the people to stand still, do
nothing, and watch the Lord fight for you.
Was that an exception to the rule?
No, of course. The people of
Israel needed to trust in the Lord, stop whining about Moses and God leading
them into the desert to die at the hands of the Egyptians. What they needed to “do” was to “stop doing”
something! God was not only working in
that situation; He was working “in” the Israelites to will and to do His good pleasure. This is not complicated but it is a very
comforting. We can always count on God
being at work in every situation of our lives.
Psalm 37 gives us some good illustrations of
this principle. As we have said, the
illustrations are all over Scripture because it is always in operation. But it is important that we see the principle
lest we get wrapped up in endless arguments over the Sovereignty of God and the Responsibility of Man. We do not do justice to Scripture if we do
not maintain this as one truth: God
is working in; I must work out.
+ 37:27-29:
Verse 27 has three commands. Depart from evil; do good; dwell forevermore. You might have thought there were two
commands followed by a promised blessing, as in depart and do and you will be in the land forever. But that is not what it says. So for Israel there is a need to stay in the
land. It is true that under the Law
Israel’s right to stay in the land depended on obedience and the faithful
worship of their God. But in this case
we see it is a work fitting for salvation that they stay there.
What is behind these commands is the fact that
God is at work in the people. What can
we say about God’s work? 1) He loves justice.
2) He does not forsake His saints.
Knowing that the Lord loves justice then I see it makes sense for me to
depart evil and do good. Knowing that He
does not forsake His saints I see it makes sense for me to stay in the
land. That is where Israel is preserved forever.
Of course this expression of the work out/work in principle is quite
special. Dwelling in the land for
equivalent to dwelling with God. That is
the place where He promised to dwell with them, to be their God and they His
people.
+ 37:39-40:
In these closing verses of the chapter there is one thing for the righteous to
do and that is to trust in Him. It is not a command here, of course;
it is a statement of fact. The righteous
do this because of what is said about how the LORD is working in. He is saving
them, strengthening them in trouble, helping them and delivering them from the
wicked.
The word because
in the last line is a fine translation but it is not necessary in my view. If you accept that translation you are saying
God’s work is connected to the faith of the righteous. But it is quite accurate to say that God is
doing all He does and that the people simply trust Him. Their trust is shown by being the righteous, not
becoming hopeless in the time of trouble, and not panicking in the face of the wicked.
As we have said: the principle is simple, not
complicated. But let us see it. Let us understand and accept that in every
situation, including our current situation, God is always at work in us. Thus let us work out our salvation with fear
and trembling!
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