It suddenly occurred to me why Paul included a particular wording
in a Scripture I have been praying through for a long time. The Scripture I
refer to is:
Therefore, 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, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13).
Since God is always working in us, “both to will and to work for his good pleasure,” there is always something
I need to work out “with fear and
trembling,” both for myself personally, and in fellowship with the church.
What stood out to me this morning is the expression, “your own.”
The reason I was drawn to the focus of working out “your own” salvation, was that it stands
in contrast with working out someone else’s salvation. It is easy to look at
what other churches are doing, and sit in judgment of what is right or wrong.
It is a naturally sarky thing to give far more thought to what someone else in
the church should be doing to get their act together than to focus all our
attention on our own freedom and maturity in Jesus Christ. A lot of problems
spring out of us trying to help other people with the right thing to do in
their lives while neglecting to give attention to our own experience of the
fullness of salvation.
Paul’s emphasis on dealing with “your own” salvation, and whatever issues of salvation God is
working into us both to will and to work for his good pleasure, is to keep each
member of the body of Christ focused on what God is doing in them. As each
child of God responds to God’s work in our own lives, we will see this touch
the lives of others in ways that connect to whatever God is doing in them.
A long time ago, God used the imagery of the grape vine and its
branches to teach me the order in which he does his work in our lives.[1] Jesus
is the vine, and the Father is the gardener who does the pruning. Those who
belong to Jesus through faith in his name are the branches, and there are still
others who are illustrated by the fruit the branches bear.
The primary relationship of the believer is described as, “Abide in me, and I in you.”[2]
In the same way as the branch abides, or remains, in the vine, Jesus’ disciples
abide, or remain, in him. In the same way as the sap of the vine flows through
the branches, so Jesus abides in us.
Then Jesus makes this very precise declaration: “As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself,
unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”[3]What
I realized was that, the primary need of the branch was its attachment to the
vine. It could only bear fruit in fellowship with the vine.
What became very clear to me was that, the best thing I
could do for everyone in my life was to focus on my own relationship with God.
The more I focused on abiding in Christ, the better I would affect people
around me. As Jesus said, “I am the vine;
you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears
much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”[4]
When Paul adds to this his focus on “your own salvation,” it is not to make us self-centered or
puffed-up with conceit.[5] It
is to keep us abiding in Christ so we can give each other the fruit of our
fellowship with him.
While we cannot put aside our concern for others, and how
they are doing with God, we can keep our focus on abiding in Christ as branches
in the vine so we have the most to offer them.[6] The more we experience of that abiding
relationship with Christ, the better for everyone.
© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
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