Did You Check the Right Box?

 By Andrea Merrell

 

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed,

not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, 

work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Philippians 2:12 NKJV

 

Some folks are so casual about their salvation, it’s as if they checked the box that said, Yes, I want to be saved, then forgot all about it. A family member once told me she had her ticket to heaven. It was on the shelf somewhere—she wasn’t sure where—but she knew it was there.

There is so much more to the Christian life than just being saved from a life of eternal damnation. The apostle Paul told the Philippians to work out their own salvation. But what does that mean? The NLT says, work hard to show the results of your salvation. So what exactly should the results of our salvation be?

When we accept Christ as our Savior, we are justified. That justification makes us righteous in God’s sight. Some people say it means “just as if we’ve never sinned.” But that’s not all there is to the journey.

We are also to be sanctified, which simply means to be set apart. Merriam Webster's calls sanctification “the state of growing in divine grace as a result of Christian commitment after baptism or conversion." This is an ongoing, daily walk. 

The word commitment is the key. In the same way we are to be committed to our spouse, our family, our job, our church, our community, and our country, we are to be committed to the Lord. He should always be our first priority.

When you “check the box” for salvation, be sure to check all the other boxes:

ü  prayer

ü  Bible study

ü  meditation

ü  giving

ü  serving

ü  loving others

ü  spending quality time with God on a daily basis

 

(Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net and David Castillo Dominici.)

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What does it mean to "work out" our own salvation? via @AndreaMerrell (Click to tweet.)

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