Sunday: We Work Out What God Works In
Daily Lesson for Sunday 25th of January 2026
Having just presented Jesus as the perfect example of humility and obedience to God’s will, Paul now turns to the Philippians themselves. He affirms their obedience to the Lord after they received the gospel message (see Acts 16:13-15,32-33) and urges them to continue in that obedience.
Having presented the example of Christ’s life and the Cross as the way of salvation, Paul now focuses more directly on how this all works in practice.
Read Philippians 2:12-13. What does Paul mean by saying, “Work out your own salvation”? How would you describe the relation between faith and works?
Image © Lifeway Coll. Goodsalt.com
In these two verses, Paul does not present a different gospel from what he outlines in Romans and in his other epistles. We can be sure his message here agrees with the gospel of justification by faith, which he also preached in Philippi and other places. But it’s also important to consider all the Bible says on a given topic, especially on the topic of salvation, which can be so misunderstood.
Read Romans 3:23-24; Romans 5:8; and Ephesians 2:8-10. What do these passages teach about salvation?
Without question, salvation is God’s work, and we can take absolutely no credit for it ourselves. Even faith itself is a gift, encouraged through the work of the Holy Spirit. Our own works cannot save us; however, through the new birth, God re-creates us spiritually, enabling us to do good works. God’s Spirit works in us, empowering our will to choose the right, to resist temptation, and to make right choices.
Thus, we work out what God works in, “with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). Does that mean we should be afraid of God’s judgment on our often feeble efforts to obey? Of course not. This phrase refers to sensing God’s presence (see Psalms 2:11) and our need to obey Him.
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In what ways have you experienced Christ working in you? How, though, does your fallen nature fight against what God is doing in you, and how can you resist that pull? |
I work quite hard in our marriage. I make the bed, every morning, I put out the garbage for collection once a week, I vacuum the house, I empty the dishwasher, I bake bread, I help with the grocery shopping, and I even took a whole day last week accompanying Carmel to Sydney by train so she and I could have a ferry ride on the harbour. I could have been at home programming my Raspberry Pi computer. All this work made me pretty tired. And do you think Carmel loves me more because I do all this?
A marriage is a relationship, not a work contract. There is nothing in the marriage contract that says I must do anything. And when it comes to working, we do things together, not because we have to but because doing things together is part of a relationship.
Our spiritual lives are a relationship, God and us working together. It is not that different to a marriage. Read how Paul described it:
We get ourselves into these silly arguments about faith and works, grace and salvation, justification and sanctification. If we are in a relationship, we do things together. That is the starting point.
What actually nurtures love in a marriage?
If love grows only because one spouse works harder, then love becomes a transaction.If love depended on works, it would always be fragile.Biblically, love flows from covenant and commitment, not from performance.
Helping, showing up, giving your time—is a valid expression of love;love made visible.
Biblically, service offered freely builds unity.Service offered to earn love quietly exhausts the soul.
Biblical marriage isn’t about who works harder—it’s about shared responsibility, shared care, shared tenderness.If only one partner feels depleted, something is out of balance.
Our salvation is a dynamic partnership between divine action and human effort. God has redeemed us by His divine action (grace). As human beings, we have been called to actively live out and manifest the truths, changes, and gifts that God has already planted within us. God has already achieved the salvation of mankind through the cross, but to receive that salvation, every soul must accept it and work with it. God works in us through the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives. We are called upon to work out what God works in us. Our effort is to respond to that grace actively by participating in the process of transformation (Romans 8:11). God can not force us to be transformed, but we are required to cooperate with the process. Transformation is a lifelong process that requires engagement, intentionality, and cooperation with the Holy Spirit.
Grace and human effort are in a dynamic relationship that empowers the believer to grow, reflect God’s glory, and ultimately manifest eternal salvation. God plants the seed (His work in us), but we are responsible for nurturing and developing it (working it out) to fruition through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. God works in by renewing our minds (Romans 12:2), but we work that out by studying scripture, meditating on it, and letting it change our thinking and behaviour over time. God works in us by reshaping our desires, thoughts, and motives. But we must actively choose to align our actions with those new desires (Colossians 1:28-29). For example, God gives us a new desire to forgive, but we must choose to forgive the person who hurt us.
”For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. 14 He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds”. (Titus 2:11-14, NLT)
Having been saved by the blood of Jesus, we cannot afford to live a reckless life.
In as much as sanctification, justification and salvation are all by faith, good or corresponding works will benefit us as Christians both physically and spiritually now.
Two important benefits are:
1, Physically/socially, good works underscores the principles that guides our lives, which shows that we are matured enough to set boundaries for ourselves in our dealing with people and stick to them no matter the pressure or outcome.
And from experience I’ve discovered that God honours those principles and helps us to be steadfast in them.
2, Spiritually, good works shields us from the alluring traps of the devil which he designed to destroy our relationship with God in order to destroy us eventually.
Good works with the help of Holy spirit as we can not do it alone, will bring about absolute peace of mind to us now. the Bible says in
Isaiah 26:3 NKJV
“You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You”.
Nothing we can do to earn salvation, it’s absolutely free because of what Christ already have done for us but we can do everything to prove that we are different from the rest of the world because we are followers of Christ.
Yes, friends keep on living a Christian life as you committed yourself when you were born of the Spirit and water. And remember in Isaiah that darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people yet you and I who have been born again, the Lord will rise over us, awe yet that is not all, the glory of the Lord shall be seen in us. Isaiah 60:2. Wonderful promise in these times when many wars are stifled, yet still there is war or at least postering for war. Philippians is certainly full of lessons for all of us.
Trust in God. The evidence is in His word. Isaiah 46:9,10.
Admiring someone who is committed to fitness will never make us healthy; equally knowing the best doctor in town by name or even better the correct medicine and not taking it to heal our sickness can only worsen our condition. Thus real transformation begins when we step into the gym it and start the workout or better still visit the doctor and faithfully take what s/he prescribes. The same principle is true in our christian journey. Our growth and salvation are not found in merely knowing about Christ or just being inspired by other believers and stories about christianity, but in deciding to walk with Christ daily. Our God who begun the good work in us promises to bring it to completion (Philippians 1:6), yet He calls us to partner with Him daily. This partnership includes actively living out our faith, remaining in fellowship as Scripture encourages (Hebrews 10:25), and choosing obedience over admiration.
Inspiration may spark desire, but transformation requires participation by allowing Christ to live in us and through us. As it were salvation will NEVER be achieved by human effort alone. Scripture is clear that we are saved by grace, not by works (Ephesians 2:8–9). Yet grace is not an invitation to passivity; it calls for daily surrender. When we strive in our own strength, resisting the Holy Spirit’s work, we can only grow weary and discouraged. But when we fully submit and abide in Christ, we experience true joy and power. Jesus reminds us, “Apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). The Christian life is not about endless striving, but about continious working out our salvation while resting in His finished work, choosing each day to depend on Him rather than ourselves.
We are called to keep pressing forward—bringing our own salvation to maturity and completion—with reverence for God, obedient hearts, and total submission to His will. At the same time, God faithfully fulfills His role in the process of sanctification by working within us, changing and shaping our lives. He does this because He has chosen to work in us; it is His decision, His desire, and it brings Him pleasure. Therefore, our progress depends entirely on relying on Him.
This can be compared to physical training in the gym: the muscles already exist, but they must be developed through consistent exercise. In the same way, our spiritual “muscles” require discipline and practice. Scripture says we must “work out” our salvation—not “work for” it. In Philippians 3, Paul describes himself as striving, stretching forward, and pressing on toward the goal of becoming more like Christ. And as we continue in this journey, God also works in us “to will,” meaning He gives us new desires and strengthens our commitment to pursue holiness.
We are all inserted in this context: our fallen nature fights our spiritual one. Thank God that He promised to finish what He started! Thank God because TODAY is the day of our salvation, because it is the only opportunity that we have, a gift, TODAY, the PRESENT! Yes, as the psalmist we should rejoice in the Lord, now, and all the days of our feeble lives!
Faith and works are mutually operational. The act of believing by faith that God has died to save us from sin is faith acting through the action of believing. God, by the Holy has enabled and empowered us to worship Him.
The Apostle Paul’s monumental statement in Romans 1:17 – ” The just shall live by faith” That Scriptural verse that was the bedrock of the Reformation still stands as powerful and profoundly significant in these times as it was in that era. To my understanding, this verse of scripture, probably unlike any other,. sets Christianity apart from all heathen religions. It emphasizes the rationality of Christ’s statement ” If you love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15. Our Christian experience is grounded in a rich, vibrant , daily , friendship experience with Jesus as we spend time in His Word and in prayer. As we grow to love and trust Him , the miraculous and in some cases the unimaginable occurs- miraculous things such as our ability to stop telling lies, to cease from being covetous, and this one might suprise you – keeping the Sabbath day holy.
We are called to bring our thoughts and deeds into alignment with the Word of God. This is a daily effort through faith, motivated by the love we have for our heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
When giving up our resistance to doing the ‘Work of God’, our acts become aligned with what the Holy Spirit chooses to reveal to our heart and mind. The alignment of the heart and mind has to come first, then the working out of God’s Will can follow.
Daily little indiscretions, unchecked and unrepented of, will eventually lead to greater offenses against the Holy Spirit. Yes, indeed, ‘we ought to work out our Salvation with fear and trembling’ unless we take the consequences lightly – Isaiah 59:2; 1Thessalonians.5:22-24.
Do we want to risk alienation from God when our repentance to restore our relationship is so readily accepted by Him? Do we consider withdrawal of His Divine Protection a small thing? Why would we believe and live by faith if not to ask God to protect our living soul from evil? Rom.14:7-8; 1Cor.6:19-20; Col.3:23.
I think there is a risk of being really introspective and examining our life to see if God is working in it. There are probably times when this is important, but it can also lead to discouragement.
There are many times I look at myself and feel very disappointed in my behavior. It often doesn’t reflect God very much. But I feel there are two things to remember: 1)The fact that I am discouraged shows God is working, because I desire to be different. Many people don’t feel that way at all and 2) It can take time to see the changes God is making in us.
In 2022, one of the quarterlies was a “retread” – it was more or less the same quarterly as one in 2008. Somehow I recognized this and was curious about how I answered a question (I always write in my answers to questions when they give a line). It was a question about specific struggles with sin. So I went back and looked at my old quarterly. I was really encouraged to find out that of the 3 things I wrote down, two were no longer struggles and one is much better than it was. That confirmed that God has been changing me even though I don’t always feel it.