Ramesh C. Reddy
Editor in Chief
Hello everyone :)
May you all receive all the blessings our Lord Jesus Christ has in store for you! May you rest in His Salvation knowing His grace! Amen!
Quiet Times (Psalm 119:145-152 and Philippians 2:12-13)
“I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word. My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises. Hear my voice in accordance with your love; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your laws.” (Psalm 119:147-149)
“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:12-13)
Observations:
I was reminded that the ‘therefore’ is in response to what I learned in yesterday’s devotional time on the topic N.A.M.E.
There is a cause-effect relationship I saw here because of the NAME.
Because of the NAME the Philippians were given a major command:
Observation/Interpretation:
Five words stood out from this command.
I asked myself what does it mean to "continue"?
What came to my mind is a non-stop action. It should not be a one time thing but perpetual.
According to Microsoft Word’s thesaurus, “continue” can also mean to carry on, remain, resume, go on, persist, keep on, prolong, and maintain. This is how we are asked to work.
I asked myself what does it mean to "work"?
What came to my mind is a non-stop action again. It should not be limited to a particular day but always.
According to Microsoft Word’s thesaurus, “work” can also mean to labor, act, toil, and succeed to name a few. This is how we are to approach Salvation.
I asked myself what does Salvation mean?
What came to my mind is ‘being saved from our sins and having Eternal Life’ because of what Jesus did for us on the Cross of Calvary when we acknowledge, believe, and confess Jesus as Lord. It also means living life in such a way to show that I have been saved.
According to Microsoft Word’s thesaurus, “Salvation” can also mean deliverance, rescue, escape, and recovery.
As I looked at these definitions, it seems though that this command emphasizes ‘works based Salvation' on the surface but it does not.
I learned the danger of studying Scripture out of it’s context and that is exactly what would happen if someone wanted to teach ‘works based Salvation’ as opposed to ‘Salvation by grace’.
For they would take a person to this particular verse and say, “look v.12 says it right here to “Continue to work out your Salvation with fear and trembling.”
Then they would say, “It’s not me speaking but right here in the Bible so you have to work for your Salvation otherwise you won’t be saved.”
In other words, they would say to attain as many brownie points as possible to be accepted by the Lord when you die. They could go further and say that if your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds than you have worked out your Salvation the correct way and be promoted to Heaven.
I ask you now dear friend is this your type of Salvation?
Dear friend, there are those that do take Scripture out of its context to make their point. In other words, they will come with a reason such as ‘works based Salvation is Scriptural’ and then take you to every verse that seems to make that point. The danger in that is that they are picking and choosing verses to make their argument true. This is deductive reasoning.
The best way to allow the Lord to speak to us is through inductive reasoning where we come to the Bible as it is and allow the Bible to speak to us as a whole. In this way, we look at a verse or passage in its entire context and get the answers right from Scripture.
For me v.12 does not emphasize “Works based Salvation” but still “Salvation by Grace”
The evidence for that is in verses 6-11 and verse 13 for me. In the previous devotional times I learned about what Jesus did for us to be saved. It is by His grace we are saved! The previous devotional times J.E.S.U.S, C.R.O.S.S, and N.A.M.E are the ones that help me to take this verse in its context.
Now based on the passage, I know it is not ‘works based Salvation but Salvation by grace’.
Since I know that I asked myself what is Paul telling the Philippians when he says, “Continue to work out your Salvation with fear and trembling”?
What came to my mind is that ‘Salvation itself is guaranteed by God’s grace for those who have received it.”
In other words, I do believe once saved always saved and John 10 details that.
Since Salvation is guaranteed then ‘continue to work out’ meant to “persist acting on.”
I asked myself what does it mean to persist acting on my Salvation?
What came to my mind is that I need to remember no matter what is happening in my life that I am saved by the Lord. When I do mess up by doing wrong and feel yucky inside, I need to persist acting on the Salvation the Lord Jesus has given me by His grace if I have accepted Christ's free gift!
Rather than wallowing in my sin and thinking I am only human bound to do wrong because I am a “sinner saved by grace”, I need to have the mentality that I am a “saint reflecting His grace” because of what Jesus did for me.
Many times as Christians, we throw ourselves back into defeat by telling ourselves that we are only human bound to do wrong. I do believe the Lord has provided us a way to act as saints and reflect His grace in people’s lives.
It won’t be because we do it on our own, but it will be because of our reverent fear of the Lord and His working in our lives. This is evidenced by v.13
“for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
In closing dear friend, I am so excited for all that I learned in today’s devotional time as I sought the Lord. You know verse 12 always seemed to trouble me but after praying and studying it in its context I am excited.
I am excited because I know no amount of good works I do will save me but it is because of receiving Jesus Christ as my Lord and Personal Savior that I am saved by His grace.
If that were not the case then what all religions preach will give people access to the Lord. All religions except in Christianity, people try to reach God by the good works they feel they are doing but in Christianity, God reached out to man to save man.
The Bible says that all our good works are like filthy rags to the Lord.
God in His Holiness cannot allow us to enter into His presence even if we have lived 99.99% a good life and only messed up a miniscule % because that miniscule % is still sin. The purity of our soul is not there anymore.
It is like putting 1 drop of cyanide in pure distilled water. It is not pure anymore is it even though all the other ounces of water in there make it look pure! Looks can be deceptive!
The awesomeness of Salvation is that it is God who works in us to will and act according to His good purpose. Now when we die and approach the judgment throne, God sees us pure because we are covered by the BLOOD of JESUS cleansing all of our impurities and making us pure.
May you know that you can receive the Lord’s Salvation as you seek after Him for the Word of the Lord says that if we seek the Lord and search for Him with our whole heart, He will be found.
In that same chapter we are reminded that the Lord knows the plans He has for us and they are plans for good and not for evil, to give us a future and a hope!
Seek After Lord Valiantly And Take In Omnipotent Newness! (S.A.L.V.A.T.I.O.N)/”Is this your type of Salvation?”
Prayer:
Dear Jesus, thank you for your Salvation by grace. Help us Oh Lord to live our lives for you because of what you have done for us. We want to do right not to earn Salvation for you have given it to us as a gift, but we want to do right because we love you and for all that you mean to us. We want more love, more power, and more of you in our lives. We seek you with our whole heart. We worship you with all our mind, strength, and heart. Thank you for opening your Word to me this morning Oh Lord. I pray Oh Lord that as I share this with others you will let them take what you would have them take and that it can impact their lives as it has mine. I give myself to you Jesus and I pray they won’t just be words but actions. Whatever your will is in my life, give me the willingness and strength to bear it. Help me to take your Word seriously and follow it. Thank you Jesus for your help and for hearing my prayer! In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!
Love in Christ,
Ramesh
P.S. Check out the ZanyCrossword puzzle I created for you all.
It is interactive which means you can solve it online.
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