Wherefore, my beloved, as ye 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, KJV

Working out our own salvation doesn’t mean we have to work for our salvation. We cannot earn our salvation through works, as Ephesians 2:8-9 attests. But, as Ephesians 2:10 shows us, God expects us to perform good works after we are born again. This is what Philippians 2:12 is talking about when it refers to “working out” our salvation. We are to exercise the salvation God gave us by performing the good works for which He created us. As God (through James) said in James 2:26, faith without works is dead; God didn’t give us spiritual muscles so that we could let them atrophy (waste away) due to non-use.

Unfortunately, many Christians set out to work for God without understanding how to fuel the engine of work. Thinking, “if it’s going to be its up to me,” they set out to accomplish good works in their own power. Such an approach leads to “burn out,” and even the most dedicated worker will eventually tire out by relying solely on human power to accomplish God’s supernatural goals. God never intended us to work for Him in our own power, just as He never intended for us to get to Heaven on our own steam. He intended for us to rely on Him to fuel our passion for His work, just as we had to rely on Him to save our wretched souls. As Philippians 2:13 (AMP) states:

[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.

God supplies the energy – the power and the desire – to do His will. If we hope to be obedient to His commandments, we have to rely on Him to enable us to do so.

Reliance upon God begins and ends with communing with God. If you aren’t spending time with God in prayer and Bible reading/study, God’s energy will only be at a trickle in your life. But, if you’ll make the time to walk with Him in unrushed, undistracted concentration, then God’s power to obey will flow through you like a raging river!