Skip to main content

Working Out Your Salvation? Truth exposed in New Book!

Desiring to deepen your understanding of Scripture? "Those Who Are Wise Will Shine! Understanding the Work of God in Your Redemption" underscores that desire. First off, it is not a self-help book. It doesn't try to entice the believer by giving advice directly related to struggles with particular life situations. Instead, it exposes God's work as it directly relates to bringing redemption or salvation into the world. It is punctuated by the simple gospel message that it is Christ God the Father sent to relate to humanity on our level; His relational workHis becoming like us in order to truly represent usunderscores His love for us. It is His work on our behalf.

Essential to maintaining proper godly and spiritual growth is the Christian's ability to grasp how God's work in our lives brings lasting peace. Colossians 3:15 states: "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful." So many Christians today are fraught with worry over their spiritual health because they feel it is up to them to make sure they push all the right buttons and pull all the right levers to make God a "happy" camper. 

One of the passages used to convey this need to satisfy God is Philippians 2:12, which states, "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." Somehow many have come to think our works are what satisfies God to insure salvation. Not only is this a false belief but it only produces a contrived peace, not a true godly peace because it must be maintained. It results in a life of striving for something no one can ever attain; vis. Solomon's "grasping for the wind" (Ecclesiastes 2:17). Having that mindset is not healthy. What is missed in their interpretation is what is stated in the passage that follows. In 2:13 we read, "...for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."  The context for interpretation is found in Paul's statement in vs. 12a, "as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence..." In a nutshell, Paul was saying, "Your obedience to God was to be commended in my presence, but since I will not always be around, you will need to realize that it is God who is working His will in and through you, and that your accountability is solely to Him now. Please allow the fear of His presence and His holiness to be the help that gives you the endurance to stand when times get tough." In short, Paul was not going to be around to lead them in their daily walk, they needed to rely on God, after all, they were ultimately God's work, not Paul's.

I believe, understanding this passage is key to possessing the wisdom needed to live for God spiritually while still in the body with its warring lusts. The working out of their own salvation did not mean that after they became saved they would have to keep salvation by human works of appeasement but in fact the opposite. They needed own the fact that it was God's first work in them resulted in their salvation.They needed to continue to trust Him for the future.

The fact is, Salvation has never been the work of man it has always been, and always will be the work of God alone. So true peace can only come when we consider our salvation as His work and our obedience to be actions resulting from the call and gifts He bestows upon us.

Consider the following passage:

Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”  Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” (John 6:27-29)

In this simple exhortation about laboring in this life, Jesus simply tells the crowd they should point their sights toward laboring for what He gives, that is, what He supplied and  continues to supply. It has never been what we can supply to God. Then in vs. 29 He says the work of God is to believe. Some people have a hard time with that. How could the work of God entail believing? "It is my choice to say “yes” or “no” to what the Scripture teaches?" Yes, it is your choice, but your action is a response to His action. In this case, God has acted to deliver a message to humanity in general and personally to each individual via the Holy Spirit working through God's word. Your response is in reply to His invitation to become part of the family of God. This theoretically could be called a legal transaction. Because by accepting His call, your name is written in the "Lambs Book of life," (see Phil. 4:3; Rev. 21:27; Rev. 13:8). Currently all the living are in the "Book of the Living." (Psa. 69:28, Ex. 32:32; Rev. 3:5; Rev. 17:8) But as Psalm 69:28 specifically reveals, your name can be blotted out of this book.

Those Who Are Wise Will Shine takes a deeper look at Redemption from the perspective of the lineage of Jesus. It starts with Adam and progresses from there tracing the bloodline all the way till it stops at Christ. Along the way, you will run into Cain and Abel, the Fallen Angels and the Nephillim; the lives of Noah and his sons Shem, Ham and Japheth; the demonic origins of the Tower of Babel and Nimrod. How God used the angels to scatter the people across the earth and divide the tongues. You will be acquainted with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Joseph, Ephraim, and Manasseh; David, Solomon and the Kings of the Divided Kingdoms. And lastly, both the pre and post-exilic days of the Jewish people, and the birth of Jesus followed by the Second Advent. Literally, the lives of those who were called and accepted the call to be God's light in a dark world, are brought to life, whether in weakness or strength. In their lives we see the Lord constantly working through them or bringing the loving and disciplinary hand of a father upon them when they walked away. Truly, it is an awesome journey!

God's desire has always been to bring salvation to the world. His creation, of which humanity is the integral part, is always in His sights. In this book we can learn what it really means to be a part of God's family. What it means to be responsible for bearing the holy nature of God before a lost world. The principal behind God's choice of humanity to bear the light of who He is, is starkly portrayed in the zeal that Jesus had for the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. On possibly two occasions we see Him driving out the wickedness the religious leaders practiced or allowed. In the New Testament we read that we are now the Temple of God. We are to be separate and different from the world, (2 Cor. 6:17). His glory resides within us. If we listen and obey Him, then we will “Shine” and His light will light the way for another to which God's love can then be reflected.

As a bearer of God's light, never forget Him and never forget your created purpose. "Those Who Are Wise Will Shine!" helps you to do just that.

Contact me for more information!

God Bless!!!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

25 Reasons to Believe - In Jesus FREE EBOOK

FREE EBOOK click to download - When book comes up click down arrow on Upper Right to save a copy . A while back the Barna Group released a report titled, "Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church." 1  Under reason two, " Teens’ and twenty-somethings’ experience of Christianity is shallow" they write:  "A second reason that young people depart church as young adults is that something is lacking in their experience of church. One-third said “church is boring” (31%). One-quarter of these young adults said that “faith is not relevant to my career or interests” (24%) or that “the Bible is not taught clearly or often enough” (23%). Sadly, one-fifth of these young adults who attended a church as a teenager said that “God seems missing from my experience of church” (20%)."  If one takes a look at the modern church-scape I can see why. The gap between those pastors and teachers that are fired up about Jesus and those that do not preach all of th

Fornication - The Acceptable Sin?

In the Bible there are several sexual sins that are categorized under the term,"Sexual Immorality." Not the least of these is, "Fornication." However fornication has become an outdated, and in many places, the acceptable sin in the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries. As a matter of fact, many do not even know what the term "fornication" means. Since the advent of the modern Bible translation, many have never heard of it. This article focuses on what the Scripture says about this out-of-control acceptable sin. Fornication is mentioned thirty-six times in the Bible (MT), thirty-two times in the New Testament. In almost all modern translations the word has been substituted with, "sexual immorality" and has come to mean any number of sexual sins. However, sin (missing the mark) is still sin and sin still separates a person from God. So why has this sin become so acceptable even in modern churches???? UPDATE : Here is a testimony of life

The Bride of Christ Has Made Herself Ready!!

The Bible teaches of an upcoming Wedding Day that the Church should be on cloud nine over!! Rev. 19:7-9 states: Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come , and His wife has made herself ready." And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!' " And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God." The passage above speaks of two distinct events, the Marriage of the Lamb and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Both of these events are reminiscent of the ancient Jewish wedding ceremony where the Bride would become betrothed to her Groom and he would go away to build her a home. In the meantime she would wait anxiously for his return with shouts from his wedding party of "The Bridegroom Comes!" When the shouts were he

Understanding Grace…without it no one can be saved!

Years ago as a pastor, I faced an issue concerning the topic of “Grace.” I had noticed some congregants who were taking Grace to the extreme and beginning to teach that since our sins were bought and paid for at the cross—all of them, past, present, and future—there was no need to strive against sin. Thanks to our Lord, this was noticed and the He quickly allowed it to be curbed. This heresy occasionally rears its head in Christian circles and indeed must be stopped before it becomes out-of-control. The good thing is that a proper understanding of Grace can arrest the heresy in its steps. Because this false perception thrives in loose living, many well-meaning Christians go completely to the opposite extreme and throw the Biblical teaching of “Grace” out altogether. That too is heresy. How should we approach it? Grace, as a doctrine, should always be presented in its entirety. By that I mean, a starting definition, followed by why it is important, and concluding with keeping it scri

Cardboard Signs and Saying Yes to God

Perhaps you have seen the story of "Daniel's Gloves". It has been floating around the internet since 2001 according to snopes.com. They also tell us the original author is Richard Ryan the assistant Pastor of a Church in Indiana.  I refer to this story—which you will find posted below mine—because of the effect that helping one in need can actually have on a believer’s life. One of the things I have done in the past is monitor just how many people there are who simply pass on by those who are holding a sign stating “Will work for food” or “Need Help for me and my children.” If you ask the hurting they will tell you there are literally hundreds and hundreds who just will not help. Truly it is a sad testimony that “one or a few bad apple(s) can spoil a whole bushel.” It is definitely something I also have observed. For some reason we either fear them, fear confrontation or fear being deceived. Whatever the reason, I often wonder how God feels about it. Just a fe