You are listening to Radical with David Platt , a weekly podcast with sermons and messages from pastor , author and teacher David Platt . Good morning , I'm going to try my best not to say anything . I invite you to open with me to Philippians chapter two , and some of you have seen this new fad around Bracilles . This is a small group that is raising money for their mission trip so you too , can have this famous saying . You can wear it around and get all kinds of weird looks . What I want us to do this morning and I want to invite you to plot those notes from your worship guide that's not on the shirt , but get those out too . We're going to jump right in today . We've got a lot of ground to cover and it's a lot of thick ground , just to kind of give you a heads up , and there's going to be just a lot of challenging ideas , concepts that we face all throughout this text this morning . What I want to start by doing is I want to just give you an overview of three foundational components or facets of salvation that I hope will help us understand this text , but also understand this whole series , and we're just going to go kind of these one by one , and I've got scriptures that are listed there so you can go back and look at these things later . But I think we need to have this total picture of salvation , as scripture describes it , including all three of these components , in order to understand what we're going to study today . So , first component of salvation salvation involves a change . It involves a change . This is fundamentally what happens at the core of who you are when salvation begins . It's what we talked about last week You're born again . In fact , you'll see there are lists of John , chapter three , verse one through 16 . This takes place at a point in time and scripture talks about it as a past event . A past event . This is something that happened to you at a specific time at a specific place . This happens . Scripture doesn't give evidence of anybody just oozing into the kingdom . There comes a point in time where we are born again , where we have life and God declares us righteous before him . He gives us a new heart , he opens our eyes , he enables our faith to turn from sin and trust in Christ All the things we talked about last week . We asked the question last week have you been born again ? And that is an important question to ask . There's not any more important question to ask and I know that some of you last week and even since then , have been wrestling with that question . I want to encourage you . It's good to wrestle with that question . It's good to know this is something that has happened in your life . We are all prone to spiritual deception . That's where we started in this series . We're all prone to spiritual deception . We can't take this point of salvation and approach it with unbiblical methods and unbiblical language and just assume that it's there without a biblical foundation . So have you been born again ? It's something , the past event . You see there . We have been saved , when you look at Ephesians 2.5 , ephesians 2.8 . It's by grace you have been saved . This is something that has happened to you and the Bible often refers to this as justification , justification Romans , chapter 3 , verse 24, . Romans chapter 5 , verse 1 . It's all over Romans , as well as the rest of Scripture Romans 5.1 . We have been justified through faith and we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ , through whom we have gained access by faith and this grace in which we now stand , something that happened to us that affects us now . We are justified before God . The language Scripture uses is at that point where we are born again . God declares us righteous before him . Now I want us to realize this whole idea of being born again . Just to go back a little bit , what we were talking about last week , this looks circumstantially different really across all of our lives . Now I want you to follow with me here . There are some things that are the same for every single one of us when it comes to being born again . The gospel is the same . That's why we're focusing on the gospel , not talking about a man-made , man-centered gospel , talking about the God-centered gospel of the Bible . That is going to be evident in any person being born again . Proclamation of the gospel is going to be a part of that . The same time , the things we talked about last week are going to happen in every single one of our lives . When we're born again , god is going to open our eyes to our need for him . God is going to enable our faith to turn from sin and trust in Christ . He's going to change our heart . It's going to happen in all of our lives . It's going to begin a process of transformation of our lives . But when it comes to what circumstances are around that , who the people are involved in that , maybe how old . We are in that . We all know that this is going to be different for many , if not all of us . Take , for example , a 12-year-old boy who grows up in a home where his parents are devout followers of Christ and love Christ and know the gospel and feed the gospel in a sense to him ever since he's born . He gets to 12 years old and he sees for the first time his need for Christ and he trusts in Christ and this whole born again thing happens in his life . Now you compare those circumstances with , say , a 40-year-old who has had little or no exposure to the gospel whatsoever in his life , who maybe is living amidst drug and alcohol addiction and all of a sudden comes the point where he sees need for Christ and he turns from sin and he trusts in Christ and that gives him a new heart and there's born again picture . There it's going to look different . It's going to be probably more dramatic over here than here , and so we don't need to get in the business of comparing experiences like this . We need to focus on have I trusted the gospel , have I heard the gospel and has this born again thing happen in my life ? And that's going to look different even when you look in the New Testament , it happens differently , different people's lives . Obviously , paul was a very dramatic conversion . At the same time , you don't see that all over every part , every time somebody comes to faith in Christ , in Scripture , and so just want to encourage you that it's a past event , it's what happens , the point of salvation when we are born again . Scripture refers to those justification . Second salvation involves a change . Second salvation involves a journey . If we stop at this change and we'll miss biblical salvation , we'll understand salvation incompletely . We won't understand salvation as the Bible teaches it . Salvation involves a change and that leads to a journey . And that change or that point of salvation we are declared righteous before God . That begins a journey by which we are made righteous , by which God is now conforming us into his image . He is transforming us . This is where we almost kind of blurred the lines a little bit last week , because at the end we talked about how , when we're born again , god transforms our lives , and that is absolutely true . The same time , it's not . This transformation process is immediate . This just happens and all of a sudden , everything's right and everything is transformed . We know that this begins a process by which we are transformed , and so , instead of salvation being , when we talk about salvation as a journey , instead of it being a past event , something that happened to us , instead , second , it's a present process , something that is going on in our lives . Second Corinthians , chapter three , verse 18 , talks about how we're being transformed with ever increasing glory into the present , into the image of Christ . We are being saved Not we have been saved but we are in the process of being saved and we're working out our salvation , as we're going to talk about today . This is really we're going to camp out today , but this is the means by which we are being made holy and being made righteous in the sight of God . Now , that doesn't happen automatically , and I don't believe scripture teaches . It happens , even fully in this life , that we won't get to the point where , finally , we are not sending anymore and temptation is not a deal for us . We're completely righteous in our character and everything is just as it was created to be an image of Christ . This is something that happens in the future , and so what you've got is salvation as a past event , a present process , a change , a journey , and then , third , salvation scripture talks about as a destination , as opposed to being a past event or a present process . Salvation is referred to as a future prize . You look at 1 Corinthians , chapter nine , verse 24 through 27, . You look at Philippians , chapter three , verse 14 , you see Paul talking about the goal of his salvation and running after the goal of his salvation . When we will culminate our salvation in the presence of God , we will be reconciled to him , just as we talked about the beginning . The whole purpose of the gospel is that we might be reconciled to God , and there's coming a day when we will be with God , in the presence of God , and there will be no more sin , no more sorrow , no more sickness , no more pain . Old gone , the new will have come . This is the picture that scripture often refers to as glorification . We will be saved , we will be glorified with him . So something that's going to happen , it's the completion of our salvation . When you look at Romans , chapter 13 , verse 11 , I think I've got it on your notes somewhere , romans 13 , 11 , paul says that our salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed . What does that mean ? It's nearer to us now than when we first believed . It doesn't mean that we're still working on our salvation , trying to earn it . That's not what it means . Instead , it means the future glorification , culmination of our salvation is still to come . We are closer now than when we first believed . What we've got to understand is all three of those facets
together . I just want to ask you the question when do you find yourself on that spectrum , so to speak ? Where are you on that spectrum ? Maybe you are here this morning . You've not come to the point where you have truly been born again , where this has happened in your life , where there has been a change , a transformation that has begun in your life by the gospel of Jesus Christ , where you turn from sin and trust it in Christ , by the faith which God alone can give . Maybe you wouldn't describe yourself as a very religious person . That's just not happening . Maybe you would describe yourself as a very religious person and that still hasn't happened . Or would you find yourself maybe after that on this process , this journey , where you know you've been born again , in this process by which you're being transformed ? I'm guessing , by the nature of the fact that you have breathing this morning , that you haven't experienced that final facet of salvation , but I want to remind you of it because it is a reality and for all who have been born again . I remind you there is coming a day when we will see His face and we will be reconciled to God in His fullness forever . And if you have not been born again , I want to remind you of urgency of this thing called salvation . The eternity is too long and too important to be flippant , blatantly unbiblical with salvation . Have you been born again ? Now , it's important to understand all of that because we're going to come to Philippians , chapter 2 this morning , and Philippians chapter 2 is not talking about the point of salvation . Instead , it's talking about this process , and that's what I want you to kind of keep in your mind . When we come to Philippians chapter 2 , we're going to just read two simple verses verse 12 and 13 . The context is Paul is addressing believers , followers of Christ , who were struggling in their relationships with one another . They'd become very selfish in their relationships with one another in the church , and so verses 5 to 11 give one of the most beautiful , awe-inspiring pictures of Jesus Christ and all the scripture of his humility , his exaltation , who he is , was , and I want you to see what happens right after that , verse 12 . Therefore , paul says Therefore , in light of this picture of Christ . Therefore , my dear friends , as you have always obeyed not only 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 . Did you hear that Last part of verse 12. ? 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 . What's really interesting is that Paul is really , in a sense , kind of closing up a thought or argument he began all the way back in chapter 1 , verse 27 . Look at this verse , for you might underline it , because it's such an incredible verse , especially in light of this series . Let's know what it says Philippians 1 , 27 . Paul had said earlier Whatever happens , conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ . He's speaking to people who know the gospel and he's saying your life needs to be a reflection of this gospel . Your life is how this gospel is worked out , day after day after day after day . That's why he comes to this point in Philippians , chapter 2 , verse 12 and 13 , and he says Work out your salvation , work out the ramifications of the gospel in your heart , in your life . Work those out every day , for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose . Now , based on that , what I want you to do we've seen these three components of salvation . I want us to look at three foundational truths in salvation that are all over these two simple yet astounding verses . And , especially , I want you to think about these truths in light of that second facet of salvation , this process of being saved . We're talking about how the gospel this morning gospel affects how we live . Truth number one the grace of God , undergirds every facet of salvation . This is so huge . Last week we saw , we looked at what God does when we're born again . God opens our eyes , god changes our heart , god enables our faith , god transforms our lives . He does all of that . It's his work , it's the grace of God at work . What we've got to realize is it's the grace of God at work at the point we are saved , but it's also the grace of God at work as we are being saved , as we are working in the work of God at work , as we are being saved , as we are working out our salvation right here you say well , what do you mean ? I thought that sounds like this passage is talking about what we do Work out your salvation , don't miss it . Look at the way verse 12 and 13 flow together . They're linked by one important word . He says at the end of verse 12 , continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling , for literally , because this is how this can happen . This is why this can happen , for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his purpose . In other words , what he's saying is the only way you can work out your salvation is , if God is working in you , who's the actor in this part of salvation ? It's God , just as God is the one who worked and brought us to be born again . It's God who is making us holy . It's God who's carrying out this whole picture of salvation . The grace of God undergirds the whole thing . Think about it in three different levels . First of all , think about the fact that grace is our message , from cover to cover , from beginning to end in salvation . Grace is our message . You think about it with me . You've got your notes there . We need the gospel to know Christ . We need the gospel to know Christ . Now that sounds very basic . Of course we know that . We know that in order to be saved , you have to hear the gospel and to respond to the gospel , the gospel is necessary in order to know Christ . The problem is , we have a dangerous tendency today to say , yes , I know , I need the gospel to know Christ . We have a dangerous tendency to leave the gospel at the point in which we know Christ and now we've got to go on with our Christian lives and figure out how this thing looks . We say , okay , I've been saved by the gospel , now I need to move on to bigger and better things and learn how to pray , and learn how to study the word , and learn how to do this and learn how to do that . Now I've got to begin to obey God and do all of these things and we leave the gospel behind , and that is a tragic mistake . We need the gospel to know Christ , yes , but second , we need the gospel to grow in Christ . The gospel is the means by which we were saved , but it's also the means by which we are being saved . The gospel is still foundational . One writer put it this way the gospel is at one class among many that you will attend during your life . As a Christian , the gospel is the whole building that all the classes take place in . We have this mentality that we need the gospel at that certain point and we move on apart from the gospel . But the reality is our souls , sanctified by Christ , forgiven by Christ , given new life by Christ , our souls need to feed on the gospel , day after day after day after day . It's the foundation by which we live today as followers of Christ . It's all based on the gospel . That's why and some of you have seen this over the last few weeks , as we've been focusing on the gospel what is the gospel ? So many of you have said , I feel like my heart is just craving this . I'm eating it , I'm drinking from it like a deep well , and that's the way it's supposed to be . Our hearts , our souls , were created , saved , to crave the gospel and to feed on the gospel , and we will never get tired of the gospel if we are followers of Jesus Christ . If we ever do get over the gospel what it means to feed on the gospel then we need to recheck our hearts and whether or not we ever really knew the gospel . This is something you can't get over the gospel that we talked about a couple of weeks ago is the foundation not just for that point of salvation , but also for this process of salvation . In fact , that's where we're going to go in the coming months . The rest of this year we're going to spend time thinking about we're laying the foundation here about what the gospel is . We're going to talk about how does the gospel affect our families , how does the gospel affect us as husbands or wives , or parents or kids ? How does the gospel affect suffering ? How does the gospel affect the way we walk through hard times ? How does the gospel affect evangelism ? This is the gospel and we have created this man-made , man-syndric gospel . Then , how do we share our faith ? We're going to talk about the gospel affects social issues and how we respond to social issues in our culture . The gospel is the foundation for every dimension of our lives . We need the gospel to know Christ and we need the gospel to grow in Christ . So that's the message of grace . Second , grace is our master . I take the term here master from Romans , chapter six , when Paul said sin shall not be your master , because you are not under law but under grace . I want you to think about how grace has conquered sin , who was our master , has conquered it in two ways . Number one by his grace we are free from the penalty of sin . By his grace , we are free from the penalty of sin . And again , this is a basic thing that I hope we know . Those of us who are a follower of Christ , we know that Christ has taken the penalty of sin , the ultimate penalty of death . He has removed it . We don't have to fear death because he's conquered the penalty of sin . We're free from the penalty of sin . But this is exactly where we left off somewhat last week , when we talk about salvation as a prayer . You pray and then your life goes on and looks the same as it did before . Then we blast in God by making him out to be a God who is able to handle the ultimate effect of sin and not able to handle the sin that we struggle with on a day by day basis . And it's not true . It's not the gospel . The God who handled the ultimate effect of sin is also the God who is able to handle sin in our lives on a day by day , by day basis . By his grace , we are free from the penalty of sin . But second , by his grace we are free from the power of sin .
Roman 6 says we died to sin . How can we live in it any longer ? Don't you know that ? All of us who are baptized into Christ Jesus , who are baptized into His death . We were therefore buried with Him through baptism , in order that , just as Christ was raised from the dead , we too may live a new life . If we have been united with Him like this in His death , we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection , for we know that our old self was crucified with Him . So the body of sin is done away with . We are no longer slaves to sin . We died with Christ . We believe that we will also live with Him , for we know listen to this that since Christ was raised from the dead , he cannot die again . Death no longer has mastery over Him . The death he died . He died to sin once for all . In the life he lives , he lives to God . In the same way . Count yourselves dead to sin , but alive to God . In Christ Jesus , you are followers of Christ If you have been born again . I want to remind you . This may be one of the most important truths you hear this morning , if not the one thing that sticks out for you in your life , or you are right now . You are dead to sin . You're dead sin , dead to the penalty of sin and dead to the power of sin in your life . Count yourselves dead to sin . You are alive to God . So many of us , even those who are truly followers of Christ , who have been born again , live in guilt over sin . I remind you , there is two chapters later . There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus . The law of the spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death . God does not count your sin against you anymore . God does not count your sin against you anymore . This is grace . It's grace as our master you say . Well , I still struggle with it . Yeah , I'm Robin Sevin . I don't understand what I do , for what I want to do , I don't do it . When I hate , I do it If I do what I do . What I do is no where I do it , but it's sin living in me . I know that nothing good lives in me . That is my sinful nature , for I have the desire to do what is good , but I cannot carry it out , for what I do is not the good I want to do , no , the evil I do not want to do . This I keep on doing , and if I do what I do , what I do not want to do is , no , where I do it , it is sin living in me that does it . It is the most schizophrenic passage in all of scripture . Paul says in my inner being , I delight in God's law . I see another law . I work within the members of my body , waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin . At work with my members , who will rescue me from this body of death . Thanks to be to God . Through Jesus Christ , our Lord , he gives us power over sin . Grace is not something that saved us then . It's something that saves us now , something that empowers us now . You see why we can't leave the gospel back there . The gospel is huge for our lives today , for our struggles today , for the temptations you will face this week . You need the gospel , you need this grace . This leads to the third way I want you to think about grace . Grace is our message and grace is our master . But third , grace is our motivation , and this is huge , especially when we come to this , this picture in Philippians 2.13 is God who works in you . It's God who works in you , as what verse 13 says . Now , in just a second , we're going to talk about works and salvation . We're going to get there , but we need to see this first . I need you to follow with me here , because this is open . Just do it . You slightly twist this and you got a misunderstanding , so follow with me here . Grace is our motivation . The motivation for our obedience is never gratitude toward God . I need you to follow with me here . The motivation for our obedience is never gratitude toward God . Now let me tell you what I'm not saying in this . I don't believe scripture in any way teaches that gratitude is a bad thing . Gratitude is a very good thing . We are supposed to , intended to have grateful , thankful hearts . This is part of worship . Thank you for the cross . Thank you for the cross , thankful Gratitude . I want you to think with me about how gratitude , a good thing , can become the motivation for our obedience and become a bad thing . I want you to think about gratitude with me . If someone does something very nice for you , very generous for you , then you feel gratitude toward them , and the way that is most often expressed is through thinking well , I need to do something for them . I need to do something for them . So someone does something kind for us and we feel or recall it . We call it a debt of gratitude , feel a debt of gratitude for you Treat me to a really , really nice meal that I would think , well , I need to at least take you to McDonald's , or something . I may not be able to do all that you did , but I want to do something for you . And so we owe a debt of gratitude . When it's shown to us and I want you to think about how that kind of thinking pervades contemporary Christianity . And you listen , you hear how we talk , you hear it all the time Look at all that God did for you , now , how much are you going to do for Him ? Look at what Jesus gave for you , now , how much are you going to give for Him ? When we have this idea , we begin to think look at all God did for me and bring me salvation . He sent a Son to die on the cross for my sins . What can I do for Him now ? And we say , well , if Jesus did all that , then I'm going to give Him my life and I'm going to give Him my money and my house , and my family and my car and everything I have . Everything I have I'm going to give to Him because of what he did for me . Now you think , well , what's wrong with that ? Well , I want you to think about it with
me . At this point , we are beginning to think about all that we do in our relationship with Christ . All we do in Christianity is now owing a debt of gratitude to Him . But the reality is , as soon as you pay one thing toward a debt of gratitude to God , you undercut the very foundation of grace in the first place Grace because you can't pay it back . So stop trying contemporary Christianity , stop trying true follower of Christ . You can't pay God back . This turns into some sick religious lifestyle where we actually begin to think that our church attendance and our Bible reading and our prayers and all these things that we do are somehow paying God back for all that he has done for us . The reality is and you've got it in your notes there we are not in debt to God . Follow with me here . Again , this is going to be twisted . Please follow with me here . We are not in debt to God . In fact , I would go so far as to say you don't owe God anything . You don't owe God anything Now , it's not that he hasn't given all these things . He has undoubtedly given all these things . He has given His life , he has given Himself , he has given all of these gifts , no question . But the beauty of Christianity it's not that he did all of these things for us then . And so now , what can we do for Him now ? The reality is God has not stopped giving to you . This is the crux , this is the key . When we think like this , we think look at what God did for me at the cross . So now , how can I live for Him now ? The reality is , you can't live for Him now unless he keeps giving to you and therefore you will never , ever begin to be able to pay one thing back to God , because His grace doesn't just save you . Then His grace is what saves you now , and we think we have . Who are we to be so arrogant as to think that now we have something to offer to God ? The reality is , if you've been a follower of Jesus Christ for 75 years , you were just as desperately in need of grace today as you were 75 years ago . God is not in the business of . He's not a businessman . He can make a business deal with you Because you don't have anything to offer . Anything you offer Him that is good comes from Him . This is the beauty of Christianity . We're not in debt to God , and gratitude is not the motivation . Not the gratitude is bad , but gratification is not the motivation that strives us to obey God . Instead , the motivation for our obedience is the grace of God , always the grace of God . His grace is what motivates us . His grace is what compels us 2 Corinthians says to obey Him . We are not in debt to God , ladies and gentlemen . We are indwelt by God . We are indwelt by God . It's His grace that lives in us . This is the beauty of Christianity . We can never , we can never , relegate salvation to a God . It attempts to earn the favor of God or attempts to pay back even God for all of His favor . That undercuts the very foundation of the gospel . Andrew Murray said this best this way in a book called A Bidin' Christ , a great book . He said the idea that many Christians have of grace is this that their conversion and pardon are God's work , but that now , in gratitude to God , it is their work to live as Christians and follow Jesus . No , he says just as it was Jesus who drew you when he said come , so it is Jesus who keeps you when he says abide . The past grace to come and the future grace to abide are alike . From Him and Him alone . We are indwelt by God , and His grace undergirds every facet of our salvation . Now , it's at this point that , if we're really grasping this , we begin to think well , well then , what do I do ? If it is God who works in me , then what ? What do I do ? And it's at this point that many people begin to think well , there's nothing I can do , I'm just going to and the phrase we use , I'm going to let go and let God , or begin to get this passive idea of Christianity and that is not the gospel either which leads us to the second truth Grace undergirds every facet of our salvation . You got your mind's hearts , arms around this . And second , faith is the God ordained link between His work and our work in salvation . Now here's where the work comes in . Faith is the link , by grace alone , through faith alone . Grace undergirding everything . Faith , the link between His work and our work in salvation . And this is where we finally come to the point of tension that began and erupted a bit in Matthew , chapter seven , a few weeks ago . Not everyone , jesus said . Not everyone who says to me , lord , lord , we'll enter the kingdom of heaven , but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven . Just sad this . Obviously , obviously , obedience to the Father's will is very important to Jesus , and it even has something to do with getting into heaven . Do works play a part in our salvation ? Obviously , in some sense they do . But we have seen and we know there's no chance that we can do anything to earn our salvation . We know that faith is the only way by which we can be saved . We know that faith alone we're justified , through faith in this blood . We've talked about this . So how do you reconcile these two together ? And this is where Philippians , chapter two , verse 12 and 13 , is so beautiful , because what you've got is you've got these ideas just side by side . You see them so that . Listen to what it says . Continue , verse 12 , continue to work out your salvation . Work out your salvation . That is an active work , that is something to do . Work out your salvation with fear and tripling . For here's how this can happen , why it can happen , for it is God who works in you . So what we've got is God's work and man's work side by side . Now , this word work out your salvation literally means create your salvation , produce your salvation , bring it to completion your salvation , which we'll get to a little bit later . So how do we do that ? And at the same time , it'd be the work of God , and the answer is faith . Faith is the link between these two . Even this , right here , verse 12 and 13 , can be open to misunderstanding . Some of us will walk away thinking We've got a guard against this . Some of us , though , will walk away thinking after this morning Well , it comes to salvation . God does His part , and then I do my part , and that's not what Philippians 2 is teaching us . It's not teaching us . Well , god does this , and then I meet Him in the middle and I do this . What he's saying is we work , but when we work , it is God who is working in us , and the only way we can work is if the work of God is evident in our lives . It's not . Here's His part , then here's my part . I bring my part to the table Instead . Any part I bring to the table , it's because God is working in it . Let me show you this in Scripture . Go with me , turn to the right one book , to Colossians , chapter 3 . I'll show you this in two different places . Colossians , chapter 3 , look with me at verse 1 . This is a passage we studied a while ago back in the series on Biding in Christ and this really goes back to a lot of that series . Colossians , chapter 3 , verse 1 , let's know what it says . It says since then , you have been raised with Christ . Listen to what it's talking about here . What it's talking about is what happened when we came to faith in Christ and who we are in Christ . Since then , you have been raised with Christ . Set your hearts on things above , where Christ is seated at the right hand of God . Set your minds on things above , not on earthly things . Listen to verse 3 . For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God . When Christ , who is your life , appears , then you also appear with Him in glory . Here's the picture of Colossians 3 , 1 through 4 . Your life now is hidden with Christ in God . Who is your life ? Christ is your life . Your life is not your own . Christ is your life . This is who you are Now based on , who you are , who Christ is in you . Then listen to this exhortation , these commands Put to death . Therefore , in light of this , put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature Sexual immorality , impurity , lust , evil desires and greed , which is idolatry . Because of these , the wrath of God is coming . You used to walk in these things in the life you once lived , but now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these . He goes on to list them Anger , rage , malice , slander , filthy language from your lips . Don't lie to each other , since you have taken off your old self with these practices that have put on the new self , which is being renewed , and the knowledge and knowledge and the image of its creator . Here's the picture . Do you see it being renewed ? Who is renewing it ? God is at work . He has taken your life . He has made Christ your life . It's what happens when we are born again . And now what happens is we do all of these things . We don't lie , we avoid slander , we avoid anger , we avoid rage . We put to death all these things Impurity , lust , all these things . We do these because Christ is our life in us , enabling us to do these things . Our position in Christ is the way this process is carried out . It is God's work in us , but we are undoubtedly working , you know . Go one more place 2 Peter , chapter 1 . Keep going to the right . You'll go past Hebrews and James and you'll come to 1 Peter . Go to 2 Peter , chapter 1 . It's the same picture here . We see this back to back , side by side , all throughout Scripture . Galatians , chapter 2 , verse 20, . I have been crucified with Christ . Therefore , I no longer live , not I , but Christ lives in me . In the life I now live , I live by what I live , by faith in the Son of God . I live by faith . You see that Not I'm saved by faith , that's true , yes , but I live by faith today . Faith is the means by which I identify with the crucified Christ , who has given me victory over sin on a day by day by day basis . Look in 2 Peter , chapter 1 , verse 3 . Listen to this verse . It's the work of God . His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him , who called us by His own glory and goodness . Through these , he has given us very great and precious promises so that through them , you may participate in the divine nature , the nature of Christ , and escape the corruption the world caused by evil desires . So he said you have everything you need . I give you everything I need . You're participating in the divine nature . Now , in light of this picture , look at what it says in verse 5 , for this very reason , in light of this , make every effort Now it's our work , here's the picture Effort to add to your faith goodness and to good , knowledge and knowledge , self-control and self-control , perseverance and to perseverance , godliness To godliness , brotherly kindness and brotherly kindness , love , and it goes on . You see the picture Now it's not God's work . Now our work starts and we leave God behind . You know , it's God's work and God's work enabling our work . Do you see this picture ? So , dave , how is faith the link between God's work and our work ? This is where I want you to follow with me here .
Faith involves two things , and it's working out of our salvation . Faith involves two things . Number one it involves radical dependence on God's work in our lives , radical dependence . Follow with me here . This goes exactly to what we were talking about last week . We were dependent on God to give us life then . We're dependent on God to give us life now . The same faith that saved us then is the faith that sanctifies us . Now , just like now . There's obviously differences , but just like when God opened our eyes at the point of salvation , we were born again . We need God to continually open our eyes , not in the same way where we first open our eyes to our need for Him . But don't we need God ? Isn't this the way the Christian life works , all throughout Scripture ? We need God to open our eyes daily to our dependence on Him , daily to our dependence on His grace and the gospel . We don't go on . We're not saved from self-sufficiency to live in self-sufficiency . We're saved in God dependency , to live in God dependency , where we see over and over and over again God , I need you , god . Nothing in my hands I bring . Just as I didn't bring anything in my hands then , I don't bring anything in my hands today , when I wake up in the morning this morning , god , I don't bring anything . You , you have to do your work in me . I'm constantly , continually , moment by moment . We are dependent on Him . This is so , he . You got to hold on to this , because this is how working , doing things , does not earn our salvation , because the reality is any things we are doing , the work that we are doing , is coming from who ? God . So we're not earning our salvation before God , because it's God who's working in us , constantly looking to him . You say constantly yes , this is the life of faith . It's a constant moment by moment , day by day , dependence on God to supply me with all power for godliness , never at a point of self-sufficiency , to when sin enters the ball game . We're gonna be working out our salvation . Then we're gonna be dependent on God and faith is looking to him . Faith is the attitude of the heart that says I don't bring anything in my hands . I need you . Opens our eyes . We talked about last week . When we're born again . What happens is God changes our hearts . Now , obviously our heart has changed , but you got in your notes there . We need him to mold our hearts and this is exactly what Philippians , chapter two , verse 13 , is talking about . It's God who works in you to do two things to will and to act . First , to will he molds our hearts . This is not just talking about our wishes . This is talking about the depth of our genuine desires or wants and what we're saying in faith . This is the attitude of faith . It's us saying , as followers of Christ , on a day by day basis I want what you want . I want to will what you will . God , I live , we all do . We live in a culture where we are surrounded by the pleasures of this world and faith says on a daily basis God , I'm surrounded by all these pleasures . I need new appetites from you . I need you , by your grace , to change my desires and to change my wants more and more and more and more . The process you started then , when you changed my heart . I need you to mold it more and more and more In faith . This happens . God is faithful . What happens is we need him to mold our hearts , and then we talked about last week how he transforms our lives . That process of transformation begins . We don't need him just to transform our lives , though . Second , we need him to empower our lives . This is what we saw in Ezekiel 36 . He puts his spirit in us to enable us to follow his commands . This is so key to will and to act . In the only way we can act , ladies and gentlemen , the only way we can act , work in the Christian life and the life following Christ , is by faith . It's by faith , it's by trusting God . God , I need you to enable me to work . I need you to enable me , not just God , I desire holiness . You've given me a desire for holiness , god . I need you to enable me to be holy . It's just faith , god , not just I desire to serve people around me . God , I need you to enable me to serve the people around me . You see , where faith is fundamental ? It's completely fundamental in the wall , the day by day , playing out , working out of our faith , which gets to the back , to verse 12 . That's what God is doing . He's molding our hearts , he's empowering our lives and faith is dependence on him to do that . The reality is , when faith is dependence on him to do that , then the second facet of faith comes in . Faith is radical , not dependence on his work in our lives , but radical devotion to his will for our lives , radical devotion to his will for our lives . And this is where our action comes in . Paul says just catch this . Paul says to every true believer , every follower of Christ , he says work out your salvation , work . He says Work Diligently , work hard , work with discipline . You see this all over his writings Work , work , work out your salvation . People cry Well , that's legalism . No , it's not Lazy Christian . It is the playing out of your Christian life . It is the working out of the salvation . That is all undergirded by the grace of God in Jesus Christ . We work and we work hard and we work hard as followers of Christ , not by our own strength , but by the one of him who supplies us strength . Let me show you this two places . They're so key . Look at 1 Corinthians , chapter 15 . 1 Corinthians , chapter 15 . You've got to see these two places 1 Corinthians , chapter 15 , verse 10 , and then we'll go back to Colossians . We've got to realize that this is an active thing . It's an active thing for working out our salvation . You are not sanctified . You don't work out your salvation by spending hours on the internet and watching Idol TV and participating in Idol chatter and indulging in the pleasures of this world . That's not how we're sanctified , doesn't happen like that . It happens through work , but it's work that God enables us to do . Look at this 1 Corinthians , chapter 15 , verse 10 . This is when Paul is talking about the gospel , one of the summaries of the gospel , the beginning of 1 Corinthians , chapter 15 . Let's know what he says In verse nine , just to get the context . He says I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God . Now listen , underline verse 10 , listen to this . But by the grace of God , I am what I am and his grace to me was not without effect . So he says it's all great . But then let's know what he says no , I worked harder than all of them . So he worked hard and he comes back and he says yet not I , but the grace of God that was with me . Do you see the sandwich there ? Grace of God beginning . Grace of God in in the middle . You got working hard by the grace of God . He looks back . He says it's the grace of God , it's the picture you got Paul getting up in the morning . Paul gets up in the morning . How's he gonna live out the Christian life ? How do we live out the Christian life ? Is the mom or dad , the teenager out of the flock get up in the morning and we look at God , say God can't do this . Today , your grace is all I have . I need your grace , I need your power at work and me . I need you to enable me to live out your word . And that dependency on grace we talked about . This is faith , dependency on grace Now plays out moment by moment , day by day in Paul's life . All day long he's constantly looking at the grace of God and he's working hard . By the grace of God he gets to the end after a long day preaching . You know did a little miracle here or there . I mean , some cool thing is going on . He looks back and he says yet not I , but the grace of God with me . It's all grace , but it's faith in the grace that God provides on a moment by moment by moment basis and it is working very , very hard . He says I work harder than all other guys . Let me show you one more . Go back to Colossians , right past Philippians to the right . Go to Colossians , chapter one this is terminology that makes some of us even a little uncomfortable here and Colossians , chapter one . What you've got is we'll start in verse 27 . We're in focus on verse 28 and 29 . Verse 27 is that masterful picture of the gospel being Christ in you . I want you to listen to what he says . After this he says verse 27, . To them , god has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery . Here's the mystery of the gospel Christ in you , the hope of glory , he says Christ is in you . Now listen to this . We proclaim him , admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ . Listen to what he's doing . He's working . He's proclaiming , he's admonishing , he's teaching everyone so that he can present everyone perfect in Christ . To this end , verse 29, . I labor , struggling . You hear the language he's using . I'm working in labor . It's struggling , striving in some translations , striving , but don't miss it with all his what , all his energy , which so powerfully works in me . Do you see it ? He's working . He's working hard , working out his salvation , proclaiming the gospel , admonishing people in the gospel . How many people grow up in the gospel ? He is living out the Christian life . He says I am struggling and I do it with all of his energy working in me , but so powerfully works in me . This is it . This is the secret , ladies and gentlemen , to this picture of working out our salvation by the power that God supplies . Listen to what CT Stud said . You've heard me talk about CT Stud before . One guy went to China . Then he went to India at age 50 . Said of retiring . He said it's time for me to go to the Sudan . He goes to Sudan . In that time he's leading people to Christ all over Sudan , he starts what became known as the worldwide evangelization crusade , which made the gospel known over all , over Asia , africa , south America . He died in the middle of Sudan at age 70 . I want you to hear what he wrote shortly before he died Too long we have been waiting for one another to begin . The time for waiting is past . Should such men as we fear before the whole world , I , before the sleepy , lukewarm , faithless , namby-pamby Christian world , we will dare to trust our God and we will do it with his joy , unspeakable , singing aloud in our hearts . We'll trust him . His joy will be in our hearts . Listen to what he says . We will a thousand times sooner die trusting only in God than live trusting in man . You see how the man lived by faith . And when we come to this position , the battle is already won and the end of the glorious campaign in sight . We will have the real holiness of God , not the sickly stuff of talk and dainty words and pretty thoughts . We will have a real holiness , one of daring faith and works for Jesus Christ . Ladies and gentlemen , we need to stop . In every way we need to avoid legalism . In every way we need to avoid thinking that our works get us to God , earn us favor with God In every way . At the same time , we have the power of God , who raised Jesus Christ from the dead , living in us . So rise up with the power of God that so work , powerfully , works within you . Go into every corner of Birmingham and every corner of the nations and proclaim his glory and we will have a real holiness , not talk and dainty words . Every Sunday we will have a life that demonstrates the working out of salvation . We can be lazy Christians . Work out your salvation . Work , work , be diligent , be disciplined by the power of him whose work is evident in you , constantly dependent . This is faith . This is faith and this is why it's why you can hear scripture over the New Testament . It's why you can hear scripture putting works and salvation together , just like Jesus did in Matthew seven .
When you understand , it makes sense , I'm gonna say not everyone who says to me Lord , lord , we'll enter the kingdom of heaven , but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven . How do you do the will of the Father who is in heaven ? By day by day , constant dependence on Christ in you . It's all pouring the Sermon on the Mount . It's why he said later in Matthew 24 , 13, . The love of most will grow cold , but he who stands firm to the end will be saved . Only he who stands firm to the end will be saved . How can he say that ? Does that mean , as you just saying , you have to earn your salvation , the rest of this whole deal , so you can make sure you stand firm ? No , no , but when God is working in you , you will stand firm to the end . It says in Romans , chapter two , verse six God will give to each person according to what he has done . To those who , by persistence in doing good , see glory , honor and immortality , he will give eternal life . For those who are self-seeking , who reject the truth and follow evil , there will be wrath and anger . There will be trouble and distress . For everyone who does evil , god will give to each person according to what he's done . How can he say that ? Say that because everything he's done has been done by the power of God at work in him . Says later in Romans , chapter 11 , verse 22, . Continue in kindness , otherwise you will be cut off . That'll preach . You got division in the church . Continue in kindness , otherwise some of you are gonna be cut off . Listen to what he's saying there he's saying the work of God in you , the work of God in you will enable you to do that . Colossians 1 , 22 , and 23 , I mean , they're all over . You'll stand holy in a sight if you continue in your faith . 1st Timothy 4 , 16 , persevere in your life and doctrine , because if you do , then you will save yourself . How can the Bible say that ? Because it's God at work in you , enabling you to persevere in life and doctrine . You see how we are conflicted . The faith , saving faith , not just to the point of salvation , the process of salvation . Saving faith is a radical dependence on all of God's work in you and , at the same time , because of his work in you and his providing in you , a radical devotion to all of God's will for your lives . And I'm not saying we've talked about this . I'm not saying that this is instantaneous , it's perfect and every single one of us right now is guaranteed the rest of our lives to fulfill the will of God . But that leads us to this last part . Grace have God undergirds every facet of our salvation . Faith is the link between God's work and our third part . God purposes to complete our salvation for his glory . He purposes to complete it . I mentioned earlier , working on your salvation . The word literally means working out to completion and we can say that confidence and we're going to talk about this more next week when we talk about assurance , salvation we can say that because it's God who's work at work in you . The picture here is that God finishes what he starts . It's the picture back in Philippians , chapter one , verse six . He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion , to the day of Christ , he will carry it on to completion . But he says work out your salvation with fear and trembling . This is where we come back . We know . We know that we still struggle with temptation here and there . We still struggle with similar here and there . So how do you work out your salvation ? You do it with fear and trembling . What does that mean ? I think it means three things when you look at the totality of Scripture based on this passage . Number one it means we need to be afraid . We need to be afraid , and by that I mean be afraid , fear living in a way that dishonors God . The word literally means phobos and the word phobos literally means fright or terror . We are , ladies and gentlemen , every follower of Christ in this room , every true follower of Christ Be terrified at the thought of not bringing honor to God in your life . Let that terrify you . This is the life of the true follower of Christ . It goes back to what we were just talking about this faith , this moment by moment dependence . Because you know you're a moment by moment dependent on him , because you know that at the very second you take the reins , at the very second you take control and you live in self-sufficient . At the very second you know that you are bountiful . You know the only way you can stand against sin and temptation is if he provides the power that works within you . And so , moment by moment , you are calling out to God . God can't do this . God , I need you , god , I need you , god , I need you . And he provides , he's faithful , he does it . That happens Cultivate that kind of dependence when you work out your salvation with fear and trembling . When you fear God . I don't want to do anything in my life that will not bring you on . That makes you dependent on God . Second , I think it means being all Because God doesn't work within you . What's really cool . I wish we had time to go back and look . You might write this down Back in the Old Testament there are different places where these words are coupled together fear and trembling . Exodus , chapter 15 , verse 16 , couples them together when it's talking about how the people of God are going to go into the promised land and the nations are going to fear and tremble and they see the work of God among his people . Same thing in Isaiah , chapter 19 , verse 16 . It says the nations will shudder at the uplifted hand of God . They will fear and tremble the uplifted hand of God . Psalm chapter 2 talks about Gory of Christ . That's what it's really giving us a picture of . And then it says it says the kings of the earth will fear and tremble , serve him with trembling . This is the picture in the Old Testament . When people saw the work of God , then they had fear and trembling in their hearts . I love this picture when you kind of bring it to Philippians 2 , 12 and 13 . Work out your salvation with fear and trembling because you
see the work of God . Think about the beauty of the Christian life here . When we are living in dependence on heaven , devoting ourselves to his will and the power that he provides , then what we have the privilege of doing , moment by moment , day by day , is seeing the power of God at work in our lives . Christianity now becomes a front row seat , watching the power of God at work . I'm not saying or assuming it's always this dramatic thing . I'm not even saying it's always this joyous , easy thing , easy thing . But the reality is , when we struggle with sin and temptation and we are moment by moment dependent on him and his power over sin , then we see his power provide , we see his victory , like Paul talked about in Romans 7 . When we are moment by moment dependent on him , even when we walk through suffering , we see the God who sustains , the God who strengthens . When we look at what's going on in our lives and we know and many of us have been there since we were born , many of us have been there , some of us are there now . We know there's nothing we can do to walk through this , but we see the power of God firsthand at work in our lives . It's a beautiful thing being all God is at work in you Work out with fear and trembling because you're afraid , you're in awe . And third , because you're assured . Be assured , and this is what I just mentioned God will finish what he has started . I even bring it back out right around Romans 1311 , which I mentioned earlier . We were looking at this text , romans 1311 . We have a salvation that is nearer now than when we first believed . Culmination of that salvation is coming . A guy named Horatius Bonar , 19th century . It's a pastor in Edinburgh , scotland . He wrote one time to fellow pastors I am ashamed of my dull and careless heart and of my slow and unprofitable course of life . I'm ashamed , he said , of my dull and careless heart , of my slow and unprofitable course of life . The only problem was his life was anything but dull and his course was anything but unprofitable . This is a pastor who , during his lifetime , wrote over 600 hymns and poems about the greatness of God , and he preached the gospel faithfully until he was 80 years old . The thing that gripped his heart , though , was when he looked to the church , and he saw the self-sufficiency in the church . He saw little desire , so little desire for God and so little dependence on God , and so he wrote one of his most famous hymns that describe the inability of man and the gracious ability of God , the ill inability of man to be righteous , the gracious ability of God to make him righteous , and he brings them together . Think much like Philippians , chapter 2 , verse 12 and 13 does , and I want you to listen to these words as they sing them , and I want you to contemplate , contemplate how the gospel is the only way you can live today . God , we pray that you would open our hearts , open our minds to the power of the gospel for our lives , help us to realize that we are working out our salvation and , by the power of God , your name , at work within us .