by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
Paul encouraged the brethren at Philippi to continue obeying as they had in the past to work out their own salvation (Philippians 2:12). This did not mean that they were to work it out on their own, earning or meriting their way to heaven without provisions of grace from the Lord.<\/p>\n
We are to work out our own salvation by believing, repenting, confessing, being baptized, putting off the old sinful self, and putting on the garments of Christ. But, the provisions of grace are not forced upon us, and we can, in fact, “neglect so great salvation<\/em>” (Hebrews 2:1f). We can develop an evil heart of unbelief and depart from a relationship with God (Hebrews 3:12). We can allow ourselves to get discouraged and quit! So, there is work to do to avoid getting discouraged and quitting.<\/p>\n God is not done with us. We must work out our salvation by using our challenges to grow more like Jesus. We must choose to fill our hearts with Jesus so that our actions and responses look like His. We can quit fighting when we lay down this body in death, but until then, we have a lot of work to do.<\/p>\n Make sure we are moving in the right direction in faith, hope, and love, conforming to the image of Jesus. Let Jesus build you up, which is part of working out our own salvation. Don’t give up! Work out your salvation, not your condemnation! We’ve spent enough of our past lifetime working toward our final condemnation. It is time to work for our salvation and the salvation of others!<\/p>\n Are you working to ensure your own salvation? The Lord says you must!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Terry Wane Benton Paul encouraged the brethren at Philippi to continue obeying as they had in the past to work out their own salvation (Philippians 2:12). This did not mean that they were to work it out on their own, earning or meriting their way to heaven without provisions of grace from the Lord.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[354,47,55],"class_list":["post-82835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-responsibility","tag-salvation","tag-works"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":63421,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/salvation-by-grace-through-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":82835,"position":0},"title":"Salvation by Grace Through Faith","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 17, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ephesians 2:1-10 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When we read Ephesians 2:8-10, there are four important words which stand out: grace, saved, faith, and works. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The gift mentioned in verse 8 is the gift of salvation given to us by God\u2019s grace. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Grace is an unmerited favor. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0a.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43583,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/salvation-by-grace\/","url_meta":{"origin":82835,"position":1},"title":"Salvation by Grace (Cope)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by James R. Cope via\u00a0The Preceptor, Vol. 1, No. 12, October, 1952. In Titus 2:11-13 we read: \"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69201,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/pharisaical-works-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":82835,"position":2},"title":"Pharisaical Works Salvation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton One fellow said the following: \"Terry Wane Benton, why must you be so wrapped up in your salvation by works just like the Pharisees? Jesus despised the Pharisees for this very mentality that you are showing. Grace and grace alone allow you to enter into heaven.\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67003,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/works-grace-and-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":82835,"position":3},"title":"Works, Grace, and Faith","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Works won't save us, but failure to engage in them can condemn us. Likewise, being moral won't save us, but being immoral will condemn us (I Corinthians 6:9-10). This is a consistent message throughout Scripture. Salvation is \"by grace through faith,\" and faith means that we will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43274,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/commandment-keeping-and-boasting\/","url_meta":{"origin":82835,"position":4},"title":"Commandment Keeping and Boasting","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 18, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edward Bragwell, Sr. via\u00a0Biblical Insights, June 2014 Jesus declares that hypothetically if we were to keep all his commands, we would still have no right to boast. \"So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95111,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/work-because-god-is-working\/","url_meta":{"origin":82835,"position":5},"title":"Work Because God Is Working","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 15, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edwin Crozier Text: Philippians 2 Jesus established the example. He left the throne of heaven and lived among us as a servant. God highly exalted Him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name because He was obedient even to the point of death on the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82835\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}