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God’s Part and Mine, March 26
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. For it is God which worketh
in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Philippians 2:12,
13
.
“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” What does
this mean? It means that every day you are to distrust your own human
efforts and wisdom. You are to fear to speak at random, fear to follow
your own impulses, fear that pride of heart and love of the world and lust
of the flesh shall exclude the precious grace the Lord Jesus is longing to
bestow upon you.
Man’s working, as brought out in the text, is not an independent work
he performs without God. His whole dependence is upon the power and
grace of the Divine Worker. Many miss the mark here, and claim that
man must work his own individual self, free from divine power. This is
not in accordance with the text. Another argues that man is free from all
obligation, because God does it all,
both
the
willing
and the
doing
. The
text means that the salvation of the human soul requires the will power
to be subjected to the divine will power.... And it is the very hardest,
sternest conflict which comes with the purpose and hour of great resolve
and decision of the human to incline the will and way to God’s will and
God’s way.
Man is allotted a part in this great struggle for everlasting life; he must
respond to the working of the Holy Spirit. It will require a struggle to
break through the powers of darkness, but the Spirit that works in him can
and will accomplish this. But man is no passive instrument to be saved
in indolence. He is called upon to strain every muscle in the struggle for
immortality, yet it is God that supplies the efficiency.
Here are man’s works, and here are God’s works.... With these two
combined powers, man will be victorious, and receive a crown of life
at last.... He puts to the stretch every spiritual nerve and muscle that he
may be a successful overcomer in this work, and that he may obtain the
precious boon of eternal life.
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