Isn’t salvation a free gift? Then why are we told to work out our salvation with fear and trembling? – Phil 2:12b. We figure why we need to in the following verses (Phil 2:12-16):
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.
The end result of salvation is to become blameless and pure. At salvation, we are given the Spirit of God but our mind is still unrenewed—(while scripture states that the old has passed away in 2 Cor 5:17, it actually means that it is passing away as the Greek word parerchomai is also seen in Luke 18:37 where we read ‘They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”’)—our mind is still the same but in our spirit, we are born-again.
This means that the old person with the unrenewed mind is still lurking within us seeking an opportunity to establish its own. However our friend, the Spirit of God within us, also desires to take charge of the future direction of our lives. Left to ourselves, we may end up returning to our life of slavery to sin. Therefore we must be wise and let the Spirit of God take control over our flesh. Why should this be necessary?
The carnal mind of the flesh wants to continue to live according to the sinful nature that was the nature of our minds before we were born-again. We were weak in our sinful nature to do what is right. Once we have been born-again, our spirit is now the dwelling place of God.
We should thus let God rule over our flesh. Our sinful mind is contrary to God and does not submit to God’s Law (as it cannot do so). But if we let our Spirit counter our flesh and choose to set our mind on the things of God, we will attain life and peace. We must therefore be controlled by the Spirit of God who lives in us.
Christ in you is the hope of glory because the Holy Spirit within us works out His Will in us—as we read, “for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” – vs 13.
The indwelling Holy Spirit, God within us, changes our will and our desires to act in accordance to the will of God—this is the primary reason why we are able to do his will. If not for the empowering of the Holy Spirit within us, we will not be able to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law. Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill the law.
Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
We are therefore required to live in the consciousness that God within us is working within us to prepare us for the ultimate destiny of being united with him.
There is a constant battle between your flesh and your spirit. If you let your body continue its misdeeds, you will not live. But if you let the spirit of God in your life dictate how the flesh must do the will of the Father, you will live. So even born-again Christians have to make a choice each day whether to live in the flesh or by the spirit. Even if you make the wrong choice, God will still cause you to repent and change your ways so that you can then proceed on the right path. However if we continue unabatedly to choose to do the wrong thing instead of being led by the spirit, we will not attain the likeness of Christ and will therefore not receive eternal life. Because eternal life is to know the Lord God and unless you walk with the Holy Spirit, how will you know Him?
Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. – Rev 21:27. So it becomes imperative that we follow the leading of God’s Spirit within us and do His perfect will so that we shall be blameless and pure without spot and blemish for the day of the Lord. Amen. God must work out His will and His righteousness in us so that we can ultimately be with Him for ever. Hallelujah!