Fear and Trembling Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: Fear and Trembling -------------------------- Date: 11/25/2000 Keywords: "Christ" "condemnation" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passage: Philippians 2:12,13* 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 according to his good purpose. Questions 1. Why should we be fearful as we seek to do good?   2. Who is at work when we do good?   3. By contrast, who is at work when we do evil?   Practical help Some people have used this passage to point to "works" as the way to salvation. I think they miss the point and fail to grasp how inconsistent that is with other parts of the Scriptures. The sense that I get from the idea of working out salvation is similar to working out a math problem. (OK, so it's not exactly the same, but I just said similar — analogies are never perfect!) When I'm helping my kids with their homework, I don't work it for them. And I don't give them the answer — that way they'll never learn anything. I coach them through it, but make them work it out themselves. If I've done my job well, they'll have a better understanding once they're finished It's the same way with the Christian walk. When we're faced with a problem, like addiction to Web pornography, that we're unable to surmount, we can't grow and learn how to deal with it unless we slog through it, work it out, and see how it is that God works with us and through us. When we're done, our "salvation" is the accomplishment of having overcome. And like the good teacher, God coaches us through it with Scripture, the Holy Spirit and good friends — but he doesn't hand us the answer. Just like our kids facing homework with fear and trembling, we have hard stuff to face too. But, the knowledge of who it is that faces it with us ought also to send a shiver down our spine. Note that Paul addresses the Philippians as his dear friends, then brags on how he can trust them to do good even in his absence. That stresses the importance of having strong relationships, trusted friends and advisers. Paul held the Philippians accountable, and you need someone to hold you accountable. Work on building that trust with someone if you don't have such a friend already. eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 2000 by eXXit *Scriptures are from The Holy Bible: New International Version © Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved.