Phil. ii. 12, 13. Work out your otvn salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
THERE is no person, however eminent his attain- ments in religion may be, who does not need to be
exhorted and urged to press forward. The Philip- pians, in the judgment of the Apostle, had had " the good work begun in them ;" yea, they had " obeyed the word while he was with them," and had made a still greater proficiency since his departure from them : yet he animates them to further exertions, and en- forces his exhortation with the strongest arguments. Thus should all Christian ministers " put their people in remembrance of these things, notwithstanding they may already know them, or even be established in the truth." Let us then receive the Apostle's words as addressed to ourselves in particular, while we consider,
I. The exhortation —
God commands us to " work out our salvation" —
[We are not to imagine that salvation is either the reward of our merits, or the effect of our unassisted exertions ; for if, as our Lord assures us, " without him we can do nothing," it is evident that we are far enough from being able to keep the whole law of God ; which yet we must do, if we are to receive heaven on the ground of our own righteousness. Nevertheless we have a work to do, a work of infinite importance, in per- forming which we are not mere machines, but voluntary agents : and on our performing of that work our salvation depends3. We must consider our ways, repent of sin, believe the Gospel, and devote ourselves to God, not indeed as conceiving our- selves sufficient for these things, but in dependence on that aid, which God will afford to all who seek him in sincerity and truth.]
But we must engage in this work " with fear and trembling" —
[The terms " fear and trembling" do not import a slavish dread and terror, but a holy vigilance and circumspection b. And there is great need of this in working out our salvation. Let us only consider how many lusts we have to mortify, and how many duties to perform ; how many temptations we have to withstand, and adversaries to overcome ; how prone we are to err, and how many devices Satan uses in order to deceive
a See Acts xxvii. 25, 31.
b This is the meaning of it in every place where it occurs : — see 1 Cor. ii. 3. 2 Cor. vii. 15. and Eph. vi. 5. That it cannot mean slavish fear is evident from Rom. viii. 15. and vii. 6.