1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have toward all the saints, 5because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the Good News 6which has come to you, even as it is in all the world and is bearing fruit and growing, as it does in you also, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth, 7even as you learned from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on your behalf, 8who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
9For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don’t cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, 11strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy, 12giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, 13who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love, 14in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things are held together. 18He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. 19For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile all things to himself by him, whether things on the earth or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross.
21You, being in past times alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil deeds, 22yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without defect and blameless before him, 23if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Good News which you heard, which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven, of which I, Paul, was made a servant.
24Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the assembly, 25of which I was made a servant according to the stewardship of God which was given me toward you to fulfill the word of God, 26the mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to his saints, 27to whom God was pleased to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28We proclaim him, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus; 29for which I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.
Working Out Your Salvation
Blacksmith Working at the Anvil
In recent years, I have met believers who maintain that as new creations in Christ, we have no real duty to strive to “do better” to live a life of holiness. They claim this for several reasons. First, they claim that since the Bible says we’ve been made holy (sanctified), then we essentially are sinless. They don’t use those words, but that is the essence of what they are saying. This is a very dangerous teaching because it insinuates that grace results in no need to exert any effort to live in a manner worthy of our calling (Ephesians 4:1). If we don’t need to do something to live in a manner worthy of our calling, why does Paul tell us to do so?
These sweet Christians are mired in the misunderstanding that words can be used in different ways. When I say I love salmon and I love my wife, I am saying two very different things. The word sanctification is used in various ways in scripture. When scripture tells us that we are sanctified in Christ, it is speaking to the fact that we have been justified (1 Corinthians 6:11), meaning our sins have been paid for on the cross and we have been “set apart.” Jesus took the penalty of our sin on Himself. Secondly, they maintain that it is too stressful to have to “strive for” holiness, and that it somehow runs counter to the whole business of sanctification and grace. This “striving” is indeed work, but it is fundamentally the work of surrender. Paul tells the saints in Rome, “present your bodies as a living sacrifice.” This means giving up your own agenda and asking God to replace it with His agenda.
This second type of sanctification is what Paul is talking about when he says to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. It is the exhortation to engage in sanctified (holy) living actively. This exhortation is repeated in 1 John 2:27, John 14:15, James 1:22, Romans 6:22, and many others. I think “working out your salvation with fear and trembling” is succinctly stated in Colossians 1:10. Paul urges, “So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him; bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Walking in a manner is not something you are, but something you do. And, you and I can only do this successfully in and through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The beautiful part is that as you choose to walk worthy of your calling, God will enable you and empower you to do so. Paul adds that as you work out this salvation with fear and trembling, it will be God who is working in and through you to do that which pleases Him. Don’t get hung up on this. Don’t overthink it. This is not an admonition to work for your salvation. It is an admonition to consciously move out of the way and let God have His way with you. He desires to work in you as He wills for His good pleasure.