Work out your salvation with "fear and trembling"

[Bishopite]

Okay what do you make of the part
“work out your salvation” what did Paul mean by “work out”

He meant the same thing as in Eph 2:10 “For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them”

That we get to heaven strictly by own works alone is false and is pelagianism/semi-pelagianism which was condemned in the sixth century. I’m not really sure why some people even when they learn that Catholicism condemned pelagianism in way back in the sixth century, still accuse it of practing that long past heresy.
That we were created by God for good works, that we should walk in them or that we are to work out our salvation simply means that after we have received God’s grace we now walk under the banner of grace any “good” that we do isn’t ours alone but ultimately God’s alone since He gave us the grace to do the good; Augustine said that when God crowns your works He is simply His own. Mt 25:34-41 tells us to do the corporal works of mercy, that passage speaks of the righteous who do the good without boasting that they did “any good” because they realize that without God’s grace they could have done nothing worthy of God’s praise.

 

[myfavoritmartin]

He meant the same thing as in Eph 2:10 “For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them”

That we get to heaven strictly by own works alone is false and is pelagianism/semi-pelagianism which was condemned in the sixth century. I’m not really sure why some people even when they learn that Catholicism condemned pelagianism in way back in the sixth century, still accuse it of practing that long past heresy.
That we were created by God for good works, that we should walk in them or that we are to work out our salvation simply means that after we have received God’s grace we now walk under the banner of grace any “good” that we do isn’t ours alone but ultimately God’s alone since He gave us the grace to do the good; Augustine said that when God crowns your works He is simply His own. Mt 25:34-41 tells us to do the corporal works of mercy, that passage speaks of the righteous who do the good without boasting that they did “any good” because they realize that without God’s grace they could have done nothing worthy of God’s praise.

Thanks, good post.
The reason I brought this up was because it has been thrown at me by many many catholics, and bishoprite thats why I made this thread…I don’t think it’s us protestants who misunderstand this it’s the many many catholic lay not in the know.

 

[Bishopite]

Philippians 2:12 NKJV 12 Therefore, my beloved, as you 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;

2:12 obeyed. Their faithful response to the divine commands Paul had taught them (cf. Rom. 1:5; 15:18; 2 Cor. 10:5, 6). work out your own salvation. The Gr. verb rendered “work out” means “to continually work to bring something to fulfillment or completion.” It cannot refer to salvation by works (cf. Rom. 3:21–24; Eph. 2:8, 9), but it does refer to the believer’s responsibility for active pursuit of obedience in the process of sanctification (see notes on 3:13, 14; Rom. 6:19; cf. 1 Cor. 9:24–27; 15:58; 2 Cor. 7:1; Gal. 6:7–9; Eph. 4:1; Col. 3:1–17; Heb. 6:10, 11; 12:1, 2; 2 Pet. 1:5–11). fear and trembling. **The attitude with which Christians are to pursue their sanctification. It involves a healthy fear of offending God and a righteous awe and respect for Him **(cf. Prov. 1:7; 9:10; Is. 66:1, 2).

MacArthur, John Jr: The MacArthur Study Bible. electronic ed. Nashville : Word Pub., 1997, c1997, S. Php 2:12

How do you know John MacAurthur has the correct interpretation of Phil 2:12? Does MacAurthur rightly divide the word of God? 2 Tim 2:15.

 

[myfavoritmartin]

How do you know John MacAurthur has the correct interpretation of Phil 2:12? Does MacAurthur rightly divide the word of God? 2 Tim 2:15.

I’d say he does a fair job myself. But he’s quite unpoplar round these here parts.

 

[VociMike]

1st
It doesn’t say working on achieving salvation, it states working out…
unwrapping, mining. You’ve been given a silver mine, now start digging it out,

OK. What happens if you don’t dig it out?

“Work out” is clearly and directly tied to obedience. And “work out” also means to bring about by work, effort, or action. So according to this we join in bringing about, or “digging out” our God-given salvation through obedience.

I think any Catholic could accept that.

 

[heisenburg]

To both Catholic and Protestants:

We need to be extra careful when obtaining our understanding of scripture from the commentaries within study bibles. To many people take a commentary as being equal to the scripture themselves. Link, if you would be so kind as to let me use your example, Macarthur is a hyper Calvinist, therefore, his commentary will be influenced by that. What if the commentary was written by a Methodist? Episcopalian? or an LDS? Each are going to be skewed based on the way they understand Christ, and therefore, cannot be viewed as a definitive source. Again getting back to Macarthur, I personally wouldn’t rely on him for no other reason than some of the very harsh and snide comments I’ve seen him make about Christians that don’t agree with him (Protestant and Catholic). Anyone who holds that much venom for those he disagrees with should be viewed as suspect at best.

The sam rule applies to Catholics. My understanding is that there is NO complete commentary that has an Imprimatur.

In Christ

 

[Bishopite]

Thanks, good post.
The reason I brought this up was because it has been thrown at me by many many catholics, and bishoprite thats why I made this thread…I don’t think it’s us protestants who misunderstand this it’s the many many catholic lay not in the know.

Thanks for the kind words and education toward others. I can say with a sad heart that you are correct, many Catholics can’t explain the differerence between personal works and works God grants us after we trust in Jesus as Savior. However by the same token, it is imparitive to also know that many, and I mean many Protestants, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, et al can’t explain the difference either and furthermore can’t even explain from the Bible how Jesus is God or why they believe in sola fide/sola scriptura. I have many friends and family who aren’t Catholic, but Baptist, or Bible church Protestant Christians and they lack in any sufficient ability to convey to others who Jesus is, strictly using scripture. I believe part of the problem on both sides is our American culture which gives us so much we expect others to do the hard work and hand feed us; we are SO lazy. We sit in church and want to be hand fed without any effort on our own.
If I may, I would like to tell you about a few friends of mine. They are both Baptist, both involved in their church, he is a former deacon of the Baptist church I used to attend. One night we went to diner and she brought up Catholicism and asked a few questions to me. Then she brought up her former pastor who had given a sermon on baptism. During the conversation I told her that some Protestants believe in and practice padeobaptism, like the reformed Christians who follow much of what John Calvin taught. She answer, “who’s John Calvin?” I told her he was from the reformation erra and then she asked me “what is the reformation?” My point being that it is agreed many Catholics don’t know how to explain their faith, however, many (and my story is an example) Protestants don’t know their history nor how to explain their faith.

 

[Bishopite]

I’d say he does a fair job myself. But he’s quite unpoplar round these here parts.

Actually I that’s not the question I asked.
Fair job? But anyway, of course he’s unpopular he’s a former Catholic who spreads many untruths about the Catholic faith. I’m not sure you are aware of the Lordship salvation controversy began by John MacAurthur. I remember because I argued for it at the time. I believe it was a way of explaining away and reworking (pardon the pun) the problems Protestants have with Romans and James 2 on justification and yet still keeping the sola fide banner without having to yield to the dreaded Catholic position, even though it was taught throughout Christianity from its begining.

 

[m134e5]

What do you guys think this means?

bible.oremus.org/?ql=50058264
Phil 2:12

It means we have the responsibility to care for our own souls. No one will truly be worthy of heaven, but we have a responsibility to live a holy life. Catholics do not believe in Once-Saved-Always-Saved theology. This scripture passage is one that refutes that. We believe we have to work hard to be saved- that we must persevere to the end in our walk with Christ. In the Hail Mary, we say “pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death”. The Baltimore Catechism explains this very well- that we say this because it is at the hour of our death that our spiritual enemies are most eager to make us fall. We work out our salvation with fear and trembling, because we know that the devil is very wise, and that there is a constant spiritual battle for our souls (see Ephesians 6:12).

 

[Randy_Carson]

1st
It doesn’t say working on achieving salvation, it states working out…
unwrapping, mining. You’ve been given a silver mine, now start digging it out,

Sounds like you have work to do if you want to actually benefit from the silver that is still buried.

What a second…work?!?

Isn’t that a Catholic concept?

 

[Randy_Carson]

Philippians 2:12 NKJV 12 Therefore, my beloved, as you 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;

2:12 obeyed. Their faithful response to the divine commands Paul had taught them (cf. Rom. 1:5; 15:18; 2 Cor. 10:5, 6). work out your own salvation. The Gr. verb rendered “work out” means “to continually work to bring something to fulfillment or completion.” It cannot refer to salvation by works (cf. Rom. 3:21–24; Eph. 2:8, 9), but it does refer to the believer’s responsibility for active pursuit of obedience in the process of sanctification (see notes on 3:13, 14; Rom. 6:19; cf. 1 Cor. 9:24–27; 15:58; 2 Cor. 7:1; Gal. 6:7–9; Eph. 4:1; Col. 3:1–17; Heb. 6:10, 11; 12:1, 2; 2 Pet. 1:5–11). fear and trembling. **The attitude with which Christians are to pursue their sanctification. It involves a healthy fear of offending God and a righteous awe and respect for Him **(cf. Prov. 1:7; 9:10; Is. 66:1, 2).

MacArthur, John Jr: The MacArthur Study Bible. electronic ed. Nashville : Word Pub., 1997, c1997, S. Php 2:12

It cannot?

Why not?

Because that would go against all of John MacArthur’s presuppositions, now wouldn’t it?