“Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.” Philippians 2:12
Why do some Christians succeed spiritually when others fail? It is because of the choices they make. Some do not want to go forward spiritually, so they do not. Others do want to go forward spiritually, so they do. This does not come down to just one choice. Rather, it is a matter of hundreds of choices that we make over time. The apostle Peter reminds us, “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3 NLT).
We have everything we need to grow. So, if we want to grow, we will. And if we do not want to grow, we will not. This does not mean that we are living the Christian life through human effort. Rather, it is God working through us. But we do need to yield to Him. There is God’s part, and there is our part. God will transform us and help us. But we need to call on Him. Paul summarized it this way: “Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (Philippians 2:12–13 NLT). Salvation is not a result of human effort, and none of us are saved by works. However, we must cooperate with the Holy Spirit, who wants to transform us. The end game is to be a fruitful Christian. And that, by the way, is why we’re here on this earth. Jesus said, “You did not choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit” (John 15:16 NLT). And how do we produce lasting fruit? By sinking our roots deeply into Jesus Christ.
