(Writer : Dessy Ariadna – Stand To JESUS)
To this day, do you still think that the salvation you obtained was the result of your hard work and your piety? If so, then you have misunderstood the truth of God’s word.
You are safe all because God has mercy on you, the salvation you obtain today is because of grace, not because of the results of your efforts, everything is God’s gift.
Ephesians 2:8-9 (IMB) By grace you have been saved through faith, not by yourselves, but by the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV) For by grace you have been saved through faith; it is not the result of yourselves, but it is the gift of God, it is not the result of works: let no one boast.
JESUS has finished everything on the cross, His work on the cross is perfect, there is no need to add more to this and that as if God lacked anything. You have absolutely no role whatsoever in the salvation you have obtained, everything is purely God’s gift and 100% the work of God’s hands through the work of the cross of JESUS Christ.
If you still feel that you have a hand in the salvation you obtain, then you are the same as underestimating Christ’s work on the cross and considering it not enough so that you have to add your own works to it.
Maybe you ask, “Then after being saved by grace, Christians no longer need to do good deeds. My answer is that people who have received salvation and God’s grace (grace) will definitely do a lot of good and live righteously, but not so that they will be saved because basically we who believe in JESUS are already saved. We do good because we thank God for the grace and salvation that He has freely given.
So what is the meaning of working out salvation?
Philippians 2:12-13 (IMB) Therefore, my beloved, as you always obey, not only when I am present, but even more so when I am absent, work out the salvation that you have with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you, both the will and the ability to act, to please Him.
Often people who read only stop at verse 12 and then immediately conclude that there is a struggle as a human being that must be carried out to maintain the salvation that has been obtained. They forgot to read the 13th verse which reads :
Philippians 2:13 (IMB) For it is God who works in you, both the will and the ability to act, to please Him.
Even the will and ability to act to please God is God’s initiative to give it within us, so it is not due to our personal abilities or our personal will. Once again God works in us, not from our own strength and greatness.
The meaning of working on your own salvation is that it doesn’t mean that you do good to maintain the salvation that you have so that it doesn’t disappear, not at all, but working on your salvation here means that because you have been saved, you become diligent in doing good things as a sign of your gratitude. to God, because you know that everything in your life, including the salvation you obtain, is solely because of God’s grace.
Titus 2:11-14 (IMB) For, God’s grace that saves everyone has already appeared. This gift educates us to abandon wickedness and worldly desires, to live wisely, justly and piously in this present time. We await the fulfillment of our blessed hope and the revelation of the glory of the Almighty God and JESUS Christ, our Savior, who sacrificed Himself for us, to redeem us from all evil and to sanctify for Himself His own people, who are diligent in doing Good.
