People

are sometimes confused by these verses in Philippians, thinking that

they imply we are saved by our good deeds rather than by God’s

grace through faith. Are we saved by grace or by good works?

We

are saved by the grace of God, which shows itself when we produce

good works, the evidence of God’s work in us. (See also Paul’s

explanation in Ephesians 2:8-10.)

Here,

in Philippians, Paul reminds his readers of the importance of

obedience, which can sound like a “work-your-way-to-heaven”

scheme. But it’s not. Paul immediately goes on to say that the good

works we do are enabled by God. So it’s all by grace, and yet we

are responsible to do something too, in response.

When

Paul urges his readers to “work out” their salvation, he means

doing the logical follow-through of having received grace. He does

not say we “create” our own salvation. We just keep working it

out, following the lead of God’s Spirit working in us because we

have been made new through grace.

It

is easy to slide into an either/or mistake. We might think grace

gives us an excuse to live however we want, if we are forgiven

anyway. Or we might ignore grace and try to work furiously to earn

God’s favor. But salvation is all by grace, and our response is

obedience, through God’s ongoing work in us. It’s a fine balance,

and a holy one too.