To be found in the Lord is of utmost importance. Simply knowing Jesus is by itself not a guarantee of salvation, but Him knowing us is where our eternal security rests.

To Paul, it was well-worth the pain of great loss in order to gain Christ and be found in Him. He counted everything as garbage in comparison to knowing Christ. This is a powerful lesson for us, too.

As a Pharisee, Paul had devoted his life from youth to meticulously following the Jewish rules, regulations, and rites. But imagine finding out that your life's work and service had culminated to be the exact opposite of what you thought.

Beware of teachers who add or subtract from the scriptures. Beware of those whose fruit does not match their words. And beware of those who insist that certain physical acts must be done to earn or maintain your salvation.

No matter what life circumstance we happen to be in today, one that brings us happiness or one that is stressful or painful, we must always rejoice in the Lord.

Paul's words are a powerful demonstration of the necessity for believers not to sit on their hands when there is a need to fill. If God calls us to do something, we must do it, otherwise the ripple effect impacts the lives of others, sometimes dramatically.

We might be tempted to do ministry work alone or for personal gain, but Scripture teaches that we must work together and selflessly to do the Lord's work.

We can lean on Paul's encouraging words that trials, tribulation and suffering may actually be for the benefit and service of others' faith.

No matter how much we might want to justify our reasons for grumbling, murmuring or quarreling, we really have none as far as God's word is concerned.

What does it mean to work out our salvation with fear and trembling? Today we explore this in our expository devotional series in Philippians.