Lesson 35: What is my responsibility with this Gift of Salvation?

What is my responsibility with all this I have been given by God?

It is not my responsibility to try to “keep” it, for it has been given for eternity – see Romans 8:38-39.

It IS my responsibility, however, to work it out in my life – Philippians 2:12b says, “… work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” But it is not our own WORK that does this, for the very next verse reads, “… for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).

Then how do I work out my salvation? I must actively and earnestly seek God’s will every moment of my life. I cannot simply say to Him, “Do Your will in me,” I must in every moment and every event first look at the thing happening in my life, see I cannot do what is needed on my own, and turn to Jesus for His help. I do not seek His grace, for He has already given me all I need. I do not seek His forgiveness, for it is already given – but I do confess my inability or my sin if I have tried to take care of a situation on my own, and rely on His promise of forgiveness and cleansing (1 John 1:9). I seek His will. More on this in the next lesson.