Experiencing All of It

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

(Philippians 2:12–13, ESV)

When we make a purchase, our goal is to spend wisely and to get all we can out of our purchase. So we learn the abilities and how-to’s of whatever it is we bought, learning how to use it to suit our needs the best. Typically our goal is to get the most out of what we have.

As we walk through our Sunday morning sermon series in 1st Corinthians, we realize this is exactly God’s plan for us in our salvation - that we experience and embrace it in its entirety! We do not seek a partial experience of the gospel but the fullest degree of it. We seek to understand and embrace our new identity in an on-going and ever-increasing way. And, when we experience the fullness of the gospel in our lives, we will also extend it to others, not only intentionally sharing it but having it naturally ooze out of us.

How do we do this? How can we experience the fullness of our salvation? This first letter to the Corinthians is all about this - as is the whole of the New Testament. We do seek a partial experience, but to get the full experiences requires commitment.

Our focus in First Corinthians reveals a number of pieces to this experience of the saving work of Jesus Christ in our lives on a day to day basis. A key point is that this is done by faith and trust; it is a free gift we receive in belief and commitment … choosing to live in our new adoptive identity as God’s child. Another focus is that this is not about what we do for God but about who He is and how we relate with Him; our salvation is about love and relationship, which is rather freeing when living in a society that expects certain services in order for one to be truly accepted. And, our salvation is an invitation into blessing, which is available when we live in holiness and godliness; as in the verse above, we are called to “work out our salvation” … which means “progressively coming to experience all of the aspects and blessings of salvation”.

Let us intentionally walk with God today, to experience and to share what Christ has already made reality in our lives.