Dr. Mike Jones

Q: Dr. Mike, the Bible instructs us to “work out our Salvation,” and yet, we tell non-Christians that works don’t save them. What’s the difference?

Q: Dr. Mike, the Bible instructs us to “work out our Salvation,” and yet, we tell non-Christians that works don’t save them. What’s the difference?

A: I too have heard many people, on the other side of Christendom say the exact thing, but just worded a little differently. And some Christians say that explaining it to people, isn’t as easy as it seems, since we’re constantly telling our unsaved love ones, that ‘good works’ do not get a person into heaven … it’s a committed relationship to/with Christ, through His redemptive work on the cross!

On a regular basis, we’re hearing of the death of a famous person, and I heard their Hollywood friends say, “He/She was a good person: not perfect (with the implication that others are), but with a big generous heart, and I know they’re in a better place!” And in some cases, if you’d research their lives, you’d find that they never acknowledged Christ, had no affiliation to a local church, and died doing what they did best – PARTYING HARD. But in the final analysis, their friends did what they considered the decent thing to do, and that was to give him/her a so-called, Christian burial. [Normally] afterwards, a few friends are interviewed, concerning their friend’s legacy, and their final statement sound like this, “They’re up there in Heaven, performing for God and His angels!”

A noted comedic actor [Gene Wilder] who recently passed, was praised by his peers; and Jim Carrey reportedly said, “If there’s a Heaven, he [Wilder] has a golden ticket!” This type of ‘silly’ chatter, gives some the impression that our Holy God grades our good and bad works on a curve, and if we can somehow live our lives, in a less sinful way than others, then, that merits us ‘good enough to make it into God’s kingdom.’ Their sinful nature overlooks the fact their so-called righteousness, ‘is as filthy rags’ in the sight of God, and what’s missing is faith in the righteousness of Christ, that God only accepts, as expressed to us in Ephesians 2:1-6.

The conclusion of the matter is this: In Philippians 2:12, “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,”  This is the verse that some say, they’re challenged on, because, in one instance, Christians tell non-believers, that their works don’t merit them salvation, and yet, on the other hand, we quote that we’re to ‘work out our own salvation.’

This debate actually began with the great German Theologian Martin Luther, when he started the Protestant Reformation in 16^th – century Europe, as a result of the Roman Catholic Church’s institution of “Indulgences”, which is a way to reduce the amount of punishment a person undergoes for sin (while alive or dead), for their works/good deeds, which is part of the purification process called ‘Purgatory’. The “Penance” is purchased from the good works/deeds of Catholics that have reached ‘sainthood’. Luther strongly opposed this process and in his 95 theses that he nailed to the chapel’s door, there in Wittenberg, he declared that we are saved by these five pillars of the Christian Church: Faith alone, Scripture alone, Christ alone, Grace alone, and Glory to God alone.

What the Bible is making reference to, when it says, “Work out your own salvation,” is the ‘SANCTIFICATION’ of the believer – that is, being obedient to God as a believer.