​December 17

Beloved … work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure — Phil. 2:12, 13.
 
It was God that provided for us the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, and it is God who has drawn us unto Himself and who has promised us all needed grace to walk in the paths of righteousness; and more, even to follow in the footprints of Jesus in the way of self-sacrifice. While, therefore, with fear and trembling—with great carefulness—we endeavor to work out our salvation, it is our privilege always to realize the promised grace to help in every time of need, and to be confident that our best efforts toward righteousness are acceptable to God when presented through the merit of the righteousness of Christ, imputed to us by faith—Z '97, 147 (R 2154).
 
To work out our own salvation means to fulfill the terms of our consecration, i.e., to remain dead to self-will and world-will, while sacrificially using up our human all unto death for God's cause, and to remain alive to God's will in meditation, watchfulness, prayer, witnessing, character development and endurance according to God's Word. The issues, persons and results involved require that we do this with that fear and trembling which characterize reverence for God; for in the work of our salvation—our deliverance from Satan, the world and the flesh—God works in us by His Spirit and Word, whereby He, as we co-operate with Him, makes us to will and do in overcoming evil and in developing good. Therefore, it behooves us to co-operate with Him with that fear and trembling that mark reverence for God in all things—P '36, 166.
 
Parallel passages: John 3:27; 6:27-29; Heb. 4:1, 11; 2 Cor. 7:1; 1 Pet. 1:5-8; 2 Pet. 1:10; Heb. 6:11, 12; 2 Cor. 3:5; Eph. 2:8, 9; Prov. 10:16; 16:1; Jer. 32:39; Heb. 13:20, 21; Isa. 26:12.

Hymns: 130, 191, 13, 95, 8, 192, 208.
Poems of Dawn, 71: Have Faith in God.
Tower Reading: Z '16, 55 (R 5854).

Questions: How did I this week co-operate with the Lord in working out my salvation? What helped or hindered therein? How was I affected by this co-operation?

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HAVE FAITH IN GOD

WHEN the stormy winds are blowing,
And the angry billows roll,
When the mighty waves of trouble
Surge around thy stricken soul,
Have faith in God,
Who reigns above;
Yea, trust in Him,
For He is love.

When the way is rough and thorny,
Danger all along the path,
When the foe is ever planning
How to crush thee in his wrath,
Have faith in God;
His loving care
Shall keep thee safe
From every snare.

When thine eyes are dim with weeping,
And thy heart is full of woe
For the loved that now are sleeping
In the silent grave so low,
Have faith in God;
The dead shall rise
And meet the Savior
From the skies.

Art thou filled with eager longing
For the night to pass away?
Art thou weary of the watching
For the dawning of the day?
Have faith in God;
He is our stay;
Soon, soon will come
The perfect day.

Art thou hoping, waiting, praying,
For the presence of the Lord?
Art thou waiting for the Kingdom,
And the glorious reward?
Have faith in God;
Our King is here,
And soon His glory
Will appear.