QT 14 Jan 15, Phil 2:13, Sanctification is achieved by working out your salvation

Phil 2:12-13 (ESV) 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, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

NOTE: So, I am not the first person to suggest that salvation is discussed in three, even four different ways. There is 1) salvation which occurs when we place our faith in Jesus Christ. We are justified and declared righteous in God's eyes at that moment and forever. There is 2) a salvation from our flesh called sanctification which is a daily process of putting to death the misdeeds of the body and putting on the life of Jesus. The above verses refer to this type of salvation. It is a "working out" which requires effort on our part and the power of the Holy Spirit to change our lives to look more like Christ and to achieve spiritual maturity, a sort of Sabbath rest, in this earthly life. There is 3) our salvation at the end of this life, either through the rapture or the raising of the dead at the rapture where we are transformed to be like Christ with heavenly bodies. We call this glorification. There is a fourth use of salvation which occurs throughout scripture and is often misinterpreted spiritually, and that is a physical salvation. In this case, God intervenes and physically saves a people or king from certain destruction. David and others experience this salvation. But the key point is that we are in a process now, called sanctification, where we are called to be more and more like Christ. This is God's plan for us and it requires works on our part. It does have an eternal impact, but only in terms of our reward, not in terms of our original salvation by faith alone.