What It Means to Work Out Your Salvation (Phil. 2:12-18)

As Martin Luther said, justification by faith alone is the teaching on which the church stands or falls. It, along with substitutionary atonement, is the very heart of the gospel. Christians understand that we will not be declared righteous before the throne of Christ based on our good works. Indeed, we cannot be, because our works are not altogether good. Yet, as Luther also realized, the faith that saves is a faith that produces good works. We must be careful not to downplay the importance of obedience to our King, especially our attitude toward what happens to us. We discuss this in today's study.