Our Work.

Philippians 2;12,13  "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, 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."

Who does the work?  It says it is God that does the work, both to will and to do.  Read on for further enlightenment.

"We have no righteousness of our own with which to meet the claims of the law of God.  But Christ has made a way of escape for us...He died for us, and now He offers to take our sins and give us His righteousness..More that this, Christ changes the heart...You are to maintain this connection with Christ by faith and the continual surrender of your will to Him, and so long as you do this, He will work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure....So we have nothing in ourselves of which to boast...Our only ground of hope is in the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and in that wrought by His Spirit working in and through us'. SC 62,63.

We are all sinners at the foot of the cross in need of a Savior who provides for us His righteousness.

As we consecrate ourselves to Christ and allow him to work in us to stay close to Him and His Word, we can then better understand these inspired words: 'Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His people.  When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim the as His own.' COL 69.

Christ's character is reproduced in our lives as we lean completely on Christ alone.  We must daily allow the Holy Spirit to change us more and more into the likeness of Christ.  This is the work of a lifetime.  We are to ask for Christ's character in our lives as we learn practical obedience to His Word through His power.

We aren't to work toward what may be termed 'perfectionism,' reflecting a legalistic checklist.  Nor should we point out the faults of others or bring strife into our surroundings with accusations that we are more righteous than others.  'No one who claims holiness is really holy.  Those who are registered as holy in the books of Heaven are not aware of the fact, and are the last ones to boast of their own goodness.  None of the prophets and apostles ever professed holiness...The righteous never make such a claim.  The more nearly they resemble Christ, the more they lament their unlikeness to Him.'

(Grandma Joan's remarks)  Does that clear things up for you, it sure did for me.  I love to understand the Word of God, sometimes it is a little difficult, but when we ask to be filled with His fullness, we shall be able to understand much better.  The Holy Spirit is our teacher and we are His students in the school of Christ.  Our work is to surrender and let God have control of our lives.  That seems simple enough except for one thing, we are a stubborn people and we like to control our own lives but if we are humble and come to Him with a humble spirit, he will work in us to will and to do of His good pleasure and we just let Him work in us.  I love that thought so much, it takes the burdens of life and lays them at His feet and we can rest in Him.  Grandma Joan