For heaven's sake, just keep reading. Taking a verse or two by itself is the equivelant of the spiritual "sound bite". It gets taken out of context more often than not. The real meaning is missed.
Philippians 2:12 is a good example. The last portion of it reads, "...work out your salvation with fear and trembling."
First of all, read evvvvvverything that comes before (Paul declaring the utter awesomeness of Jesus, "Christ Alone". Then, Paul speaks to the fact that these Philippians had eagerly received Paul's gospel of Christ Alone, while in his presence, and he hopes all the more in his absence... )
and now, for heaven's sake, keep reading.
"For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure."
Could it be that to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling" means that you dare not touch the Glory? That you enter more and more and more and more into the realization that it is all Him, nothing of yourself?
Um, the correct answer here would be "Yes".
Keep reading. Always, keep reading. Resist the siren song of the Spiritual Sound Bite. Legalists tend to read whole passages of the Old Testament, and then they sound bite the New Testament. Just a heads up.
Philippians 2:12 is a good example. The last portion of it reads, "...work out your salvation with fear and trembling."
First of all, read evvvvvverything that comes before (Paul declaring the utter awesomeness of Jesus, "Christ Alone". Then, Paul speaks to the fact that these Philippians had eagerly received Paul's gospel of Christ Alone, while in his presence, and he hopes all the more in his absence... )
and now, for heaven's sake, keep reading.
"For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure."
Could it be that to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling" means that you dare not touch the Glory? That you enter more and more and more and more into the realization that it is all Him, nothing of yourself?
Um, the correct answer here would be "Yes".
Keep reading. Always, keep reading. Resist the siren song of the Spiritual Sound Bite. Legalists tend to read whole passages of the Old Testament, and then they sound bite the New Testament. Just a heads up.
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