Philippians 2:12-13 (NIV) Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,  for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

We just recently purchased a bread machine and we've been enjoying fresh bead ever since. In order to get fresh bread to eat, we must first put the right ingredients into the bread maker. Once the ingredients are in, the bread maker does the rest. My wife loves how beautifully the bread comes out and especially loves how it tastes. She tells me that I make great bread. But the truth of the matter is that I do not make the bread at all. I just add what I am told in the directions to add and then press "start." The machine does the kneading of the flour and the mixing of the ingredients into the flour, and then it bakes it. All I have to do from there is wait for the machine to do its job and then get ready to enjoy fresh, home-made bread.

Our salvation is the same way. The passage of scripture above actually tells us to do two things that seem to contradict each other. It says that we should "work out our salvation" and it also says that it is God who works in us. Which is it then? Do I work or does God work or do we both work? Let's examine the bread machine example again. The ingredients are of utmost importance because without them, there will be no bread to be made. Once the ingredients are in place, all I have to do is activate the process by pressing start. Once the start button is pressed, the bread making process begins and will continue until finished.

Once we receive Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior by submitting our lives to Him, God places the ingredients needed for our salvation inside of us. What we need to do to activate our salvation is simply to "press start" and begin to live our lives as followers of Christ. In other words, we leave our old self behind and we take on our new self, which was created to be like God (Ephesians 4:23-24). The new self is the self that has the ingredients that God has put in. Once we start on the road by walking on it (that's like pressing the start button), the process begins and God (like the bread machine) does the rest. The Word tells us that it is God who works in us by giving us the desire to change and the power to act to get it accomplished. All we have to do is work out what He has already worked in us.

God has made the process of salvation foolproof for us. He knows what the result will be just as I know what the results of putting the right ingredients in the bread maker will be: fresh bread. The result of God's working in and our working out is an assurance of salvation. When the bread machine is making the bread there is only one thing that will stop the process, and that is unplugging the machine from its power source. But as long as the machine stays plugged in, the bread is guaranteed to be baked and ready to eat. For our salvation to be brought to completion, we must remain plugged into our power source, which is God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Once we do, the process continues until our salvation is complete and we see Jesus face to face! Press start, if you haven't done so already, by praying, reading your word and gathering with other believers for fellowship, encouragement and accountability. The result will be the beauty of your salvation, which will be a fragrant aroma to God and to others around you.

Pastor Joey Vazquez