Salvation Is a Free Gift

By Dickie Everman, SE Regional Director

“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.”

Philippians 2:12-13

These verses are two of my favorite verses. I was not raised up in church, even though my grandfather was a pastor. My dad was one of those rebellious pastor’s kids who stopped going to church until later in life. I became a Christ follower when I was thirty-five years old with my wife, JuaNita, and our four children. What brought me to the church was my battle with alcoholism. I wanted to find out who this God was I was praying to. God put some amazing men in my life who invited me to a men’s conference. It was amazing to see and hear 50,000 men singing and praising God with their hands held high. God used this men’s conference and these men to make me want to be a man of God. I also wanted to be a godly son, godly husband and a godly father to my children.

In Philippians 2:12-13, Paul was talking to the church in Philippi, “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 know by the way Paul is greeting his friends in Philippi that they were believers already.  So, was Paul saying in order to have salvation you had to work for it?  NO, he was not!  What he was saying is that salvation, being a free gift from God, we need to continue maturing in Christ.  And it is our responsibility to keep growing in the Word, in prayer and in our relationship with the Father.  Allowing the Holy Spirit to continue His work in us, not for our own purpose but for God’s good purpose. It is the Father’s will that I seek, not mine!

God continues to mold me into the man that He wants me to be and I continue to ask for the Father’s help. God the Father loves when I reach out to him, just like I love when my adult children reach out to me. To all the fathers out there, I pray you have a blessed Father’s Day. Amen.