VOL. VIII.-NEW SERIES.

[DECEMBER 1, 1865.

THE CHURCH.

"Built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone."

DECEMBER, 1865.

WORKING OUT OUR OWN SALVATION.

BY THE REV. CLEMENT BAILHACHE.

"Wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed me, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling (with anxiety and self-distrust); for it is God who works in you both will and deed.”—Phil. ii. 12, 13.*

OBSERVE, incidentally, the high commendation Paul gives to his beloved Philippians. He acknowledges the readiness with which they have always received and obeyed his teachings, not simply when he was with them, and in a position to enforce his teaching by personal authority, but also, and even more, when he was absent from them. Such conduct as this showed the genuineness of their obedience; and that this is the Apostle's meaning seems to be clear from all the intimations we have in this epistle of the character and the history of the Philippian Church.

The passage before us is an ancient battle-ground of rival theologians and creeds, as both parts of the Apostle's statement have been taken separately and explained exclusively. "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.' That's just what we say," exclaim the extreme Arminians; "salvation is really man's work, and having the Gospel presented to him, he has all he needs for his securing heaven. All the rest depends upon himself." "For it is God that worketh in you, both will and deed.' There, that's what we say," exclaim the extreme Calvinists; "salvation is alone and exclusively God's work, and man is but the passive object of the Divine action." And thus, on both sides, the battle has been raging for ages, and it is going on still.

It is impossible not to see that if each of these doctrines is to be held in its exclusiveness, they must mutually exclude one another. Now evidently the Bible cannot contradict itself, and must not be held responsible for oppositions of creeds. There must therefore be a way of reconciling the two statements of the text, that shall commend itself to our judgments, as well as bring out the perfect harmony and consistency of Scripture teaching. Let us devoutly try to discover it.

Happily, in our search, we need not go far, for if we read the text with a little attention, we shall find that its two parts are not detached from one another, but united. The little word "for" is the small but strong

*Note that the words, "according to his good pleasure," seem, as Conybeare and Howson put them, not connected with this passage, but with what follows, thus :-"Do all things from good-will," &c.

Z

link which indissolubly connects them the one with the other. In fact, they must not be separated. To do so would be to take an unwarrantable liberty with God's word, as it would also plunge us into a hopeless confusion of religious thought.

But some one may say, Does the connection of the two parts of the passage do away with the difficulty? Why should we work with fear and trembling, if God is there both to will and to do? Does not His work supersede ours? We shall reply to this by and-bye; meanwhile, there is an important fact to which it is absolutely necessary to call attention. Who are they who, as a rule, think such an objection a valid one? With few exceptions, they are not the earnest or decided souls, but the vacillating and the worldly: the persons who in the Roman Church said, "Let us sin because grace abounds," were just the persons to make the objection. They could scarcely come, however, from the Philippians, amongst whom was Lydia, whose heart the Holy Ghost had opened; and the gaoler, who had tremblingly asked, "What must I do to be saved?" Nay, it could not come from the Philippians generally, amongst whom the Apostle gratefully acknowledges the many graces and virtues of the Christian life, for which he commends them almost throughout this Epistle, and specially in this chapter. We grant, indeed, that to many inquiring souls the difficulty of the text is suggested as a temptation; but generally it is held as an excuse for religious indolence, if not for what is worse. Let the words be read by a thankful heart longing for sanctification, and their harmony will never be questioned.

Now if we look at the passage before us, a little attention will convince us of the futility of the objection, "How must I work if God works in me?" Observe that there is special point in the phrase, “works in." If it had been said, "works for," then the objection would have had some weight, inasmuch as we could easily persuade ourselves that all we had to do was to let God work. But it is "in." "The Holy Spirit's work is one of help, stimulus, inspiration, not of actual and practical superseding." It is like, in kind, to much of the help we give and receive from one another. We Te urge and help our neighbours, that they may help themselves. Without our urging, they would be powerless enough; and yet, without their co-operation, our help is of no avail. The analogy is not presented as being perfect, but it gives a hint of the truth. A more perfect illustration may be drawn from God's relation to man's secular work. A farmer sows his seed, and tills his land, and then waits for the crop. The hidden life of the seed is God's, so is the fertility of the land, so is the skill of the man, so too the potent influences of sun and shade, day and night, rain and dry. All the hidden forces are God's, and yet, without man's co-operation, no harvest, because no sowing and tilling. Hence, then, the truth of the text is not peculiar to religion. It pervades all life and all nature. Just as God's providential help is never given to make us careless or indolent, so the help of the Spirit is never so designed, but is given to make us earnest and active. The truth of the text is this: God works in us our salvation; we work it out. Without the inworking there can be no outworking. The inworking is granted, that our outworking may be earnest and hopeful.

I. God works our salvation in us; we work it out.

This truth, properly considered, is against the notion of a compelling grace that shall destroy our freedom and so our responsibility too. Positively, we have no power to be or do that which is good: the sin we cherish incapacitates us all. Negatively, however, we may resist God, and obstinately refuse to obey him. That this statement removes all the difficulties of the question is not affirmed, but it is affirmed that it is true to the teaching of Scripture and to our own consciousness. Observe—

1st. God works in us by the efficacy of the Holy Spirit in connection with his Word. Hence the true conviction of sin, leading to repentance, is his; faith is his; all the regenerating influences of the new life are his; every Christian grace and virtue, love of goodness and hatred of sin for their own sakes, they are his, yet so that we willingly respond to them, our obstinacy yielding to obedience and love.

2nd. Our salvation, however, commencing as it does with our first religious awakening, is not a fully developed thing. It is a germ, a grain of mustard-seed, a leaven. It has to be matured. Within it must grow,

deepen, become strong-a new nature; whilst without, it must be manifested by an increasing practical likeness to Christ. All the inner powers must be reformed, and all the outer life must be sanctified.

3rd. God commits to us the charge of maturing this inner life and of perfecting this outer life. Hence all the appeals that are made to us to cherish Christian affections, to watch, to pray, to resist temptation, &c. Hence, too, all the means of grace, and promised help. God makes us, in fact, co-workers with himself.

II. Without God's inworking there can be none of our outworking.

The view the Apostle here takes of salvation is that of holiness-not severed from happiness, of course, since the two are coincident; and the light in which he views it is that in which Scripture always considers it, viz., as a process first commencing within, and then spreading to all that is without. Observe, then,

1st. That the process of our sanctification can never spring from our unregenerate hearts. The word of God uniformly and consistently declares, what from experience we prove to be the case, that in us dwells no good thing. We want right inclinations, right desires, love to God, and unselfish devotedness to all that is good and true. Left to ourselves, we must remain perpetually and hopelessly sinful. Forms of godliness there may indeed be, but not the life.

2nd. It follows from what has been said, that every genuine manifestation of Christian character must be the result of graces God has implanted within. For example, do we habitually avoid even the appearance of evil? it is because God has led us to see and to hate all evil for its own sake. Do we persistently devote ourselves to a course of goodness? it is because God has taught us to love goodness for its own sake. Are we calm in the midst of the discipline of life? it is because God has filled our hearts with trust in him, &c.

III. God's inworking is granted that our outworking may be earnest and hopeful.

1st. Earnest, when we consider the interests at stake and the solicitous

concern God takes in us. Hence the Apostle's words, with fear and trembling "the reverse of false security, and the reverse of careless delay.

Because

2nd. Hopeful, when we consider who it is that inspires us. God works we are encouraged to work. And so the reason which men give for not working at all is precisely that which is given by the Apostle as the one which should urge them to work. God's working in us is an encouragement, not a dissuasion. "When God comes to us and says, Work! it is implied that both the time and the help have come.

Oh, the strange perversity of the human heart, which will distort God's plainest truths and its truest convictions, acting in relation to our highest interests as we should never dream of doing with our lower ones! Suppose a king were to be our guest, should we deem it unimportant whether or not our homes were in the best order? Would not the royal presence fill us with anxiety lest all should not be perfectly as we could wish it, in order to honour him? And suppose our royal guest were to condescend to help us in our daily tasks, would not his co-operation be a wonderful stimulus to us? And so Paul reminds us that God is near us-that he is our guest, and that he has given us for our work the strength of his Spirit. Can we be indifferent to the honour? Can we be blind to the privilege? Can we reject the help? Dare we be idle when God is there? No! Rather, the lessons we learn are these:-Since our work is sustained by God, we cannot fail. Since he is there to inspire us, we must gladly obey. We may be brave, but we must also be careful, lest we despise the presence and the help of God. Let our fear be filial in its confidence; let our confidence be reverent in its fear.

The rolling weeks and months have brought us to the close of another year, and the subject we have briefly sketched for our readers acquires additional solemnity from the thought that our space for a spiritual growth is fast narrowing this side heaven. For ourselves and for others we can ask nothing better than that each new period of time may deepen the conviction that we are living more and more perfectly to the highest purposes, and that thus we are being better fitted for our Christian mission on earth and for our eternal home in heaven.