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Guest (Male): This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Thanks for joining us today. Here at Connect with Skip, our mission is to help you know God's word and apply it to your life through clear, practical Bible teaching and real encouragement every day. And if you'd like to keep growing in your walk with Jesus, sign up for Pastor Skip's free weekly devotional.

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Skip Heitzig: Last year, a 29-year-old weightlifter named Kenneth Leverich, a world-class athlete, went to a very famous beach in Southern California, Venice Beach, at a particular place called Muscle Beach on Venice Boardwalk. It's a place that's sort of cordoned off with chain-link fence, and weightlifters go there to show off their physique and what they can do to everybody who comes. It's a wild, crazy place.

So, this 29-year-old Kenneth Leverich goes to Muscle Beach and he challenges the people who were there to a weightlifting competition. Now, that would not be unusual, except he decided to go disguised as an 84-year-old man. The disguise was so good. He had Hollywood-class makeup artists put wrinkles on him, give him a gray receding hairline, gray hair, little wire-rimmed glasses, a cardigan sweater, khaki pants. And he shuffled out there in his tennis shoes.

He goes, "I'm challenging you guys. Let's see what you got." And they looked at him like, "You can't be serious." And so they started lifting weights, and he smoked them. Get this, he lifted 465 pounds doing a back squat. To say that the crowd was amazed would sell it short. They were just flabbergasted. All the phones were going out like, "I can't believe what I'm seeing. There's an old man who's just beaten everybody out here."

I saw it on YouTube. It has been seen 110 million times on YouTube. So, you may want to just check that out, Kenneth Leverich, and look it up. Don't do that now. It's not a church activity. But just remember that and look it up later. At the end of this workout, these young weightlifting kids are just shaking their heads. They finally went up to him and said, "Do you have any advice for us? Could you tell us? We obviously need to learn from you. So what can you tell us?"

He said, kind of in his older voice, "Just keep doing this. Just keep working hard. Just get strong every day." For a few minutes, the crowd thought an 84-year-old had beaten the 25-year-olds. But what it amounted to, when the disguise was all off, is Kenneth Leverich just had a great workout. Now, what I want to share with you today out of Philippians 2 is how to have a great workout, how to have a great spiritual workout.

I want to talk about your spiritual exercise routine, working out what God is working in you. That comes from Philippians chapter 2, verse 12. "Therefore, my beloved, as you 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 who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure."

Today, we're covering only two verses, and that helps us. It allows us to really dig deep into it and to uncover truth by truth, phrase by phrase, what Paul was writing to the Philippian church. But here's a little interesting background. In the United States of America, there are 30,000 health clubs, gyms. 30,000 of them in the United States, along with 273,500 personal trainers to go around.

How many people do you think in the United States are working out at these gyms? 58 million of us go to a gym and work out. Do we have any people here that do that, work out at a gym? God bless you. I see that hand. God bless you. A lot of us do that. It's a lucrative business. In the United States alone, gym membership revenue is $27 billion. Worldwide, that is $75.7 billion taken in by these people on people like us who pay the money to go.

But here's the digger. Did you know that 80% of those people who join health clubs will quit after five months? So, I'm thinking they have good intentions. It's probably January, New Year's resolution. "I'm going to hit it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do this this year." And they're good for January, February, March. But come April, May, peace out. They just quit.

Question is why? Why do 80% of the people quit a workout program? Easy answer: because it's hard. It hurts to do that. It's not easy. As one jokester put it, "My first workout back at the gym was great. I did 15 minutes of cardio, 10 minutes on the defibrillator, then three days in the hospital." Or you might have heard that old joke, "When I feel the urge to exercise, I lie down until the feeling passes."

But the truth is, we can't be passive in spiritual matters. We do have to be aggressive. When it comes to spiritual health, we need to exercise our faith. We need, in short, to work out what God is working into us. That is the thrust of this passage. Why must we do that? Why does Paul think that he should devote two verses to hammering this thought home in this correspondence to the Philippian church?

Well, it's because Christianity is more than just a decision to make Jesus your Savior. It's also a determination to walk with Jesus as your Lord, as your Master. If you don't do that, you're going to become what so many in the church of Jesus Christ around the globe, and especially I would say in this country, have become. A lot of people have become pew potatoes. That's the spiritual equivalent of a couch potato.

They're pew potatoes. They're lounge lizards. They're viewers. They watch things happen, but they're not doers of the word. And so we have to guard against that. G.K. Chesterton, one of my favorite authors, poet, statesman, theologian, said, "The Christian faith has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried."

So, you have a gym membership, so to speak. God is at work in you. That's good news, and we love to hear that truth. God's working, man. God's working. God's working in me. What that doesn't mean is that you can just hang out. It doesn't mean "let go and let God." I used to hear that all the time. "Just let go and let God." Let go of what? Let God do what? It's almost like you don't do anything and you just watch God do stuff.

So, what I want to do in looking at these two verses and drilling down with you is give you five choices to make if you're going to have a great workout. Number one, get a good trainer. You'll notice the first word in verse 12 is the word "therefore." "Therefore, my beloved, as you 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."

Whenever Paul uses a "therefore," and by the way, this is the third time he has done so in this chapter alone, what he is doing is pulling back something he just told you into the present. "I just told you about this, therefore," and he brings that truth to bear now. So, what he has been talking about is Jesus Christ, who humbled himself and then God exalted him. So, what he is saying is, he is our example. That has been his thrust for the entire chapter so far. Jesus is our great example.

Mark Twain used to write a lot of quippy things. One of the things he wrote was, "Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." And what annoys us about a good example? Well, good examples set a standard, don't they? And it's sometimes hard to watch a good example because they set a standard for us that it's hard to hit on some occasions.

And what if that example isn't just a good example, but he's the perfect example? Paul is saying, "Here's Jesus. Look what he's done. Do that." You're going, "I'd like to, but I don't think that's going to happen." However, a good example can inspire us. It can incentivize us. And that is the thought of Paul's use of the word "therefore" at this particular time. When he says "therefore" in this verse, he is saying, "on this basis," or "on the basis of Christ, on the basis of Jesus' example of love and humility, do this."

I've been told by a number of accomplished athletes that what has made their workout routine work out is a personal trainer. They said it was always the difference to them between failure and success. And why is that? Because a personal trainer will incentivize you, will encourage you. "You can do this. You can do this. I'll spot you. Don't use too much weight. Do it this way. You're not having the right form." So a good trainer will help you get the most out of your workout.

Well, who can you think of is the best trainer for all things spiritual? None better than Jesus. That's why Jesus said, it is recorded no less than 19 times in the four gospels, he said the two simple but profound words, "Follow me." Follow me. Jesus said, "Follow me." He didn't say, "Follow my people." He didn't say, "Follow my disciples." He didn't say, "Follow my preachers." He said, "Follow me."

Even when Jesus washed people's feet, like the disciples' at the Last Supper, he was washing their feet because they couldn't be bothered with it. They're arguing about who's going to be the greatest in the kingdom. So, Jesus gets down, washes their feet, and then he said to them, "I have given you an example that you should do as I have done." So, he becomes their spiritual trainer.

Guest (Female): You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Every day, your generosity helps reach more people with God's word, changing lives through clear, practical Bible teaching. And this month, as you grow in your own faith and leadership, we want to thank you with a powerful new resource: *The Making of a Biblical Leader*, a practical guide to leading others by Robert L. Furrow.

This inspiring book, featuring chapters from Skip and Lenya Heitzig, Gary Hamrick, Daniel Fusco, and others, shows how to lead with integrity, humility, and a servant's heart, following Christ's example. Request your copy when you give $50 or more to support Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com/offer. Now, let's return to today's teaching.

Skip Heitzig: Now, it's good to have more human examples, we might say, of integrity and honor that we can follow. Paul was one of those. He said to his brothers and sisters, "Follow me as I follow the Lord." But the real key to spiritual success is beginning with the right template. And for the Philippians and for Paul, that template, that model was Jesus Christ.

Now, notice what he says. "Therefore," using Jesus as the basis or example, "my beloved," he calls them. "My beloved. As you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only when I'm with you, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation." What a sweet description Paul has for this group of Christian believers. "You've always obeyed." I love that. You guys are always responsive.

In fact, the word he uses here for obeyed is the same word he uses in Ephesians 6 when he says, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is the first commandment with a promise." So here's the thought. Just like a child would be responsive to a parent, the Philippians were responsive to Paul's spiritual leadership.

But now they have a problem. Paul's in jail. He's incarcerated. They don't have Paul around any longer. But they still have the example of Jesus Christ. See, that's Paul's point. Whether I'm with you or not with you, therefore, obey. Therefore, do this. So Jesus becomes the ultimate model for them.

There's a principle to be found here. The real test of spiritual maturity is how you live when the props are gone. When you don't have somebody there to tell you how to do it or what to do or show you how to do it, who do you look to? Paul's in jail saying, "I'm absent from you, but Jesus is present with you. He's spotting you. He's watching over this."

Some people on jobs will work very hard when the boss is looking. Most bosses can figure out pretty quickly who those people are. But they can always spot when they round a corner and all of a sudden that employee sits up and puts that phone down like, "No, I'm not on Instagram. Hi. What can I do? I'm just all about work. This is who I am. I'm a worker."

But they're that way only when the eye of the boss is on them. I think what Paul is saying to them is your boss is always watching. He's always looking. Whether I'm with you or not, Jesus is always there. He is that personal trainer. Not long ago, I was driving my car, rounding a corner. I saw a runner in the distance. The runner didn't know that I spotted him. I knew he was a runner because he had Nike shoes on, he had shorts and a shirt. He was like Nike personified.

But he was walking, just sort of dragging his feet. But when I rounded the corner and came toward him, he started waving like, "Yep, yep, this is—I'm a runner. I'm doing this." But I could tell he's only a runner as long as I'm watching him run. So I don't know if he's just dragging the rest of the day and only when the cars come by he's doing that. So, make sure Jesus is your personal trainer, your template, your model when no one else is around.

So, first of all, get a good trainer. The second choice you need to make if you're going to have a great workout is you've got to pump some iron. You've got to get in there and work it out. So, look at what it says. "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."

Now, this has been a problem verse of scripture for a lot of people for a long time. What does Paul mean, "work out your own salvation"? And it's problematic, especially when they find out what the words actually mean. The words actually mean maintain constant energy and effort to finish a task. And when I say it's become a problematic text is because some people think it means self-help salvation, that I'm going to work really hard to get saved, sort of the equivalent of God helps those who help themselves.

So they think if I work hard, if I earn my way there, then God is going to save me. And by the way, that's how most people think you get saved, by working hard. Ask someone, ask the average person where you live, your neighbor at work. "Hey, are you going to heaven? Are you saved?" You know what most of them are going to tell you? "Well, I'm trying. I work real hard. I go to church," unless they say, "No, I don't believe in that stuff." But if they want to go there, they will usually point to something they have done in working hard to earn God's favor.

"I'm working it out, man. I'm working it out." But please notice that Paul doesn't say work *for* your salvation. He doesn't say work *toward* your own salvation or work *at* your salvation. He says work *out* your own salvation. And you can't work out what God hasn't first worked in. And what I want you to see is this: he's not writing to unbelievers, but to believers. He's not telling unbelievers how to get to heaven. He's telling believers this.

He calls them "beloved." He says in verse 1 of chapter 1, "you are saints in Christ Jesus." Those are believing people, not unbelievers. But he's telling believers, you've got to go work out. You've got to pump some iron. You have to apply some energy into this process.

I was reading this week about another athlete named Shane Hamman. He's been called America's strongest man. Some of you may have heard of Shane Hamman. He was in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. He weighed in at the time, this is his training weight, 350 pounds. He's a big boy. 350 pounds. His chest 62 inches. His neck 22 inches. I mean, think Incredible Hulk. His biceps almost 24 inches, two feet of bicep.

This guy's a monster. And he could squat lift 1,008 pounds, America's strongest man. But Shane Hamman is also a believer in Jesus Christ. Raised in a Christian home in Oklahoma on a farm. He said, "When I was a kid, my parents, strong Christians, they dragged me to church. They made me go to church even when I didn't want to go." And he looks back and goes, "I'm glad they did. That's a good thing."

So they worked real hard at getting the right things put into me. But he said, when it wasn't the weekends, when it was the weekdays, I grew up lifting melons on a farm. So his first workout was melon. And he said, my week was this: eight hours every day I worked out in the fields, after which I went to the gym two and a half hours every day. Ten and a half hours of workout every day.

So, that boy had a good workout. Now, look at the words in your text. It says, "work out your own salvation." Those two words are one single word in the original Greek language. The word is *katergazomai*. And it means to work something to full completion, like you would work out a math problem. You're not inventing math. You're not producing math. You've been given a problem, now you work it out to full completion.

In ancient times, this word, work out, *katergazomai*, was used for working a mine or working a field. So, let's take that first example, working a mine. Let's say you own a silver mine. Let's say it has even been given to you by your parents. They give you the title deed, you own this silver mine. There's silver or gold in them thar hills, and you have it. Now, is that silver going to work its way out toward you and just land in your hand? No, you have to go in and work it out. It's yours. In fact, it's been given to you as a gift, but you got to work it out if you're going to enjoy it.

Okay, now think of a field, owning a field. You have a field. Produce a little bit might grow on its own, but not much. You have to go work out the produce by plowing and planting and watering and fertilizing and maintaining. You have to work it out. Let's take a more modern example, a different example. Let's say you are a musician and you have been handed by a composer, a composition. He puts it or she puts it in your hand.

Now, the composer has done it all. It's the composer that has thought of the melody, he has written the score, he has provided the timing and all of the notations. And now you have it and your task is to work it out. Make it sound good. Put it to music. Apply your skill and give it the melody that has been given to you. Work it out.

Another example: you go to a doctor. Doctor looks at you, does an exam, goes, "You got problems." So he gives you a diagnosis. He says you need surgery. Takes you into the surgical room, performs an operation. After the operation, you wake up in recovery and he says you're going to need rehab and you're going to need medication. So, effectively, the doctor's done it all.

He's given you the diagnosis, performed the operation, given you the meds and the rehab schedule. At this point, you need to work it out. You need to show up for rehab. You need to go through those exercises. You need to take that medication and follow orders. So, there must be a cooperation with the doctor's operation. You get the drift.

The New Living Translation translates this verse, "Put into action God's saving work in your lives." Think of it spiritually now. God has done all the work. He's the one that brings salvation. It's from God. But it takes energy to grow as a believer. If you're going to grow, you can't just let go and let God. You have to get in the race. You have to get in the game. You need to pump some iron.

Guest (Female): Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we go, remember that your generosity helps share God's word around the world, bringing truth and hope to people who need Jesus. And this month, we'll send you *The Making of a Biblical Leader: A Practical Guide to Leading Others* by Robert L. Furrow as our thanks for your gift.

With chapters from Skip and Lenya Heitzig and other trusted pastors, this book will equip you to lead with integrity and purpose in 2026 and beyond. Give now at connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888. Thanks for spending time with us today, and we'll see you next time on Connect with Skip Heitzig.