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Guest (Male): Welcome to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We're so glad you tuned in today. At Connect with Skip, our passion is to help you grow in your relationship with Jesus through solid, verse-by-verse Bible teaching that's both clear and practical. Every message you hear is designed to strengthen your faith and help you live out God's truth wherever he's placed you.

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Skip Heitzig: 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—he weighed 350 pounds. He's a big boy. 350 pounds, his chest 62 inches, his neck 22 inches. 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 drugged me to church. They made me go to church even when I didn't want to go. And he looks back and says, I'm glad they did. That's a good thing. So they worked really 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 melons. And he said my week was this: eight hours every day, I worked out in the field, after which I went to the gym two and a half hours every day. 10 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've 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. The doctor looks at you, does an exam, says you've 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 co-operation 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.

Now I hope this is not a new revelation to you because it's written about all over the Bible. This is one of those instances. But another one that I think is just as poignant, if not more, comes to us from Second Peter, chapter one. Listen to what Peter says. He says, therefore, "His divine power has given us all things, all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us. Whereby are given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that by these you may be a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."

So far, so good. God's provided it all. God's made all the promises. God's done it all. But listen to what he says after that. "Therefore, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge self-control, and to self-control perseverance." You get it? Spiritual growth is not accidental. You don't wake up one day, look in the mirror, and go, oh my goodness, I'm so mature. How did I get this way?

Spiritual growth is intentional, not accidental. Spiritual maturity is the human co-operation with the divine operation. You are never told in the Bible, lounge in the Spirit. You'll never find a verse. Look it up. Lounge in the Spirit. You'll never find something that says, veg out in the Spirit. No, it says walk in the Spirit. That means you actually have to co-operate by putting one foot in front of the other and engage in the process of working out something that has been worked in.

Key to a great workout: get a good trainer, pump some iron. Third choice you need to make: follow a personal plan. You'll notice what it says. Paul writes, work out your own salvation. I love that he's put that there. Work out your own salvation.

Now if you go to a personal trainer at a gym, that trainer's not going to pull out a one-size-fits-all training schedule for you. He's going to tailor it. He's going to ask you some questions. They're going to say, okay, what are your goals? Do you do this a lot? Have you done it before? When you work out, how long can you commit to the workout? How many days a week do you want to do it? Do you do cardio along with weight training?

Whatever that person's training you for, he's going to find out or she's going to find out those things and then tailor-make a routine specifically fit for you. So work out your own salvation. You have your own relationship with the Lord. Don't be a cheap imitation of somebody else. Don't copy somebody else's routine. Follow a personal plan. Just as no two snowflakes are exactly alike, no two flowers are identical. What makes you think you can get two Christians that are exactly alike?

That's the beautiful variety of our God. You are unique. So work out your own salvation. It's interesting that Paul in Second Corinthians 10 speaks about people among them who were bragging and boasting. And Paul writes, "When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise." So follow God's plan for your life, the gifts he has given to you personally. Be like Christ, but be yourself in Christ. Be your best self in Christ.

Now let me take that truth and turn it around. Not only be what God made you, but don't worry about, don't meddle in, don't concern yourself with God's plan for everybody else. That becomes a problem with some. They're so worried about what everyone else is doing. Are they as good as I am? Are they doing as much as I am? You can't win any competition or race that way in the sporting arena.

So there's somebody in the Bible that was like this. His name was Peter. Peter blew it. He denied Jesus three times. You know the story. After the resurrection, Jesus has a personal gathering with Peter on the shores of Galilee and restores the old boy back to service. He says, Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord, I love you. Feed my sheep. Does that three times. You know the story.

But then Jesus begins to tell Peter what Peter can expect when he gets older and how he's going to die. He just gives him a little hint of his future. And Peter's listening. Here's Peter, being restored to service. But Peter starts noticing that his buddy John is standing around. The Apostle John. And Peter leans in and says to Jesus, what about him? What about this man? And I love Jesus' response. He said, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? Follow me."

You get that? Don't follow him, follow me. I've got a plan for you. This is my plan for you. Follow me. Don't worry about him. He's going to follow me too. You follow me. Don't follow him, follow me. Got it, Peter? Okay. Now most of our problems come not when we're looking ahead. Most of our problems come when we're looking around. And so we're told in Hebrews 12 that we should run a race. And he said, looking unto—finish it out—looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. Look to him.

Hey, do you think if you're running a race, if you're going in this direction, but you're looking in that direction, what's going to happen to you? Any clue? You will fall. It's just physics. If you're concentrating on something else that is not where you're going, you will fall. If you're in a gym working out and you're looking at everybody else working out, you're going to get hurt. So work out your own salvation, follow a personal plan.

Guest (Male): This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. When you give to this ministry, you're helping reach thousands of people every day with God's life-changing truth, encouraging them to know him and grow in his word. And to thank you for your support this month, we'll send you "The Making of a Biblical Leader." This practical guide, featuring chapters by Skip and Lenya Heitzig, offers biblical wisdom to help you lead yourself and others with Christ-like integrity.

Your gift today helps equip believers around the world to walk in truth and share the hope of Jesus. Request your copy when you give $50 or more to reach people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com/offer. Now here's more from Pastor Skip.

Skip Heitzig: There's a fourth choice you need to make in your spiritual workout: don't flex in the mirror. Don't flex in the mirror. Look how Paul puts it. Work out your own salvation with what? Fear and trembling. Don't get cocky. Do it with fear and trembling. You know, there's always that guy in the gym who loves the mirror. He's in love with the mirror, especially when he's in it.

And he gets close enough not just to make sure he's doing it right, but just to see how that muscle flexes when he's doing it right. And then kind of looking around and seeing if you're seeing his muscle flex when he's doing it right. He just loves that whole physique thing that he's got going on. So don't do that. Don't flex in the mirror. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, or one translation says it this way: with deep reverence.

You see, you might be a great spiritual athlete, but you need some humility. Have a tender conscience toward God with fear and trembling. Now some people think that's strong language. What does that language have anything to do with a Christian life? Fear and trembling. Those words are out in this culture. Well, J.B. Lightfoot, who was quite a scholar in language, calls this a nervous and trembling anxiety to do right.

Listen to that: a nervous and trembling anxiety to do right. I just want to do what's right. Now if you start thinking well God's not into trembling, you need to read Isaiah 62, where God himself says, "On this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word." In other words, God notices people that have the fear of the Lord. That reverential awe, not based on reprisal but based on relationship.

A holy apprehension. I want to make sure it's pleasing to the Lord that I'm not hurting his heart. That's how I live my life, in that fear of the Lord. It's like a child, a good child, who would be afraid of hurting mom or dad by doing something wrong. That's the thought. The example I found of this comes from 1830. No, I wasn't around at the time. 1830 in London, England. A little girl was being trained, tutored, private tutor.

And the lesson that day was the royal family. So this little girl is listening and they start bringing out the genealogical records of the royal family of England. And they start going through the names and as they start going down the names, down the genealogical records, she starts recognizing some of the names. Like, oh, I know who that is. I'm related to that person. Oh, that's my grandfather.

And then she notices they point out to her, Victoria, her name. It was little Victoria who would become Queen Victoria. And they wanted her to know in that fashion her genealogical background. And suddenly it started dawning on her what they were teaching her. She is next in line for the throne of England. And when the weight of that realization dawned on her, she got up to her feet and with this shy sincerity said, I will be good. I will be good.

Knowing this now stepped her up to that desire to live at a higher level. See, that's the idea of with fear and with trembling. So don't flex in the mirror. I'm spiritual. The Bible says him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. So get a good trainer, pump some iron, follow a personal plan, don't flex in the mirror. Fifth choice, final choice in your spiritual workout: use power supplements.

Yep, you need some power supplements here. Verse 13: "For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure." Often athletes will use supplements. I don't mean drugs. I mean legitimate supplements to give them the energy to work through a routine and then maybe protein at the end to stabilize the muscles and it just maximizes their efforts. You can't work something out from you that God hasn't first worked in you.

So this idea that you work out what God has worked in is a very important relationship. You might put it this way: work hard and obey and serve God because he is energizing your work. Apply your energy and God will energize your energy. God will work for your work. That's the idea. He will, in fact, the word work, it says God works, it's the word *energon*. The Greek word *energon*. We get our word energy from *energon*.

God energizes you. He'll energize your work. It's his divine energy at work in us. So they work together. This might help. It helped me. It helped me understand it. I was late for a flight. So here's the deal. I was flying an airplane going to Phoenix, catching a connecting flight. My plane, I think it was out of here or I was coming back, I forget which, was late. It was late taking off and it was late landing in Phoenix.

So I'm wondering, I'm not going to make my connecting flight. I'm just going to have to wait for another one. And what made it worse is when the plane landed, it landed in the terminal at Phoenix way over here on this terminal and the plane, my connecting flight, was on the complete exact opposite farthest away terminal out of the same airport. I go, there's just no way. But in Phoenix, if you've been there, you know they have these cool moving walkways. They're like flat escalators.

And so you can just sort of walk like this and you will like zoom past people walking on the regular part. So I get on this walkway and I start running. Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, because I want to catch this flight. So that little gizmo, that walkway, helped me run faster and longer than I could ever do it on my own strength. The combination of my running and the walkway moving propelled me.

That's this thought. Work out your own salvation because God is working in you. I was working, but I was really co-operating with a greater power that enabled me to reach my goal. Now these supplements that I'm talking about, this spiritual power, God's power, it begins in the will and then it ends in the action. But it always affects our will first. Please notice how he puts it.

"It is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure." You know what that means? It means God will give you the desire to do his will. Anybody here ever desire a deeper walk with the Lord? Anybody honestly raise your hand if you ever have wanted a deeper walk with the Lord. Ever thought, man, I don't pray enough, I want a deeper, better prayer life. Ever thought I want to get involved, I'm not as involved. Ever had those desires?

Guess where they come from? God plants them in you. You see, in Psalm 37 it says, delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. And I've seen that misinterpreted as well: I'm going to think good thoughts about God and he'll give me whatever my little heart desires. So my little heart desires this, so God has to give that to me. No he doesn't.

It doesn't mean that. It means delight yourself in the Lord, seek first the kingdom of God, and God will actually plant in your heart a desire that is the right desire. He'll give you that desire. He plants a longing in you. You know, before I was saved and when I was growing up, I had no desire to read the Bible. If somebody would say, Skip, you ought to read the Bible, I'd say why? What does that have to do with life?

Certainly my life has nothing to do with Bible study. I never wanted to read the Bible. I had no desire, no longing. I never had a desire or a longing to pray. I certainly didn't have a longing and a desire to be a preacher. If somebody would have said in days ahead you're going to become a preacher, I would have probably slugged them. I didn't want that. But here I am, I read the Bible, I pray, and I'm a preacher.

You know why? God put the desire in me. He put the longing in me to do that. So every now and then I'll meet people, Christians, they're frustrated. And I love it. I love when they're frustrated over this reason. They go, man, I just want to serve the Lord, but I'm frustrated because I don't know what to do next. I don't know what he wants me to do exactly. And I love that. I smile when I hear that because I know they couldn't even have that desire unless God was working in them.

So if he's given them that desire, he's going to now do what he has willed to do, what he has put in their heart to do. And there's a reason that God begins with the will before he works on our actions. And it's a beautiful reason. The reason he gives you the will first is so that you'll enjoy it when you do it. So you're not going to walk around go, I have to serve God.

We don't want you serving God like that. We certainly don't want you doing it around here. And I never get into the pulpit and go, I have to crank out another sermon. I've got to preach. I love this. I was having a conversation with the Vice President of Campus Crusade for Christ and he said, we were talking about our callings and he said to me, I could never do what you do. I love missions. I could never do what you do, being in one place over a long period of time, same people, preaching.

And so he said, he was trying to figure out a nice way to say it, he goes, so do you like to study? I mean, do you like that? Do you enjoy studying? I said I love it. I love it. I love to even with my ADD, I love to hyper-focus for a period of time and drill down into a text and dig out what it means and find out what God is saying and tell others what God is saying. I love that.

And God gives us those desires. So let God work in you his desires and then he'll work through you his plan and his purpose. I love this truth. There was a young boy selling cookies to raise money. And a man walked by and asked him what are you going to do with all the money you make? Not expecting the answer he was going to get. What are you going to do with all the money you make?

And the little boy said, I want to raise a million dollars for famine relief. And the older man said really? You want to raise a million dollars for famine relief? Do you think you can raise that much by yourself? And the little boy not missing a beat said, oh no, my little brother's going to help me. First of all, I applaud the vision of that young boy setting his sights so high saying I'm going to raise a million dollars for famine relief. Good on you.

But then he realized I need help. I can't do this alone. I need my little brother to help me. So maybe his strategy wasn't perfect, but you can have a great workout, but you can't do it by yourself. You can only work out what God works in you. And God gives you desires, then he gives you the power to pull it off.

Guest (Male): We're so glad you joined us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before you go, remember that as our thanks for your gift of support today, we'll send you "The Making of a Biblical Leader," a practical guide to leading others by Robert L. Furrow featuring chapters by Skip and Lenya Heitzig. This resource will encourage you to grow in faith and lead others with wisdom and grace. When you give, you help keep this Bible teaching ministry on the air, connecting more people with the truth of God's word and the hope found in Jesus. Give today at connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your resource when you do. See you next time.