Work Out Our Salvation

When the Lord says to work out our salvation he is telling us we need to live righteous lives.  Ezekiel 3: 20 speaks of the necessity to repent of our sins and how if we die in our sins then it doesn’t matter how much good we’ve done, we will die spiritually.  On the other hand, D&C 20: 7 states that if we keep the commandments we will have eternal life.  To receive salvation we must persevere on the path of righteousness and not turn from it.  We must keep the commandments with full purpose of heart.  We must endure to the end.

                Paul Counseled in Romans 12 and 13 some things we can do in this life that will help lead to salvation.  He counseled us to treat our bodies with respect so that we may be able to offer them as acceptable sacrifices.  We are to renew our mind, meaning we need to stay active in our learning.  We need to abhor evil and cleave to that which is good.  We need to be hospitable and kind to others.  We need to not judge others or think we are better than them.  We need to be subject unto God and those ordained of God.  We need to settle our debts and love each other.  We need to love our neighbor as ourselves.

                In order to truly love others we cannot judge them.  In Romans 14 Paul reminds us that all of us will stand before God and be judged by him.  In another scripture he mentions that “all have sinned and come of the Glory of God” (Romans 3: 23).  Everyone does different things and has different strengths and weaknesses.  No matter what those are, it is important to do everything for the Glory of God.  Meaning, we need to give God the credit that is rightfully his and obey him out of love.  Since God is no respecter of persons, neither should we be.  We need to be “one” with our brethren so that we can be one with the Lord.  Paul often spoke of the people of his day as “saints.”  This title implies a sense of oneness and duty the people share one with another a common bond, in this case, the covenant of Baptism.