Philippians 2:12-14 – Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
For it is God who is at work in you
In 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 it reads, “So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through
us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” We are all sinners, and all have fallen short of the Glory of God. In the verse from 2 Corinthians we hear about the great exchange. Our sin was exchanged with God’s righteousness. When we come to God in faith, He no longer sees our sin, but Jesus’ righteousness. We are no longer dirty with sin, but washed clean.
Enabling you both to will and to work for His good pleasure
Because God has done that work in us, providing us with the great exchange of righteousness for our failures, He enables us to be able to will and to work things for His good pleasure. The things we do now can actually have value to God. Without His righteousness, even our good works are like filthy rags.
God is... 