One of my fondest memories of growing up is my father’s garden. It seemed my dad grew everything in his garden. In fact, he always grew enough to feed the entire neighborhood. When people would stop by our home for a visit, they would usually leave with a sack full of fresh vegetables and luscious fruit.

The kind of fruit my father grew is just one kind of fruit — natural fruit. There is also biological fruit, the offspring of animals and the children of people. Then there is spiritual fruit, and that is what God talks about in Galatians 5:22 – 23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” These nine qualities describe the character of a fruitful, productive Christian.

How do we get these character qualities? Obviously, God doesn’t just zap us one day and all of a sudden these qualities materialize in our lives. He uses a process. In this chapter we will look at that process.

IT’S A PARTNERSHIP

The apostle Paul describes the two-part process God uses in Philippians 2:12 – 13, where he first says, “Work out your salvation,” and then turns around and says, “It is God who works in you.” It sounds like a contradiction, doesn’t it? But it isn’t. It is a paradox. The British sage G. K. Chesterton describes a paradox as “truth standing on its head to get attention.” Paul’s writings contain many paradoxes.

The key to understanding this paradox is the little word out in verse 12. Notice that Paul doesn’t say, “Work for your salvation.” There’s a big difference. To work for something means to earn it, to deserve it, to merit it. The Bible clearly teaches that salvation is not something we have to work for. It is a free gift of God’s grace. Paul says, “Work out your salvation.” Paul is talking about a “spiritual workout.”

What do you do in a physical workout? You develop or tone muscles that God has given you. To work out means to cultivate, to make the most of what you have been given. That is what Paul says here: Cultivate your spiritual life!

God has a part in our spiritual growth, and we also have a part. He provides the power, but we must flip the switch to turn the power on. Work out your salvation, for it is God who works in you.

Rick Warren, God’s Power to Change Your Life (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008).

We have just released a new Bible study on based on Rick Warren's book God's Power to Change Your Life.

These lessons are available on Amazon, as well as a part of my Good Questions Have Groups Talking Subscription Service. Like Netflix for Bible Lessons, one low subscription gives you access to all our lessons--thousands of them. For a medium-sized church, lessons are as little as $10 per teacher per year.

Sessions include:

God’s Power to Change Your Life, Lesson #1
The Power to Change Your Life

God’s Power to Change Your Life, Lesson #2
God’s Part and My Part in Changing Me

God’s Power to Change Your Life, Lesson #3
God’s Power to Make You More Loving

God’s Power to Change Your Life, Lesson #4
God’s Power to Make You More Joyful

God’s Power to Change Your Life, Lesson #5
God’s Power to Give You Peace

God’s Power to Change Your Life, Lesson #6
God’s Power to Develop Your Patience

God’s Power to Change Your Life, Lesson #7
God’s Power to Develop Your Kindness

God’s Power to Change Your Life, Lesson #8
God’s Power to Develop Your Goodness

God’s Power to Change Your Life, Lesson #9
God’s Power to Develop Your Faithfulness

God’s Power to Change Your Life, Lesson #10
God’s Power to Develop Your Gentleness

God’s Power to Change Your Life, Lesson #11
God’s Power to Develop Your Self-control

God’s Power to Change Your Life, Lesson #12
A Productive Life