"Work out your salvation with fear and trembling." Philippians 2:12

What does this vs mean?  Does it mean we have to perform in a way that pleases God so that we don't jeopardize our secure salvation?  Does it mean we have to be careful, lest we upset and disappoint God and He punishes us for being stupid and sinful?

Or does it mean that we have to live by faith, exercising the faith we claim to have deposited inside of us; working the benefit , power, and blessings of that living faith outward so that it impacts our lives, the lives of others , and the world we live in?

The problem for many who claim the name of Christ is that they express a verbal allegiance to Christ, but they fail to "work out the salvation" that would be so powerfully alive in them were it true.  They lack the ability to bless others with their faith, to change their own sinful patterns by exercising their faith, and to grow in the fruits of righteousness that are being displayed in the lives of the righteous.

DO you claim allegiance to Christ?

Do YOU choose to live out your faith, working it out from the private inside belief system of your mind, outward to be the world-changing, powerful exercise of faith that it should be?  Faith is not assent, it is action.  Work out your salvation.

Say "I choose to put to death this or that thing that I have been a slave to, and now I am a slave to God and His righteousness.  I choose to do that which Christ would have me do instead."  Moment by moment, action by action.  That is faith.  That is working out your salvation.  That is a ministry of righteousness.

With you for His glory