For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8.
We cannot even manufacture faith ourselves. “It is the gift of God: (Ephesians 2:8). The whole of our salvation comes through the gift of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. How glad I am. It comes from such a source that we cannot doubt it. And He is “the author”—does it stop there? Does it stop there? “The author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). Thank God. He attends us every step of the way through, if we are willing to be saved in Christ's appointed way, through obedience to His requirements. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). What does this mean? Is it a contradiction? Let us see what the last of it says. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (verses 12, 13). Praise God. Now who will be discouraged? Who is going to faint? It is not committed to us, weak, feeble mortals to work out our own salvation in our own line. It is Christ that worketh in you. And this is the privilege of every son and daughter of Adam. But we are to work. We are not to be idle. We are put here in this world to work. We are not put here to fold our arms.—Manuscript 18, March 4, 1894, “Laborers Together With God.”
Christ taught the truth because He was the truth. His own thought, His character, His life experience, were embodied in His teaching. So with His servants: those who would teach the word are to make it their own by a personal experience. They must know what it means to have Christ made unto them wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. In presenting the Word of God to others, they are not to make it a suppose-so, or a may-be. They should declare with the apostle Peter, “We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty” (2 Peter 1:16)....
As a worker gives himself unreservedly to the service of the Lord, he gains an experience that enables him to work more and more successfully for the Master.—Letter 86, March 4, 1907, to “Our churches in large cities.”
From This Day With God - Page 72
This Day With God