Working Out Our Salvation

It's important to realize that the term justification does not mean exactly the same thing that salvation means. While justification and salvation are always found together and in the same person, they must not be equated in our minds. Justification talks about our legal standing before the judgment seat of God, whereas salvation has to do with the whole of our redemption whereby we are not only justified but also transformed into the image of Christ. There is no escaping from the fact that the Christian life requires work from us, but the great motivation for this work is knowing God's grace whereby He Himself is working in us so that we do His whole will. There is no contradiction in feeling the weight and responsibility to live in a godly way while also resting in God with full assurance that He will complete what He has started in us.