We live in a world that prizes people who, by themselves, do extraordinary things. Statements such as “It is so amazing that you were able to do that on your own,” among many others, abound. Incredible feats of boldness or death-defying stunts are lauded, and rightfully so. However, the Christian life is vastly different. It is considered backward thinking to live for the glory of God without the graces that he has given us. There isn’t a better example of this than when David blesses Abigail for stopping him from working salvation by his hand (1 Samuel 25:33). Also, David shows how it is only by God’s grace that he could remain saved (1 Samuel 25:39). Using these two scenarios, I will seek to show you why working out your salvation by your own strength isn’t praiseworthy.
Salvation by Your Hand
Why does David praise Abigail for saving him from himself? The story begins with her husband, Nabal, who, despite the kindness shown by David, doesn’t repay in kind. This is how the story goes: David sends some messengers to Nabal to ask for a feast. He tells Nabal of the kindness he showed to his shepherds when they were at Carmel. However, Nabal insulted David. For this reason, long story short, David wanted to attack Nabal (1 Samuel 25:1-13). However, a wise young man informs Abigail, and she goes out of her way to prepare everything necessary to appease David and his men (1 Samuel 25:18-22). She meets him on the way and urges him, in the Name of Yahweh, to restrain from saving himself with his own hand (1 Samuel 25:25-31). It is because she used discretion with David that she receives the praise.
This story helps point out how, as human beings, we are usually quick to live out the Christian life by our own strength. Even men after God’s own heart, like David (1 Samuel 13:22), aren’t exempt from this. With this in mind, if a man like David wasn’t spared from such sins, we must be wary of ‘men of God’ who claim special power against certain sinful tendencies. If anything, their making such claims means they are rife with sinful tendencies. As Jesus said, men like those are whitewashed tombs (Matthew 23:25-28).
Back to David; consider how, when slighted, he isn’t as quick to ask Yahweh for guidance. Instead, he immediately tells his men to arm themselves to go to war (1 Samuel 25:13). Isn’t that many of us right there? We have been given an audience with God through Christ, and yet instead of turning to him when wronged, we quickly hatch plans to get vengeance. Instead of striving to be at peace with all men so long as it is up to us (Romans 12:18), like David, we want to escalate offenses to mountains of war. This illustrates how we outrightly work out our salvation by our own hand. There are also subtle ways of working out our salvation by our own strength. The ones that don’t peer through the surface but bubble up within, waiting to burst.
In short, our daily walk as Christians is rife with the constant struggle of not working salvation with our hands. When we neglect the graces we have been given, such as prayer, the ability to confess our sins one to another (James 5:16), spurring one another (Hebrews 10:24-25), fellowship with fellow saints (Hebrews 10:23), and God’s Word (2 Timothy 3:16), then like David we are bound to work out salvation by our own hands.
Salvation Only Works By God’s Hand
Here’s the fact: the only way we get to work out our salvation is by God’s hand. David acknowledges the same once Nabal dies from being struck by Yahweh (1 Samuel 25:38). This is ultimately backed by the fact that all of our good works will be insufficient. Only by the works of Christ are we saved (Ephesians 2:1-10). Since that is true, it stands to reason that we can only stay saved by his hand.
When we are faithless, he remains faithful (2 Timothy 2:13). Even when David failed to seek God’s counsel, God still found a way of stopping him from digging an even deeper hole for himself. That’s how God guides us, too. He promises that he will never stop perfecting us until the Day of Christ (Philippians 1:6). Christ promises that he will never cast out those who are his (John 6:37). This is why we are better off when we know there is no one else to trust but him.
If the only way we could be kept from destroying ourselves was by God’s hand, what makes us think that by our hands, we can sustain our new life?
God Is Already at Work
We, indeed, can’t sustain our lives without him. Instead, we are to work out our salvation because God is already at work in us (Philippians 2:12-13). We are to be like David, who, later on, when everything seemed heavy, strengthened himself in the Lord (1 Samuel 30:6). Yes, the Lord keeps us from wrongdoing, as David showed. However, we still have a special obligation to lead a holy life. David constantly battled with this struggle. This is why he understood that the only way he could lead a holy life was to turn to the God of his salvation. In Psalm 19:12-14, he asks God to save him from his sinfulness and make his sin plain to him. In Psalm 139:23-24, he asks God to search him and show him any of his grievous thoughts.
In short, if we aren’t working out our salvation with God’s fullness encompassing us, we’ll end up tripping ourselves. Remember, we aren’t to give sin an inch in our lives, for doing so will be dreadful (Romans 6:12-14). If it hadn’t been for God’s providential intervention through Abigail, David’s hands would have been filled with bloodguiltiness. Therefore, we must always strive for holiness, without which no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). We must always ensure that God is the one guiding our steps.
Save Others from Saving Themselves
Abigail had no reason to stop David from killing Nabal. After all, we are told that he was a cruel man (1 Samuel 25:3). His wife and servants considered him worthless and foolish-–the meaning of his name (1 Samuel 25:17, 25). Yet, for the sake of David’s soul, Abigail seeks to save him from saving himself. Dear saints, that should also be our posture with Christians around us. To save their souls for eternity, even though they might feel ‘justified’ in their actions, we must strive to remind them of their standing with the Lord.
Jude wrote that we must make it our primary mission to snatch others from the fire before they are wholly burnt (Jude 23). Point them to the salvation that only God could afford for them. In their anger, be the one to draw their attention to the God of justice who has promised that he will repay (Deuteronomy 32:35). If their anger isn’t justified, then exhort them to consider their heart posture and to ask God to search their hearts. In short, whatever it is, strive to ensure they are still pressing for the prize of the upward call in Christ Jesus. Struggling to save yourself when God already has is nothing less than foolish.
