Previously, in Part 1:
So what does Philippians 2:12-13 have to say about perseverance?  And how does that fit in with Christian speculative fiction?

The first piece of the puzzle was to understand “work out.” And now, the conclusion:

The Second Piece To the Puzzle—Understanding “Salvation”

This question is more theological and less lexical than the previous question.  By saying this, it is meant that there is no question that the Greek word soterian should be translated as “salvation.”  It is rather a question of “how do we understand this word?”

To begin with, there are many different uses for the word.  Among these:

1.    Physical deliverance from danger (as from the sea)

2.    National deliverance (from enemies of Israel)

3.    Spiritual and eternal deliverance

When understanding Philippians 2:12-13, the third, or last, definition is the best, as Paul is not speaking about salvation from the Romans, or salvation from some imminent danger.

If this is true, then the question remains:  How do we understand spiritual salvation?  Is it something we possess, as in, it is already “inside” of us?  Or is it rather an event that will occur in the future when Christ returns?

It is argued here that in the New Testament, “spiritual salvation” is only of the second kind—meaning that our salvation is a future event.  Now, why do most of us practically think of this as something that we “posses” if it is in reality a future event?  This is because, in a sense, we do “possess” it, but it is not a “thing” that is inside of us.  Rather, it is something that is guaranteed to happen to us.

Salvation is similar to an inheritance.  When we are written into the “last will and testament” of our parents, we are guaranteed (by law) that we will one day receive our inheritance.  God has made us “heirs with Christ” in that we are guaranteed to receive salvation.  In this sense we possess it right now—it is a future event that we, right now, are guaranteed to have.   Eternal life begins now, but we have not been brought to it yet.  This salvation will come on the “day of the Lord.”

Does scripture hold up to this understanding?  Here is a survey of some passages (especially those in Philippians):

Bonus Readings: 1 Timothy 6:11-16, 2 Timothy 2:8-13, 2 Timothy 4:6-8, Titus 2:11-14, Hebrews 10:24-25, 35-39, 1 Peter 1:3-9, and 1 Peter 2:12.

So then, with the understanding of “salvation” as something that will happen in the future, but something guaranteed to us, we can come back to Philippians 2:12-13, and translate it correctly.

Three potential translations are offered:

1.    Work [out] your salvation

2.    Produce [out of your life] your salvation

3.    Work [until] your salvation

The first two are really the same translation, worded differently.  Number 1 is what is typically found in our Bibles, but number 2 is a better form of this, as it makes clear what the translators are doing.

Number 3, however, is the translation that I argue is best.  If you combine the understanding of “salvation” as something that will happen in the future, along with the “taking to a natural conclusion” aspect of kata, and if you understand kata in this context as modifying the verb in the sense of a “time span,” then this translation makes great sense.

With this, the final translation is offered here:

Therefore my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work until your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

So then, we neither need to work “for” our salvation, nor do we need to “produce” it… rather we are called to be faithful until the very end—to persevere—using the power that God gives us!

So how does this apply to Christian speculative fiction, and how does it apply to our lives?

If you are at all familiar with the difficult time Christian speculative fiction has had getting a foothold in the market, you understand our need to persevere—both as readers and as authors.

As a reader, anything you can do to promote the genre will be boosting a good thing—a thing that God can use. For Christian speculative fiction has an awesome place in God’s plan as we reach out and shine His light into the darkness—glorifying the Great Storyteller through excellent writing and through themes, plots, and characters that prick the infected boils of the world.

In fact, this is a great way to get a non-Christian to think about spiritual truths. I know this first-hand: when I was a nearly delinquent young man who had almost never stepped into a church, a friend shared The Chronicles of Narnia with me and explained that Aslan represented Christ. This opened my eyes to things I had rarely, if ever, thought about. Within three years, God brought me to faith.

For all you authors out there, you know better than I that this journey of sub-creating, this journey of writing, this very journey of faith—requires great perseverance. And the best part? We can know that it is God working through us as we continue to work and write until he calls each one of us home to his great feasting hall in heaven.

 On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever.

The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”

Isaiah 25:6-9

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Robert Treskillard is a Celtic enthusiast who holds a B.A. in Biblical & Theological Studies from Bethel University, Minnesota. He has been crafting stories from his early youth, is a software developer, graphic artist, and sometime bladesmith. He and his wife have three children and are still homeschooling their youngest. They live in the country outside St. Louis, Missouri.

It all began when Robert’s son wanted to learn blacksmithing and sword-making. The two set out to learn the crafts and in the process were told by a relative that they were descended from a Cornish blacksmith. This lit the fire of Robert’s imagination, and so welding his Celtic research to his love of the legends of King Arthur, a book was forged—Merlin’s Blade, book one of The Merlin Spiral, coming April 2013 from Zondervan.

More information about Robert can be found through his blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter.