“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Php 2.12-13). The structure of these two verses is somewhat confusing. The emphasis here is not on you, but on God “who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure”. Your salvation from beginning to the end is the ongoing work of God in, through and with Jesus. Any attempt of you to carry out your salvation in the flesh is an exercise of futility resulting in fear and trembling.