Skip to content How to Have a Great Workout - Part A Jan 5 · 26 min ...more
How to Have a Great Workout - Part A
January 5, 2026 · 26 min
How do you grow stronger spiritually? Pastor Skip explains that faith isn’t passive—it’s active. You’re called to work out what God has worked in.
Series Connect with Skip Heitzig Podcast January 5, 2026 · 26 min · Connect with Skip Heitzig Podcast
How do you grow stronger spiritually? Pastor Skip explains that faith isn’t passive—it’s active. You’re called to work out what God has worked in. ...more Show the full description Show less How do you grow stronger spiritually? Pastor Skip explains that faith isn’t passive—it’s active. You’re called to work out what God has worked in.
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0:01 This is connect with Skip Heitzig. Thanks for joining us today. Here at connect with Skip, our mission is to help you know God's word and apply it to your life through clear, practical bible teaching and real0:13 encouragement every day. And if you'd like to keep growing in your walk with Jesus, sign up for pastor Skip's free weekly devotional. You'll receive biblical insight, teaching highlights, and exclusive0:24 resource offers straight to your inbox, Everything designed to help you stay strong in your faith. It only takes a minute to sign up. Go to connect with skip dot com and join the list today. That's connect0:36 with skip dot com. Now let's dive into today's teaching from pastor Skip Heitzig.0:43 Last year, a 29 year old weight lifter named Kenneth Lavarich, world class athlete, went to a very famous beach in Southern California, Venice0:54 Beach, at a particular place called Muscle Beach on Venice Boardwalk. It's a place that's sort of cordoned off with chain link fence, and weightlifters go there to show off their physique1:06 and what they can do to everybody who comes. It's a wild, crazy place. So this 29 year old Kenneth Laberich goes to Muscle Beach, and he challenges the people who were there to a weightlifting1:17 competition. Now that would not be unusual, except he decided to go disguised as an 84 year old man. And the disguise was so good. I mean, he had1:29 Hollywood class makeup artists put wrinkles on him, gave him a gray receding hairline, gray hair, little wire rimmed glasses, cardigan1:41 sweater, khaki pants, just and he shuffled out there in his tennis shoes. And so he goes, I'm challenging you guys. Let's see what you got. And he looked at him like, you can't be serious. And so they1:53 started lifting weights, and he smoked them. And so get this, he lifted 4 65 pounds doing a back squat.2:05 And to say that the crowd was amazed would sell it short. I mean, they were just flabbergasted. All the phones were going out like, I can't believe what I'm seeing. Here's an old man who's just beating everybody out2:16 here. And I saw it on YouTube. It has been seen 110000000 times on YouTube. So you may want to just check that out, Kenneth Laberich, and look it up. Don't do that2:28 now. It's not a church activity. But just remember that and look it up later. So at the end of this workout, these young weightlifting kids are just shaking their heads. They2:40 finally went up to him and said, well, do you have any advice for us? Could you tell us what we obviously need to learn from you. So what can you tell us? And he said kind of2:52 in his older voice, he goes, just keep doing this. Just keep working hard. Just get strong every day. And for a few minutes, the crowd3:04 thought an 84 year old had beaten the 25 year olds. But what it amounted to when the disguise was all off is Kenneth Labridge just had a great workout. Now what I want3:16 to share with you today out of Philippians 2 is how to have a great workout, how to have a great spiritual workout. I want to talk about your spiritual exercise routine,3:27 working out what God is working in you. And that comes from Philippians chapter 2 verse 12, Therefore, my beloved, as3:39 you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own3:50 salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to do or both to will and to do for his good pleasure.4:02 Today, we're covering only 2 verses, and that helps us. It allows us to really dig deep into it and to uncover truth by truth, phrase by phrase, what Paul was writing to the Philippian church.4:14 But here's a little interesting background. In the United States of America, there are 30000 health clubs, gyms, 30000 of them in the United States,4:26 along with 273500 personal trainers to go around. How many people do you think in the United States are working out at these gyms?4:38 58000000 of us go to a gym and work out. Do we have any people here that do that, work out at a gym? God bless you. See that hand. God bless you. Yeah, a lot of us do that. It's a lucrative4:49 business. In the United States alone, gym membership revenue is 27000000000 dollars 27000000000 dollars Of course, worldwide,5:02 that is 75700000000 are taken in by these people on people like us who pay the money to go.5:14 But here's the digger. Did you know that 80 percent of those people who join health clubs 80 percent that's a significant number will quit after5:26 5 months. So I'm thinking they have good intentions. It's probably January, New Year's resolution. I'm going to hit it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do this this year. And they're good for January, February, March,5:37 but come April, May, peace out. They quit. Question is why? Why do 80 percent of the people quit a workout program? Easy5:49 answer. Because it's hard, right? It hurts to do that. It's not easy. As 1 jokester put it, my first workout back at the gym was great. I did6:01 15 minutes of cardio, 10 minutes on the defibrillator, then 3 days in the hospital. Or you might have heard that old joke, when I feel the urge to exercise, I lie down6:12 until the feeling passes. But the truth is we can't be passive in spiritual matters. We do have to be6:24 aggressive. We have to when it comes to spiritual health, we need to exercise our faith. We need, in short, to work out what God is working in6:36 to us. That is the thrust of this passage. And why must we do that? Why does Paul think that he should devote 2 verses to kind of hammering this thought home in this6:48 correspondence to the Philippian church? Well, it's because Christianity is more than just a decision to make Jesus your Savior. It's also a determination6:59 to walk with Jesus as your Lord, as your master. If you don't do that, you're going to become what so many in the Church of Jesus Christ around the globe, and especially7:11 I would say in this country, have become. A lot of people have become pupotaters. That's the spiritual equivalent of a couch potato. They're a pupotator. They're a lounge lizard.7:25 They're viewers. They watch things happen, but they're not doers of the word. And so we have to guard against that. GK Chesterton, 1 of my favorite authors, poet,7:37 statesman, theologian said, the Christian faith has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.7:50 So you have a gym membership, so to speak. God is at work in you. That's good news, and we love to hear that truth. God's working, man. God's working. God's working in me.8:04 What that doesn't mean is that you can just hang out. It doesn't mean let go and let God. I used to hear that all the time. Just let go and let God.8:15 Let go of what? Let God do what? And it's almost like you don't do anything, and you just watch God do stuff. So what I want to do in looking at these 2 verses and drilling down with you is give you 58:27 choices to make if you're going to have a great workout. Number 1, get a good trainer. Get a good trainer. You'll notice the first word in verse 12 is the8:39 word what? Your Bible says, therefore. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence,8:51 work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Now, whenever Paul uses a therefore and by the way, this is the third time he has done so in this chapter alone what he is doing is pulling back9:02 something he just told you into the present. I just told you about this, therefore and he brings that truth to bear now. So what he has been talking about is Jesus Christ,9:14 who humbled himself, and then God exalted him. So what he is saying is he is our example. That has been his thrust for the entire chapter so far. Jesus is our9:26 great example. Mark Twain used to write a lot of quippy things. 1 of the things he wrote was, Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example.9:39 And what annoys us about a good example? Well, good examples set a standard, don't they? And it's sometimes hard to watch a good example because they set a standard for us that it's hard to hit9:51 on some occasions. And what if that example isn't just a good example, but he's the perfect example? I mean, Paul is saying, here's Jesus. Look what he's done. Do that.10:03 You're going, I'd like to, but I don't think that's going to happen. However, a good example can inspire us. It can incentivize us. And that is10:15 the thought of Paul's use of the word therefore at this particular time. When he says therefore in this verse, he is saying, on this10:27 basis or on the basis of Christ, on the basis of Jesus' example of love and humility, do this. I've been told by a number of10:39 accomplished athletes that what has made their routine work, their workout routine work out, is a personal trainer. Said it was always the difference to10:50 them between failure and success. And why is that? Because a personal trainer will incentivize you, will encourage you. You can do this. You can do this. I'll spot you. Don't use too much weight.11:02 Do it this way. You're not having the right form. So a good trainer will help you get the most out of your workout. Well, who can you think of is the best11:14 trainer for all things spiritual? None better than Jesus. That's why Jesus said it is recorded no less than 19 times in the 4 gospels.11:27 He said the 2 simple but profound words, follow me. Follow me. Jesus said, follow me. He didn't say, follow my people.11:39 He didn't say, follow my disciples. He didn't say, follow my preachers. He said, follow me. Even when Jesus washed people's feet like the disciples in the Last Supper, He was washing their feet because they11:51 couldn't be bothered with it. They're arguing about who's going to be the greatest in the kingdom. So Jesus gets down, washes their feet. And then he said to them, I have given you an example that you12:03 should do as I have done. So he becomes their spiritual trainer.12:08 You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Every day, your generosity helps reach more people with God's word, changing lives through clear, practical bible teaching. And this month, as you grow12:20 in your own faith and leadership, we wanna thank you with a powerful new resource, the making of a biblical leader, a practical guide to leading others by Robert L. Furrow. This12:32 inspiring book featuring chapters from Skip and Lenya Heitzig, Gary Hamrick, Daniel Fusco, and others, shows how to lead with integrity, humility, and a servant's heart following12:43 Christ's example. Request your copy when you give 50 dollars or more to support Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 8 0 0 9 2 2 1 8 8 8 or visit connectwithskip12:55 dot com slash offer. Now let's return to today's teaching.12:59 Now, it's good to have more human examples, we might say, of integrity and honor that we can follow. Paul was 1 of those. He said to13:11 his brothers and sisters, follow me as I follow the Lord. But the real key to spiritual success is beginning with the right template. And13:23 for the Philippians and for Paul, that template, that model was Jesus Christ. Now notice what he says. Therefore, using Jesus as the basis or example, my beloved he calls13:35 him, my beloved as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only when I'm with you, but now much more in my absence, work13:47 out your own salvation. What a sweet description Paul has for this group of Christian believers. You've always obeyed. I love that. You guys13:59 are always responsive. In fact, the word he uses here for obeyed is the same word he uses in Ephesians 6 when he says, children, obey your14:10 parents in the Lord, for this is the first commandment with the promise. So here's the thought. Just like a child would be responsive to a parent, the Philippians were14:22 responsive to Paul's spiritual leadership. But now they have a problem. Paul's in jail. He's incarcerated. They don't have Paul around any longer.14:34 But they still have the example of Jesus Christ. See, that's Paul's point. Whether I'm with you or not with you, therefore, obey. Therefore, do this. So Jesus14:46 becomes the ultimate model for them. There's a principle to be found here. The real test of spiritual maturity is how you14:57 live when the props are gone. When you don't have somebody there to tell you how to do it or what to do or show you how to do it, who do you look to? Paul's in jail saying, I'm15:09 absent from you, but Jesus is present with you. He's spotting you. He's watching over this. Some people on jobs15:21 will work very hard when the boss is looking. Most bosses can figure out pretty quickly who those people are. But they can always spot, and they round a corner, and all of a sudden that15:33 employee sits up and puts that phone down like, no, I'm not on Instagram. Hi, what can I do? I'm just all about work. This is who I am. I'm a worker. But they're that way only15:44 when the eye of the boss is on them. I think what Paul is saying to them is, your boss, he's always watching. He's always looking. Whether I'm with you or not, Jesus is15:56 always there. He is that personal trainer. Not long ago, I was driving my car rounding a corner. I saw a runner in the distance. The runner didn't know that I spotted him.16:08 I knew he was a runner because he had Nike shoes on. He had shorts and shirt. I mean, was like Nike, personified. But he was walking, sort of dragging his feet. But when I rounded the corner16:20 and came toward him, you know what he started doing? Waving like, yep, yep, yep. I'm a runner. I'm doing this. But I could tell he's only a runner as16:32 long as I'm watching him run. So I don't know what if he's just like dragging the rest of the day, only when the cars come by, he's doing that. So make sure Jesus is your16:44 personal trainer, your template, your model when no 1 else is around. So first of all, get a good trainer. The second choice you need to make if you're going to have a great workout is you've to pump some iron.16:57 You've got to get in there and work it out. So look at what it says. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out.17:09 Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Now, this has been a problem verse of scripture for a lot of people for a long time. What does17:21 Paul mean, work out your own salvation? And it's problematic, especially when they find out what the words actually mean. The words actually mean maintain constant energy and effort to finish a17:33 task. And when I say it's become a problematic text, it's because some people think it means self help salvation, that I'm going to work really hard to get saved, sort of the equivalent of17:45 God helps those who help themselves. So they think, if I work hard, if I earn my way there, then God is going to save me. And by the way, that's how most people17:56 think you get saved, by working hard. Ask someone. Ask the average person where you live, your neighbor at work, hey, are you going to heaven? Are you saved? You know what most of them are going to tell you?18:09 Well, I'm trying. I work real hard. I go to church. Unless they say, I don't believe in that stuff. But if they want to go there, they will usually point to18:20 something they have done in working hard to earn God's favor. I'm working it out, man. I'm working it out. But please notice that Paul doesn't say work for your18:32 salvation. He doesn't say work toward your own salvation or work at your salvation. He says work out your own salvation. And you can't work18:44 out what God hasn't first worked in. And what I want you to see is this. He's not writing to unbelievers, but to believers. He's not telling unbelievers how to get to heaven.18:56 He's telling believers this. He calls them beloved. He says in verse 1 of chapter 1, you are saints in Christ Jesus. Those are believing19:08 people, not unbelievers. But he's telling believers, you've got to go work out. You've got to pump some iron. You have to do something. You have to apply some19:19 energy into this process. I was reading this week about another athlete named Shane Hammond. He's been called America's Strongest Man. Some of19:31 you may have heard of Shane Hammond. He was in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. He weighed in at the time this is his training weight. He weighed in, his weight,19:43 3 50 pounds. He's a big boy, 3 50 pounds. His chest, 62 inches. His neck, 22 inches. I mean, think19:55 Incredible Hulk. His biceps, almost 24 inches, 2 feet of bicep. This guy's a monster. And he20:07 could squat lift 1008 pounds, America's strongest man. But Shane Hammonds is also a believer in Jesus Christ, raised in a Christian home in Oklahoma20:19 on a farm. He said, when I was a kid, my parents, strong Christians, he said they drug me to church. They made me go to church even when I didn't want to go. And he looks back and goes, I'm glad they did. That's a good20:29 thing. So they worked really hard at getting the right things put into me. But he said, when it wasn't the weekends, when it was the weekdays, I grew up lifting melons on a20:40 farm. So his first workout was melon. And he said, my week was this, 8 hours every20:52 day I worked out in the fields, after which I went to the gym 2 and onetwo hours every day, 10 and onetwo hours of workout every day.21:04 So that boy had a good workout. Now look at the words in your text. It says, work out your own salvation. Those 2 words are 121:16 single word in the original. The Greek language, the word is katargazomai or katargazomai, however you want to21:28 pronounce that. And it means to work something to full completion, like you would work out a math problem. You're not inventing math. You're not producing math. You've been given a problem. No,21:39 you work it out to full completion. In ancient times, this word, work out, katergazomai, was used for working a mine or working a21:51 field. So let's take that first example, working a mine. Let's say you own a silver mine. Let's say it has even been given to you by your parents. They give you the title22:03 deed. You own this silver mine. There's silver or gold in the bar hills, and you have it. Now, is that silver going to work its way out toward you and just land in your hand? No, you have to go in22:15 and work it out. It's yours. In fact, it's been given to you as a gift, but you've got to work it out if you're going to enjoy it. Okay, now think of a field, owning a field. You22:27 have a field. Produce, a little bit, might grow on its own, but not much. You have to go work out the produce by plowing, and planting, and22:39 watering, and fertilizing, and maintaining. You have to work it out. Let's take a more modern example, a different example. Let's say you are a musician, and you have been22:50 handed by a composer a composition. He puts it or she puts it in your hand. Now, the composer has done it all. It's the composer that has thought of the melody. He has written23:02 the score. He has provided the timing and all of the notations. And now you have it, and your task is to work it out. Make it sound good. Put it23:14 to music. Apply your skill and give it the melody that has been given to you. Work it out. Another example, you go to a doctor. Doctor looks at you, does an exam, go,23:26 you got problems. So he gives you a diagnosis. He says, you need surgery. Takes you into the surgical room, performs an operation. After the operation, you wake up in recovery. And he says, you're going to need rehab23:37 and you're going to need medication. So effectively, the doctor's done it all. He's given you the diagnosis, performed the operation, given you the meds, and the rehab23:49 schedule. At this point, you need to work it out. You need to show up for rehab. You need to go through those exercises. You need to take that medication and follow24:01 orders. So there must be a cooperation with the doctor's operation. You get the drift. The New Living Translation translates24:12 this verse, put into action God's saving work in your lives. Think of it spiritually now. God has done all the work. He is the 1 that24:24 brings salvation. It's from God. But it takes energy to grow as a believer. If you're going to grow, you can't just let go and let God. You have to get24:36 in the race. You have to get in the game. You need to pump some iron.24:44 Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we go, remember that your generosity helps share God's word around the world, bringing truth and hope to people who need Jesus.24:56 And this month, we'll send you the making of a biblical leader, a practical guide to leading others by Robert L. Furrow as our thanks for your gift. With chapters from Skip and Lenya Heitzig and other25:08 trusted pastors, this book will equip you to lead with integrity and purpose in 20 26 and beyond. Give now at connect with skip dot com slash offer or call 80925:20 2 2 18 88. Thanks for spending time with us today, and we'll see you next time on connect with skip Heitzig.25:49 Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.
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Skip Heitzig ministers to over 15,000 people as senior pastor of Calvary Church in Albuquerque. He reaches out to thousands across the nation and throughout the
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