Philippians 2:12

I am a fourth generation pentecostal. My great grandmother was a church builder in upstate California and my grandmother, unfortunatly, backslide but still knew the truth. My father and mother were saved in their twenties and raised my siblings and myself in the apostolic truth since birth. I was blessed by virtuous parents that understood the necessity to bring up their children in the fear and admonish of the truth. But, I have wondered if I hadn't been raised in church would I have the proclivity within myself to work out my own salvation.
For many Americans we are handed down our beliefs from our parents as they were handed down their beliefs from their parents and so on. It is easy to fall into the sin of riding the coattails of the generations that came before us. We lose sincerity when the cross and blood of the Lamb are seperated from us by a generational gap. Paul said it best when writing to the Philippian church "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."
He stressed the fact that the Church could not just live for God because of his sake but even in his absence they must "work out" their own salvation.  He transfered the burden of the cross to all Christians. Work is a verb or action word. It is the responsibility of us all to seek first the Kingdom. To put action to our beliefs. In short to excercise faith.
The woman with the issue of blood excersied her faith and presented me with the most prolific story to direct me to seek out my heart for my own personal desire to serve God. She had lived for years under the understanding of those more educated than her. She had been told time and time again that her case was hopeless. She lived like generational Christians do; knowing that there was a God, knowing that He had power to heal but living within the beliefs of those over her. But one day she made the decision to put to work those things she had heard from others. That's why Jesus said virtue had left Him. Because she had faith to act Virtue flowed through Christ and delivered the woman from her generational captivity.