FOR I AM CONFIDENT OF THIS VERY THING: pepoithôs (RAPMSN) auto touto: (2Co 1:15; 2:3; 7:16; 9:4; Gal 5:10; 2Th 3:4; Phile 1:21; Heb 10:35)

God is the one who began this good work in you, and I am certain that he won't stop before it is complete on the day that Christ Jesus returns (CEV)

Confident (3982) (peitho) means to have come to a settled persuasion concerning some truth or fact and so to be persuaded, convinced.   Peitho suggests that a conclusion has been reached on reasonable ground. The apostle’s observation of what God had done among the Philippians in particular, and his reflections on the ways of God in general, led him to form this judgment. Paul was entirely convinced of the truth of what he said and he thus uses the language of a man who had no doubt on the subject.

The perfect tense indicates that Paul had come to the settled persuasion and that he remained confident of God’s desire and ability to continue His transforming work in the lives of the Philippian believers.  Paul is still firmly confident and will continue to be so. He has no doubts about their salvation or their security. Paul is saying

I have been persuaded by words to believe that God will bring to completion the good work He began when you were born again.

Note that Paul's confidence did not rest ultimately on the Philippians themselves, but on God, Who would preserve them and enable them to reach the goal.

Matthew Henry adds that

The confidence of Christians is the great comfort of Christians.

A Debtor to Mercy Alone
The work which His goodness began,
The arm of His strength will complete;
His promise is Yea and Amen,
And never was forfeited yet
—Augustus M. Toplady (play)

THAT HE WHO BEGAN A GOOD WORK IN YOU: hoti o enarchamenos (AMPMSN) en humin ergon agathon: (Phil 1:29; 2:13; Jn 6:29; Acts 11:18; 16:14; Ro 8:28, 29, 30; Eph 2:4, 2:5, 2:6, 2:7, 2:8, 2:9, 2:10; Col 2:12; 1Thes 1:3; 2Th 2:13, 2:14; Titus 3:4, 3:5, 3:6; Heb 13:20, 21; Jas 1:16, 17, 18; 1Pet 1:2, 1:3) (Phil 2:13 Ro 8:31)

Dear brother in Christ, dear sister in Christ, whether you find yourself "up" or "down" (spiritually/emotionally) as you read these notes, take just a moment and ponder the certainty of the work of Spirit of Christ in you, so faithful and so complete that on that glorious day "we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is" (1Jn 3:2-note) ... so sit back, watch and listen to one of my favorite choruses...

He Who Began a Good Work in You -
by Steve Green

That - Explains the reason for Paul's thanksgiving and making request with joy on their behalf.

He Who - Who is this? Father, Son or Holy Spirit? Vine comments that...

Where the context does not indicate that either the Son or the Spirit is intended, the pronoun should always be understood to refer to God the Father. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson )

As an aside, God always finishes what He begins as we see in this Old Testament example from first Samuel...

(God declared) In that day I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. (1Sa 3:12)

God had told Eli that he and his sons had forfeited their right to the priest's office in 1 Sa 2:30-33. Hophni, Phinehas and Eli all died the same day (1Sa 4:11,18). Later, Saul slew Ahimelech, grandson of Phinehas, who had continued to serve as priest (1Sa 22:16, 17, 18, 19, 20), but his son Abiathar escaped and served as priest under David. Abiathar was in turn deposed by Solomon (1Ki 2:26, 27), finally completing the prophecy. God always finishes what He begins!

Began (1728) (enarchomai from en = in + árchomai = begin) means make a beginning or commence. It was the normal Greek word for beginning a sacrifice and described scattering the grains of barley on and around the victim which was the first act of a sacrifice.

Enarchomai is used only here and in Gal 3:3 both times referring to salvation. The point is that God takes the initiative in starting His work in us. Salvation always begins with God and if He didn’t make the first move, we would make no move at all (cf Jn 1:13). It's like the country preacher who was asked at his ordination how he had become a Christian. He replied, "I did my part and God did his." When asked to explain "his part in salvation", he answered "My part was to run from God as fast as I could. God’s part was to run after me and catch me and bring me into his family." This is a great picture for every person born is born a rebel running from God and in desperate need of God taking the initiative to begin His good work in all who are dead in (their) trespasses and sins. (Ep 2:1-note) God not only initiates the good work of salvation, but continues it and guarantees its consummation.

Note that the only work that is ever good (agathos = "good" in character or constitution and beneficial in effect) in God's sight is a work which He initiates.

Barnes adds that

It was on the fact that it was begun by God, that he based his firm conviction that it would be permanent. Had it been the agency of man, he would have had no such conviction, for nothing that man does today can lay the foundation of a certain conviction that he will do the same thing tomorrow. If the perseverance of the Christian depended wholly on himself, therefore, there could be no sure evidence that he would ever reach heaven.

Good work almost certainly refers to God's work in salvation but a few commentators feel that it may relate to their active financial participation ("good work") in the furtherance of the gospel. For example Wuest feels that God who had begun in the Philippians the good work of giving to missions would maintain their fruitful activity until Christ returns.  (Click for study of Good Deeds)

Note where the sphere of that good work? It is not among you but in you.  Paul is referring not to an external reformation or a surface improvement but to a total rebirth by which a new creation is regenerated by God the Holy Spirit. 

Hendriksen calls our attention to

how closely the apostle links human perseverance (“your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until the present”) with divine preservation (“he who began a good work in you will carry it on toward completion”). Any doctrine of salvation which does not do full justice to both of these elements is unscriptural...  Although it is true that God brings his work to completion, it is equally true that when God has once begun his work in men, the latter by no means remain merely passive instruments! (Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. New Testament Commentary Set, 12 Volumes. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House)

WILL PERFECT: epitelesei (3SFAI): (Ps 138:8; Jn 6:29; Eph 4:12; 2 1Th 5:23, 24; 2Th 1:11; 1Pe 5:10)

will carry it on to completion (NIV)

will go on completing it (NJB),

will continue his work until it is finally finished (NLT)

will carry it on until it is finished (TEV)

will carry it through to completion (GWT)

will go on to perfect it in preparation for the day of Jesus Christ (Weymouth),

will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task within you is finally finished (TLB)

developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you (Amp)

will keep it growing (Jewish NT)

Perfect (2005) (epiteleo from epi = intensify meaning of following verb + teleo = make an end and bring something to its destined goal) (Click in depth word study of epiteleo) conveys the sense that God will carry the work out to the finish. God will not commence this and then abandon us. He will finish the work He has begun in us and will bring it to its intended goal, when we shall be like Him (1Jn 3:2-note). God will will fully finish and accomplish His good work in and through us as we surrender our wills to His perfect will. Nothing in this life will prevent the successful accomplishment of God's good work in every Christian.

The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that epiteleo was used of performing of religious services, referring to the act of fully completing the ritual of any sacrifice.

Barclay adds that

"the words Paul uses for to begin (enarchomai) and for to complete (epiteleo) are technical terms for the beginning and the ending of a sacrifice. There was an initial ritual in connection with a Greek sacrifice. A torch was lit from the fire on the altar and then dipped into a bowl of water to cleanse it with its sacred flame; and with the purified water the victim and the people were sprinkled to make them holy and clean. Then followed what was known as the euphemia, the sacred silence, in which the worshipper was meant to make his prayers to his god. Finally a basket of barley was brought, and some grains of the barley were scattered on the victim, and on the ground round about it. These actions were the beginning of the sacrifice, and the technical term for making this beginning was the verb enarchesthai which Paul uses here. The verb used for completing the whole ritual of sacrifice was the verb epitelein which Paul uses here for to complete . Paul’s whole sentence moves in an atmosphere of sacrifice. Paul is seeing the life of every Christian as a sacrifice ready to be offered to Jesus Christ. It is the same picture as he draws when he urges the Romans to present their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Ro 12:1-note)

Spurgeon said

The life of a Christian is a series of miracles.

Spurgeon was also once asked by another minister...

whether he believed in the final perseverance of the saints. "Well," said he, "I do not know much about that, but I firmly believe in the final perseverance of God, that where he has begun a good work he will carry it on until it is complete." To my mind, that truth includes the final perseverance of the saints. They persevere in the way of salvation because God keeps them in it

The greatest miracle is the transformation of a sinner into a saint by the grace of God in the process referred to as sanctification. In simple terms sanctification is the work of God's grace in the heart of a believers conforming them into "the image of His Son" (Ro 8:29-note), this work being a continual process of transformation

from glory to glory...from the Lord, the Spirit (2Cor 3:18)

Sanctification is synonymous with "present tense salvation" the truth that every day we are "being saved" (cf 1Cor1:18) from the tendency of the world to conform us into its mold, from our own flesh and from the devil. (Click study of the 3 tenses of salvation) Note that sanctification is the work of God, is a lifetime process, is never complete in this life, won’t cease until the job is done, and that God will use everything that happens to us—the good, the bad and the ugly—to make us like Jesus. We can be certain of this completion for Jesus speaking of His disciples (which includes us) said "for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth." (Jn 17:19)

F. B. Meyer gives an encouraging illustration

We go into the artist’s studio and find there unfinished pictures covering large canvases, and suggesting great designs, but which have been left, either because the genius was not competent to complete the work, or because paralysis laid the hand low in death; but as we go into God’s great workshop we find nothing that bears the mark of haste or insufficiency of power to finish, and we are sure that the work which His grace has begun, the arm of His strength will complete.

Chuck Swindoll writes

How do we live with worry and stress and fear? How do we withstand these joy stealers?...Let me be downright practical and tell you what I do. First I remind myself early in the morning and on several occasions during the day, 'God, You are at work, and You are in control. And, Lord God, You know this is happening. You were there at the beginning, and You will bring everything that occurs to a conclusion that results in Your greater glory in the end.' And then? Then (and only then!) I relax. From that point on, it really doesn't matter all that much what happens. It is in God's hands. (Laugh Again)

Here are some passages from the OT which teach a truth parallel to that taught in Philippians 1:6:

Ps 57:2 (David speaking) I will cry to God Most High (see El Elyon: Most High God - Sovereign Over All). To God who accomplishes all things for me.

Ps 138:8 (David speaking) Jehovah will accomplish what concerns me. Thy lovingkindness, O Jehovah is everlasting. Do not  forsake the works of Thy hands.

If one takes Paul's statement here as referring to God's work in their salvation process (sanctification), then the verb will perfect undergirds the bedrock truth of the believer's eternal security. God worked a wonderful transformation in the Philippians when He first saved them out of paganism and idolatry. Paul voices no concern that the God Who began that work would desert them now. How comforting and reassuring to know that God is totally committed to the work He began in each of our lives. Every believer can now wear the following button...

 PBPGIFWMY

It means  "Please Be Patient. God Isn’t Finished With Me Yet." Oftentimes when we look in the mirror and deep into our own soul, we may not like what we see, but it's then that we need to recall this great truth that God isn’t finished with us yet.  To be certain we are God's works in progress but our attitude should never be "Let go and let God". Paul presents the balancing truth charging each saint to

"work out your salvation with fear and trembling (Man's Responsibility), for it is God Who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (God's Sovereignty)." (see notes on Philippians 2:12-13)

The good news is that since God isn’t finished yet, we can have great hope. The bad news is that since God isn’t finished with us yet, He won’t allow us to stay the way we are. God will keep chipping away at us until we are conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Some of us have a long way to go. So if you find yourself stuck in the "miry clay" of personal discouragement and defeat (Ps 40:2) be encouraged for God is not finished with you yet. If you’ve been sent to the bench for a personal foul, learn the lesson God has for you and then get back in the game.

KJV Bible Commentary has a well worded comment (See also study of the 3 tenses of salvation):

"The good work has its initiation in regeneration (past) [Past tense salvation]; has its continuation in sanctification (present) [present tense salvation]; and will have its consummation in glorification (future) [Future tense salvation]. In the past there was God’s unchangeable purpose; in the present there is God’s unlimited power; and in the future there is God’s unbreakable promise. This is God’s guarantee for the final preservation and perseverance of the saints. Salvation is all of God." (Dobson, E G, Charles Feinberg, E Hindson, Woodrow Kroll, H L. Wilmington: KJV Bible Commentary: Nelson)

IT UNTIL THE DAY OF CHRIST JESUS: achri hemeras Christou Iesou: (Php 1:10; 2:16 1Co 1:8; 2Co 5:9 10; see note on "Day of the Lord" at 2Peter 3:10) 

will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return] (Amp)
 

so that you may be ready for the day of Jesus Christ (Barclay)

Day of Christ Jesus (Related Resource - see the chart Comparison of 3 Divine Days) refers to Christ's Second coming (as in Phil 1:10 - see note), to the time of His coming again to take His people home to heaven and probably also includes the Judgment Seat of Christ, when service for Him will be reviewed and rewarded. This coming day is referred to as the day of our Lord Jesus Christ (1Cor 1:8) This phrase is not to be confused with the Day of the Lord (Click).  Paul never sets the time for the Lord’s return, but he is cheered by that "blessed hope" (Titus 2:13-note), the period of blessing most likely beginning with the rapture of the church.

C H Spurgeon (Spurgeon, C., & Clarke, R. H. Beside Still Waters : Words of Comfort for the Soul. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers)  once said that...
 

Every Christian will in time have spiritual cares. Jesus Christ has begotten us again to a living hope (see note 1 Peter 1:3), but you fear your faith will die. You hope that you have some spark of spiritual joy, but dark and dreary nights lower over you and you fear that your lamp will die out in darkness. You have been victorious, but you tremble that one day you might fall by the hand of the enemy.
 

Listen to me. Cast all your care upon Him, for He cares for you (1Pe 5:7-note). I am confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ (Phil 1:6). “He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’ ” (He 13:5-note). “The mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,’ says the Lord , who has mercy on you” (Isa 54:10). “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you” (Isaiah 43:2).
 

“The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Ps. 84:11). “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:28, 29).

Why, I might keep you here all day repeating the precious promises of God! I close by saying:

What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You who unto Jesus for refuge hath fled?
(Play the hymn "How Firm a Foundation")

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 ILLUSTRATIONS

Miracle House - One woman writes, “My engineer husband is meticulous but mild-mannered. While our new house was being built, he would leave notes for the workmen, politely calling their attention to mistakes or oversights. Two weeks before we were to move in, the floors still were not finished; the bathrooms not tiled, nor were necessary fixtures installed. I was sure that the work would never be completed in time. However, on moving day, we found that the house was ready to receive us. Curious as to how this miracle had been accomplished, I went and checked where my husband always left his notes for the workmen. Posted prominently on the living room wall was my husband’s last note: “after September 15, all work will be supervised by 5 children.”” God doesn’t need any motivation. He’s planning on finishing the work He’s begun in you.

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Once someone came on Michelangelo chipping away with his chisel at a huge shapeless piece of rock. He asked the sculptor what he was doing. “I am releasing the angel imprisoned in this marble,” he answered. The things that Jesus is doing in our lives aren’t something already hidden inside of us, He’s doing His own work, a new work in our lives. But He sees where we’re going. He has things in mind for what we are to be.

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The Teacup - An American couple went to Europe, to England and they were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. Both the man and the wife were connoisseurs and fanciers of pottery, antiques and China. When they came to Sussex they went into a Little China shop. Their eyes singled out a beautiful little tea cup on the top shelf. The man said, “Can I see that, that’s the most beautiful tea cup I’ve ever seen. “And as he was holding the tea cup the tea cup begins to speak.

It said, “You don’t understand, I haven’t always been a tea cup. There was a time when I was red and that I was clay. My master took me and he rolled me and he patted me over and over and over. I yelled out “Let me alone “but he only smiled and said, “Not yet”. And then I was placed on a spinning wheel, suddenly I was spun around and around and around.” Stop it I’m getting dizzy,” I said. The master only nodded and said “Not yet” Then he put me in an oven, I’d never felt such heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn me and I yelled and I knocked on the door and I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips. As he nodded his head he said “not yet.” Finally the door did open “whew”, and he put me on a shelf and I began to cool. “That’s better” I said. And then suddenly he grabbed me and he brushed me and he began to paint me all over. I thought I would suffocate, I thought I would gag, the fumes were horrible. And he just smiled and said, “Not yet”. And then suddenly he put me back into an oven, not the first one but one twice as hot, and I knew that I was going to suffocate. And I begged and I screamed and I yelled, and all the time I could see him through the opening, smiling and nodding his head, “not yet, not yet. And then I knew that there was no hope, I knew that I wouldn’t make it. I was just ready to give up when the door opened and he took me out and he put me on a shelf .Then an hour later he came back and he handed me a mirror and he said “Look at yourself”. And I did. And I said, “That can’t be me, I’m beautiful!” “I want you to remember,” he then said, “I know that it hurt to be rolled and to be patted but if I would have left you, you would have dried out. And I know that it made you dizzy to spin you around and around on a spinning wheel but if I had stopped you would have crumbled. And I know that it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven but if I hadn’t put you there you would have cracked. And I know that the fumes were oh so bad when I brushed you and when I painted you all over, but you see, if I hadn’t done that you wouldn’t have hardened and there would have been no color in your life. And if I hadn’t put you in that second oven you wouldn’t have survived for very long. The hardness would not have held. But now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you.”

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From Our Daily Bread:
 

Occasionally when I walk along the beach in Florida, I see the remains of partially built sand castles. Apparently the sculptors got distracted or bored and left their castles unfinished. There is something sad about these ruins. Like the unfinished painting, the half-built house, or the incomplete manuscript, they are a haunting reminder of our human tendency to leave things undone.

In his book Intercepted Letters, William Marshall wrote: "It is a great trial to one who is naturally fond of bringing a thing to comple­tion, to see how many fragments—unfinished bits of life—are left over. He asks himself, `What do I have to show for my labor?' Our trust must be that God will take up what is incomplete and wrap around it His completeness. `He cannot fail."

What a difference between man and God! The Creator always fin­ishes what He has started. All of His masterpieces, planned in eternity past and begun in time, will be brought to fulfillment in eternity future. That's when each believer will be completely conformed to His image.

As we struggle now to be more Christ-like, we can be confident that one day we will reach that goal. God is molding us into trophies of grace, fashioned like His Son. He leaves nothing undone. —P. R. V. (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

The conversion of a soul is the miracle of a moment; the growth of a saint is the work of a lifetime.

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Also from Our Daily Bread a devotional entitled "End Of Construction"

One day Billy and Ruth Graham were driving through a long stretch of road construction. They had numerous slowdowns, detours, and stops along the way. Finally they reached the end of all that difficulty, and smooth pavement stretched out before them. This sign caught Ruth's attention: "End of construction. Thanks for your patience." She commented that those words would be a fitting inscription on her tombstone someday. As a matter of fact, those words fit all of us as believers, because in this life we are "under construction." When we accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, we begin the lifelong process of spiritual growth. The Holy Spirit works in us to remove our selfishness (Php 2:4-note), to renew our thinking (Ro 12:2-note), and to develop qualities in us that are more and more Christ-like (Col 3:5-noteff). Paul described this process as a work of God. He said, "He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). As we travel heavenward, let's cooperate with God's construction of our lives. When His work in us is complete, "we shall be like Him" (1John 3:2-note), perfectly conformed to our Savior's likeness. —V C Grounds (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

More about Jesus let me learn,
More of His holy will discern;
Spirit of God, my teacher be,
Showing the things of Christ to me. —Hewitt

God loves us too much to let us stay as we are.
You might say believers in this present life are always...

As Hitler was mounting his attack against England during World War II, Winston Churchill was asked to speak to a group of discouraged Londoners. He uttered an eight-word encouragement:

"Never give up! Never, never, never give up!"

There will be times when you'll be discouraged in your Christian walk, but you must never, never, never give up. If nothing else, your struggle against sin will cause you to turn to God again and again and cling to Him in your desperation.

What's required is dogged endurance, keeping at the task of obedience through the ebbs and flows, ups and downs, victories and losses in life. It is trying again, while knowing that God is working in you to accomplish His purposes (Phil. 1:6; Php 2:13-note). It is persistently pursuing God's will for your life till you stand before Him and your work is done. —D. H. Roper (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

Perseverance can tip the scales from failure to success.

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JOY STEALERS - Why do many Christians fail to experience real joy, which is listed as a fruit of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 5:22? In his book Laugh Again, Charles Swindoll suggests three common "joy stealers"—worry, stress, and fear. He defines worry as "an inordinate anxiety about something that may or may not occur." (And it usually doesn't.) Stress, says the author, is "intense strain over a situation we can't change or control." (But God can.) And fear, according to Swindoll, is a "dreadful uneasiness over danger, evil, or pain." (And it magnifies our problems.)

Swindoll says that to resist these "joy stealers" we must embrace the same confidence that Paul expressed in his letter to the Philippians. After giving thanks for the Philippian believers (Php 1:3, 4, 5-note), the apostle assured them "that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil 1:6).

Whatever causes you worry, stress, and fear cannot ultimately keep God from continuing His work in you. With this confidence we can begin each day knowing that He is in control. We can leave everything in His hands.

Resist those "joy stealers" by renewing your confidence in God each morning. Then relax and rejoice. —Joanie Yoder (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

Although our joy will wane at times
From worry, stress, and fear,
God keeps on working in our heart
And tells us He is near. —D. De Haan

Happiness depends on happenings;
joy depends on Jesus.

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Every workman takes pride in a project completed and well-done. I thought of this recently when I visited the site of a new house my friend was building. The foundation had been laid, the walls erected, and the wiring and plumbing installed, but the structure still wasn't a house. It needed the finishers. Without the woodworkers, the cabinetmakers, the carpet layers, and the painters, the building was incomplete.

We as Christians need a "finisher" too. The sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, which began at conversion, must continue until the One who began the transformation finishes it. And that can happen only by trusting and obeying Jesus, "the author and finisher of our faith," the One to whom we are being conformed.

God is not the architect of incompleteness. The Bible says, "He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil 1:6). Our part is to stay in fellowship with Him. He'll do the rest. —P R. V (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

Keep in step with God.
He has planned every step of the way.

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RAKU - Some friends gave us a piece of Raku pottery. "Each pot is hand-formed," the tag explained, "a process that allows the spirit of the artist to speak through the finished work with particular directness and intimacy."

Once the clay has been shaped by the potter it is fired in a kiln. Then, glowing red hot, it is thrust into a smoldering sawdust pile where it remains until finished. The result is a unique product—"one of a kind," the tag on our piece insists.

So it is with us. We bear the imprint of the Potter's hand. He too has spoken through His work "with particular directness and intimacy." Each of us is formed in a unique way for a unique work: "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (see sermon  Ephesians 2:10).

But though we are created for good works, we're not yet finished. We must experience the kiln of affliction. Aching hearts, weary spirits, aging bodies are the processes God uses to finish the work He has begun.

Don't fear the furnace that surrounds you. Be "patient in tribulation" and await the finished product. "Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing" (James 1:4).—David H. Roper (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

We are here to be perfected,
Only God our needs can see;
Rarest gems bear hardest grinding,
God's own workmanship are we. —Anon.

 

Charles Simeon...
 

A WORK OF GRACE
Phil. 1:6.

THERE is a just mixture of hope and fear, which every Christian should cherish in contemplating his own experience, and the state of the Church of Christ. On the one hand there certainly is ground for fear, whether we judge from analogy, or from what we behold with our eyes. What multitudes of blossoms are annually cut off by frost! of those that set, how many are blighted by an eastern wind! of those that grow, how many are blown off by storms and tempests! and of those that hang upon the tree, how many, when gathered, prove rotten at the core! Thus it is seen in the religious world; many make a fair show for a little while, and then fall off from their profession: others are blighted, and come to naught: others look well for a season, but are beaten down by storms of persecution and temptation: and of those who maintain their profession to the end, how many will at last be found unsound at heart! But, if this cast a damp upon our joys, and teach us to moderate our expectations, it need not, it ought not, to rob us of all our confidence: for though sound fruit may be blown off from a tree, no sound Christian shall ever be separated from the Lord Jesus. Of this the Apostle was fully persuaded: and, under this conviction, he thanked God for the converts at Philippi, whose sincerity he had no reason to doubt, and of whose perseverance in the divine life he therefore entertained the most sanguine hopes.
To make a just improvement of his declaration before us, we shall shew,

I. When a good work may be said to be begun in us—

It is not an easy matter to draw the line between those high attainments of religion of which we may fall short, and yet be confident that a good work is begun: and those low attainments, which will warrant us to hope well, at the same time that they are by no means a sufficient ground of confidence. But, taking St. Paul for our guide, we trust, that we shall so discriminate, as neither to make sad the heart of the righteous, nor to countenance the delusions of the wicked. Those evidences, from whence he “knew the election” (and, of consequence, the perseverance also) of the saints at Thessalonica, will serve as a sure criterion whereby to judge of our own state. We may be assured then that a good work is begun in us, when faith, hope, and love, shew themselves to have been formed in our hearts; that is,

1. When our faith is operative—

[That faith, which is without works, is dead; and is of no more value that the faith of devils: but the faith which stimulates us to resist and mortify all sin, and to be conscientious in the practice of all duties, is, beyond a doubt, the gift of God, the workmanship of an almighty Agent.]

2. When our love is laborious—

[Our “love is not to be in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth:” nor must it have respect to men’s bodies merely, but to their souls; leading us to consult their spiritual welfare to the utmost of our power, at the same time that we gladly deny ourselves to relieve their spiritual wants. The voice of inspiration assures us that he who exercises such love is born of God.]

3. When our hope is patient—

[The Christian’s hope will have much to try it; but it is to be the anchor of his soul, that shall keep him steadfast in this tempestuous world. He will often experience “fightings without, and fears within:” but beyond and “against hope, he must believe in hope,” saying, “I know in whom I have believed, and that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day.” And every one who has such a lively hope, may be sure that he has been begotten to it by God himself.]

To enter fully into the Apostle’s assertion, we must shew,

II. On what grounds we may be confident that he who has begun this good work will finish it—

If this work were wrought by man, the Apostle would never express such confidence respecting his completion of it; since no dependence can be placed on the stability of man’s virtue. But since he that accomplishes this great work is God, we may be assured, that “he will perform it till the day of Jesus Christ.”

We may be assured of it—

I. From the declarations of his word—

[Numberless are his declarations to this effect, that having once been the “author of a good work within us, he will be the finisher of it.” “He will not forsake his people, because it hath pleased him to make them his people.” He has promised in the strongest possible manner, that “he will never never leave them, never never forsake them.” True, they have many enemies: but “he will suffer none of them to pluck them out of his hands.” Have they manifold temptations? They shall “have none without a way to escape, that they may be able to bear them.” Not even their unbelief shall prevent Jehovah from executing his gracious purposes towards them. As for “Satan, he shall be bruised under their feet shortly.” Through weakness they may occasionally fall: “yet shall they not be utterly cast down.” “God will restore their souls:” and make their very falls the means of augmenting their future caution and stability. The sun may occasionally be covered with a cloud; yet shall it advance to its meridian height: and such shall be the path of all the servants of God: “they shall hold on their way, and their hands shall wax stronger and stronger.” This is the portion of them all without exception, for “it is not the will of our Father that one of his little ones should perish.”]

2. From the perfections of his nature—

[In speaking on this subject, we would proceed with great caution; for we know not what will consist with his perfections: and, if we should presume to speak dogmatically respecting them, we should only betray our own weakness and folly. Yet methinks his wisdom affords us some ground of confidence: for, if he has created us anew, in order that we may shew forth the power of his grace, will he suffer his enemies so to counteract his purposes as to make us only occasions of greater dishonour to him? If only a man should begin to construct a house and leave it unfinished, he would only expose himself thereby to a greater measure of derision: how then would Satan cast reflections on the Deity, if he should fail in accomplishing so great a work as man’s salvation!

In like manner the goodness of God is some ground of hope and confidence. For God has surely never accomplished in us so good a work in order to leave us ultimately to perish under a more aggravated condemnation.

But in speaking of such things which infinitely exceed our comprehension, I can lay no stress on the conjectures of man; nor can I give weight to any thing that does not proceed clearly and immediately from God himself. But in speaking of the truth of God, I feel that I stand on firm ground. God has entered into covenant with us; and has confirmed that covenant with an oath: and has expressly declared that he did so confirm it, that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation who “have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us.” He is as unchangeable in his word as he is in his nature; and “because he changeth not, therefore we are not consumed.” We, alas! are variable in the extreme; but “with him is no variableness neither shadow of turning.” Now if we look into his covenant we shall see that he gives all, and we receive all: and that he engages, not only “not to depart from us, but to put his fear in our hearts that we may not depart from him,” We may be sure therefore that he will not cast off his people, because it hath pleased him to make them his people. If indeed he had chosen any of us because we were holy, or because he foresaw that we should be holy, he might abandon us as not answering his expectations. But he chose us that we might be holy, and predestinated us to be conformed to the image of his Son: and therefore what he has undertaken we may be sure he will perform. It is on this ground alone that we can account for St. Paul’s confidence, in which every one in whom God has begun a good work is fully authorized to join.]
I beg leave now to add a word,

1. Of inquiry respecting the commencement of this work—

[I am fully aware that persons so blinded by self-love as we, are greatly in danger of forming too favourable a judgment of our state: and I must warn all of you that God will not be put off with such a feigned repentance as Ahab’s, or such a partial reformation as Herod’s, or such a hypocritical attachment as that of Judas. Examine then, I pray you, with all imaginable care, respecting the quality of your faith, and hope, and love. Is your faith operative in purifying your heart? Is your love laborious in all kind offices, not to the bodies of men only, but to their souls? And is your hope such as carries you forward through all difficulties towards the attainment of the heavenly prize? Remember, it is no outward work that is here spoken of, but a work in us: and a work which nothing less than Omnipotence can effect. To deceive yourselves in relation to it, is vain, since you cannot deceive the heart-searching God. Be careful then to try your work, of what kind it is; and be satisfied with nothing that does not evidently bear the divine stamp and character upon it.]

2. Of admonition in reference to its continuance—