FRIDAY December 8th
Philippians 1:6
‘And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.’
Because I touched in our previous devotion on us being God’s workmanship, I want to link it to another verse that came from the pen of Paul (or quill?) and it is the verse I have chosen for today. Not only are we to do good works, but God is doing a good work in our lives! And Paul says that he is sure of this, that God will complete the good work he has started at the time when Jesus comes again.
The ESV has a link from this verse to Psalm 57:2 ‘I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.’
The good work that God is doing in our lives is that of salvation, the good work of saving us. This again helps us to understand that our own good works never can save, for salvation is from God alone and through Christ alone. Linked to our salvation is the work of sanctification in our lives. We have touched on this a number of times in previous devotions, but it is good to be reminded.
When we are initially saved, part of God’s good work of salvation in our lives is that we are both justified and sanctified. That is God declares us as not guilty, and we are washed or cleansed in the precious blood, we are declared as righteous and as holy. Justification is a one-time only action, but sanctification is on-going.
Through the work of sanctification God works in our lives through the work of the Holy Spirit through his word to make us more Christ-like and when Jesus comes again and we enter into the glorious presence of God, the good work will be completed, we will be perfected for eternity.
So God’s good work is seen through the purpose he has for each one of us to fulfil and through the process of sanctification that purifies us. That is another reason why going back to the devotions from 1 Peter that we need to play our part in desiring to be holy because God is holy and desiring us to become more Christlike each day.
And Paul says that what God has started he will complete, salvation is a work of God through Christ Jesus from start to finish. It is important to say through Jesus Christ because it affirms what Scripture says and what we have already touched on that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, NO ONE can come to the father except through him, also salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we MUST be saved, (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). And linking in with our text today, from Hebrews 12 which tells us that Jesus is both the author and the finisher of our faith or as the ESV puts it the founder and perfecter of our faith.
It is in the book of Revelation that we read ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, AND to the Lamb!’ (7:10)