The Good Work He Began

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”

Philippians 1:6 KJV

A construction site can look worse before it looks better. Walls are opened, old material is removed, and dust settles over everything. Someone who sees only the middle of the work may wonder whether the builder knows what he is doing. Paul looked at believers who were still growing and expressed confidence, not because they had become flawless, but because God had begun the work and would continue it.

God began the work

Salvation begins with God’s grace, not with human improvement. A sinner does not clean himself enough to deserve new life. The Holy Spirit convicts through the Word, the gospel points to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the sinner is saved by grace through faith.

Paul’s confidence rests first in “he which hath begun.” God was not assisting a work the Philippians started on their own. He was the Author of it. That truth removes pride from the past and gives hope for the future.

The work continues

God does not abandon His children after conversion. He uses Scripture, conviction, correction, fellowship, service, and trials to shape them into greater likeness to Christ. Growth may be slow enough to humble us, but slow growth is not the same as no work.

I should not excuse sin by saying God is still working on me. His continuing work calls for my obedient response. The same grace that saves also teaches believers to deny ungodliness and live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.

Confidence without carelessness

Biblical confidence is different from spiritual laziness. Paul later told the Philippians to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling because God worked in them. Divine power and human obedience do not compete. God’s work makes faithful obedience possible.

When the Lord exposes a wrong attitude, He is not destroying His work. He is correcting it. When Scripture presses on a habit I would rather protect, the discomfort may be evidence that the faithful Builder has not walked away from the site.

Until the day of Jesus Christ

The promise reaches farther than the next good week. God’s purpose continues until the day of Jesus Christ. The believer’s final hope is not that personal discipline will hold everything together. The Lord will complete what His grace began.

That future does not make today unimportant. It gives today direction. I can confess failure, rise again, and obey because Christ has not finished with me. I can also show patience toward other believers while refusing to call their sin acceptable.