The Promise of Completion

Philippians 1:6 contains a precious truth, accompanied by a potentially difficult concept to grasp.

“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.”

The precious truth is that God will complete the good work he begins in us. It is the promise that once God saves us and begins the life-long process of making us like Jesus, he will finish the job. There are two implications we can draw from this truth:

1. Our salvation is secure because God has promised to complete the work he starts within us. In other words, once he saves us and gives us new birth, he will ensure that we remain in Christ so that he can complete his work in us.
2. If he starts the work of salvation and completes the work of salvation, then our remaining in Christ is resting entirely upon God’s power. It is not my efforts that keep me saved, it is God’s power that keeps me saved.

For many, number one is not difficult to embrace. Some Christians believe that a person who has been born again can fall away from the faith and lose their salvation, or become what some call carnal believers. I will put my cards on the table here and say I don’t believe in carnal Christians, nor do I believe the Bible supports their existence. Without going into a detailed explanation, let me just say that the Bible describes only two kinds of people: saved and lost; people who love the Lord and people who love the world; people who will inherit the Kingdom of God and people who will not. Read this for a brief, but succinct, explanation from the Scriptures of why there are no carnal Christians. And for those who believe you can lose your salvation, this verse presents an acute interpretive dilemma. How can one lose something that God has promised to complete? Either God is a liar, or it is impossible to fall away from the faith once you have been born again.

Now for the second implication; this one can make your head blow off. Philippians 1:6 describes in very brief terms the process of sanctification. Sanctification is the process which God puts us through so that we will become more like Jesus. The Bible contains several metaphors for sanctification. A particular favorite of mine is that of a refiner’s fire (Malachi 3:3). He burns out the impurities in our life. It is an intentional process where our life is tested by fire, and the things which are impure fall away, leaving a more Christ-like person. God has planned the end from the beginning. We will be more like Christ because he has given us his promise that he will completely transform us.

Here’s where it gets interesting. Where does our responsibility to obey come into play? How does God accomplish the transformation of our lives without violating our will? Let’s be honest. If God forced me to submit, the relationship wouldn’t be a love relationship. Somehow God accomplishes the transformation of our lives and yet at the same time, never forces us to love him and obey him. How? Through the cross, Jesus has purchased for us redeemed affections for God. In other words, when we are born again, the Holy Spirit takes residence within us and brings with him a new heart, new desires, and new affections toward God. Perhaps the most popular verse in all of Ezekiel describes for us what happens in salvation:

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26

The Psalmist explains very clearly that God gives us new desires:

“Delight yourself in the?Lord,?and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

Without the new heart and the new desires we are given, we would never be transformed; thus, in order to transform us, God would have to violate our will. But because believers do receive these new desires and affections toward God in salvation, we genuinely desire to obey him all on our own, and pleasing him becomes our natural desire; thus God accomplishes our transformation with our willing participation. BUT, because God granted us the ability to willingly follow him when we were born again, any transformation we undergo still belongs to God and is from him, and through him and because of him. Believers can trust not only that God has forgave them saved them, but also that he will transform them and continually transform them until they stand before him, just like Christ, in Christ’s righteousness, glorified like Christ, and inaugurated into eternal rest with Christ. What a glorious promise it is!

Brother, sister, if you struggle with sin (and we all do), know that God will complete the good work he began in you. Don’t allow your setbacks and struggles to take your eyes off of the prize. Remember that he has made a promise to bring you to completion. Let this precious knowledge be what sets you free. Paul’s lament in Romans chapter 7 that he continues to sin even though he doesn’t want to (Romans 7:15-24) is immediately followed by these glorious truths in Romans 8:1-6, with which I will conclude:

“1?There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.?[1] 2?For the law of the Spirit of life has set you?[2] free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.?3?For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,?[3] he condemned sin in the flesh,?4?in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.?5?For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.?6?For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” – Romans 8:1-6