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

Who Are You?

Just a quickie. This past Sunday, in our Growth Group, we talked about identity and where it comes from. Who are you and how do you get that identity? The authors of our study contend that identity is not something we make up for ourselves, but rather it is bestowed upon us. In other words, I am known by the things other people identify in me, not by some identity I construct for myself. As believers, we are given an identity in Christ by grace. It is not something we make up for ourselves, but rather God bestows our identity in Christ to us and the body of Christ sees this and confirms it in us. This is how we know our Spiritual gifts, this is how we know our role in the gospel community – it is confirmed by the Holy Spirit, through the body of Christ.

Practically, this means we must not allow our past to label us, we must not allow the history of our relationships define how we relate to our brothers and sisters in the church. The Bible should be what defines how I relate to people, not my history with people. If we allow our history, our past relationships, our experiences, good or bad, to define us, we are not allowing the grace-given identity which God has prepared for us in Christ to shine forth. We must do as Paul says in Philippians 3:13, “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.” Don’t allow what you’ve done in the past to hold you captive. Take a hold of the grace-given identity which God has given you as his child, his new creation!

True Gospel Love and Community

I must be honest. I began studying through Philippians last week with little enthusiasm. I wasn’t excited to study through it like I have been about other books which I’ve studied. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Maybe it was because Philippians doesn’t have any major church messes to address and therefore I felt it might be less instructive. I don’t know. After spending a few days hem-hawing around trying to get excited, I just decided to dive in. I’m pleased to report that I haven’t even finished chapter one and it’s been very rewarding.

The very first thing I was struck by was the relationship which Paul had cultivated with the Philippian people. It was a deep, heartfelt, emotional relationship which existed between them.

3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 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.

From the get-go, Paul makes his feelings clear about the church at Philippi: he loves them deeply. From the moment they believed, they have partnered with Paul in his ministry efforts. Presumably they supported him in every way; through prayer, through financial giving, and perhaps even by helping supply Paul’s physical needs.

However, Paul’s most precious words to them in these opening verses are words of assurance and words of promise. In verse six he reminds them all that God will finish the good work which he began in them. He will see it through and bring it to completion when they stand before Jesus. This should bring hope to all of us that no matter how discouraged we may become as we live in this world that God is ensuring that we will persevere that we will make it to the end and that no matter how we may struggle, how we may fail, nothing will prevent us from being transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

He doesn’t accomplish this by forcing us to obey. On the contrary, even though our transformation is orchestrated by God, it is a willing transformation on our part. Rather than forcing us to obey and violating our ability to choose to obey, he instead gives us new desires which go to war with our old desires. Our old desires are still present and active, but where before they stood uncontested on the throne of our heart, now we have a new heart with new desires and the ability to choose whether or not we will obey God or obey the lusts of our flesh. And because the Holy Spirit resides within us, he gives us what we need in order to overcome the old desires. So it is incumbent on us to make use of the power of the Holy Spirit in choosing to follow our new desires and undergo transformation.

But this isn’t what I came here to talk about. The portion of chapter one which has really got me excited is what comes next.

7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace,[4] both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

It is right for us to have deep affections for each other in Christ. This rings true with Jesus’ command for us to love each other in John 13:

“34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

It is blatantly offensive to our faith when we live in a virtual isolation from fellow believers. And I don’t mean that we wall ourselves up in our homes. There are people who go to church every time the doors open who are isolated in their relationships and lonely. American/Western Christians have a monumental problem. We have forgotten how to truly love each other. True love for each other goes way beyond:

• Prayer groups
• Prayer chains
• Bible studies
• Church meetings
• Giving to missions or charities
• Feeling empathy for someone

While there’s nothing wrong with any of these things, they all can be used as substitutes for real loving community. People hide behind them all the time and insist that they are experiencing loving community, but they have never reached out and invited people into their home, they have never spent time with other believers outside of church activities, so they don’t really know the people who they claim to love. This must change. Deep love means breaking bread together, spending time together, investing in one another in a way that means if one suffers, we all suffer and if one rejoices, we all rejoice.

I am as guilty as anyone of lacking hospitality. I am as guilty as anyone of expressing a form of love that is filled with empty words of well-wishing and empty prayers of unfelt emotion. I want this to change in me desperately. And I believe the Holy Spirit is changing me in this regard, but the change must happen in more people than just me. I’m hoping and praying that God will do a work in me, in my family, and my friends where we insist upon deep, emotional, risky relationships (risky because of the potential for shared pain). This is what Paul had with the Philippians. This is what we should have with each other. This is what Jesus had in mind when he commanded us to love one another.

However, even as great as this love between Paul and the Philippians was, Paul prayed that it would increase. No matter how good we may be at loving each other, as long as we live here, there will be room for improvement. Paul throws in two particular ingredients which we are to add to our growth in love: knowledge and discernment.

Why knowledge and discernment? In verse ten, Paul says it will help us approve what is excellent so that we might stand blameless. The truth is that when we love people, there will always be a temptation to “go soft” on our loved ones when in actuality they may need a swift kick in the pants – in love of course! It is easier to enable a person to sin than it is to warn them and hold them accountable. It is easier to allow someone to go their merry way, especially when they appear to be happy. But if we mix with our love, knowledge and discernment, we will keep each other from blindly stumbling into sin. Community should be built around this! This is the type of community which will cause us to be filled with the fruit of righteousness. This is the fruit which brings glory to God (v 11). So if we don’t live in this type of community, what exactly is the fruit we are displaying?

The best answer I can give you is the fruit of religion. Religious fruit puts people in bondage to rules and regulations. It ministers guilt when we fail and ultimately condemns us in every area of life. It is no wonder that so many have fled the church seeking something which doesn’t bind them up in slavery to performance and condemnation! It’s not that the community of believers shouldn’t take sin seriously, but rather we should be taking Jesus seriously. We should be shifting our focus to Jesus and only Jesus and away from sin and techniques on how not to sin. When sin happens, we should deal with it, but we should deal with it by looking to Jesus and not rules and techniques.

So to sum up, we need to change the way we love each other and it will by necessity cause us to change many other things in our lives. We need to break bread together, we need to know each other on a much deeper level than we can achieve by seeing each other at church or church functions. Paul and the Philippians have demonstrated for us here a gospel-centered, deep, emotional bond which was cultivated as he lived with them and shared life with them on a level which I’m afraid we have yet to experience. May the Holy Spirit grant to us this bond and in doing so bring glory to himself, Jesus, and the Father and cause his church to shine brightly before a lost and dying world so that they may see and believe.