Go! And Trust The God Who Finishes What He Starts - Philippians 1:6 Series

Go! And Trust the God Who Finishes What He Starts - Philippians 1:6

Philippians 1:6 (NLT): “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

Introduction: Trusting the Divine Craftsman

Church, have you ever started something and not finished it?

A project? A book? A gym membership? A diet?

We’ve all left things unfinished. But God is not like us.

He is the Author and the Finisher of our faith. When He begins a work—He finishes it. And that is Good News!

Today’s message, “Go! And Trust the God Who Finishes What He Starts,” is a Gospel-centred declaration of the faithfulness of God. The God who saves is the God who sustains—and the God who will glorify. We will explore this promise together, anchored in Philippians 1:6.

Let’s read it again:

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” — Philippians 1:6 (NLT)

1. The Good Work God Begins — Salvation Is His Initiative

The Apostle Paul writes this from prison—a Roman jail cell—yet his confidence is not in circumstance but in God’s certainty. “I am certain,” he says.

The word translated as “began” is ??????µa? (enarxomai) — used only twice in the New Testament, here and in Galatians 3:3. It means a decisive starting point, initiated by another. This reminds us: Salvation is not man’s invention—it’s God’s intervention.

“For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.” — 2 Timothy 1:9 (NLT)

This is grace, friends. Before you could ever reach out to Him, He reached down to you. He began the work. He called. He saved.

A missionary in a remote tribe once shared how the Gospel changed an entire village when the chief understood that God came to him first. Tears flowed as the chief said, “I always thought I must climb to God. Now I see God climbed down to me.”

Max Lucado: “God never writes people off. He rewrites their stories.”

Amen! That’s grace! And grace began a good work in you the moment you trusted Christ.

Do you feel unworthy? Broken? Too far gone? Hear this: God began the work in you—not because of who you are, but because of who He is.

2. The Good Work God Continues — Sanctification Is a Process

Paul says God “will continue His work”—this is sanctification, the process of being made more like Christ.

The word for “continue” is ?p?te??? (epiteleo) — to bring to completion, to perform thoroughly. It’s not a passive watching. It’s active, divine, day-by-day shaping.

“And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” — 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT)

He is shaping us—chiselling, refining, correcting, maturing.

Think of Michelangelo sculpting David. Someone asked him how he created such beauty from a block of stone. He said, “I simply removed everything that wasn’t David.” That’s what God is doing with us—removing what doesn’t look like Jesus.

Tim Keller: “Sanctification is not about perfect performance, but about persistent pursuit.”

Keller reminds us: we’re not earning salvation—we’re responding to it. We pursue holiness not to gain God’s favour, but because we have His favour.

Christian, don’t despair if you’re still struggling. Sanctification is a lifelong journey. God’s not finished with you. He is still at work—in your thoughts, desires, habits, relationships. Trust the process. Trust the Potter.

3. The Good Work God Completes — Glorification Is the Promise

Paul says the work will be “finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

This refers to our glorification—when we will be made perfect, sinless, and complete in Christ at His return.

“Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.” — 1 John 3:2 (NLT)

We will be like Him. That is our hope. We are not just saved from sin—we are saved to glory.

The word te?e??? (teleioó) — to bring to maturity, to consummate, to finish. This is the finishing touch of salvation—the full unveiling of God’s masterpiece.

Charles Stanley: “The Christian life is not a race we run in our own strength—it’s a race we finish by His grace.”

I agree wholeheartedly. If it were up to us, we would all fall short. But the One who saved us will complete us.