ASSURANCE OF WHAT GOD HAS DONE AND He WILL COMPLETE
Phil. 1:6
I.BEING CONFIDENT OF THIS. This is strong language. It means to be fully and firmly persuaded or convinced. to persuade. The strong assurance of an objective mind.
LK 16:31 “The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, `Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ "But Abraham replied, `Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ "He answered, `Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ "Abraham replied, `They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, `but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ "He said to him, `If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ "
Acts 17:1-4 “When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ, " he said. Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.
Hebrews 11:13 “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Acts 28:22-24 “But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect. They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. From morning till evening he explained and declared to them the kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe.” It means here that Paul was entirely convinced of the truth of what he said. It is the language of a man who had no doubt on the subject.
II. THAT HE WHICH HATH BEGUN A GOOD WORK IN YOU. The "good work" here referred to, can be no other than religion, or true piety. This is called the work of God; the work of the Lord; or the work of Christ, Paul is confident, not only of what God has done "for" the readers in forgiving their sins, but also of what he has done "in" them; 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God. John 6:28,29. Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." 1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” Paul affirms here that that work was begun by God. It was not by their own agency or will. John 1:13 “children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” It was on the fact that it was begun by God, that he based his firm conviction that it would be permanent. Had it been the agency of man, he would have had no such conviction, for nothing that man does today can lay the foundation of a certain conviction that he will do the same thing to-morrow. If the perseverance of the Christian depended wholly on himself, therefore, there could be no sure evidence that he would ever reach heaven.
III. WILL PERFORM IT. "or, finish." The Greek word means that he would carry it forward to completion; he would perfect it. It is an intensive form of the word, meaning that it would be carried through to the end. It occurs in the following places: Romans 15:28, "when I have performed this;" 2 Corinthians 7:1 "perfecting holiness in the fear of God” ;" 2 Corinthians 8:6 "so he would also finish in you;" Galatians 3:3 “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” Hebrews 8:6 “But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.” 1 Peter 5:9 “Resist him, standing firm in the faith.” The word here means that God would carry on the work which he had begun to completion. He would not leave it unfinished. It would not be commenced, and then abandoned. This would be "finished" only 1. by keeping us from falling from grace. 2. by their ultimate entire perfection.
IV. UNTIL THE DAY OF JESUS CHRIST. The day when Christ shall so manifest himself as to be the great attractive object, or the day when he shall appear to glorify himself, so that it may be said emphatically to be his day. That day is often called "his day," or "the day of the Lord," because it will be the day of his triumph and glory. It refers here to the day when the Lord Jesus will appear to receive his people to himself--the Day of Judgment. We may remark on this verse, that Paul believed in the perseverance of saints. It would be impossible to express a stronger conviction of the truth of that doctrine than he has done here. Language could not be clearer, and nothing can be more unmistakable than the declaration of his opinion that where God has begun a good work in the soul, it will not be finally lost. The ground of this belief he has not stated in full, but has merely hinted at it. It is based on the fact that God had begun the good work. That ground of belief is something like the following.
1. It is in God alone. It is not in man in any sense. No reliance is to be placed on man in keeping himself. He is too weak; too changeable; too ready to be led astray; too much disposed to yield to temptation.
2. The reliance, therefore, is on God; and the evidence that the renewed man will be kept is this:
a. God began the work of grace in the soul.
b. He had a design in it. It was deliberate, and intentional; it was not by chance, or hap-hazard; it was because he had some object that was worthy of his arrangement.
c. There is no reason why he should begin such a work, and then abandon it. It cannot be because he has no power to complete it, or because there are more enemies to be overcome than he had supposed; or because there are difficulties which he did not foresee; or because it is not desirable that the work should be completed. Why, then, should he abandon it?
d. God abandons nothing that he undertakes. There are no unfinished worlds or systems; no half-made and forsaken works of his hands. There is no evidence in his works of creation of change of plan, or of having forsaken what he began from disgust, or disappointment, or want of power to complete them. Why should there be in the salvation of the soul?
e. He has promised to keep the renewed soul to eternal life.
John 10:27-29 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
Hebrews 6:17-20, “Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
Romans 8:29, 30 “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”
"Work" refers to God’s activity in saving them. day of Christ Jesus. His return, when their salvation will be brought to completion (see 1:10; 2:16; 1Co 1:8; 5:5; 2Co 1:14). It is God who initiates salvation, who continues it and who will one day bring it to its consummation. Heb. 12:2, “Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith.”
