Philippians 1:3-6 NIV
“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Read Scripture in Context
Always read Scriptures in context and compare Scripture with
Scripture. Compare this to Eph 2:8-10 and Phil 2:12-13. This is NOT "We do
nothing."
Many people today are teaching that, because “it is by grace
you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the
gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast,” that it means we do
nothing.
But Eph 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in
Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
And Phil 2:12-13 says this, “Therefore, my dear friends, as
you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue
to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in
you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”
So, you see, our salvation comes from God, start to finish,
but we are saved from slavery to sin, and we are saved to do good works, but
they are works of the Spirit which can only be done in the power of God’s
Spirit and never in our flesh, and only as we submit to God and obey his
commands.
But there are two qualifying statements here. The first is, “because
of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” And the second
is like it, for it says, “that he who began a good work in you will carry it
on.”
Partnership in the Gospel
A partnership is an alliance and a cooperation. It means “contributory
help,” “participation,” and “involvement,” etc. It means we have a part. We are
doing something. We are actively involved. We don’t do nothing while our partner
does it all.
And the gospel is not just the story of Jesus’ death,
resurrection, ascension to heaven, and his coming back for us one day. It is
that he died on that cross that we might die with him to sin and live to him
and to his righteousness. He died that we might no longer live for ourselves but
for him who gave his life up for us (1 Pet 2:24; 2 Co 5:15, 21; Eph 4:17-24).
Jesus didn’t die that horrible death on a cross just to save
us from hell and to promise us heaven when we die. He shed his blood for us on
that cross to buy us back for God so that we would not be God’s possession, and
so that we would now honor God with our lives (1 Co 6:19-20).
And he died on that cross to deliver us out of our slavery
(bondage, addiction) to sin so that we would now become slaves (bondservants)
of his righteousness, so that we would now walk (conduct our lives) according
to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh (Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17).
So, if we are partnering in the gospel, continuously, from
beginning to end, we are dying with Christ daily to sin, we are putting on that
armor of God with which to fight off Satan’s evil schemes against us, and we
are walking in obedience to our Lord, submitting to his Lordship over our
lives.
He Who Began a Good Work
This is assuming that it is Him who began the Good Work in
us. Today, especially, we can’t assume that at all. The only way we can know if
it was God who began the good work in us is if the fruit that we bear aligns
with his word and the gospel he and his New Testament apostles taught.
For, the Scriptures make it quite clear that our salvation
from sin means that we die with Christ to sin and that we live to Christ and to
his righteousness. We walk (conduct our lives) now according to (in agreement
with) the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh.
We submit to Christ as Lord, we surrender our lives to him,
and we walk in obedience to his commands. We are not perfect people, but we don’t
use that as an excuse to continue living in sin. For, if we continue living
(walking) in sin (darkness), we don’t have eternal life with God, but we will end
up in the fires of hell, instead.
So, if you are clinging to “being confident of this, that he
who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of
Christ Jesus,” but your “faith” in Jesus was of the flesh, and not of the
Spirit, because you didn’t die with Christ to sin and you are not living to his
righteousness, then you are holding on to a false hope.
For, if Jesus was the one who began the good work in you, it
will be according to what his word teaches is his work of salvation in you. And
it is NOT that you don’t have to repent, obey, or submit to him as Lord. And it
is not that repentance, submission and obedience are “works-based salvation.”
It is that you DO have to obey him, submit to him as Lord,
surrender your life to him, and leave your sinful practices behind you, and
then walk in holiness and righteousness in his power and strength. And then you
continue in that walk until the day that he returns for his bride.
[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:44; Jn 8:31-32, 51; Jn 10:27-30; Jn
14:23-24; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Acts 26:18; 1 Co
6:9-10, 19-20; 1 Co 15:2; 2 Co 5:10, 15, 21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph
4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Heb 3:6, 14-15; Heb 10:26-31; Tit
2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 2:24-25; 1 Jn 5:3]
Full
Release
An
Original Work / April 15, 2012
Walking daily with my Savior
brings me joy.
Loving Father; precious Jesus;
He’s my Savior and my Lord.
Gently leads me; follow Him.
I’ve invited Him within.
Now abiding in His presence,
oh, what peace.
From my self-life
He has brought me,
By His mercy, full release.
Hope and comfort,
peace and safety Jesus brings
When I daily bow before Him;
Obey freely; do His will.
Follow Him where’er He leads.
Listen to Him; His words heed.
Now obeying his words fully,
oh, what love
That He gives me
through salvation,
By His Spirit, from above.
Loving Father; precious Jesus,
He’s my friend.
With my Savior, by His Spirit,
I will endure to the end.
Share the gospel, tell what’s true.
Witness daily; His will do.
Tell the world of how their Savior
bled and died.
On a cruel cross He suffered
So that we might be alive.
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