Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Philippians 1:6
His Word
God works in us by the power found in His Word. Since He is the God of the Word, He has power in His Word. Listen to Isaiah, who wrote, “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). The Apostle Paul wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16). Tap into God’s Word and you’ll harvest His work in you.
His Work in Us
Paul tells us that God began a good work in us, and he didn’t begin it only to let it falter before “the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). Jude writes, “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy” (Jude 1:24). Yes, there will be great joy on that day when our work here is done and we enter into the presence of the Lord. We are confident, just as Paul was in writing, “For I sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
His Conviction
God speaks to us through His written Word and works in us during our lives, but the Holy Spirit has a work to do in us as He grows us in holiness day by day. It might not be observable to the naked eye, but over time it gets easier to see. The Holy Spirit is working in us and in our sanctification, which is a lifelong process. That’s calm assurance knowing that God is at work in us.
His Completion
Not one of us will be sinless, but we should sin less over time. I stopped doing a lot of the things I used to do before I was saved, and you can probably say the same thing. God is patient with us until that day of glory when He appears or at the time of our death and we’re absent from the body but present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). I can’t wait for that!
Conclusion
God began the work by His Spirit when we were born again (John 3:3-8). All of our Christian life, we’ll have growing pains. But growth comes from being in His Word; from knowing He’s working in us; and from the Spirit convicting us, growing us, and then taking us all the way home.
