“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.”
– Philippians 1:6
Philippians 1:6 is a great verse. The God who begins work completes work. This is talking specifically about our salvation, how when God draws us to Himself, to faith in Jesus, and think of all we’ve prayed according to if you’ve been falling along through Galatians and Ephesians, now in Philippians, sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, seated with Jesus in the heavenly realms, saved, brought from death to life.
Philippians 1:6 Reminds Us of God’s Good Work in Us
Well, God doesn’t do all that to then just leave us alone. No. He has started a good work that He is going to carry to completion. So our justification before God, being made right before God through faith in Jesus leads to sanctification from God, meaning He has begun a process in each of our lives as His sons and daughters, for all who’ve trusted in Jesus. He’s begun a process of making us look more and more and more like Jesus.
He’s conforming us into the image of Jesus. And one day He’s going to bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. What we sometimes call glorification, the time when we are fully transformed into the image of Jesus in a 1 John Three kind of way, when we see Him and we will be like Him, as He is, obviously not divine in the way Jesus is, but we will be fully conformed into His image, free from sin, and all of its effects for that matter, sorrow and suffering and death. Like this is coming for you, Christian, this day of completion.
Philippians 1:6 Should Change Your Life
So how does that change the way you live today? Hopefully it is a reminder to you that God didn’t just work in your life however long ago you came to faith in Jesus and He’s not just going to work in your life in the future one day when He brings you to Heaven. Like God is at work in your life in the present. Today, God is at work. He started that work, a long time ago, actually before you were even born, before the foundation of the world. And He’s still continuing that work today.
And this infuses meaning and purpose, and I believe a holy sense of exhilaration and anticipation into life today. What is God going to do to draw me more into the image of Jesus today? What work does He have for my life today? And for us to say, “God, do it.” God, this work that You have begun in our lives as followers of Jesus, we pray that You would carry it on today. And we say together before You, whatever You desire to do in our lives to make us look more like Jesus, please do it today. Whatever we need.
Philippians 1:6 Should Confirm Us in the Image of Jesus
However, we need to be more conformed in the image of Jesus, whatever You see in our lives, including things we don’t see. God do it. God form our character, transform our hearts and our minds and our desires and our wills and our words and our actions. Make us more like Jesus today. And we pray for the same thing tomorrow and the same thing the day after that and the day after that until this day of completion comes, until this day when we’re fully conformed in the image of Jesus. We can’t wait for that day. We cannot wait, oh God, to be free from sin, to be fully conformed into the image of Jesus.
So come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. We long for that day. And until that day comes, we pray that You would do Your full work in us on a daily basis in every way we need. We trust You, that You who have begun this good work in us are continuing it today, and one day will carry it to completion. All glory be to Your name for this truth in Philippians Chapter One, Verse Six. So help us to be aware of Your work in us today toward this end. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
