For I am confident of this very thing, that He who begun a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)
As I read this verse, I can observe and see that there are doctrinal implications and practical implications for believers who are at Philippi during that time, and for us, modern-day believers.
For the doctrinal side, I can observe that it talks about aspects of salvation – salvation past, salvation present, and salvation future. The past and the future aspects of salvation are onetime events-they are instantaneous. The phrase “begun a good work in you” refers to salvation past, and the phrase “will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” refers to what this salvation will bring in the future. What is not visible here,apparently, is the present aspect of salvation but is sure implied in the surrounding context. The present aspect of salvation is not an instantaneous event but a process. It is the process of living our Christian life from the time we were saved to the culmination of either of our life here on earth or at the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So the critical question is what we are going to do while awaiting the culmination of our salvation experience. Paul gave us a tip from the prior verses of verse 6. Paul was thanking God every time he remembers the Philippian believers in his prayers for their participation in the gospel, from the time they got saved to the time he was writing this very letter. He further said in the second part of verse 7, “Both in my imprisonment and the defense of the gospel, you are all partakers of grace with me.” Their participation is what is gave Paul joy – seeing the gospel advance even in his difficult predicament.
I believe that Paul gave us a simple encouragement here while waiting for the third aspect of our salvation to take place. Like the Philippian believers of his time, he wants us to be participants in building the kingdom of God through the Gospel-the Good News of salvation. Participation is one of our main thrusts as a church and individual believer of Christ. We are to continue to advance the cause of the gospel in our generation.
The crucial question now is what hinders us from participating? I can list many factors that can contribute to that, but I will leave that to you and the individual readers of this devotion because whoever you are or the reader is –you, or he/she knows the factors that affect him/her personally. You have the option to deal with that right now.
It is my prayer that believers of our generation will indeed become thoughtful participants in the advancing of the precious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ no matter what it will cost.
