Confident

September 11

Isaiah 9-10

Psalm 103:15-22

Proverbs 22:14-16

Philippians 1:1-20

Confident

“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.”  Philippians 1:6 NIV

Being confident of something is to be fully and firmly persuaded or convinced that something will occur.  Paul was not just wishing or hoping that it would happen.  He was not speaking positively about it so that he could will it to be.  He was confident because he knew that it was God that would make it happen and not men. Anything that men are responsible for is subject to changing circumstances and faltering abilities.  We may have good intentions, but we cannot guarantee something will happen because we do not know what tomorrow holds that might change the outcome.  That is not the case with God.  He can see all the things that will happen in the future.  He can plan for those, and we can be confident that anything that He starts, He will finish.  He is perfectly able to do whatever He plans to do and does not begin anything that He does not intend to see to completion. 

The good work He begins in us is our salvation, the work of grace and faith in our hearts.  It is God’s work and not a work of our will or ability.  The transforming of our hearts from dead in our sin to alive in Christ requires almighty power.  He calls us, convicts us, and draws us to Himself.  He knows what circumstances are necessary to make us willing to accept Him.  Once we come to Him, He begins the process of regeneration, sanctification and faith that conforms us into the image of His Son.  This process continues until we breathe our last breath here and come into His presence in eternity.  It is His work in us from the beginning.  We do not have to worry that we will mess up and lose our salvation.  He will not give up on us.  He knows every step of the process He will have to go through to get us “completed.”  “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”  Ephesians 2:10 (ESV) We are His masterpiece.  He is molding us, shaping us, and chiseling away at us to form us into a beautiful piece of art that is pleasing to Him and serves His purposes.  He will continue His work until the day of Christ Jesus.  It is a continual process.  He does not complete His work in us and put us in a museum on display.  He is constantly changing, renewing, and remodeling us.  There is not some point in this life when He finishes His work.  Until we die or He returns to take us all to Heaven, He is continuing to perfect and complete us.  We can rest in the confidence of knowing He is doing a good work in us, and He always finishes His work.