Prayer: Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me (Psalms 51:1-3).
God almighty, as we dedicate our lives to you again this day, hear our prayer; forgive us for our sin, cleanse us, and keep us in your arms today. Open doors that have been closed giving us opportunities this day to serve you in a more open and determined manner. In Jesus holy and precious name we pray. Amen.
Main Scripture:
Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6, NKJV).
Associated Scriptures:
Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared (Proverbs 3:25-26).
Cast your cares on the Lord He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall. (Psalms 55:22).
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16).
Correlative Quotes:
When Jesus commands us to do something, he knows we can’t do it unless we’re empowered by him. So, through the Holy Spirit, he joins his life with ours; thus, “Christ lives in me.”[1] – Rick Warren
Now, let’s go back to Philippians. The point that Paul is making in verse 6 is this. “I am confident, assured, persuaded, absolutely convinced of this very thing, that God who saved you and started a noble work” – the word good means noble, and it is a noble work, salvation starts the process of sanctification and brings it to glorification.[2] – John MacArthur
God, by his unrivaled, infinite power, will one day remedy everything wrong about you. Now, you are counted perfect through faith in Jesus. Then, you will be presented perfect — no sin, no shame, no guilt, no doubt, no fear — nothing broken about you.[3] – John Piper
Study:
INTRODUCTION
The “good work” that Jesus has done in the believer is salvation (vs. 6). Salvation is a onetime occurrence that is complete and eternal. When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal savior, through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-10), it is eternal (Romans 8:38-39).
1 John 2:1-2 explains what happens when we sin and ask for forgiveness. It says, “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved” (Romans 10:9-10).
Salvation is initiated by confession with repentance and it is through redemption that the price for sin is paid. Our spirits are ignited by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) which is a gift from God and Inaugurated by regeneration (new birth in Jesus). Titus 3:5 says, “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit”
Regeneration says that something within us was regenerated or brought back to life from what was dead. That something was our spirit. We are triune beings with a body, soul, and spirit. However, before we were reborn our spirit part was dead. It died in Adam (1 Corinthians 15:22).
When we accepted Jesus as our savior and Lord, our spirit was brought back to life in Him; regenerated.
In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” (John 3:3-8).
Regeneration is the result of justification. To be justified means to be made right or righteous in God’s sight; just if I’d never sinned.
The actions of repentance, redemption, regeneration, and justification are all taken on our behalf, through faith by grace, by God. All four actions are of God and all happen at the same time at the point of Salvation. They are simultaneous and at the same time instantaneous.
However, sanctification is not only positional it is progressive. Sanctification is the process by which we become spiritually mature. Philippians 2:12-13 (NKJV) shows us that salvation is not only an instantaneous action by God carried out by His justification and regeneration, it is also an ongoing action. “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
We know that we are saved, rescued from eternal punishment, since we have been justified, regenerated, and positionally sanctified. We see this truth emphasizes in Acts 13:39 (KNJV) where it says, “by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.” However, we still sin (1 John 1:10).
Even after we have accepted Jesus as our personal savior and the Holy Spirit quickens our spirit coming alive within us, we live in a body and have a mind that is flesh and blood. We still are tempted by the desires of the flesh. In a very interesting by difficult explanation of this theological issue in Romans 7 (NKJV), Paul makes this concluding statement, “I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin” (Romans 7:21-25, NKJV).
Paul is explaining that there is a battle within us. That battle is between the flesh and the spirit. Paul says in Romans 7:18-19 (KNJV), “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. Our flesh tempts us to sin and our spirit convicts us of the consequences. So, what is the answer to this conflict within us. Paul says, “I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!” The answer is Jesus. He provides the power, through the Holy Spirit, for us to overcome the temptation of the flesh.
Jesus provides this power to us through the process of progressive sanctification. As we resist temptation we develop perseverance (James 1:3-4) and it is that perseverance that leads to spiritual maturity. This is the picture of progressive sanctification. Perseverance allows us to call upon the Lord for wisdom and the gift of wisdom gives us greater resistance to future trials.
We have been set aside by the perfect gospel message to be the children of God. Since we are the children of God, we have been separated from the power and slavery that comes with the old nature. We no longer must be the slaves to sin with no opportunity to practice righteousness (Romans 6:18). This is “working out our salvation (Philippians 2:12,” this practicing of the holiness of God (1 Peter 1:14-16), this living in the light (1 John 1:9), this living in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-17) is the process, the progression of sanctification at work in our lives.
We belong to Jesus. He sacrificed his life for us. He willingly accepted the punishment for sin for us. Jesus withstood the awesome wrath of God to provide us with salvation. Let us therefore, be sanctified (2 Corinthians 7:1) through growing in the knowledge, truth, and wisdom that God gives to us so freely.
Summary Statement:
We can have confidence in the completed work of Christ in our lives. His death, burial, and resurrection have redeemed us from eternal separation and punishment and has given us instead eternal life. Now that’s grace and mercy in one package. Our salvation opens the door to joy. Joy is a gift that comes because of our salvation. Once we understand this gift we can survive suffering, overcome pain, conquer loneliness, withstand ridicule, and truly enjoy our lives in Christ. Wow!
Lessons within the Lesson:
What happens to unbelievers in Romans 10:9-10?
What, within us, came alive because of our salvation?
Describe the process of sanctification and how it should impact our daily lives.
When does glorification take place and what is the result?
[1] Rick Warren, Christ in you gives you Confidence, Daily Hope with Rick Warren, copyright May 21,2014.
[2] John MacArthur, Elements of Joy, Part 2, Philippians 1:6, gty.org/Resources/Sermons/
50-3, April 24, 1988.
[3] John Piper, Copyright 2015 Desiring God Foundation. Website: desiringGod.org.
[4] Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance
A Few Clouds, 64°