This is one of my favorite verses and, as the title of this entry suggests, I see it as teaching nothing short of the glorious persistence of God. Over the next few days, I would like to journal some thoughts concerning this topic, particularly as it relates to our salvation. You see, the salvation of sinners truly reveals, as nothing else, the persistence of God. That a holy and righteous God would pursue those who are utterly unholy and unrighteous is nothing short of pure grace.
So let me begin today by showing how salvation reveals the character of God, a character that includes persistence.
When we start to contemplate the character of God we are actually studying His attributes. An attribute of God is simply a characteristic or description of God as based upon what is revealed in the Holy Scriptures. I am reminded of what is recorded in Job 11:17, namely that God is infinite:
“Can you discover the depths of God? Can you discover the limits of the Almighty?”
NO! So then, how do we, as finite human beings, understand the infinite God? Well, while it is true that God is infinite and understanding Him in totality is beyond our grasp, it is also true that God is yet knowable; knowable in the sense that it is possible to describe Him by means of His attributes.
All kinds of descriptions and verses might come to mind as we consider the question, “What makes God, God?” What are the characteristics or attributes that show us the Divine essence of the Godhead – Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Some of our descriptions would undoubtedly include that God is:
- Limitless – infinite (1 Kings 8:27; Acts 17:24)
- Eternal – from everlasting to everlasting (Psalm 90:2)
- Self-existent (Exodus 3:14; John 5:26) [I love the way Steven Lawson said it – “He is I AM WHO I AM – never beginning, never ending, never becoming, never improving, never declining.”]
- All-powerful – Omnipotent (Revelation 1:8)
- Everywhere present – Omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-11)
- All-knowing – Omniscient (Psalm 147:4-5; Isaiah 46:9-10)
- Unchanging in His Person – Immutable (Psalm 102:26-27; James 1:17)
Now our descriptions could go on and on. However, no list made would be complete without what is generally considered the attribute of attributes, that quality or characteristic of God that fully sets Him apart, and that is the Holiness of God – God in Holy (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8). The only problem with having a list such as the one just mentioned is that we can easily forget the not so readily apparent attributes of God; qualities that are vitally important to our understanding of God and to His working in our lives that are sometimes overlooked.
In Philippians 1:6 there is just such an attribute. When Paul writes, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6)” we see one of the most essential doctrines of the Scriptures – namely – the perseverance of the saints. The perseverance of the saints is the biblical teaching that no one whom God has brought into a saving knowledge of His Son Jesus Christ will ever be lost or damned to hell – all so brought into this relationship with Jesus will be brought into glory. To put this teaching in a short phrase, “God finishes what He starts.” This is the persistence of God. And Paul begins this whole thought with the phrase, “For I am confident of this very thing…” The word “confident” is from a Greek word that literally means “to persuade to believe.” Paul firmly believes and is strongly persuaded what he communicates about God to his first readers. Paul had confidence in God’s work and this teaches us what Paul believed about God. He believed God to be a completer or finisher of that which He sets out to do. God is persistent and complete. This verse, Philippians 1:6, teaches us at least two things.
1. God never begins a work that He does not intend to finish.
Nothing that God has ever done, was ever half done. He didn’t create half an earth. He didn’t leave man without a helpmate. He didn’t take the Israelites only half-way across the Red Sea. And, God does not bring His people only half-way through salvation. As the author of Hebrews (12:2) recognized, Jesus is both the “author and finisher of our faith.” The Lord is the beginning and the ending, the Alpha and Omega, the instigator and the completer of salvation.
2. When God does a work, God does it all – it is His work.
If we are going to properly appreciate our salvation, we must never forget that “salvation belongs to our God” (Revelation 7:10) and is solely “from the LORD” (Jonah 2:9). Our salvation is dependent upon a gracious and sovereign God to intervene in, seek out, and draw sinners to Himself. If God does not do this, no one would ever be saved, because rather than seeking God, sinners always seeks to go their own way.
Before I examine Philippians 1:6 more closely, let me state the larger biblical framework in which this verse if found. There are a lot of people who take issue with the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. This is due to the fact that many like to think that it is through their own efforts that God accepts them and that even their final salvation is dependent upon their own perseverance or persistence rather than an all-out dependence upon the saving grace of God. Such a thought is not even remotely biblical. The Word of God is clear that our salvation – from start to finish – is firmly in the hands and control of our Almighty God. Consider carefully the following passages that clearly teach this same principle as Philippians 1:6.
John 10:27-29 – “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.”
Romans 8:38-39 – “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Titus 3:5 – “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit…”
Let me close these thoughts pointing to just a few more of the many verses that express this teaching of the perseverance of the saints:
Psalm 138:8 – “The LORD will accomplish what concerns me; Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.”
Hebrews 10:14 – “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”
If we are ever going to understand and fully appreciate the depth and riches of Philippians 1:6, we must first come to understand that our salvation, form start to finish, is the sole work of a great and gracious God working in our lives.
More tomorrow!
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