Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
We learn from this verse that the conversion of a soul is the beginning of a “good work.” That really should be encouraging. When we come to Christ, the whole process begins with repentance and the acknowledgement that in us personally there is no “good” thing. However having come to Christ a good work is begun. It is the work of transformation of our character and behavior. The regular word for this in our Bible is sanctification. A little later in the same book of Philippians we find this:
Philippians 2:12-13 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye 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 which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
The description of this good work is given a bit later in our text. Paul characterizes this good work with these three descriptions of God’s people. First we find that these folks are humble and meek, they possess a servant attitude. Second we see that these delightful people become defenders of the faith and third we find that the lives of these folks serve as a confirmation of the truth of the gospel.
So, we find that those who found themselves worthless (the reality of repentance) have now become a very valuable asset in God’s hands to accomplish good things in this world. What a blessing it is to be the people of God.
