The Perfecting Work of Patience - He Who Began a Good Work

Is our salvation and sanctification our responsibility, or is it the work of God's Spirit within us? Some will say, "We are to work out our own salvation." (Philippians 2:12) Others will counter with, "It is the Holy Spirit who gives us both the desire and the power" to do that (Philippians 2:13).

Most people agree that salvation is through grace by faith; but believe that we have to work for sanctification (Ephesians 2:8). Yet, the foolish Galatians were reprimanded by Paul for attempting to perfect themselves through their own self-efforts (Galatians 3:1-3).

Paul was amazed that they actually believed they could sanctify their life by their works. Paul constantly reminds the early Saints that nothing in our Christian walk is by works, because then we could boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

God is not interested in our ability, but in our availability to His Spirit. The works of the flesh can only be crucified by the work of the Spirit (Romans 8:14; Galatians 5:16). We live and walk only by the Spirit of God; otherwise, we spin our wheels and end up exhausted (Galatians 5:25).

We boldly claim that we can do all things through Christ (Philippians 4:13); but when we put the emphasis on "we" can do all things, we fail time and again. We pull our self up by our boot straps until they are totally worn off.

This verse is actually saying that we cannot do anything except "through Christ". When we completely capitulate to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to both save and perfect us, we enter God's rest (Hebrews 4:10).

It is the Spirit, not our self-effort, which transforms us from one stage of sanctification to the next (2 Corinthians 3:18). Even the armor of God, which Paul encourages us to wear, is the work of God's Spirit in our life (Ephesians 6:10-18).

God's Spirit transforms our mind to the mind of Christ (Romans 12:2). He also renews our character with the divine nature of Christ (2 Peter 1:4). He who began the work of salvation in us, will continue to perfect us through His work of sanctification (Philippians 1:6).

Prayer:

Father God, we humans do not want to admit that we are helpless without a Savior. We want to believe that even if we cannot save our self, we can attempt to perfect our self through our diligence and self-discipline by obeying Your Word.

Remind us that we can do good works only as we abide in the faith of Christ within us (James 2:17). We could not justify our self by keeping the law and we cannot sanctify our self through self-effort either. Keeping the law never gave us life prior to salvation and there is no way that walking in obedience to the law can perfect us after salvation. Without Your Spirit doing the sanctifying work, we are totally lost and undone.

Thought for the Day:

When we do choose to obey, the desire and ability is generated by God's Spirit within us; God has a perfect plan for our life, and we find it only when we walk in the Spirit each moment of the day. - Ephesians 2:8-10

A Spiritual Overhaul

We receive Christ as our Savior and Lord, but then we have no idea what to do with Him after that! Paul tells us to walk in Him, to sink our roots into Him and to be built up in Him. In this way, He establishes our faith and we abound in Him (Colossians 2:6-7). This has nothing to do with the exercise of self-discipline (Galatians 3:1-3). It has everything to do with the grace and mercy of God. Our only command is to believe (John 3:16-18). Yet, God even helps us in our unbelief (Mark 9:23-25). We do not deserve Christ, but He loved us even while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8).

There are impediments to our Christian walk. Our guilt, our penchant toward sin, our carnal flesh, our pride and willfulness, our fears and doubts all plague us. They build a wall around our spiritual growth. However, over the years, God slowly cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:7-9). He builds our faith by allowing trials in the areas of our deepest fears and insecurities. He whittles away at our pride, and allows us to experience humiliation until we are humbled. We come to realize that we did not earn our salvation and neither can we earn our sanctification (Galatians 3:1-3). God slowly empties us of our self and fills us with all of His fullness (Ephesians 3:19).

Jesus leads us into a walk of intimate fellowship with Himself. He pours His love over us like a waterfall, until we are saturated with His affection and care. He fills us with His joy, holiness and spiritual fruit as we come to a place of abiding in His presence each moment of the day. It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in, through and instead of us (Galatians 2:20). He holds us securely in His everlasting arms. We can depend on Him for all of our needs, even the strength and wisdom to walk in His will moment by moment throughout the day. We walk in confidence in Him as His Spirit directs our paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).

If we are in Christ, we lack no good thing (Psalm 34:10). He lives the Christian life through us. Due to His presence, we deny our flesh, obey His Spirit’s direction and study His Word to show our self approved and not ashamed. We realize that nothing is impossible to those who believe in Him (Luke 1:37). Our life depends upon every Word that ensues from His mouth to our ears (Matthew & Luke 4:4). God grafts us into the Vine of Christ, so that we partake of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). As our thoughts permanently dwell on Him, His living Word transforms our life into the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). 

Prayer:

Father God, even in our times of remorse and despair, You remind us that we are Your beloved children. You breathe hope, peace and joy into our soul regardless of our circumstances (Jeremiah 29:11). You accomplish Your wondrous work in us and for us, as You work all things out for our good (Romans 8:28). We rejoice in Your divinity within us and we thank You for Your presence forevermore (1 Peter 1:4).

Thought for the Day:

We can thoroughly depend upon Christ to fulfill His promises to us both now on this earth and also in eternity.

 

Thank you, Matt Milligan for the use of your photo.
http://www.mattmilliganphotography.com/