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).
When God wants something, He has to start it, and if God wants it completed, He has to complete it. The Bible says, “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it.” HE WILL DO IT HIMSELF, with your cooperation, and that is good news. It is not good news if I have to somehow manufacture strength to exhibit righteousness from my own depravity.
It is impossible that eternal good can come from this world of depravity. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO TAKE SOMETHING TEMPORARY AND DEPRAVED AND MAKE FROM IT SOMETHING ETERNAL. However, God has done this impossible feat in us and for us. We are now the product of God; therefore, we have a tremendous life now and in the future.
He has given something good to His children, but it is up to us to recognize it and to walk it out. We have heard many sermons about what we need to do; however, the time has come that we all need to fix our attention on what Jesus has done for us by the sacrifice of Himself on the Cross. We all look good for a while. However, as the journey continues, we will see our own deficiencies. This is by the design of the Lord. We must come to the end of ourselves before we conclude that God Himself must do the work that He requires of us. We must believe Him and extend our full cooperation.
Whatever we see God do, we can do also. There are a lot of people who are building what will not last, building a life that will not last, building for the here and now. But we have already received the call to an ETERNAL INHERITANCE, and this call is irrevocable. No one can say that God made a mistake when He called someone or that the person was not worthy or did not belong. The Bible teaches us that God does not save a person and then leave that person. Sometimes we might hear someone say, “He used to be saved.” Well, if he used to be saved, he is saved right now. You might ask why? The answer is because God does not do incomplete work. He does not initiate something that cannot be completed! You are a portrait of Christ. You will not be an “unfinished” product. The God we serve says, “I know the thoughts that I think toward you” (Jeremiah 29:11). What kind of thoughts does He have? He has “thoughts of peace and not of evil.” He says, “to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). In other words, there is a future and a hope planned for every believer. The thing you must do is BELIEVE what the Lord has said to you! If a person truly believes God, he or she will live by faith!