by David Gibson<\/p>\n
“And I am sure of this<\/em>,” Paul wrote, “that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ<\/em>” (Philippians 1:6).<\/p>\n If we belong to Christ and grow in him, each of us is a work in progress. God is currently at work transforming us into the image of his Son. He is enabling us to overcome this world and enjoy the next.\u00a0He is shaping us for glory. This process involves exchanging our sinful attitudes and habits for qualities in harmony with the Spirit (Romans 8:5-13; Galatians 5:19-23; II Peter 1:4-11).<\/p>\n When Paul wrote the Philippians, think about the tremendous changes he had undergone. He now exalts Jesus, whose followers he had previously persecuted (Philippians 3:6-11).\u00a0Before his conversion, he would never have addressed Gentiles as “my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown . . .<\/em>” (Philippians 4:1).\u00a0He no longer tries to attain “a righteousness of my own that comes from the law<\/em>,” but rather “that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith<\/em>” (Philippians 3:9).<\/p>\n The Philippians also made great progress in overcoming their pagan past as they learned to live for others instead of themselves. They had assisted Paul financially (Philippians 4:10-20). Along with other Macedonian Christians, they had given generously to their Jewish brethren in need (Romans 15:26-27; II Corinthians 8:1-5). Their good works resulted from the <\/b>good work God had been doing in them.<\/p>\n God promises to complete the good work he began in us (Philippians 1:6). Unlike us, God always finishes what he begins.<\/p>\n Unthinkable! Unimaginable!<\/p>\n It is just as inconceivable that God would begin a good work in us and not bring it to completion.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by David Gibson “And I am sure of this,” Paul wrote, “that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). If we belong to Christ and grow in him, each of us is a work in progress. God is currently at work…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[383,513],"class_list":["post-84551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-growth","tag-maturity"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":37727,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-greater-progress-of-the-gospel\/","url_meta":{"origin":84551,"position":0},"title":"The Greater Progress of the Gospel","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer One of the highlights of Paul's attitude is that he was always more concerned for the spread of the gospel than for his own personal agenda or safety. He was willing to die for the Lord if it meant that the gospel would be proclaimed and more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Paul-in-Prison-300x207.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":95232,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/gods-job-is-perfection-our-job-is-pressing-on\/","url_meta":{"origin":84551,"position":1},"title":"God’s Job is Perfection; Our Job is Pressing On","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 23, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edwin Crozier What a statement Paul made in Philippians 3:12. He had not already obtained the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Neither was he already perfect. Don't forget Paul's circumstance in writing. He was in prison. For all he knew, he was going to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68758,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/pauls-letters-to-preachers\/","url_meta":{"origin":84551,"position":2},"title":"Paul’s Letters to Preachers","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Keith Sharp In denominational commentaries, the apostle Paul's letters to Timothy and Titus are grouped together as \"The Pastoral Epistles.\" The term \"pastor\" is found only once in the New Testament, in Ephesians 4:11 (KJV, NKJV, ASV, NASV). The word is translated as \"shepherds\" in the ESV. It is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":83126,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/working-together\/","url_meta":{"origin":84551,"position":3},"title":"Working Together","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer The people of God are characterized by work. This is not a drudgery but a blessing demonstrating God's fellowship with His people and His people with one another. Salvation is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), yet God's grace teaches us to \"renounce ungodliness and worldly passions,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Men-Working-300x200.avif","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":38432,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/sacrifice-and-drink-offering\/","url_meta":{"origin":84551,"position":4},"title":"Sacrifice and Drink Offering","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer After Paul encouraged the brethren to do all things without grumbling or disputing so that they could be lights in a dark world, he also wanted to have confidence that, in his own influence, he did not run or toil in vain (Philippians 2:16). He then made\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95222,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/look-to-exemplary-disciples\/","url_meta":{"origin":84551,"position":5},"title":"Look to Exemplary Disciples","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 23, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edwin Crozier I'm sometimes surprised by how Christians talk about the selfishly ambitious teachers in Philippians 1:15-17. The way I hear some people talk about these men is as if Paul were unconcerned about their envy and rivalry. Oh, sure, they should probably do better than that, and they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84551\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Paul Had Grown<\/h2>\n
The Philippians Had Grown<\/h2>\n
What God Starts, He Finishes!<\/h2>\n
\n