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 NASB
Paul’s Confidence
The book of Philippians is a letter from a man named Paul, and if you’ve read it, you know that the writings are not inspired by a scenic mountain view surrounded by beauty and tranquility. Paul is writing this very chapter of the Bible from prison after being arrested for his expressions of faith in Christ.
In his imprisonment, Paul says he is confident.
Paul’s confidence is in His Savior, not someone else’s behavior. You see, Paul says he is confident that the good work that has begun, will be completed. This does not leave room for Paul to place his trust in an unworthy object.
Often our expectations are thrown off track because we place our trust in people, places, money and even ourselves to resolve issues far too big for us. We put all of our eggs in one basket only finding that every plan will fail by our misplaced confidence. Paul shows us that when our confidence and expectant hope is in the Lord, our expectations will always be met. When plans are founded in the Lord, they will always be seen to completion. Why? Because Jesus is a finisher. He is ALWAYS able to overcome.
When my son Camden was at the ripe age of 5 years old, I placed confidence in his ability to take my phone and plug it into the charger. About 15 minutes later, I got up to grab my phone from the place I expected it to be, my bedside table, only to find that it was not there. I called on Camden to answer my very simple question only to find myself going back and forth with him about what he was asked to do. As I’m talking with him, Kanika, my wife, looks at me and says, “Jonathan, you do realize that you’re arguing with a 5-year-old? You gave something valuable to someone irresponsible, and now you’re upset that Camden didn’t value what you valued.”
Camden gave me the look kids get when their moms come in and save the day, but I knew that she was right! How often have we found ourselves placing confidence, trust or expectation in something that was never able to fully value it? Camden didn’t have the tools to finish the task that I gave to him, but Jesus always finishes.
Paul’s confidence comes from Him not them! Paul knows that Jesus would be the only one to have the ability to fully finish what He began in us. If Christ is beginning a work in us, and He has committed to completing it, then we can be confident just as Paul is confident.
In Hebrews 12:2 NASB “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith”
And in Romans 8:28 NASB “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
Keeping our Eyes on Jesus
Paul is confident in this display of love that God would not leave us alone or leave us to lose. If our faith, our confidence and our trust is in a finisher, how can we be worried about the fumbles, interceptions and missed tackles of life?
Every year during the off season I am watching NFL network replay. And every year I have unmatched confidence because I already know upfront how every game is going to turn out. If there is an interception/fumble/missed tackle, there’s no way I’m going to be tripping because I already know the final score of the game. The same is true in life. There are difficult things that happen in life. You may say that I don’t understand, and I could never imagine what you have gone through. But I’m here to tell you that I am gleaning from Paul’s confidence that Jesus is going to finish what He starts.
John 16:33 NASB tells us, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
We have to make Jesus the only worthy object of our confidence because He alone has overcome all tribulation. So I can be confident even when I can’t fully see the full picture. You may be in the middle of tribulation at this very moment, keep your eyes on Jesus. The outcome is always for your good!
Where the Work Begins
You may have read all the way to this point and are dying to know what the good work is that Paul is so confident in. It’s the gospel. The good news of Jesus Christ. That God would send His own Son to die on the cross, that He would be buried and rise again on the third day, to take on the penalty of sin and death and so clear your name and cause you to stand faultless before God for eternity. Not only is this good news promising eternal life with God, it is the means to living an abundant life of freedom here on earth.
This, friends, is an invitation to ask yourself if this good work, this good news, is working in you. This is where the work begins! Let’s look at the verse once more,
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 NASB
The truth is that God is doing all of the work on our behalf, our responsibility is to receive this good work and give ourselves over to a process of becoming all that God created us to be. Can I tell you something? If we will be the men and women God created us to be, we would be leaders, godly spouses, strong role models and more, but the work begins in us.
For even more by Jonathan Evans check out his book Your Time Is Now
“Jonathan Evans was riding the coattails of his father’s relationship with God. The son of a highly accomplished pastor with a huge ministry, he was comfortable and did what he had to do, but he didn’t push himself to figure out his own role or purpose. But as he got older, he realized he needed to do more with his life.
In this book Jonathan uses the Old Testament leader Joshua as a model for stepping up to God’s big call on your life. Before Joshua, Moses was the one who had spoken to God, performed miracles, and stood up to Pharaoh. But now Joshua had to come out to the front. So what did he do? How did he step up? And what steps can you take to seize now for yourself?”
