In writing to the Philippians the Apostle Paul rejoiced in the fellowship in the Gospel which he had experienced with them and then went on to say: “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.” The good work of which he speaks can be none other than the work of grace in the soul. What the Apostle was confident of was that that work would never die but be carried on to perfection.
The Lord is the One who begins a good work in the souls of poor sinners in a day of His mercy and grace. If He did not begin the work it would never have been begun. It is not the work of man but of God. It is God by the power and blessing of His Spirit that effects the great work of regeneration in a sin-darkened soul. It is a work that is wrought secretly in the soul by the mighty power of God and has for its end the bringing of a soul out of the darkness of unbelief into the light and liberty of the glorious Gospel of Christ. When the Spirit of God begins a work of awakening in a soul that person comes to know that he or she has to do with an infinitely holy God who is the sin-hating Jehovah. Before that God the sinner is brought in guilty, convicted at the bar of God and at the bar of his or her own conscience. But the Spirit of God does not leave the soul there but brings it to see the wonder and glory of the provision that is to be found in Jesus Christ by His quickening power. The Holy Spirit causes light to break on the sin-darkened soul and by working faith in the soul enables the soul to lay hold upon the provision made in the Gospel in Jesus Christ. The soul is in this way made alive to spiritual and eternal realities. The darkness which so long reigned in the soul is now dispersed and light prevails. The Lord by His Spirit has lit a candle in that soul which shall never go out. The work of grace wherever it is is indestructible. Many fires cannot quench it. The person is a new creation in Christ Jesus and is an heir of everlasting life. God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined into that soul giving the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. With that revelation the soul is eternally satisfied. The sinner has discovered for himself or herself that God is a sin pardoning God.
But not only is the work begun, it is also carried on. The carrying on of the work, just like the beginning of it is in God’s hands. He it is who undertakes to establish and strengthen the work of grace in the soul, and bring the soul to greater and greater conformity to its glorified Head. The work of sanctification, or of being made holy is carried on by God, the Holy Ghost. How graciously, how tenderly does the Spirit of Grace nurture the work of grace in the soul so that it may bring forth more fruit. It is by applying the Word of God to the soul and conscience that this is done. The Saviour prayed for his disciples: “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth.” It is as the Word is applied more and more to the soul, that the soul is conformed more and more to the image of Christ. The experience of the soul under the sanctifying work of the Spirit of God may be far from concluding that it is a work of grace, for along with a progressive knowledge of the Redeemer, goes a progressive increase in the knowledge of what they are in themselves. An increased sense of sin is not inconsistent with progression in holiness. The greatest saints have experienced much of self loathing in the very midst of experiencing an increase of grace. A desire to be done with sinning has often been a sign in many believers that the work begun in them is nearing completion.
But this work, this good work begun in the souls of poor sinners is not only to be carried on but it is to be perfected. Not till that work is perfected in them can the soul leave the body and depart to be with Christ which is far better. In the moment the work is perfected the soul leaves the body to go to more congenial climes. It is unfit any longer for a sinful world but must take its place in the world where the spirits of just men made perfect are found. They have been made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. What an atmosphere prevails there! There perfect holiness is found and the soul has been perfected to inhabit it. It is a place where sorrow is unknown. It is a place where glory, glory dwelleth, for it is Immanuel’s Land. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love Him.”
The question for each one must be — Has this good work begun in me? Am I an heir of everlasting life? Is the work of grace proceeding apace making me meet for the everlasting inheritance that awaits the children of God in glory?