Every Good Work
Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20 – 21 NKJV)
This Scripture is talking about completeness in every good work through the blood of Jesus and the grace of God. The Bible says we are complete in Christ, purified and perfect, yet the Bible also advises us to be complete, pure and perfect. One refers to our inheritance in Christ and the other refers to working out our own salvation with fear and trembling and cooperating with the grace of God.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Philippians 3:12
strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God (Revelation 3:2 NKJV)
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6
Christ who made us complete, purified and perfect in Him also demands perfect works. We can see clearly from this Scripture that it is only God that can make us complete and do what is pleasing in His sight. Paul also struggled with sin and the human nature in trying to please God.
It was not easy for him and it was not easy for Jesus, However their love for God, humility and dependence on God won. They were determined to please God so they sacrificed their own wills, dreams, passions, plans, pleasures, and desires so as to be perfectly yielded to God – they loved Him so much.
Love and desire is the spiritual force that propels the beloved towards the lover. As we realise that only God can purify us through the blood of Jesus, we place all our faith and trust in Him.
So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Romans 7:21
May He who started the good work in us complete it in Jesus name.
Related Images:
We need to go daily back to the cross !!
Thank you for the enlightening response. You are so right. We really need to go back to the cross💕😊🙏
Amen !!
Nice post
Thank you
Very nice. Happy New Year.
Thank you for the lovely comment. Happy New Year. Blessings!❤️😊🙏
Thank you.
yep this is what most people today don’t seem to get – that on the spiritual side of things once one is born again of the Spirit of YHWH that raised Yeshua from the dead, we’re babies in the spirit. In life here, does one be born into adulthood / maturity? No we must advance to it as we move thru stages of infant , toddler, preschooler, pre adolescent, adolescent, then hopefully mature adulthood. In the spirit it’s the same – we’re told in scripture(s) that we’re to grow in our spiritual life and relationship with our Father and our Lord by His Spirit, by the study of His scriptures, by working out salvation daily – taking up our cross and denying our fleshly appetites as well as bringing every thought into submission to Christ. Does it happen overnight so to speak? NO – Paul said as he neared the end of his life, that he didn’t count himself as having arrived yet, but strove on forward to the prize of the high calling awaiting him when he finished this earthly race (is the metaphor he used).
Thank you for such an enlightening comment. So explicit and clear in presentation. So true, we have to keep advancing daily and carry our cross. We just have to keep working out our own salvation to the point of maturity, striving forward to the price of the high calling in Christ. I really love your response. Grace and blessings to you always❤️😊🙏
Pingback: Our Race To The Finish Line | Gitardood's Weblog
When I reblogged this Laurel, I added a preface about my discussion of Heb. 12 yesterday, and the admonition about Esau.
Ok, thank you so much.
sorry for addressing you as Laurel – I momentarily confused you with her our sister blogger @ 50shadesofpissedoff blog
That’s fine, I understand ❤️😊
Pingback: Matthew 9:35-38 – Looking at Jesus our shepherd | Belgian Biblestudents - Belgische Bijbelstudenten