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:
Parallel translations
- WEB being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
- BSB 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.
- NKJV 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;
- NASB For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work among you will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus.
- NLT And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul is sure that God, who began saving work in the believers, will finish it. Salvation is God's project from start to completion.
Overview
This is a great assurance of the perseverance of the saints: God does not abandon what He begins. The "good work" is His saving and sanctifying grace, which He will carry through to the day Christ returns. Believers' confidence rests not in themselves but in the faithfulness of God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 31
- 1 Th 5:23–24And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Phil 2:13For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
- Eph 4:12For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
- Heb 13:20–21Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
- Ps 138:8The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.
- 1 Pet 5:10But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
- Rom 8:28–30And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
- 1 Cor 1:8Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- 2 Th 1:11Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:
- Heb 10:35Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
- John 6:29Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
- Phil 1:10That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;
- Heb 12:2Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
- Titus 3:4–6But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
- 2 Th 2:13–14But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
- Eph 2:4–10But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
- Jas 1:16–18Do not err, my beloved brethren.
- 1 Pet 1:2–3Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
- 1 Th 1:3Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
- Phlm 1:21Having confidence in thy obedience I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say.
- Phil 1:29For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;
- 2 Th 3:4And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you.
- Col 2:12Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
- 2 Cor 7:16I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things.
- Acts 11:18When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
- Acts 16:14And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.
- 2 Pet 3:10But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
- Gal 5:10I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.
- 2 Cor 9:4Lest haply if they of Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this same confident boasting.
- 2 Cor 2:3And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all.
- 2 Cor 1:15And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before, that ye might have a second benefit;
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Christ at the center
The one who, being in the form of God, emptied himself to the point of death on a cross and was exalted to the name above every name — the joy and prize of the believer.
How Philippians 1:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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