It is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. (Philippians 2:13)
All true disciples of Christ want to live lives devoted to Christ. The problem for many, though, is that they are fixated on behaving better before believing better. Our failures in our walk of faith are not rooted in our behavior, but rather in our belief. What we believe about our salvation determines how we will behave.
Please don’t misunderstand what I am saying here; I am not saying that believing is more important than behaving. Both are important; belief and behavior both matter to God. James, the brother of our Lord, famously warned that faith without works is useless (James 2:20). But we must understand that what we believe determines how we behave, and how we behave demonstrates what we believe.
Maturing in the Christian faith is based on remembering Whose we are and what He has done on our behalf. Our verse for today tells us that God works His work in us, and that work that has already been accomplished by Christ. Philippians 2:12 is also telling us that our behavior is strengthened by a deeper understanding of — and belief in — His behavior on our behalf. The more we believe in the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ, the better we will engage in the works God has given us to do.
Believing better is believing that we are secure in our relationship with Jesus, not because of our faithfulness to Him, but rather His faithfulness to us. When we have that settled in our mind, our behavior will begin to change, and we will start living more and more for the glory of God and the good of others.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 