Saved and Kept by God’s Grace

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)

One of the greatest assurances that we can ever have as God’s children is this— God will complete what He started in our lives. Isn’t it such a comforting promise from God?

In our daily battles in life as Christians-- trials, sufferings, struggles against sin, fighting for our delight for God and obedience to God, and carrying our cross daily and following Christ, it can be at times disheartening because we see very little progress in our spiritual growth. But Philippians 1:6 gives us this assurance and comfort that no matter how hard it is for us to endure and persevere in our faith, God will not forsake us and will finish the work of grace that He started in our lives.

When Christ saved us, He didn't just save us from our sins, but God also has given us the grace and power to persevere. What God gave us is not just saving grace, but also enabling grace and preserving grace.

This passage in Philippians gives us both assurance and comfort.

We are assured that we are not just saved but also kept until the return of Christ. We are secured in Him. It is as good as done because it is our great God who works in us-- enabling us, sustaining us, and keeping us. Christ's work didn't end at the cross. Even in heaven, He is interceding for us (Romans 8:34).

We are comforted by the fact that it is God's work and not us. We can be confident that we are being preserved and being kept because our enduring and persevering in faith does not rely on us, but on God who started the work of grace in us. Our confidence is not in our ability to continue and persevere in faith but in the effectual work of enabling and sustaining grace that God has lavished upon us, and has been giving us, and will continue to provide for us until the return of Christ.

It is indeed assuring and comforting to know that we are being saved and kept by God's grace through and through. And this should result in us growing in our worship of God and being more and more dependent upon Him in our daily persevering in faith.