…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.
Have you ever made any spiritual financial investments? What is a spiritual financial investment? If you invest in stocks, that is a secular investment. If you invest in a solid Bible-teaching church, that is a good spiritual investment. If you invest in a church that teaches false doctrine, that is a bad spiritual investment. If you invest in a missionary couple that accurately proclaims God’s Word, that is a good spiritual investment. If you invest in a missionary couple that proclaims a false gospel, that is a bad investment.
The book of Philippians is Paul’s letter to one of his major supporting churches, the church in Philippi.
Philippians 1:6 is a favorite verse for Calvinists. They believe that it teaches the Reformed doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints.
But does it?
I used to think that Calvinists failed to see that the natural understanding of the good work in Phil 1:6 is the financial support of Paul’s gospel ministry by the Philippians, as mentioned in Phil 1:5: “I thank my God…for your fellowship [sharing] in the gospel from the first day until now” (emphasis added). But when I did some additional research, I found that most Calvinist commentators (as opposed to pastors), mention that financial support is, indeed, the natural understanding. They simply reject the natural interpretation.
O’brien writes,
The expression [good work] refers to the new creation that he had begun in them, while their eager participation in Paul’s gospel ministry was not the good work itself, but clear evidence of this work of salvation (The Epistle to the Philippians, p. 64, italics added).
Melick agrees, though he, too, recognizes that their financial support is obvious contextually:
What work had God begun? Referring to the immediate context only, some interpreters prefer to explain it as the support the church gave to Paul. They say Paul meant the “sharing in the gospel.” The rule of context always guides the interpreter, but it is conceivable that Paul may have drawn on the wider context of Christian experience as well. The experience of God’s grace always lay under the surface of Paul’s words. Most likely that is true here since a reference to the support seems awkward. Further, how does the reference to the “day of Christ” relate to their completion of the gift? Did Paul expect them to continue supporting him until the second coming? (Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, pp. 57-58, italics added).
Lenski (a Lutheran) takes the same view, even though it is against the context:
It is to be noted that Paul does not say “the good work” and refer to this fellowship of which he speaks in v. 5. “He who began in you a good work” is perfectly clear; all that God had begun in them was “a good work” because God had begun it, because it was his work. Note that Paul attributes all of it to God alone, not only its beginning but equally its consummation (The Interpretation of St. Paul’s Epistles to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, and to the Philippians, p. 709-10, italics added).
They think that the good work of verse 5 is the work of God in the readers’ lives, whereby they came to faith and began to live for God. Calvinists think this is a promise that progressive sanctification will be successful in every born-again person. In what sense does God complete their sanctification until the day of Jesus Christ? Are the Philippian believers being increasingly sanctified day by day after they have died?
There is no guarantee of success in the Christian life. Not all believers persevere in good works. See Luke 8:11-15. The second soil believed the word of salvation but then fell away. The third soil, choked by cares, riches, and the pleasures of life, bore immature fruit.
See also Luke 19:16-26. The second servant in the Parable of the Minas did not hear, “Well done, good servant.” He got only five cities, not ten, to rule over. The third servant was rebuked by the Lord and will have no rulership in the life to come.
The Calvinist interpretation of Phil 1:6 makes assurance of everlasting life impossible. There is no guarantee that believers will be victorious in their Christian lives.
There are often unintended consequences to bad theology. If a person teaches and believes the Calvinist interpretation of this verse, the consequence is that he is not sure he is born again. He ends up wondering whether he will prove faithful and thus be a “real Christian.” But that is a terrible misunderstanding. God does not guarantee victory in our Christian experience. But He does guarantee that all who believe in Jesus have everlasting life that can never be lost (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:35; 11:26).
We are called to be overcomers in our Christian lives. But that is not guaranteed. This verse is about the ongoing impact of the Philippians’ financial giving.
Did you notice Melick’s question? He asked, “Did Paul expect them to continue supporting him until the second coming?” He understands “the day of Jesus Christ” to refer to the Second Coming. But in the NT (and only in Paul), that expression always refers to the Judgment Seat of Christ, the Bema. Always.
Here is a breakdown of the variations of this expression:
- The day of Jesus Christ (Phil 1:6).
- The day of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor 1:8).
- The day of Christ (Phil 1:10; 2:16; 2 Thess 2:2).
- The day of the Lord Jesus (1 Cor 5:5; 2 Cor 1:14).i
For an explanation of those various texts, see this article.
How can what the Philippian believers did in the first century bear fruit in the 21st century and all the way to the Bema? The answer is simple. Every epistle Paul wrote was in part underwritten by the church in Philippi. Every day, someone teaches from one of Paul’s letters. The believers in Philippi get a cut. And imagine all the believers who came to faith in Christ during the first century due to the Philippians’ financial support, then imagine the cascading effect those believers have had over the past two millennia.ii
We are to realize that the good works we do will have continuing value until the day of Christ Jesus.
Keep grace in focus, and you will long for the day of Christ.
