29. Whereunto I also labour, striving according
to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
We, as orthodox children of God, accept the fact that We
cannot earn our salvation through works, but there is still an
element of our salvation unclear to many. According to this
passage, it is God’s will that brought about our salvation. He
took the initiative in the whole transaction. If there is hope, it
is “Christ in you” He will perfect us, and it is His work to make
us into His image. "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." (Philippians 1:6)
Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from gene-
rations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God
would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery
among the gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in
all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ
Jesus:
(Colossians 1: 26-28)
Everything the Child of God does is through faith in Christ.
For example; Prayer to be effective (effectual) must be with a
sense of fervency (earnest and passionate) accompanied by
righteousness. We know man can be passionate, but no man
among us claims righteousness. “There is none righteous, not
even one.” Romans 3:10
We supply fervency? God must supply the righteousness of
Jesus Christ in us in order to have effectual prayer; prayer
He will answer. He even supplies the other element that is
required, faith. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the
Word of God.” Romans 10:17 When we pray, it must be pas-
sionate and consistent. Righteousness must be apart from
law, supplied by the one who has fulfilled the law, Jesus
Christ. He has met the righteous requirements of the law
through his life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension and
intercession, all on our behalf. When we rely upon our own
righteousness or attempt to gin up righteousness of our own,
we are apart from His grace. This is not acceptable, as it
might provide a platform for boasting. “not of works, lest
anyone should boast...”
(Ephesians 2: 9, Romans 10: 1-5)
Secondly; Although we know we are to be about good works,
the works we do are not ours. In verse 10 of Ephesians 2, we find,
“...For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared before hand that we should walk in
them." Of course we are to be involved in doing good, but the plan
is not ours . Just as our faith and our abilities are gifts from God,
the very ideas and plans we make are not ours, but plans God has
made beforehand, and presents to us in a timely manner. If there
is to be success in any endeavor, the thing belongs to God. This is
why we always give Him credit. Knowing we must give God glory
in everything accomplished, we come to understand the reasons
for giving Him glory. It is His idea; it is His plan; it is His work and
we are in His hands. We supply passion but, looking at the word
closely (fervency) we find it to be related to enthusiasm meaning,
filled with God. In retrospect, can we claim credit for fervency?
I think not. “Christ is all and in all.”
"If any man seemeth to be religious and bridleth not his tongue; but
deceiveth his own self, that man's religion is vain.
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this; To
visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself
unspotted from the world." James 1: 26-27 (kjv)
Give thanks that Jesus Christ has taken it upon Himself to perfect
us and bless the world through us. He is able. Can there be a higher
calling for a people so flawed? He is the blessing, but as he blesses
us, He blesses others through you and me. The blessing must not
stop with us since we are "merely" conduits of His Grace.
As we consider this, we find ourselves to be powerless in the
weightier matters of life. In the words of the Apostle Paul, Romans
8: 32, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for
us all, how shall He not with him also freely give us all things.”
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from
the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of
turning. Of his own will begat He us, that we should be the firstfruits
of his creatures." (James 1:17-18) In Romans 8, we find we cannot
be charged, condemned nor separated from the love of God, because
He justifies, has died, is risen and makes intercession for us at the
right hand of the Father, and we are more than conquerors in Christ,
but not by our on efforts or merit. This Scripture makes a creditable
statement about the sovereignty of God. This is one of the basic
tenets His children hold dearly. “All we like sheep have gone astray;
astray; We have turned, everyone to his own way; And the Lord has
laid on Him, the iniquity of us all.” (Taken from Isaiah 53: 6; read the
entire chapter. Read also Romans 8:35-39, Ephesians 2:1)
Since we are a work of Jesus Christ in progress, incomplete and
imperfect, we do not even know how to conduct ourselves. Romans
8: 19-39; tells us to wait for a revelation, hope for deliverance and
for the adoption and redemption of our bodies. Another issue about
prayer emerges here. We do not know for what we should pray, so
the Spirit of God forms the prayer; God the Son intercedes on our
behalf to God the Father. In this we see the whole thing to be in the
hands of our Lord. Again, He has taken it upon Himself to cause
everything in our lives to work together for our good and His eternal
glory, that we may be conformed to the image of Christ. "...And we
know that all things work together for good to those who love God,
to those who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he
foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his
Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. NKJV
(Romans 8:28-29) For details and clarity on this, read 30-34.
We are called, we are justified and we will be glorified through no
initiative of our own. Ours is but to respond to the call of our Lord,
Jesus Christ. We are honored to be allowed to participate in His
grand plan and purpose and if we take any glory or credit for it, we
must remember; it is His plan, His power, and His righteousness
through Christ Jesus. There are times when I have issue with the
way some view predestination, but the Sovereignty of God can not
be at issue.
Completely at a loss to summarize, thus deferring to Scripture:
“To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory
of this mystery among the gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope
of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every
man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ
Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working
which works in me mightily." (From the pen of the Apostle Paul in
Colossians 1: 27-29, as inspired by the Spirit of the true and living
God.) Most of the Scripture quoted above is from the New King
James translation; nkjv
http://biblicalclarity-don.blogspot.com/2015/01/god-is-sovereign.html
donporter 9.25.12 edited, 3.22.15

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