The Father who dwells in me does his works. (John 14:10)

The working of the Father in him was the source of all the man Christ Jesus did. For us- in our new man, created in Christ Jesus- the unceasing dependence on the Father is indeed our fellowship with God: God Himself working in us to will and to do.( Philippians 2:12-13)

Let us seek to learn the true secret of working for God. It is not that we do our best and leave God to do the rest. It is this: We know that God working His salvation in us is the secret of our working it out. That salvation includes every work we have to do. Our trusting God to work in us is the measure of our fitness to work effectively.

The promises in the Gospels- “All things are possible to him that believeth “(Mark 9:23) and “According to your faith be it unto you” (Matthew 9:29)- have their full application here. The deeper our faith in God’s working in us, the more freely will the power of God work in us, the more true and fruitful will our work be.

Have you really believed that your only power to do God’s work is as one created in Christ Jesus for good works, as one in whom God Himself works to will and to work? Have you yielded yourself to wait for that working? Do you work because you know that God works in you?

Say not that these thoughts are too high. The work of leading young souls to Christ is too high for us indeed, but if we live as little children, believing that God will work everything in us, we shall do His work in strength.

Work, for God worketh in you. Beseech God to show you tHat in all our service, our first care must be the daily renewing of the Holy Spirit.

Andrew Murray

Everything in the Christian life begins with God and the fulfillment and completion of that life is also in God. In Revelation God reveals Himself as the “Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.” This means that everything has its beginning with God and finds its completion in God. In salvation, it was God who first of all provided the means through the sending and the sacrifice of the Son. No human act or involvement brought this provision to pass. In the individual, it begins with conviction by the Holy Spirit. None of us ever consider salvation unless and until the Holy Spirit reveals our sinfulness and our need of a Savior. Then Ephesians tell us that it is God who gives us the faith to receive salvation.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Ephesians 2:8-9

So in essence we might say that God provides the blessing of salvation for us through His own power. He then makes us aware of our need to receive the promise. Then He gives us the gift of faith to believe and receive. And then He works in us in sanctification which has the same process as salvation. As we grow in Christ, the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, God gives us grace to confess that sin, Christ cleanses us with His blood and the work of sanctification is done in us. Our only part is to cooperate with God and allow Him to work in us. Nothing we can do can result in salvation or sanctification for the Bible teaches that “ our righteousness is as filthy rags.” So we then must depend wholly on God to do this work in us.

We believe in the resurrection from the dead and yet we have no power to raise ourselves or others from the dead. We solely rely on the Holy Spirit to do that work in us. We will only receive life, we have no power to generate it on our own. So in resurrection it is totally the work of God bringing us to life.

With each of these; salvation and resurrection, it seems that most Christians have accepted the fact that both are provided through the work of God in Christ Jesus. While there may be those who attempt to trust in their works or morality, most come to the conclusion that these are insufficient to produce lasting results, so we cast our hope on Christ alone. It is in the work of God in other areas that seem to trouble us. Whether it is God working in us as witnesses to those who are in darkness, or in trusting God to provide a need or heal our bodies or to solve a dilemma, we struggle giving up control. The battle for control between our flesh and the work of God is a real one and I dare say that there are none who do not fight it everyday.

So let me ask us some questions to consider:

Of all the things that we can receive from God is the gift of salvation the most important?

Is it easier for God to save us or provide a need for us?

Will it be more difficult for God to raise us from the dead than it is to heal our bodies now?

Is it easier for God to bring us out of sin than it is for God to get us out of a deli a?

Is it easier for God to make us a “new creature in Christ Jesus” or to fill us with the power of the Holy Spirit to make us witnesses?

I think you see where I’m going with these questions. If God has instituted and given us the grace to be saved, will He not also give us grace to believe and receive all His other promises? If God will resurrect us from the dead by His own power, will He not also through that same power bless us, help us, provide for us and heal us? If God worked through Christ, will He not also work through us in His work to make Himself known to the world?

Dr. John Thompson