To Will and To Work for His Pleasure

"For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Phil 2:13)" is one of the most awesome declarations of the Christian life.  When we get home from this life and our eyes are opened, we will see how much and how many times God influenced our decisions and them provided the power to complete the task.  It always reminds me of when I flip on a light switch and the electric company provides the power which makes the light shine.  I turned on the lights but depended on the power to make it happen. 

The interesting thing is that the beginning of that verse is the call to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling."  When we hit verses that don't seem consistent with what we usually think, (in this case that salvation rests on the fact that Jesus has paid it all), it is an opportunity to ask the Holy Spirit to give understanding.  

The theme of Phil 2 is to have the mind of Christ, which is to "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves."  Then Paul further suggests that we "have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, namely to humble ourselves by obedience even if it costs us everything.  The obvious question is how can we do that?  

As a born-again Christian, the Holy Spirit gives life to our spirit, and He literally dwells in us.  John 14 would suggest that the Father and Jesus also make their home in us.  So, since God Himself dwells in us, we have the same power that raised Christ from the dead giving life to our mortal bodies.  Ephesians 1 describes this as "the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe." It is by this power of the Holy Spirit, we are able to submit to Jesus as Lord, or owner and boss of our lives. 

However, we are also made in the image and likeness of God which means that we have free will.  There is a reason why Scripture has statements like "Choose this day whom you will serve," or "whosoever will," or "I set before you, life and death, choose life."   God can do in and through us only what we choose.  

Therefore, going back to our Philippians 2:12 verse, we need an attitude of "fear and trembling" or fear of the Lord that we willingly choose to obey the promptings of the Spirit.  When we submit to what He wills, He gives the power to do it, which, of course, give God pleasure.  Jesus clearly paid for it all, and His words "It is finished" establishes His total redemption forever.  However, to let this salvation have its complete work in us, we need to agree with His thoughts and ways by obeying His will. 

Start fresh today in His mercies which are new this morning, and simply obey the Spirit's leadings.  As you yield your will to His will, God's power is released to work and you will accomplish your purpose, which is to give Him pleasure.  All things were created according to Revelation 4 for His pleasure.  It follows that when God wills and works in us, we will "shine as lights in the world" (Phil 2:15).