June 15

For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose. — Phil 2:13 BSB

When God has worked in a person “to will,” and not only worked in them “to will” but also “to do,” when He has made them willing to flee from the coming wrath, willing to be saved by the atoning blood and justifying righteousness of Jesus, willing to be saved by sovereign grace as a sinner without hope, glad to be saved in any way that pleases God—willing to endure affliction, walk the narrow path, take up their cross, and follow Jesus—willing to bear all the troubles and slanders that may come upon them, willing to be nothing and have nothing except what God gives them—and besides working in them “to will,” He also works in them “to do,” giving them faith to believe, hope to anchor in Christ’s finished work, and love that clings to Him with purpose of heart. When all this is done “with fear and trembling,” not with careless presumption or relying on the good opinions of others, not simply following the religion of books or preachers, but as a real and genuine work of the Holy Spirit in their conscience—when they work out with fear and trembling what God has worked in, they arrive at salvation: salvation from the wrath to come, from the power of sin, from empty religion, from the flesh, from Satan’s deceptions, and from the blindness and ignorance of their own hearts. This is God’s salvation because God Himself has worked it in them for His good pleasure.