Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to Philippians · About this commentary
He Who Began a Good Work
Philippians 1:6
6 being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. · WEB
The confidence is not in the Philippians' persistence but in the character of whoever started the project.
Being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
The subject is God, and both verbs are his. He began it — so the work did not originate in the Philippians' decision — and he will complete it. Nothing in the sentence is contingent on their performance, which is why Paul can be confident rather than hopeful.
The verb for completing means bringing something to its intended end rather than merely stopping.
The terminus is named: until the day of Jesus Christ. The work is not finished at conversion, nor at some crisis of maturity, nor at death; it runs to the coming, the same terminus this letter gives for the body's transformation Philippians 3:21.
And the confidence is stated at the top of a letter written from prison by a man who may not survive his trial. Whatever happens to Paul, the sentence assumes, does not affect who is doing the work in Philippi.
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