Thursday, June 02, 2005

Philippians 2:13

Textus Receptus:
ο θεος γαρ εστιν ο ενεργων εν υμιν και το θελειν και το ενεργειν υπερ της ευδοκιας

King James:
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Comments:
God which worketh in you...to do: "Which worketh" and "to do" are the same Greek word, of which the English word "energy" is a transliteration. The source of Christian living is Christian life. Genuine transformation is from the inside out. It does not begin outside. And it does not stop inside. Jesus addresses the impossibility of becoming good as a result of doing right things in Matthew 15:16-20. That cleansing begins on the inside is Jesus' point in Matthew 23:26-27.

both to will and to do: The will to obey God has its origin in God. So does the will to reject God's will and become a waste, as in Romans 8:20.

Expanded Paraphrase:
Your salvation will be apparent because your salvation is real. God is already doing the work in you. And His work makes it possible not only for you to make the right choices, but to live those choices out according to His kindness toward us.

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