The Ongoing Work: Embracing God's Sanctifying Power

Introduction

Last week we had to take a hard long look in the mirror and wrestle with a hard truth, “I’m the problem.” We saw how the Holy Spirit convicts us, how godly sorrow or sorrow according to God leads to repentance, and how true repentance produces real fruit in our lives. But then what? After we repent, what happens next?

God does not forgive us and leave us to just figure it out. No, He keeps working. His grace no only convicts and cleanses us, but it also changes us. And that ongoing process is what we call sanctification.

In other words, the gospel doesn’t stop at forgiveness. God doesn’t leave us at the altar of repentance. He walks with us, changing us, and reshaping us to reflect Christ. That’s what sanctification is. That is precisely what Paul celebrates in the Philippians and that is what we see in our text today. This is what happens after repentance and forgiveness.

1. A Joyful Partnership Rooted in the Gospel (Phil 1:3-5)

Philippians 1:3–5 LSB

3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, 5 because of your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.

Paul is writing this letter from the comfort of his chains in Rome, some 800 miles away. It has been some 10 years since Paul had first worked among them but the passing of time had not diminished his love or interest in them.

Notice the language, every time I think of you is somewhat accurate, I think it captures the general idea. The word mneia can be translated as remembrance, memory, or mention. But the entire Greek phrase indicates that very time there is thought or mention of the Philippian church, it is at that time in which he thanks God. This implies that what he remembers about them a reason for thanking God.

Always praying (joyfully) and in every prayer for all, which means every member of their assembly.

But what is curious is the why. What could generate such excitement for the last 10 years. Why is every moment of remembrance filled with thanksgiving?

Paul’s heart is not filled with joy because the Philippians are believers, but because they are active partners in the gospel.

The operative word in verse 5 is koinōnia which here is translated as fellowship that means partnership, mutual investment, shared commitment.

They didn’t just hear the gospel, they believed it, and then they did not just believe it, they joined Paul in living it out, supporting his mission, and embodying gospel transformation.

The Philippians and Paul had become partners in the things of Christ. Last week we saw that conviction leads to repentance, but true repentance bears fruit. The Philippians didn’t just believe the gospel, they partnered in it. That is fruit. Consider…

1 Corinthians 1:9 LSB

9 God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Philemon 6 NIV

6 I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ.

Why is partnership in the gospel important? because it demonstrates buy-in. It makes it more than just lip service. More than lifting your hands, going to church…

James 2:18 LSB

18 But someone will say, “You have faith; and I have works. Show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

Every repentant believer should ask themselves this question:

Am I partnering with the gospel in my daily life? Supporting its mission, sharing it’s truth, embodying it’s power?

Paul’s gratitude isn’t just rooted in their past partnership—but in his confidence in God’s continued work in them. He’s not simply celebrating what they’ve done—he’s trusting in what God is still doing “from the first day until now”.

We’ve spent these weeks confronting sin. But here’s the joy: God doesn’t just expose sin—He transforms the sinner which leads us to verse 6, where Paul makes a bold, comforting, and deeply theological declaration.

2. A Work That God Started and Will Complete (Phil 1:6)

Philippians 1:6 LSB

6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Paul says here, “for I am confident of this very thing” the word he uses here is pepoithōs which is a perfect active participle, which can be translated as having confidence or being confident.

The perfect tense here indicating that the apostle by virtue of divine inspiration had come to a settled conviction earlier and was still confident that this conviction was true. What was he confident and sure about? that God would most certainly continue on to completion the good work He had began in them.

Paul’s confidence is not vested in the Philippians determination, or steadfastness, or irreproachable past. It was not vested in their knowledge or their wisdom but in God, who began, and who also brings to completion. God, who never forsakes the works of His hands.

He who began the good work among them was not Paul and it was not the Philippians themselves by their conversion. God was the one who began the work with convicting them of sin which lead to repentance (sorrow according to God which always results in forgiveness)from that moment the journey initiated by God started.

The beginning was getting saved itself, it was God who began that and not them. But more than that, God continues this sanctification–the ongoing inward transformation that makes us more like Jesus.

This good work is the fruit of divine action and it denotes a wider meaning than the mentioned partnership in the gospel. It denotes a comprehensive work of grace in the heart of the believers which affects both their inner dispositions and their outward activity. It is a union of faith with Christ as well as an activity of faith for His cause.

1 Thessalonians 5:23–24 LSB

23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Faithful is He who calls you, who also will do it.

Romans 8:29–30 LSB

29 Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers; 30 and those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified.

These are not possibilities, these are not probabilities, these are divine decrees, declarations of divine authority.

Isaiah 55:10–11 LSB

10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what pleases Me, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

Jesus is the author and finisher or perfecter of faith (Heb 12:2).

Sanctification is not about perfection today–it is about progress under God’s direction. Rest in His faithfulness, and submit daily to His refining work.

So we’ve seen that God began the work—and that He will be faithful to finish it. But what does that process look like in real life? How do we see the evidence of God’s sanctifying power today? For that, we turn our final point to the second half of our text in chapter 4, verses 15–16, where Paul points to a very practical fruit of transformation.

3. A Fruit That is Evident and Ongoing (Phil 4:15-16)

Philippians 4:15–16 LSB

15 And you yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church fellowshipped with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone. 16 For even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs.

For context, Paul arrives at Philippi, the first city in Macedonia and establishes the Philippian church (Acts 17:1-9). Their spiritual growth was demonstrated in their ownership of the gospel they had received. So much so, that they supported him financially as he went to Thessalonica, and Berea which are also in Macedonia and even after he left Macedonia for Corinth and now in Rome they have not stopped. Their generosity was a product of their spiritual growth.

So here Paul loops back to this evidence of growth. The Philippians gave again and again to support the work of the gospel. Their generosity was not a one–time moment, it was a lifestyle.

Jesus said, ‘Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’ (Matt. 6:21). The Philippians proved where their hearts were—not with words, but with open hands. Their giving wasn't occasional or out of convenience—it was habitual, generous, and Gospel-centered. Their treasure was in the mission of Christ, and their hearts followed. They didn’t just start with gospel partnership, they continued in it.

Sanctification produces transformation in action, including how we handle money, how we give, how we serve. The Philippians’ generosity is evidence of transformation. Sanctification results in visible fruit—not only in personal holiness, but in missional living, sacrifice, and generosity.

John 15:8 LSB

8 “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

Galatians 5:22–23 LSB

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.

James 3:13 LSB

13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good conduct his works in the gentleness of wisdom.

Eventually the other churches in Macedonia reached that level of maturity

2 Corinthians 8:1–5 LSB

1 Now brothers, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, 2 that in a great testing by affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the richness of their generosity. 3 For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, 4 begging us with much urging for the grace of sharing in the ministry to the saints, 5 and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.

Can others see the fruit of God’s work in your life? Do your words, habits, and generosity reflect gospel transformation?

What began as thanksgiving in chapter 1 and matured into generosity in chapter 4 wasn’t man-made—it was the fruit of sanctification. It was evidence that God was working. And the same God who worked in them is working in us. So where does that leave us today?

Conclusion

Last week we said, I’m the problem! We also declared that Christ is the solution! todays confidence is God is working on me! He began the work, he will continue the work, and one day He will finish the work.

2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV

18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son…”

God is not done with you.

Don’t stop at forgiveness—press forward into transformation.

As we approach Resurrection Sunday, let’s remember that Jesus rose not just to rescue us from sin but to raise us into new life.

Romans 6:4 – “Just as Christ was raised from the dead… we too might walk in newness of life.”

Let God change you, Don’t just settle for conviction, lean into transformation. Cooperate with His Spirit. Reflect Christ in action (what you do), word (how you speak) and thought (what you dwell on). Because the One who started the work will finish it.