“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6
This verse of scripture has been a great encouragement to countless believers since the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to include it in the book of Philippians. The two main ideas in this verse are that when God begins a good work in our lives—he is committed to bring that work to completion. As encouraging as this is, there are more treasures of truth to be discovered as we examine the verse in the original Greek.
The word ‘began’ in this verse comes from the Greek word ‘enarchomai.’ This word means to begin, commence or make a beginning. It is a combination of two Greek words, ‘en’ and ‘archo.’ ‘En’ is defined as being inside or within. ‘Archo’ means to begin, rule or reign. These words paint a picture to help us understand the aspects of God’s work. They not only indicate that God’s work takes place ‘inside of us’ —but I also believe that the connection of this word with a root word that means ‘to rule or reign’ is confirmation that the beginning of the good work that God does inside of us is tied to the moment that we surrender to his ‘rule and reign’ in our lives! God’s work is always in total alignment with his vision of what he created us to become and that work/vision will be completed as long as we continue to submit to God’s authority in our lives.
The word in the text for ‘completion’ comes from the Greek word ‘epiteleo’ which carries the meaning to complete, accomplish and perfect. Some bible scholars indicate that this word is actually well represented by the image of an old style pirate’s telescope. Notice that part of the Greek word ‘teleo’ carries some resemblance to the word ‘telescope.’ The reason that this word relates to antique telescopes is because as you extend the telescope out, one stage at a time it eventually reaches its maximum magnification and functions at full capacity. This is an accurate picture of how God continues to work in our lives until we begin to function at the full capacity of God’s Will. So, make up your mind to always cooperate with the work of God in your life and he will continue that work until his Vision for your life reaches its maximum capacity!
