Posted on 09/07/2007 7:09:05 PM PDT by Dahlseide
Philipians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
both to will and to do of [his] good pleasure;
God works in converted men a will to that which is spiritually good; which is to be understood, not of the formation of the natural faculty of the will; or of the preservation of it, and its natural liberty; or of the general motion of it to natural objects; nor of his influence on it in a providential way; but of the making of it good, and causing a willingness in it to that which is spiritually good. Men have no will naturally to come to Christ, or to have him to reign over them; they have no desire, nor hungerings and thirstings after his righteousness and salvation; wherever there are any such inclinations and desires, they are wrought in men by God; who works upon the stubborn and inflexible will, and, without any force to it, makes the soul willing to be saved by Christ, and submit to his righteousness, and do his will; he sweetly and powerfully draws it with the cords of love to himself, and to his Son, and so influences it by his grace and spirit, and which he continues, that it freely wills everything spiritually good, and for the glory of God: and he works in them also to "do"; for there is sometimes in believers a will, when there wants a power of doing. God therefore both implants in them principles of action to work from, as faith and love, and a regard for his glory, and gives them grace and strength to work with, without which they can do nothing, but having these, can do all things: and all this is "of [his] good pleasure"; the word "his" not being in the original text, some have taken the liberty to ascribe this to the will of man; and so the Syriac version renders it, "both to will and to do that", Nwtna Nybud, "which ye will", or according to your good will; but such a sense is both bad and senseless; for if they have a good will of themselves, what occasion is there for God to work one in them? no; these internal operations of divine power and grace are not owing to the will of men, nor to any merits of theirs, or are what God is obliged to do, but what flow from his sovereign will and pleasure; who works when, where, and as he pleases, and that for his own glory; and who continues to do so in the hearts of his people; otherwise, notwithstanding the work of grace in them, they would find very little inclination to, and few and faint desires after spiritual things; and less strength to do what is spiritually good; but God of his good pleasure goes on working what is well pleasing in his sight.
But more than that I was constrained to post this when I read it this AM.
Thank you for posting this! See my tagline...
Wow. I have always marveled at the propensity for Christians to give all things good back to God.
For without him we can do nothing. Surely he has born our sorrows and is acquainted right well with our own grief.
I know in and of myself is no good thing. Thanks be to Christ who has delivered us from this wretched body of death.
Yet we know it when we see it. The divine expression. It surrounds us and keeps us and covers our desperately evil heart of darkness and depression.
We have all had the dream of falling, because all of us have fallen.
I forgot to say...
But he lifts us up and carries us to heavenly places.
The fullness of the Godhead in Jesus Christ bodily.
Yes, thank God for the saints who went before us and the writing that they left to bless us.
Coincides nicely with the Grace Gem for today. The afflictions of the godly.
And they wrote with quill pens & such - simply amazing even at the purely physical level.
Thanks for the URL; took a quick look & I’ll explore later.
Took another look this time at today’s gem. Thomas Watson! another gem.
Truly this is the grace of God in our lives; that God works to bring us to Him.
John Gill is one of my favorite commentators.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
