God’s Sovereign Work in His People: Resting in Unconditional Grace (Smith))

If we truly embrace the plain declarations of Scripture, we must acknowledge these foundational truths:

● “It is God who worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13, KJV).

● “Apart from me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5, KJV).

● “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24, KJV).

● “The God of peace… make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ” (Hebrews 13:20 21, KJV).

When these promises are believed with the heart, the popular, man-centered exhortations—“allow Him,” “let God,” “make Him Lord,” “give Him control”—are exposed for what they are: foolish, contradictory, and ultimately unnecessary.

God’s work in His elect is sovereign, unstoppable, and complete. No one can stay His hand. Herein lies the unshakable ground of our hope.

Our failures do not slow Him down. Our obedience does not speed Him up. We are “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10, KJV).

The child of grace will walk in precisely those good works God has eternally appointed—no more, and no less.

Our rest is not merely that God has promised to finish the work, nor even that He is the One performing it. Our deepest comfort lies in this: He Himself creates the desire, forms the will, grants the yielding, and produces the doing—all according to the counsel of His own purpose.

As Job confessed long ago, “He performeth the thing that is appointed for me” (Job 23:14, KJV).

Therefore, we must draw the necessary conclusion: No human condition hinders His work. No human failure retards His progress. No human faithfulness accelerates it.

God has sovereignly ordained not only the final destination—conformity to the image of His Son—but every step of the journey, including our stumbles, our unbelief, and even the bitter taste of our remaining depravity. These very experiences are appointed instruments in His patient, gracious work of growth in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Nothing is left undone. Nothing is contingent. Nothing depends on us.

Our salvation, from first to last, rests solely upon the objective, finished work of Christ alone. In this way Christ receives all preeminence, and no flesh shall glory in God’s presence.

Therefore, with the psalmist we cry: “I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me” (Psalm 57:2, KJV).

By Grace Alone.

Mikal