Completion

Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21, NKJV).

“You complete me,” has been the refrain of soap opera love affairs and pop singles for generations. It has been the sophomoric declaration of “young love” for longer still, but from the human perspective it is sheer romantic fantasy, a paltry substitute for the true “completion” that can only come through a personal relationship with the living Lord of the Universe.

He created us for deep fellowship with Him, as evidenced by Adam walking with God in the Garden. When rebellion broke that fellowship, God initiated His predetermined plan of redemption, but the immediate impact on our Edenic parents was a realization that without God, each one was woefully incomplete; empty, shattered, alone in themselves as they were never meant to be.

Fortunately, faith in Jesus causes healing of that brokenness, filling that innermost void with the only thing that will truly satisfy: God Himself.

But it does not end there, for the healing must proceed beyond the adolescent yearning (which is only a pale, gossamer shadow of the real thing), to being fully conformed into the image of Christ. This is God's desire and plan. It is the thing that His covenant guarantees. He will not only give us Himself as our exceedingly great reward, but He will make us like Him in purity, beauty, grace and mercy.

He will make us complete.

And this completion is not static or “once and done”. In this life it is an ongoing process of sanctification. In the next, it is best represented by the eternal and inexhaustible pursuit of the glory and manifold wisdom of God. There is no end to His riches in glory, and His desire from the beginning has been to make us heirs so that we can know all of Him that is knowable, and share in His likeness.

Now, it is impossible to earn our way into Heaven by good works. There is no amount of things that we could do to make up for even one of our many sins; to repay even the smallest debt incurred. For the only wage of sin is death. (And death is not a remedy, but a judgment. Nor is death annihilation, as so many atheists desire it to be. It is the eternal punishment due those who continue in willful rebellion against their Creator.)

But once saved, we become endowed with the ability for good works done in the character of God and in the power of the Spirit of God. Until then, that is impossible, and any good works done in our own strength are as filthy rags before a holy God, for they are corrupt from the start since, prior to salvation, we ourselves are incurably corrupt. Everything we do and say in our own strength is tainted and impure, no matter what the outward outcome.

But as His children by faith, He equips us for truly good works so that even a cup of water given to someone in His name is cause for great reward. I believe this is true because His desire has always been for us to manifest His nature in all things, so that whatever is done as a believer surrendered to His will, walking in the Spirit, is by definition good and pure and worthy of reward. It is not the act itself, but the reason and intent behind it.

This is what is meant by His promise to make us complete in every good work, working in us what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ.

By virtue of living moment by moment surrendered to the indwelling Spirit of God, walking in fellowship with Him as Adam was intended to do, everything that we do and say is a manifestation of God, and thereby a “good work which He has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

But do not lose sight of the prerequisite conditions: indwelt by, and surrendered to, the Holy Spirit.

These are no small things. Instead they are supernatural miracles of God transforming us into the image of His Son. And while they are solely His doing, He has ordained that we may exercise the power to resist, for He created us as free moral agencies. He will not compel us to do good or to be like Him. He offers us the choice which we must freely accept by faith.

When we do, He begins that good work in us that renders us complete – in His time, and according to His perfect will.

Until death, or His return finishes that transformation, we will never manifest His character, love, and holiness perfectly, but each instance that we come close advances us toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Finally, there is at least one other similar reference to this process in the New Testament in Paul's letter to the Philippians:

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12, 13, NKJV).

Thus, the ineffable partnership between human effort and godly purpose is seen once more. For the most part, our role is one of trusting surrender. The Lord Jesus supplies the power, wisdom, and ultimately causes the result.