Can God actually be for us?

When we think about God being for us, a belief can be used can be used to support some pretty silly stuff. There is right and wrong, good and evil; but often in the middle of chaos and hidden selfishness with dark motives, we can be fooled. There is a sense in a personal way we can experience God being for us. I for one think we need some encouragement.

I read an encouraging post from Rick Warren about God being for us. He was very positive as he took up the argument of God being for us. When I looked at the scripture I was reading the context and I saw little bit more about the subject. So I thought I share…

http://danielplan.com/blogs/dp/god-is-on-your-side-2/

"12 So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose. 14 Do everything without grumbling and arguing, 15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world. 16 Hold firmly to the message of life. Then I can boast in the day of Christ that I didn’t run or labor for nothing." HSCB

Paul writes here in Philippians 2 some very encouraging words. The true character of Christianity comes out when we are obeying the Lord when nobody's looking. In this case the Philippians mentor is in another location and they are still trying to apply what he thought. Salvation in verse 12 refers to the "active present" where God is delivering us from sin, Satan, the World. 

When we came to Christ, God forgave and saved us from past, present and future sins. When God saves a person and that gives eternal life it is always God who secures salvation. But with the new birth comes a lifelong process in which we continue to grow, and challenged to live like Christ lived. It is in this process that you can see where God is for us. This isn't a bumper sticker that we can put on our car and then go live our life as if God doesn't exist. Nor is it a life of perfection where we never fail and if we do others can throw stones.

If we are living or practicing a life without God, that contradiction, rest assured that if we are a Christian God himself is going to confront us and challenge the lifestyle. The emptiness that would be the reality if we say God is for us and live in a contrary way. 

But isn't it wonderful to see the promise that God is for us. God actually works or enables us to make progress in our spiritual life. HCSB uses the word enabling as does the NRSV. NASB, NKJV uses “works”. The Greek word is “ἐνεργῶν” 1) to be operative, be at work, put forth power 1a) to work for one, aid one 2) to effect 3) to display one's activity, show one's self operative from 1756; to be active, efficient:-do, (be) effectual (fervent), be mighty in, shew forth self, work (effectually in). see GREEK for 1756

When God works in a life that life operates as it should. That life is not dysfunctional, Quite the opposite that life becomes more effective. 

We have all seen lives and maybe ourselves be very dysfunctional. But God is in business of making sinners into saints. If you read Romans carefully you will see that that is the theme of the book. We may have been dysfunctional now are more functional may be how we think of it these days. 

Here in Philippians there is a great promise that God is working in us to grow and mature to love like Christ did and walk (act) like Christ. At the heart of it we are living the moral attributes of God in love and righteousness. In this life it remains a goal, but a goal that we get closer to. There will be times when we are spot on, but God knows he has more work to doing in our life. A victory or pattern of victories he will then move on to a new area that we need work. All the time he is with us in our ups and downs. Keep walking