Philippians 1:6

That he who hath begun (or rather, who began) a good work in you will also (see margin) finish it. — The ground of St. Paul’s confidence in their perseverance is the belief that it was God’s grace which began the good work in them, and that, not being resisted (as was obvious by their enthusiasm for good), He would complete what He had begun. In his view, God’s grace is the beginning and the end; man’s co-operation lies in the intermediate process linking both together. This is made still plainer in Philippians 2:12.

The day of Jesus Christ. — So also in Philippians 1:10; Philippians 2:16, “the day of Christ;” and in 1 Corinthians 1:8, “the day of our Lord Jesus Christ;” in all other Epistles “the day of our Lord” (as in 1 Corinthians 5:5; 2 Corinthians 1:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:2); or, still more commonly, both in Gospels and Epistles, “that day.” As is usual in the Epistles, the day of the Lord is spoken of as if it were near at hand. St. Paul, in the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians (Philippians 2:2, et seq.), declines to pronounce that it is near; yet does not say that it is far away, and only teaches that there is much to be done, even in the development of Anti-Christian power, before it does come. It is of course clear that, in respect of the confidence here expressed, it makes no difference whether it be near or far away. The reality of the judgment as final and complete is the one point important; “the times and seasons” matter not to us.