Confidence is a very important virtue in life. It is very important that we have confidence in what we do. Without confidence, we will be rendered useless to the people around us as we cannot assure them that we can do what we ought to do.

1. The focus of the Christian’s confidence is his salvation.

In Philippians 1:6, Apostle Paul was referring to the supreme confidence which impacts our eternal life. It has to do with heaven and hell. When he said “(b)eing confident of this very thing,” he was referring back to verse 5 where he spoke about “the fellowship in the gospel.” Thus, the Christian’s confidence concerns his salvation. If the Lord Jesus Christ comes back now, do we have the confidence that we are saved?

Those of us who do not have enough biblical knowledge may doubt our salvation. And the devil may add to it by casting doubts in us. We must be confident about our salvation, even though the devil may keep sowing seeds of doubt in our heart and mind. We must have faith and trust in God. 

2. The object of the Christian’s confidence is Jesus Christ.

Christ (not us) is the One who enables us to be confident that we are saved. He is the One who “hath begun a good work in you,” and He “will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

We must be sure that Jesus has begun the salvific work in us (1 Pet 1:2, Rom 5:5), and that once we are saved, our lives must impact others positively. Our understanding of God’s Word must change the way we live our lives. Jesus will be the One to perform His “good work” in us until we see Him.

3. The completion of the Christian’s confidence in the day of Jesus Christ.

Jesus’ salvific work in us will be completed when we are glorified in Christ, i.e. when we are in our glorified body.

This Christian confidence is given to every truly born-again Christian. We must live a life of righteousness while on earth. God has revealed to us in His Word what the evidences are of a person who is saved. We must study God’s Word so that we can have this confidence that we are saved and are the children of God.