Hebrews 13:21, commentary and pictures

God makes believers complete and ready in every good work to do His will by working in them what pleases Him through Jesus Christ, to whom glory belongs forever. This rests on the God of peace bringing again from the dead the Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant established by His death. Those called saints are not yet perfect in character but are striving people in danger of falling, and the promise assures the tempted that God Himself will finish their character and deliver them from the power of sin as they behold the Lord's glory and are renewed in mind by the Spirit. He does this when the will is surrendered and kept on God's side in trusting faith that works by love, taking possession of it and shaping life hour by hour into Christ's likeness with words and actions under divine control. Believers receive it by humbly seeking His guidance, letting brotherly love continue, faithfully doing even little deeds of kindness and duty, training their children for Him, and working for eternity by putting means into His cause.

God's Perfecting Promise

God makes believers perfect in every good work to do His will by equipping, completing and making them ready, working in them that which is well-pleasing in His sight. This perfecting is not self-wrought but is accomplished in believers through Jesus Christ, to whom glory belongs for ever and ever. Those who follow His guidance and service are thus made ready for whatever God calls them to do.

The promise rests on the God of peace bringing again from the dead the Lord Jesus Christ, the great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant. The risen Jesus is that great Shepherd, whose death established the everlasting covenant. The prayer for perfecting therefore stands on covenant ground and on resurrection power.

Connected with this work is Christ's obedience unto death, in which He fulfilled the penalty of the law as the sinner's substitute, making eternal life possible through repentance and faith in Him. His resurrection confirms His victory over death and gives believers hope of resurrection. Those called saints in Christ Jesus are not yet perfect in character but are men and women striving against temptation and in danger of falling, and the verse is assurance for the tempted that God Himself will make them complete in goodness and finish their character to enable obedience.

God has promised through the sanctification of the Spirit to make His people perfect in every good work. This means deliverance from the power of sin and change of character as they behold the Lord's glory, a change that comes through the Spirit and renews the mind.

Receiving and Living Perfection

God equips people for every good work to do His will by working within them what pleases Him through Jesus Christ, and those who follow His guidance and service are made ready for whatever He calls them to do. This work is to be sought humbly, with brotherly love continuing among believers, and with glory given to God through Jesus forever. The prayer rests on God's covenant and on His raising Jesus, the great Shepherd, from the dead.

Jesus takes possession of the surrendered will and works in believers what is well-pleasing in God's sight. The will is broken by falling upon the Rock and is kept on God's side in unwavering profession of faith amid temptation, trusting Christ's everlasting strength and efficiency through faith which works by love and purifies the soul. With tact, wisdom, pity and love He molds human clay as a potter shapes clay into a vessel of honor, transforming believers hour by hour into the likeness of Christ in triumphant dependence on God's strength. God sanctifies and equips people to do His will as His Spirit supplies help, and a living, working faith in Jesus brings words and actions under divine control, with His power working among them in answer to this prayer.

God makes a person perfect in every good work by constant divine aid, with Jesus as helper and the light of life lightening his pathway so its rays reflect upon others, a help needed all the more under urgent cares, heavy burdens and duties. God's work is a perfect whole because it is perfect in all its parts, so conscientious, faithful attention to what the world calls little things makes the beauty and success of life. Little deeds of charity, little words of kindness, little acts of self-denial, wise improvement of little opportunities, and diligent cultivation of little talents allow Christian graces to abound in a person. Where these graces are present and abounding, they equip him for every good work and make him great in God's sight.

In the home, parents are to acknowledge God in all their ways and cultivate the graces of the Spirit, making earnest, united efforts to train their children for Him. They are to keep Bible truth circumspectly, follow on to know the Lord, gather heavenly light into the soul, and communicate the light and knowledge received. When parents awaken to neglected duties and become learners of Christ, they are taught how to do this work acceptably, for God has promised through the sanctification of the Spirit to make believers perfect in every good work. This perfecting calls believers to work not only for time but for eternity by putting means into God's cause and laying up treasure in heaven as enduring substance that will never fail, which flood cannot wash away and fire cannot consume.