The Finished Work of Christ — How a Work Legally Complete Before Time Is Manifested Through Patience, Experience, and Walking It Out
The Finished Work of Christ: AUTHOR
For generations, believers have confessed that the work of Christ is finished—yet many have quietly struggled to reconcile that truth with the realities of growth, patience, resistance, and daily experience. This book was written to bring peace where confusion has lingered, showing how a work fully settled in eternity is not contradicted by time, but expressed through it. What was finished in Christ is not threatened by life—it is lived out through it.
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The Finished Work of Christ: INTRODUCTION
Few truths in Scripture are as liberating—and as misunderstood—as the declaration that the work of Christ is finished. From the Cross, Jesus spoke words that settled the question of redemption forever: nothing was left undone, nothing remained unpaid, and nothing could ever be added. The Finished Work of Christ stands complete, whole, and irreversible in Him.
Yet for many believers, a quiet tension has remained.
If the work is truly finished, why does Scripture speak of patience, endurance, obedience, transformation, and growth? Why does the Christian life still involve learning, resistance, and experience? And why do the apostles speak of walking, reigning, overcoming, and even waiting—if everything has already been accomplished?
This book was written to resolve that tension—not by weakening the Finished Work, but by clarifying it.
The problem has never been with Christ, the Cross, or the Scriptures. The confusion arises when we fail to discern the realms from which God speaks. Scripture speaks from eternity and from time, from decree and from manifestation, from completion and from experience—without contradiction. What is settled in eternity does not disappear when it enters time; it begins to express itself.
The Finished Work of Christ is legally complete before the foundation of the world. Chosen, justified, perfected, and glorified—these realities are spoken in Scripture as settled facts, not future possibilities. God speaks from the realm of origin, where nothing is lacking and nothing is uncertain. From that realm, the work is finished forever.
But the same finished work was also sent into time.
What is settled in eternity must be lived out in life. Not to complete it—but to reveal it. Not to add to it—but to align every realm of human experience with what is already true in Christ. Faith receives the finished work immediately; patience governs how that finished work becomes visible in the soul, the body, and ultimately in creation itself.
This is not a contradiction—it is design.
Walking does not deny grace. Growth does not threaten completion. Experience does not weaken truth. The Finished Work of Christ was never meant to remain a doctrine admired from a distance—it was meant to become a life expressed daily. What was finished in Christ is now lived out through Christ in us.
This book will show how Scripture holds these truths together without tension:
a work settled in eternity,
a life lived in time,
and a reign that continues until every enemy—death included—is abolished.
What was finished did not stop working.
It began living.
And as we learn to discern the difference between eternal settlement and temporal expression, we discover that the Finished Work of Christ does not remove us from life—it fills life with meaning, patience, confidence, and rest.
That journey begins here.
Chapter 1 — Settled in Eternity
The Legal Finished Work Before Time
Before the Christian life is ever lived, it is already settled.
Scripture does not introduce the Finished Work of Christ as something that begins in history, improves through effort, or waits on human response to become secure. It reveals redemption as a reality established in God before time itself began. Long before creation appeared, before Adam breathed, before sin entered experience, the work of Christ stood complete in the eternal counsel of God.
This is where Scripture first speaks.
“The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
— Revelation 13:8
This verse does not describe an event unfolding in time. It unveils a truth settled outside of time. The Lamb was not slain because man fell; man fell within a story where the Lamb was already slain. Redemption is not God’s response to failure—it is His predetermined purpose revealed through history.
The writer of Hebrews confirms this same eternal settlement:
“Although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.”
— Hebrews 4:3
Notice the language carefully. The works were finished—not planned, not proposed, not conditional, not awaiting fulfillment. Finished. Scripture speaks from God’s side first, not man’s. From eternity, not experience. From completion, not process.
Paul echoes this eternal perspective when he writes:
“According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.”
— Ephesians 1:4
We were chosen in Christ before the world existed. Not after belief. Not after obedience. Not after correction. Before creation itself, humanity already existed in Christ in God’s mind. Before Adam was formed from dust, man was known in union. Before death appeared as an enemy, life was already secured.
This is the legal realm of the Finished Work—the realm of decree, verdict, and origin.
Here, Scripture speaks in absolutes:
chosen
justified
perfected
glorified
Paul states this with remarkable clarity:
“Whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified.”
— Romans 8:30
Every verb is past tense. Not because believers have already experienced these things fully—but because God is speaking from eternity, where nothing is uncertain and nothing is in process. In this realm, the end is known from the beginning because the end was settled before the beginning ever appeared.
This is why Scripture can say:
“For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”
— Hebrews 10:14
Perfected forever does not describe moral performance or lived experience. It describes legal standing. It speaks of a verdict rendered in Christ that cannot be improved, reversed, or diminished. The Finished Work is not fragile—it is final.
When Jesus declared from the Cross, “It is finished,” He was not hoping something would become true. He was speaking eternal reality into time. The Cross did not create redemption; it revealed it. What was settled in eternity was made visible in history.
“God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.”
— 2 Corinthians 5:19
Reconciliation was not partial. It was not postponed. It was not tentative. The world was reconciled—not to a future possibility, but to God Himself. The verdict was rendered once, fully, and without remainder.
This is the legal side of the Finished Work, and it must never be diluted.
Nothing can be added to it.
Nothing can be taken from it.
Nothing can threaten it.
The Finished Work of Christ is not waiting on growth to become valid. It does not depend on obedience to remain secure. It does not fluctuate with emotion, experience, or understanding. It stands complete because it stands in Christ.
Yet Scripture does not stop here.
The same Word that speaks of eternal settlement also speaks of patience, walking, endurance, and reign. Not because the Finished Work lacks something—but because what is settled in eternity has been sent into time to be revealed.
The problem has never been that believers affirm too much completion. The problem has been that they stop listening too soon. Scripture speaks from more than one realm, and unless those realms are discerned, truth appears to contradict itself.
What is settled in eternity is not contradicted by experience.
It is expressed through it.
This chapter establishes the unmovable foundation: the Finished Work of Christ is legally complete before time. It stands secure, whole, and irreversible. Nothing in the chapters that follow will weaken this truth. Everything that follows will protect it—by showing how a finished verdict becomes a lived reality without effort, anxiety, or denial.
Before the Finished Work is walked out in life, it must be rested in as settled truth.
That rest is where clarity begins.
And from that rest, the journey into lived experience can unfold without fear—because what was finished before the world began cannot be undone by the world itself.
Chapter 2 — Chosen in Christ Before Time
Identity Established Before Experience
Before the Finished Work of Christ can ever be lived out in life, it must first be known as identity.
Scripture does not present redemption merely as a solution to a problem called sin. It presents redemption as the unveiling of who humanity already was in Christ before time began. Sin, death, and process do not define man’s origin—they define the environment into which that origin was sent to be revealed.
Paul states this with unmistakable clarity:
“According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.”
— Ephesians 1:4
Notice what Scripture does not say.
It does not say we were chosen after belief.
It does not say we were chosen after obedience.
It does not say we were chosen after correction, repentance, or growth.
We were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world.
This means identity precedes experience. Union precedes behavior. Sonship precedes walking. Before humanity ever appeared in history, it already existed in Christ in God’s eternal counsel. Before Adam was formed from dust, man was known in union with the Son.
This is why Scripture consistently speaks of believers not as becoming something new, but as returning to what was always intended.
Paul reinforces this truth when he writes:
“He hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”
— 2 Timothy 1:9
Grace was not given in response to failure.
Calling was not issued after correction.
Purpose was not adjusted because of sin.
Grace was given before the world began.
This destroys the idea that redemption is reactive. God did not look down history, see a fall, and then improvise a solution. Creation itself unfolded inside a grace that already existed. The Finished Work was not shaped by time—time was shaped to reveal the Finished Work.
This eternal choosing establishes something critical: believers do not walk toward identity; they walk from it.
Paul explains this movement beautifully in Romans:
“For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son.”
— Romans 8:29
Foreknowledge does not refer to foresight alone—it refers to relational knowing. God did not merely know about humanity in advance; He knew humanity in Christ. Predestination, then, is not about forcing outcomes, but about securing identity. The image of the Son was not a future aspiration—it was the original design.
This is why the Finished Work can be spoken of in completed terms long before it is experienced.
Identity is not earned through obedience.
Identity is not built through walking.
Identity is not perfected through time.
Identity is received because it was already given.
Paul makes this explicit:
“If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.”
— 2 Corinthians 5:17
The phrase in Christ does not describe effort—it describes location. To be in Christ is to exist inside a finished reality. The new creation is not the result of transformation over time; it is the result of union. Transformation follows identity, not the other way around.
This distinction matters deeply.
When identity is misunderstood, walking becomes striving. Growth becomes pressure. Experience becomes proof. But when identity is settled, walking becomes expression. Growth becomes alignment. Experience becomes revelation.
This is why Scripture can say without contradiction:
“You are complete in Him.”
— Colossians 2:10
Complete does not mean fully experienced.
Complete means nothing is missing at the level of identity.
The believer’s spirit is not under construction. It is not waiting on maturity to become whole. It is joined to Christ, and therefore shares in what He is. This is the unshakable center from which all walking must proceed.
Yet Scripture is careful not to confuse identity with manifestation.
Being complete in Christ does not mean the soul immediately reflects that completeness. It does not mean the body instantly manifests incorruption. It does not mean experience immediately agrees with truth. Scripture never makes those claims. Instead, it preserves order.
Identity is settled first.
Walking follows.
Manifestation comes last.
The error is not in acknowledging walking—it is in using walking to define identity.
This chapter secures the second pillar of clarity: the Finished Work of Christ is not only settled as a legal verdict, but as an eternal identity. Believers are not becoming sons; they are learning to live as sons. They are not striving toward union; they are awakening to it.
Everything that follows in Scripture—obedience, patience, transformation, and experience—rests on this foundation. If identity is not secured before walking begins, walking will always feel like a burden. But when identity is settled in eternity, walking becomes the natural outflow of life.
What was chosen before the foundation of the world does not need to be achieved in time.
It needs to be revealed.
And that revelation does not come through effort—but through the gradual alignment of soul and body with a truth that was already settled before the world began.
With identity now secured, Scripture begins to explain why such a finished, chosen reality would ever be introduced into a world of vanity, resistance, and death at all.
That question leads us forward—into the purpose of process itself.
Chapter 3 — Subjected in Hope
Why a Finished Work Entered Process
If the Finished Work of Christ was settled in eternity, and if identity was established before experience, then a necessary question arises:
Why would God introduce such a finished reality into a world marked by vanity, resistance, learning, and death at all?
Scripture does not avoid this question. Nor does it answer it defensively. It answers it purposefully.
Paul states the reason plainly:
“For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope.”
— Romans 8:20
Creation was not subjected because God lost control.
It was not lowered because sin surprised Him.
It was not cast into process because something went wrong.
Creation was subjected by Him—and it was subjected in hope.
This single phrase guards the Finished Work from misunderstanding. Vanity is not punishment. It is not abandonment. It is not evidence of divine failure. Vanity is environment. It is the realm into which what was already finished would be revealed through experience.
Paul continues:
“Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”
— Romans 8:21
Notice the certainty. Creation shall be delivered. Scripture never speaks of vanity as permanent. It speaks of it as temporary, purposeful, and destined to give way to liberty. Subjection is never the final word—deliverance is.
This reframes the entire story of process.
Process is not God repairing a mistake.
Process is God revealing what was already complete.
A finished work does not avoid process; it enters it deliberately. What is settled in eternity must pass through time in order to be manifested in realms that do not yet agree with truth. This does not weaken completion—it demonstrates its confidence.
Paul brings this into even sharper focus later in Romans:
“For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all.”
— Romans 11:32
This statement stands at the summit of Paul’s theology. God gathers all into unbelief—not to exclude, but to include. Not to condemn, but to reveal mercy without remainder. Mercy is not God’s reaction to failure; it is the revelation of His nature.
In the realm of origin, mercy could not yet be known—because nothing had yet been lost. But God’s purpose was not merely to preserve perfection. It was to reveal Himself fully. Mercy requires a wound to heal. Restoration requires captivity to undo. Redemption requires contrast.
Vanity created the stage upon which mercy would be displayed.
This is why Scripture never presents the fall as the center of the story. The fall is not the revelation—mercy is. Sin does not define God’s purpose; it provides the environment through which God’s purpose is unveiled. Death does not threaten God’s plan; it becomes the last enemy through which life will be shown to be superior.
Seen this way, creation was not lowered into vanity to be discarded—but to be redeemed.
Paul says creation itself groans:
“For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.”
— Romans 8:22
This groaning is not despair. It is expectancy. Creation is not waiting for destruction—it is waiting for revelation.
“Waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God.”
— Romans 8:19
Creation is waiting for what was already settled in Christ to be made visible through the sons. Vanity is temporary. Hope is permanent. Process exists not to delay fulfillment, but to prepare manifestation.
This is where patience enters the story.
Faith speaks from completion.
Patience governs manifestation.
Scripture never presents patience as uncertainty. It presents patience as confidence that what is finished will inevitably appear. Patience does not question the verdict—it waits for its enforcement.
This is why Hebrews exhorts believers:
“For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.”
— Hebrews 10:36
Receiving the promise does not mean earning it. It means seeing what was already given become visible. Promise, in Scripture, is not about possibility—it is about timing.
This guards us from a dangerous misunderstanding.
Process does not mean the Finished Work is incomplete.
Delay does not mean the victory is uncertain.
Experience does not define truth.
Truth defines experience.
What is settled in eternity must now be expressed through time—not because eternity lacks something, but because time does. Time is the realm where truth confronts resistance, where life confronts death, and where completion confronts contradiction.
This is why Scripture never tells believers to escape process—but to understand it.
Vanity is not the enemy.
Death is.
And death is not denied—it is named, confronted, and ultimately abolished.
This chapter establishes a critical boundary: process is not an alternative to the Finished Work. It is the pathway through which the Finished Work reaches every realm that once stood in opposition to life.
What was finished before the foundation of the world did not stop working when it entered time.
It began revealing itself.
And that revelation unfolds patiently—without anxiety, without striving, and without doubt—because the outcome was never in question.
With the purpose of process now clear, Scripture introduces the man through whom time, learning, and mortality would enter human experience.
That man is Adam.
And with Adam, the Finished Work enters the realm where it must now be lived out.
Chapter 4 — Adam and the Entrance of Experience
Where Eternal Settlement Meets Time
With Adam, the story does not begin—it enters time.
Scripture never presents Adam as the origin of God’s purpose, but as the point at which that purpose steps into experience. Adam is not the source of humanity’s identity; he is the doorway through which identity is worked out in the realm of time, soul, and body.
Paul states this with clarity:
“The first man Adam was made a living soul.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:45
Adam is introduced not as spirit-origin, but as soul-life. This distinction matters. Before Adam, Scripture speaks of life settled in Christ beyond time. With Adam, Scripture speaks of life expressed through learning, obedience, contrast, and consequence. Adam marks the transition from eternal settlement to temporal experience.
Paul continues:
“Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:46
This is not a denial of eternal origin—it is an explanation of order in manifestation. What is spiritual exists first in God; what is natural appears first in experience. Adam does not cancel what was already true in Christ; he introduces the realm where it must now be revealed.
Adam is created innocent, not perfected. He is alive, but not yet complete in experience. He is capable of obedience, capable of growth, and capable of learning. In Adam, humanity enters a world where truth must be walked, not merely known.
With Adam comes:
time
instruction
sequence
choice
learning
death as experience
Yet even here, the Finished Work is not threatened.
Scripture never portrays Adam as surprising God, nor does it depict God scrambling to recover control. Adam’s world unfolds exactly as Romans declared—subjected in hope. Death enters experience, but not as final authority. Corruption appears, but not as ultimate reality.
Paul summarizes this movement succinctly:
“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:22
Adam introduces death as an experience. Christ introduces life as destiny. Adam opens the realm of process; Christ guarantees the outcome of that process. Scripture never places these two men on equal footing. Adam introduces condition; Christ secures conclusion.
This is why Scripture never teaches that Adam ruined God’s plan. Adam activates the pathway through which that plan would be revealed. What was settled in eternity now begins its long descent through time—through learning, obedience, suffering, patience, and transformation.
In Adam, God’s language shifts.
He no longer speaks only in absolutes. He begins to speak in commands, warnings, promises, and progressions—not because truth has changed, but because man now lives in a realm where truth must be embodied.
This is where patience becomes necessary.
Faith continues to speak from eternity.
Patience now governs experience.
Adam’s world becomes the training ground where what is already true in Christ must be brought into agreement with soul and body. This does not diminish grace—it reveals its depth. Grace is no longer only declared; it is now applied.
Paul explains this order later with remarkable balance:
“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”
— Philippians 2:12–13
Salvation is possessed before it is worked out. God works within before man walks without. Walking does not create salvation; it expresses it. Adam introduces the realm where salvation must now be lived, not earned.
This guards us from two errors.
The first is denying experience in order to protect grace.
The second is redefining grace in order to explain experience.
Scripture does neither.
It affirms eternal completion and temporal walking—without confusion.
Adam’s story teaches us that experience does not define truth. Truth defines experience. Death appears in time, but it is never allowed to reign eternally. Mortality enters the body, but it is never permitted to cancel destiny.
Adam is not the failure of God’s purpose.
Adam is the doorway into its unfolding.
And because Adam introduces death into experience, Scripture must now introduce the One who enters death voluntarily—not as a victim of process, but as its fulfillment.
The story cannot remain with Adam.
It must move to Christ.
And when Christ appears in time, He does not begin a new work—He reveals the old one.
That revelation reaches its turning point at the Cross.
Chapter 5 — The Cross: Revelation, Not Repair
Where Eternal Completion Enters History
When Christ appears in history, He does not arrive to invent redemption.
He arrives to reveal it.
The Cross is not the beginning of the Finished Work of Christ—it is the unveiling of what was already complete in God. What was settled before the foundation of the world is brought into visibility within time. Calvary does not alter God’s disposition toward humanity; it discloses God’s eternal intention.
Scripture states this without ambiguity:
“The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
— Revelation 13:8
The Cross is not God reacting to Adam’s failure. Adam’s failure unfolds inside a story where the Lamb has already been slain. Redemption does not follow the fall; it precedes it. The Cross does not create mercy—it reveals mercy.
This is why Jesus approaches the Cross without uncertainty. He does not negotiate with the Father. He does not speak as one hoping the plan will succeed. From the Cross He declares:
“It is finished.”
— John 19:30
These words are not faith attempting to become reality. They are eternal reality speaking inside time. The verdict rendered at Calvary is not provisional, partial, or symbolic. It is final.
At the Cross:
Sin is judged
Separation is ended
Reconciliation is accomplished
The verdict is irreversible
Paul describes this with precision:
“God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.”
— 2 Corinthians 5:19
Notice the direction of reconciliation. God is not reconciling Himself to the world; He is reconciling the world to Himself. The Cross is not appeasement—it is alignment. It is not repair—it is revelation.
This is why Scripture speaks of the Cross as exposure rather than struggle:
“Having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a shew of them openly.”
— Colossians 2:15
The powers were not defeated through effort; they were disarmed through truth. The Cross unmasks the lie, exposes the accuser, and reveals death as a defeated enemy long before its abolition. Victory is displayed, not achieved.
Yet Scripture is careful not to present the Cross as the end of the story.
If the Cross were the conclusion, resurrection would be unnecessary. If revelation alone were sufficient, indwelling life would not follow. But the Finished Work does not stop at being seen—it must be entered.
This is why Christ does not remain external.
After His resurrection, Jesus does not leave humanity with a memory, a doctrine, or a historical example. He promises something more intimate:
“It is expedient for you that I go away.”
— John 16:7
As long as Christ remained external, the Finished Work could be proclaimed but not inhabited. By departing in the flesh and returning in the Spirit, Christ moves the finished victory from event into life.
The Cross reveals what is true.
The Spirit applies what is true.
Without this movement, the Finished Work would remain admired rather than embodied—declared rather than expressed. God’s intention was never mere declaration. It was participation.
This is why Paul connects the Cross directly to indwelling life:
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”
— Galatians 2:20
The Cross does not merely forgive the old man—it ends him. And in ending him, it clears the way for Christ to live through humanity from the inside. What was finished for man must now be lived in man.
This distinction is essential.
If the Cross is misunderstood as repair, then walking becomes effort. Obedience becomes compensation. Growth becomes anxiety. But when the Cross is understood as revelation, walking becomes alignment. Obedience becomes expression. Growth becomes rest unfolding into form.
The Cross does not introduce uncertainty.
It removes it.
From Calvary forward, Scripture never questions whether redemption worked. It assumes it. Everything that follows—Pentecost, transformation, patience, reign—flows from a verdict already settled.
The Cross is where eternal completion steps into history and speaks for itself.
What was finished before the world began is now declared within the world.
And having been revealed, that Finished Work now demands a new dwelling place.
It must move from history into humanity.
That movement is the subject of what comes next.
For without indwelling life, a finished work could be admired—but it could never be lived.
Chapter 6 — Pentecost and the Indwelling Christ
The Finished Work Moving from Heaven into Man
If the Cross reveals what was finished, Pentecost reveals where it would live.
God never intended the Finished Work of Christ to remain external—remembered as history, defended as doctrine, or admired as truth. What was settled in eternity and revealed at Calvary was always destined to take up residence within humanity. That movement occurs at Pentecost.
“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.”
— Acts 2:1
Pentecost is not a new work, nor is it an addition to the Cross. It is the internalization of the Finished Work. The same Christ who conquered death now returns—not beside humanity, but within humanity. What was accomplished for man is now placed in man.
This is why Jesus said:
“It is expedient for you that I go away.”
— John 16:7
As long as Christ remained external, the Finished Work could be declared but not embodied. By departing in the flesh and returning in the Spirit, Christ moves the victory of the Cross from event into life. Pentecost does not improve what Christ finished—it applies it.
At Pentecost:
Christ no longer dwells among men
Christ dwells in men
Heaven is no longer distant
Heaven takes up residence within
This marks a decisive shift in how the Finished Work operates. From this point forward, Scripture no longer speaks only in terms of declaration. It begins to speak in terms of transformation.
Paul captures this shift with precision:
“Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
— Colossians 1:27
Christ in you is not uncertainty—it is destiny. The hope of glory is not doubt about completion; it is the certainty that what is finished in Christ will be manifested through the sons. What was once outside man is now planted within him.
Yet Pentecost also introduces a new arena.
The believer’s spirit is made complete at regeneration.
“He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.”
— 1 Corinthians 6:17
Nothing is lacking in the spirit. Union is complete. Identity is settled. The Finished Work is fully present at the level of spirit. But Scripture is careful not to claim that the soul and body instantly reflect what the spirit already possesses.
This is not deficiency—it is order.
What is finished in spirit must now be expressed through soul and body. The indwelling Christ does not bypass the human faculties; He transforms them. Pentecost does not collapse process—it introduces its rightful purpose.
This is why Scripture’s language expands after Pentecost.
Not only:
“It is finished,”
but also:
“be transformed,”
“put off,”
“put on,”
“walk,”
“grow,”
“be renewed.”
Paul explains this without confusion:
“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”
— Philippians 2:12–13
Salvation is possessed before it is worked out. God works within before expression appears without. Working out does not complete salvation—it reveals it. The Finished Work moves outward from spirit to soul, and from soul into the body.
This movement introduces patience.
Faith continues to speak from completion.
Patience governs manifestation.
Pentecost does not eliminate patience—it makes patience meaningful. Without indwelling life, patience would be striving. With indwelling life, patience becomes confidence that what lives within will inevitably appear without.
Scripture holds these truths together without contradiction:
You are complete
yet are being renewed
You have eternal life
yet await immortality
You are seated with Christ
yet are learning to walk it out
Pentecost does not delay fulfillment—it makes fulfillment possible.
Because Christ now lives in man, the Finished Work must confront the deepest realms where death once ruled unquestioned:
the mind
the will
the emotions
the body
Not as threats—but as territories already claimed, now being brought into agreement with life.
This is why Scripture introduces the necessity of reign immediately after Pentecost:
“For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:25
Reign does not contradict the Finished Work—it carries it forward. What is finished in Christ is now administered through Christ in us. The victory secured at the Cross now advances through indwelling life.
Pentecost is not the end of the Finished Work.
It is the beginning of its expression.
For what lives within must now be revealed through patience, obedience, and time—until every enemy is placed underfoot and death itself is abolished.
That reign—its purpose, its scope, and its final outcome—is where Scripture now directs our attention.
Chapter 7 — He Must Reign Until
The Abolition of Death and the Completion of Manifestation
The Finished Work of Christ does not end at declaration.
It moves into government.
Scripture does not present the reign of Christ as symbolic, optional, or indefinite. It presents it as necessary—not because the work is unfinished, but because what is finished must now be manifested in every realm where opposition once existed.
Paul states this without qualification:
“For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:25
The word must matters.
Christ does not reign to secure victory.
Christ reigns because victory is already secured.
Reign is not Christ striving toward an outcome—it is Christ administering a verdict that has already been rendered. The Cross settled the case. The reign enforces the ruling.
Paul continues:
“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:26
Death is not named as a mystery, a necessity, or an eternal companion of humanity. It is named as an enemy—and not merely an enemy to be managed, but one to be destroyed. Scripture does not spiritualize death away; it confronts it directly.
This clarifies everything.
If death must still be destroyed, then the reign must still be active—not because redemption failed, but because redemption is thorough. The Finished Work was never designed to leave death standing as a permanent feature of creation. It was designed to abolish it.
This resolves a long-standing confusion in the Church.
Christ is not reigning because the work is incomplete.
Christ is reigning because the work demands full expression.
Reign is the Finished Work moving through layers of resistance—spirit, soul, body, and creation—until nothing remains outside the agreement of life. What is already true in Christ must now become true in manifestation.
This is why Scripture links reign to the sons of God:
“If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him.”
— 2 Timothy 2:12
Reign is participatory—not because Christ lacks authority, but because Christ has chosen to express His authority through union. What He finished as the Head must be revealed through the Body. The Finished Work is not merely declared over humanity; it is expressed through humanity.
This reign is not political, violent, or territorial in the carnal sense. It is ontological—the rule of life over death, truth over lie, and incorruption over decay. Every time life advances into a deeper realm, an enemy loses ground.
Scripture presents this progression without apology.
Enemies are placed underfoot in order.
Resistance collapses layer by layer.
Death is addressed last.
Why last?
Because death governs the body-realm—the deepest, slowest, and most resistant layer of human experience. Spirit is made alive first. Soul is renewed next. Body follows last. This is not delay—it is order.
Paul explains this final stage clearly:
“At the last trumpet… the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:52
The last trumpet does not announce new truth. It announces truth reaching its final depth. The body is not discarded—it is transformed. Redemption does not mean escape from embodiment; it means embodiment brought into agreement with life.
Paul continues:
“For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:53
When this occurs, death is not postponed—it is abolished.
“Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:54
Death is not defeated by denial.
It is defeated by saturation.
Life fills the final realm where death once ruled, and death has nowhere left to stand.
And when the last enemy falls, Scripture announces something extraordinary:
“Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:24
Christ does not lose authority.
He completes its assignment.
The mediatorial reign that was necessary during process gives way to consummation. What began in Christ now fills all things. What was administered through reign is now fully expressed without resistance.
Paul concludes with the final statement of the Finished Work:
“That God may be all in all.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:28
This is the goal.
Not endless conflict.
Not eternal opposition.
Not partial victory.
But God filling all things—without remainder, without resistance, and without loss.
The reign of Christ is not endless—it is purposeful. It exists until death is abolished. When the last enemy falls, reign has achieved its purpose. What was finished before time has now been fully manifested within time.
The Finished Work of Christ began in eternity.
It was revealed at the Cross.
It took residence at Pentecost.
It is expressed through reign.
And it ends with death abolished and God all in all.
What was settled in eternity
is now lived out in life—
until nothing remains unfinished
because nothing remains outside of Him.
Conclusion — Lived Out Until God Is All in All
The Finished Work of Christ was never in question.
From the moment Jesus declared, “It is finished,” the verdict was rendered, the victory secured, and the outcome settled forever. Nothing has been added to that work. Nothing can be taken from it. Nothing in time has the authority to undo what was completed in Christ before the foundation of the world.
This book has not been written to defend that truth—but to clarify it.
The tension many believers have felt has never been between Scripture and Scripture, or between the Cross and the Christian life. The tension has arisen when eternal completion and temporal experience were treated as contradictions instead of distinct realms through which God speaks. Once those realms are discerned, the conflict dissolves.
What is settled in eternity does not disappear when it enters time.
It begins to express itself.
The Finished Work of Christ is legally complete—unchanging, irreversible, and final. Identity is secure. Union is established. Nothing is missing. Yet that same finished reality was sent into time to be lived out through patience, growth, obedience, and experience—not to complete it, but to reveal it.
Walking does not add to grace.
Patience does not imply delay.
Experience does not weaken truth.
They serve it.
Faith receives the Finished Work immediately because it speaks from God’s side. Patience governs manifestation because it honors the order of revelation. Together, they allow what is finished to move outward—first in the spirit, then through the soul, then into the body, and finally into creation itself.
This is why Christ reigns.
Not because redemption is unfinished—but because redemption is thorough. Reign is the Finished Work moving through every realm where death once ruled, until nothing remains outside the agreement of life. The last enemy is not managed, postponed, or redefined. The last enemy—death itself—is abolished.
And when death is destroyed, resistance ends.
At that moment, mediation gives way to union. Process gives way to rest. Reign delivers its completed work back to the Father, and God becomes all in all. What began in eternity has now filled time without remainder.
This is the end Scripture has always declared.
Not endless striving.
Not perpetual opposition.
Not partial victory.
But God filling all things through Christ—fully, finally, and without loss.
The Finished Work of Christ was never meant to remove believers from life. It was meant to fill life with rest, confidence, and hope. What was settled in eternity is now lived out daily—not in anxiety, but in assurance; not in effort, but in alignment.
What was finished did not stop working.
It began living.
And it will continue—
until nothing remains unfinished
because nothing remains outside of Him.
Author
Carl Timothy Wray is a biblical teacher and writer devoted to unveiling the Finished Work of Christ through the full counsel of Scripture. With decades of study spanning Genesis to Revelation, his work focuses on discerning the difference between what God has eternally settled in Christ and how that finished reality is manifested through faith, patience, and lived experience. Known for presenting legal completion and practical walking without contradiction, Carl writes to bring clarity, rest, and confidence to believers seeking to understand how a work finished before time is lived out daily until God becomes all in all.
The Finished Work of Christ Series:
- The Finished Work of Christ — He Must Reign Until Death Is Abolished
- The Finished Work of Christ — From Alpha to Omega
- Finished Work of Christ: Faith Receives What Is Finished — Patience Reveals What Is Complete
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