God must perform the work, or else it never will be performed. Along the road from sin to heaven, from the first leaving of the swine-trough right up to the joyful entrance into the banquet, and the music and dancing of glorified spirits, every step we must be enabled to take by divine grace. Every good thing that is in a Christian, not merely begins, but progresses and is consummated by the fostering grace of God, through Jesus Christ.
If my finger were on the golden latch of paradise, and my foot were on its jasper threshold, I should not take the last step so as to enter heaven unless the grace which brought me so far should enable me full and fairly to complete my pilgrimage. Salvation is God’s work, not man’s.
– Charles Spurgeon –