Gr. eudokia (see on Rom. 10:1). God wills man’s salvation, He has done all that divine power can do to make it possible, it is His “good pleasure” that men should be saved. No one desires our redemption more ardently than the Father.
Both to will and to do.
The use of the word “both” shows that God provides the stimulus for our initial determination to accept salvation and our power to make that decision effective. This does not mean that we are completely passive entities, subject only to God’s disposal, but that God provides the stimulus that awakens our desire to be saved, that He enables us to make the decision to attain salvation, and that He supplies us with the energy to make the decision effective so that salvation is accomplished in our lives. Redemption is thus figured as a cooperative work between God and man, with God furnishing all the needful powers for man’s use.
Worketh.
Gr. energeō, “to put forth power,” usually implying that the operation is effective. It is not the same word as that used for “work out” (katergazomai) in v. 12 (see comment there). Our English word “energize” comes from energeō. The word is frequently applied to the working of God in the Christian’s life (1 Cor. 12:6, 11; Gal. 2:8; Eph. 1:11, 20). Here the apostle is stressing the fact that power for salvation comes from God, and that this power operates in us to achieve its benevolent purpose.
For.
The apostle now protects himself against being misunderstood, by explaining that God is paramount in the salvation of man.
God which.
The entire phrase literally reads, “God it is who is working,” or “energizing,” with the emphasis clearly placed on “God.”