Tonight, instead of studying Constitutional Law, I decided to continue on in my study of Phillippians - hey, my final exam isn't until Tuesday night, I have time to learn it by then right??? The thing I love about Phillippians is how much you can take out of every single verse. each verse has so much depth to it that a pastor could preach a sermon on each one - he could probably do a whole year of sermons on Phillippians. Tonight, I studied Phillippians 3:12-16.
Again, I am using Warren Wiersbe's "Be Joyful" Commentary to study Phillippians. He lays out the five things that the Christian needs to win the race.
First, DISSATISFACTION. This is for verses 12-13a. Paul writes - "not as though I had already attained." This is a statement of a great Christian who never permitted himself to be satisfied with his spiritual attainments. He was obviously satisfied with Jesus Christ based on Phillippians 3:10, but he was not satisfied with his own Christian life. Many Christians are self-satisfied with their Christian walks because they compare themselves with other Christians and their "race." Yes, you or I may think we are doing better in our walk with Christ than some other Christian - but who are we to judge the heart of others - and who are we to think that we should be satisfied with where we are in our walk with Christ. We should be continually striving to push forward in our walk and to grow deeper and deeper in love with Christ. It's not like when we start a new relationship with a friend or a boyfriend or spouse that we become satisfied with that relationship and think we don't need to continually foster it and grow it further. We don't stop talking to that person or hanging out with them because we are "satisfied" with the relationship. No. We want to continue the relationship and continue the growth and continue to know them on a deeper level. That's how it should be with Christ. We will never be perfect in this life and we will never reach a point of where we should be satisfied with where we are spiritually. Paul compared himself with himself and with Jesus and so should we.
Second, DEVOTION. This is off of verse 13b. Paul writes "one thing." No one succeeds when they are trying to do everything - we have to specialize in something to become great at it. Very few people are great at everything. The winners are those who concentrate, who keep their eyes on the goal and let nothing distract them. That is how we need to be. The things of this world may seem important to us now, but in the end our focus needs to be on following Christ and glorifying His name. That is what we need to be devoted to -- that one thing.
Third, DIRECTION. This is off of verse 13c. The unsaved person is controlled by the past, but the Christian running the race looks toward the future. Wiersbe states that in the Bible, when it says "to forget" it is not literally meaning to forget. It means to no longer be influenced by or affected by. As Christians, we need to look towards the future and not the past. We will remember our pasts - failures or successes - but we can not let that affect us or how we live in the present and future. If we failed in the past we can not let that bring us down and make us feel unworthy of God's grace and love and become down and depressed, unwilling to forgive ourselves and feel God's forgiveness poured out on us. If we succeeded in the past, that's great, but we can't let them make us so prideful that we forget to live in the present and continue to press on in the future. I think this is one of the most difficult things in life to not let the past affect you - how you feel about yourself and others. It is something I struggle with daily. We need to let go of the past and feel God's love pour over us and remember the future that is laid out for us.
Fourth, DETERMINATION. This is off verse 14. There are two extremes we need to avoid. First, thinking "I must do it all." Second, thinking "God must do it all." God works in us that He might work through us. We can't think that we will be able to do everything by ourselves - we need to lean on God and allow Him to work through us. But we also can't just think that God will do everything for us - we have to press on toward the goal as well. It would be like a football quarterback either saying - let's do it ourselves we don't need to listen to the coach; or saying the coach can do everything, we can just stand on the field and do nothing. No, neither of those ways would make the players winners. We need to press on, leaning on God's help, towards the goal - the goal of the high upward calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Fifth, DISCIPLINE. This is off verses 15-16. Here, Paul is emphasizing the importance of the Christian remembering the spiritual rules laid down in the Word. He reminds us that one day God will reveal where we followed and where we didn't follow - one day at the Bema judgment seat of Christ. The Bible is full of people who began the race with great success, but failed at the end because they disregarded God's rules. They didn't lose their salvation, but they did lose their rewards (1 Cor. 3:15). Examples would be Lot (Gen. 19), Samson (Judges 16), Saul (1 Samuel 28; 31), and Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5). We do not want to be one of the Christians who fail at the end of our race after starting out strong. Let us finish the race with endurance and strength, leaning on God, but pressing on towards the goal ahead.
Phillippians 3:12-16
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
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