Philippians 3:12-16
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. 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, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
Tag: The Goal of Every Believer
We have a movement across the business world today for people to find and follow their "why." This seems to be their latest "craze" but, despite the significance of it, it will be soon followed by another craze and another and another, etc. The significance of finding your why, however, can't be passed over for the believer. In the above text we have it. We are, in short, to be perfecting our faith that was begun by Christ in our lives and will be finished by Christ in our lives. Remember what Paul has already said:
Philippians 1:6
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Christ is finishing what HE started in us. Our cooperation with Him in this completion is stated in the above text. We are "perfect" our faith. The word "perfect" in the above text is the Greek, Teleioo. Paul is stating that he has "yet" to grasp the full meaning of his life in Christ. However, in another tense of the same Greek word, Teleos, is used when he states, "... let those of us who are "mature" think this way ...". Paul is saying there is a sense in which we ARE complete, but there is a sense in which we are STILL striving for that completeness in Christ. God is showing us, through Paul's life, that being in Christ is both a completed task, done by Christ, AND a work of Christ in us to further mature us as we walk in obedience with Him. We have cooperation is the maturing of our faith by waking in faith with Christ and allowing more and more of our lives to be consumed by Him. That is the WHY of ever believer. Why are we here? To be conformed to the image of Christ.
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