Epistle for October 8, 2023

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Philippians 3:4b-14
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Paul focuses on his own autobiography as a witness to the Gospel of grace that he proclaims.  In this passage we see through Paul’s eyes his own transition from a self-righteous overachiever to a man completely dependent upon Christ.

He begins by demonstrating to the Philippians that he has a great personal resume, in purely human terms.  He has every reason to be:

confident in the flesh,

if the goal is to be reached through human achievement.

The list he offers highlights his accomplishments as a highly committed, deeply religious person:

circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

His place in the Judaism of his day, regarded as the true faith of the Chosen People, was absolutely secure.  Not only had he received all the normal marks of an observant Jew (circumcision, a place in the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews), he was a member of the most exclusive religious “fraternity” of his day — the Pharisees.

To be a Pharisee was to be a part of a highly scrupulous group.  The word Pharisee means those who are set apart. They were renowned for their strict observance not only of the Law of Moses, but also of the Oral Law — that body of interpretations and applications that had been passed down by generations of rabbis.

Moreover, Paul’s zeal for his faith was so intense that he sought to root out those whom he regarded as heretics, this new Jewish sect that were called Christians.  His quest to rid the world of this threat led him to Damascus — and conversion!

Yet, Paul could honestly say that his devotion to the law of Moses was so impeccable that he was blameless.

However, compared to the glory and grace that Paul had come to know in Christ, his own accomplishments are meaningless to him:

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ…

Note the three-fold reference to loss, which illustrates that Paul has given up all of the achievements and credentials of his former life.  In comparison to knowing Christ, his long list of merits are mere trash.

Paul reiterates the core of his message of grace when he outlines his new aim — to be found in Christ:

not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.

Throughout his epistles, Paul has made it clear that it is impossible to establish one’s own righteousness by obedience to the law.  While the law is holy and just and good, the human capacity to fulfill the law invariably falls short.  Only by complete surrender through faith in Christ does the believer receive the:

righteousness from God based on faith.

Paul states clearly his own personal mission statement:

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

This highlights an important aspect of Paul’s spirituality — that faith in Christ means identification with Christ’s cross and his resurrection.  We can see that very clearly in Galatians 2:19-20.

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Nevertheless, Paul confesses his own deep humility, acknowledging that he is still in the process of growing when it comes to following Christ:

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this 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 heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

There are two key points that seem striking here.

First, there is the paradox that Christ has already made Paul his own, yet there is a response still required in order for Paul to continue to make Christ his own.  Christ’s grace has already accepted Paul as he is.  But Paul is aware that identifying with Christ’s crucified and resurrected life requires that he press on to make it his own.

There are several analogies that spring to mind — we are embraced by someone who loves us, but we also must embrace them in return if we are to experience the completion of affection.

But Paul’s own analogy brings us to the second point — Paul uses an athletic analogy to describe himself:

forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

One can almost see the stadium and the runners as they are being cheered on by the crowds.  Paul runs his race so that he may cross the finish line and receive the ultimate prize.

So, the analogy prevails.  He has been selected for the “team” by the grace of Christ. It is time to forget those previous efforts of achievement that fell short of victory, without looking back.  And now he strives to perform in the spiritual contest with his utmost effort so that he may fulfill the high calling of Christ.

APPLY:  

Ours is an achievement-oriented society.  From our first report cards that our moms put on the refrigerator to the lists of awards and honors and degrees that follow our names in our resumes, we are hungry for recognition.

While this may be admirable and desirable from a human point of view for our resume building, this is not how we experience the glory of Christ.

Christ’s grace is available to all, from the president of the United States to the homeless woman pushing a shopping cart filled with her only possessions.

As Paul tells us, Christ has taken hold of us by grace.  He has already offered himself to us completely and without reserve.  He emptied himself of all but love, and offered his life on the cross so that he might raise us up with him.

What response should this elicit from us?  If we fully grasp what Christ has done for us, it inspires us to give all that we have and all that we are to follow him.  This is the path to sanctification.

We remember, however, that even this striving:

toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus

is still not our accomplishment.  It is not something that we achieve, but rather something that we receive by grace.

As Paul reminds us in his paradoxical statement earlier in this letter to the Philippians:

work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13).

No matter how intense our effort, how earnestly we press toward the goal, we are enabled to do so only by God who is at work in us.  That is why we are truly humble before God, who is the author and finisher of our salvation.

RESPOND: 

Years ago, I was seeing a Christian counselor about my depression.  He recommended a book that helped me to apply all of my theological training to my personal problems.

The book was The Search for Significance by Robert McGee.  I can sum up the message very simply — we are taught in our culture to base our self-worth on our performance and the opinions of others.  Our accomplishments and the opinion of others become the mirror in which we measure ourselves.

Unfortunately, even the most accomplished and most popular persons in the world, in their most honest moments, must accept that they fall short of perfection. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has nothing to say to those who do not accept that they are sinners.

The Gospel of grace tells us that we are already accepted for Christ’s sake.  We are loved.  There is nothing more that we need do in order to be more acceptable to God. Our acceptance by God is not based on our performance or the opinion of others. Christ has performed all that needs to be done for us to be reconciled to God. And Christ’s opinion of each of us is that we are worth dying for!

When I read McGee’s book, and began to apply its message in my own life, it liberated me from the effort to establish my own righteousness or to “prove” myself.

And, when I could accept that I was already accepted by Christ, I was free to give my very best effort to press on toward the life that he envisioned for me.

I had “made the team” already.  But now I didn’t want to simply sit on the bench.  I wanted to excel and perform at the highest level possible — not for my own sake but for Christ’s sake.  My motivation for obedience and excellence was no longer to bolster my ego or my resume, but gratitude for what Christ has done for me.

Our Lord, whatever I have accomplished is rubbish in comparison to the glory of knowing you through your death and resurrection.  I receive your grace with humble gratitude, and press on toward the goal of your high calling.  Amen. 

PHOTO:
“Philippians 3:13-14” by Brett Jordan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. This image is designed to be wallpaper for an iphone.

Epistle for August 14, 2022

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Our lectionary reading for this week’s epistle picks up the thread of last week’s epistle and continues the survey of salvation history.

Last week’s epistle reading began with creation (Hebrews 11:1) and continued with the prime example of the “man of faith,” Abraham (Hebrews 11:8-12).  As we will see, this salvation history leads us to the ultimate object of faith in the person and work of Jesus.

This week, Hebrews 11:29 picks up the litany that punctuates each Old Testament hero or saving event — by faith:

By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.

Here we see the heart of the salvation history of Israel — their liberation and deliverance from slavery; their conquest of Canaan represented in the conquest of Jericho.  Both of these events required the faithful response of the people, and led to supernatural intervention on their behalf.

What might seem astonishing is that even a prostitute, Rahab, is incorporated into the litany of the salvation history!  She has no ritual or moral purity of her own.  She is not an Israelite. It is her faith alone that saves her.

Hebrews then seeks to sum up the salvation history recorded throughout the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament), admitting that the scope of the story of faith is overwhelming:

And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection.  Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.  They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

There are stories of prophets and others whose names are unmentioned here, but whose exploits illustrate the principle of faith that Hebrews is teaching — names like Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah.

Tales of torture and persecution are included in the Apocryphal and Deuterocanonical books, and the writer of Hebrews may be referring to some of those atrocities as a way of celebrating the faith of Jewish martyrs in the time before Christ. [The Apocryphal and Deuterocanonical books are not accepted as part of the official canon in Protestant churches, but still regarded as helpful to faith.]

And yet Hebrews tells us that though all of these men and women were people of faith, their faith wasn’t to be fully consummated quite yet.  Faith is by nature oriented toward the future:

Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.

Here we come to the concept of mystery that is introduced by the Apostle Paul.  This mystery is at the heart of the salvation history, i.e., it is the disclosure of:

 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints.  To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:26-27).

In other words, the entire salvation history is fulfilled in the coming of Christ, and the faithful response of Jews and Gentiles alike who come to faith in Christ.

Hebrews then exhorts his audience, who are believers in Christ, to follow the example of those faithful Hebrews in the past:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

There is a metaphor here that illuminates the scene.  The Christians are running a race, as though they are in the Olympics.  Athletic games of that kind were a common occurrence in that day, especially in those regions influenced by Greece.

The cloud of witnesses refers to all of the Old Testament saints that the writer has mentioned in the previous chapter.  But the picture he paints is of a great crowd, perhaps sitting in the stadium watching and cheering for the new athletes of faith.

As with runners in a race, these spiritual athletes are encouraged to lay aside weight and sin which might encumber them and prevent them from running well.

But the real object is to follow Jesus who sprints on ahead of these spiritual athletes as the pioneer and perfecter of their faith.  These two words are significant.  The word translated pioneer is the Greek word archegon; the word perfecter is from the Greek teleioten.  Literally, these words also mean first and last, and beginning and end.

Faith begins in Jesus and ends in him.  And life begins and ends in him. In the metaphor here in Hebrews, Jesus is the pioneer who leads the way in this spiritual race, and he is the perfecter — or as one translation has it, the finisher — who leads the runners across the finish line to victory.

Finally, we have the means whereby Jesus completes this race — the cross is the ordeal through which he must pass before he is seated as a champion at God’s right hand.  Note that there is a sharp contrast between the joy that is the ultimate goal of the victor and the shame of the cross.  The believers who run behind Jesus have previously been exhorted to persevere in their race, however difficult it might seem, and are following Jesus who endured the cross. 

We have the beginnings of credal statements here:

he suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead and buried.
On the third day he rose from the dead
And is seated at the right hand of the Father (excerpt from the Apostles’ Creed).

APPLY:  

Those who follow Christ by faith are by definition spiritual athletes.  The word used in Hebrews for race is agon — which is a technical term often used for athletic contests.  We note that agon is the root of agony. 

We are running a race. And we can take comfort that those who have gone before us are in some way cheering us on as the cloud of witnesses.  Witness is of course the Greek word martyrion, where we get the word, martyr.  Those who have themselves paid a price for their faith are surrounding us.

But even more comforting is the author and finisher of our faith — Jesus.  He has paved the way for us through his own agony.  But there is the sense that following Jesus does involve sacrifice.  We are told to shed every weight and sin that slows us down.  The imagery makes us think of the pounds that we pick up by self-indulgence, but also those habits that take our focus away from Jesus who runs ahead of us.

If we are to follow him across the finish line, we must keep the focus of our faith on him, and like him despise the shame for the sake of the joy set before us.

RESPOND: 

I like to think of myself as an athlete, although the truth is that the last time I was heavily involved in competitive athletics was in high school more than 42 years ago.

But some of those habits are still there.  I know that competing in games of any kind requires discipline, focus on the essentials, and the willingness to set aside those things that might distract us.

I practice spiritual disciplines of prayer and Bible study every day; and worship and/or preach every Sunday.  I also know that there are weights and sins that can distract me from following Jesus.  I try to cultivate a sense of detachment from the world so that possessions and things and temptations don’t distract me from running the race set before me.

What really comforts me, though, is the awareness that Jesus has already borne my sin upon the cross, and crossed the finish line, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  It is not my agony that enables me to cross the finish line, it is his!  And I follow in faith knowing that he has already completed the race on my behalf!

Lord, I thank you for despising the shame of the cross for my sake, that I might experience the joy of victory through you.  Give me the willingness to cast off the weights of this world and the sins that slow me down, so that I may follow you without encumbrance.  Amen.

 PHOTOS:
"Andrew Murray consecration Hebrews 12 1" by Martin LaBar is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for April 3, 2022

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Philippians 3:4b-14
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Paul focuses on his own autobiography as a witness to the Gospel of grace that he proclaims.  In this passage we see through Paul’s eyes his own transition from a self-righteous overachiever to a man completely dependent upon Christ.

He begins by demonstrating to the Philippians that he has a great personal resume, in purely human terms.  He has every reason to be:

confident in the flesh,

if the goal is to be reached through human achievement.

The list he offers highlights his accomplishments as a highly committed, deeply religious person:

circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;  as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

His place in the Judaism of his day, regarded as the true faith of the Chosen People, was absolutely secure.  Not only had he received all the normal marks of an observant Jew (circumcision, a place in the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews), he was a member of the most exclusive religious “fraternity” of his day — the Pharisees.

To be a Pharisee was to be a part of a highly scrupulous group.  The word Pharisee means those who are set apart. They were renowned for their strict observance not only of the Law of Moses, but also of the Oral Law — that body of interpretations and applications that had been passed down by generations of rabbis.

Moreover, Paul’s zeal for his faith was so intense that he sought to root out those whom he regarded as heretics, this new Jewish sect that were called Christians.  His quest to rid the world of this threat led him to Damascus — and conversion!

Yet, Paul could honestly say that his devotion to the law of Moses was so impeccable that he was blameless.

However, compared to the glory and grace that Paul had come to know in Christ, his own accomplishments are meaningless to him:

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ…

Note the three-fold reference to loss, which illustrates that Paul has given up all of the achievements and credentials of his former life.  In comparison to knowing Christ, his long list of merits are mere trash.

Paul reiterates the core of his message of grace when he outlines his new aim —  to be found in Christ:

not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.

Throughout his epistles, Paul has made it clear that it is impossible to establish one’s own righteousness by obedience to the law.  While the law is holy and just and good, the human capacity to fulfill the law invariably falls short.  Only by complete surrender through faith in Christ does the believer receive the:

righteousness from God based on faith.

Paul states clearly his own personal mission statement:

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death,  if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

This highlights an important aspect of Paul’s spirituality — that faith in Christ means identification with Christ’s cross and his resurrection.  We can see that very clearly in Galatians 2:19-20.

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Nevertheless, Paul confesses his own deep humility, acknowledging that he is still in the process of growing when it comes to following Christ:

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this 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 heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

There are two key points that seem striking here.

First, there is the paradox that Christ has already made Paul his own, yet there is a response still required in order for Paul to continue to make Christ his own.  Christ’s grace has already accepted Paul as he is.  But Paul is aware that identifying with Christ’s crucified and resurrected life requires that he press on to make it his own.

There are several analogies that spring to mind — we are embraced by someone who loves us, but we also must embrace them in return if we are to experience the completion of affection.

But Paul’s own analogy brings us to the second point —  Paul uses an athletic analogy to describe himself:

forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

One can almost see the stadium and the runners as they are being cheered on by the crowds.  Paul runs his race so that he may cross the finish line and receive the ultimate prize.

So, the analogy prevails.  He has been selected for the “team” by the grace of Christ. It is time to forget those previous efforts of achievement that fell short of victory, without looking back.  And now he strives to perform in the spiritual contest with his utmost effort so that he may fulfill the high calling of Christ.

APPLY:  

Ours is an achievement-oriented society.  From our first report cards that our moms put on the refrigerator to the lists of awards and honors and degrees that follow our names in our resumes, we are hungry for recognition.

While this may be admirable and desirable from a human point of view for our resume building, this is not how we experience the glory of Christ.

Christ’s grace is available to all, from the president of the United States to the homeless woman pushing a shopping cart filled with her only possessions.

As Paul tells us, Christ has taken hold of us by grace.  He has already offered himself to us completely and without reserve.  He emptied himself of all but love, and offered his life on the cross so that he might raise us up with him.

What response should this elicit from us?  If we fully grasp what Christ has done for us, it inspires us to give all that we have and all that we are to follow him.  This is the path to sanctification.

We remember, however,  that even this striving:

toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus

is still not our accomplishment.  It is not something that we achieve, but rather something that we receive by grace.

As Paul reminds us in his paradoxical statement earlier in this letter to the Philippians:

work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;  for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13).

No matter how intense our effort, how earnestly we press toward the goal, we are enabled to do so only by God who is at work in us.  That is why we are truly humble before God, who is the author and finisher of our salvation.

RESPOND: 

Years ago, I was seeing a Christian counselor about my depression.  He recommended a book that helped me to apply all of my theological training to my personal problems.

The book was The Search for Significance by Robert McGee.  I can sum up the message very simply —  we are taught in our culture to base our self-worth on our performance and the opinions of others.  Our accomplishments and the opinion of others become the mirror in which we measure ourselves.

Unfortunately, even the most accomplished and most popular persons in the world, in their most honest moments, must accept that they fall short of perfection. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has nothing to say to those who do not accept that they are sinners.

The Gospel of grace tells us that we are already accepted for Christ’s sake.  We are loved.  There is nothing more that we need do in order to be more acceptable to God. Our acceptance by God is not based on our performance or the opinion of others. Christ has performed all that needs to be done for us to be reconciled to God. And Christ’s opinion of each of us is that we are worth dying for!

When I read McGee’s book, and began to apply its message in my own life, it liberated me from the effort to establish my own righteousness or to “prove” myself.

And, when I could accept that I was already accepted by Christ, I was free to give my very best effort to press on toward the life that he envisioned for me.

I had “made the team” already.  But now I didn’t want to simply sit on the bench.  I wanted to excel and perform at the highest level possible —  not for my own sake but for Christ’s sake.  My motivation for obedience and excellence was no longer to bolster my ego or my resume, but gratitude for what Christ has done for me.

Our Lord, whatever I have accomplished is rubbish in comparison to the glory of knowing you through your death and resurrection.  I receive your grace with humble gratitude, and press on toward the goal of your high calling.  Amen. 

PHOTO:
“Philippians 3:13-14” by Brett Jordan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. This image is designed to be wallpaper for an iphone.

Epistle for October 4, 2020

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Philippians 3:4b-14
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Paul focuses on his own autobiography as a witness to the Gospel of grace that he proclaims.  In this passage we see through Paul’s eyes his own transition from a self-righteous overachiever to a man completely dependent upon Christ.

He begins by demonstrating to the Philippians that he has a great personal resume, in purely human terms.  He has every reason to be:

confident in the flesh,

if the goal is to be reached through human achievement.

The list he offers highlights his accomplishments as a highly committed, deeply religious person:

circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;  as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

His place in the Judaism of his day, regarded as the true faith of the Chosen People, was absolutely secure.  Not only had he received all the normal marks of an observant Jew (circumcision, a place in the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews), he was a member of the most exclusive religious “fraternity” of his day — the Pharisees.

To be a Pharisee was to be a part of a highly scrupulous group.  The word Pharisee means those who are set apart. They were renowned for their strict observance not only of the Law of Moses, but also of the Oral Law — that body of interpretations and applications that had been passed down by generations of rabbis.

Moreover, Paul’s zeal for his faith was so intense that he sought to root out those whom he regarded as heretics, this new Jewish sect that were called Christians.  His quest to rid the world of this threat led him to Damascus — and conversion!

Yet, Paul could honestly say that his devotion to the law of Moses was so impeccable that he was blameless.

However, compared to the glory and grace that Paul had come to know in Christ, his own accomplishments are meaningless to him:

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ . . .

Note the three-fold reference to loss, which illustrates that Paul has given up all of the achievements and credentials of his former life.  In comparison to knowing Christ, his long list of merits are mere trash.

Paul reiterates the core of his message of grace when he outlines his new aim —  to be found in Christ:

not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.

Throughout his epistles, Paul has made it clear that it is impossible to establish one’s own righteousness by obedience to the law.  While the law is holy and just and good, the human capacity to fulfill the law invariably falls short.  Only by complete surrender through faith in Christ does the believer receive the:

righteousness from God based on faith.

Paul states clearly his own personal mission statement:

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death,  if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

This highlights an important aspect of Paul’s spirituality — that faith in Christ means identification with Christ’s cross and his resurrection.  We can see that very clearly in Galatians 2:19-20.

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Nevertheless, Paul confesses his own deep humility, acknowledging that he is still in the process of growing when it comes to following Christ:

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this 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 heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

There are two key points that seem striking here.

First, there is the paradox that Christ has already made Paul his own, yet there is a response still required in order for Paul to continue to make Christ his own.  Christ’s grace has already accepted Paul as he is.  But Paul is aware that identifying with Christ’s crucified and resurrected life requires that he press on to make it his own.

There are several analogies that spring to mind — we are embraced by someone who loves us, but we also must embrace them in return if we are to experience the completion of affection.

But Paul’s own analogy brings us to the second point —  Paul uses an athletic analogy to describe himself:

forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

One can almost see the stadium and the runners as they are being cheered on by the crowds.  Paul runs his race so that he may cross the finish line and receive the ultimate prize.

So, the analogy prevails.  He has been selected for the “team” by the grace of Christ. It is time to forget those previous efforts of achievement that fell short of victory, without looking back.  And now he strives to perform in the spiritual contest with his utmost effort so that he may fulfill the high calling of Christ.

APPLY:  

Ours is an achievement-oriented society.  From our first report cards that our moms put on the refrigerator to the lists of awards and honors and degrees that follow our names in our resumes, we are hungry for recognition.

While this may be admirable and desirable from a human point of view for our resume building, this is not how we experience the glory of Christ.

Christ’s grace is available to all, from the president of the United States to the homeless woman pushing a shopping cart filled with her only possessions.

As Paul tells us, Christ has taken hold of us by grace.  He has already offered himself to us completely and without reserve.  He emptied himself of all but love, and offered his life on the cross so that he might raise us up with him.

What response should this elicit from us?  If we fully grasp what Christ has done for us, it inspires us to give all that we have and all that we are to follow him.  This is the path to sanctification.

We remember, however,  that even this striving:

toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus

is still not our accomplishment.  It is not something that we achieve, but rather something that we receive by grace.

As Paul reminds us in his paradoxical statement earlier in this letter to the Philippians:

work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;  for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13).

No matter how intense our effort, how earnestly we press toward the goal, we are enabled to do so only by God who is at work in us.  That is why we are truly humble before God, who is the author and finisher of our salvation.

RESPOND: 

Years ago, I was seeing a Christian counselor about my depression.  He recommended a book that helped me to apply all of my theological training to my personal problems.

The book was The Search for Significance by Robert McGee.  I can sum up the message very simply —  we are taught in our culture to base our self-worth on our performance and the opinions of others.  Our accomplishments and the opinion of others become the mirror in which we measure ourselves.

Unfortunately, even the most accomplished and most popular persons in the world, in their most honest moments, must accept that they fall short of perfection. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has nothing to say to those who do not accept that they are sinners.

The Gospel of grace tells us that we are already accepted for Christ’s sake.  We are loved.  There is nothing more that we need do in order to be more acceptable to God. Our acceptance by God is not based on our performance or the opinion of others. Christ has performed all that needs to be done for us to be reconciled to God. And Christ’s opinion of each of us is that we are worth dying for!

When I read McGee’s book, and began to apply its message in my own life, it liberated me from the effort to establish my own righteousness or to “prove” myself.

And, when I could accept that I was already accepted by Christ, I was free to give my very best effort to press on toward the life that he envisioned for me.

I had “made the team” already.  But now I didn’t want to simply sit on the bench.  I wanted to excel and perform at the highest level possible —  not for my own sake but for Christ’s sake.  My motivation for obedience and excellence was no longer to bolster my ego or my resume, but gratitude for what Christ has done for me.

Our Lord, whatever I have accomplished is rubbish in comparison to the glory of knowing you through your death and resurrection.  I receive your grace with humble gratitude, and press on toward the goal of your high calling.  Amen. 

PHOTO:
“Philippians 3 12” by New Life Church Collingwood is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. This image is designed to be wallpaper for an iphone.

Epistle for August 18, 2019

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Our lectionary reading for this week’s epistle picks up the thread of last week’s epistle, and continues the survey of salvation history that began with creation (Hebrews 11:1), and continued with the prime example of the “man of faith,” Abraham (Hebrews 11:8-12).  As we will see, this salvation history leads us to the ultimate object of faith in the person and work of Jesus.

Hebrews picks up the litany that punctuates each Old Testament hero or saving event — by faith:

By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.

Here we see the heart of the salvation history of Israel — their liberation and deliverance from slavery; their conquest of Canaan represented in the conquest of Jericho.  Both of these events required the faithful response of the people, and led to supernatural intervention on their behalf.

What might seem astonishing is that even a prostitute, Rahab, is incorporated into the litany of the salvation history !  She has no ritual or moral purity of her own.  She is not an Israelite. It is her faith alone that saves her.

Hebrews then seeks to sum up the salvation history recorded throughout the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament), admitting that the scope of the story of faith is overwhelming:

And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection.  Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.  They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented—  of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

There are stories of prophets and others whose names are unmentioned here, but whose exploits illustrate the principle of faith that Hebrews is teaching — names like Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah.

Tales of torture and persecution are included in the Apocryphal and Deuterocanonical books, and the writer of Hebrews may be referring to some of those atrocities as a way of celebrating the faith of Jewish martyrs in the time before Christ. [The Apocryphal and Deuterocanonical books are not accepted as part of the official canon in Protestant churches, but still regarded as helpful to faith. ]

And yet Hebrews tells us that though all of these men and women were people of faith, their faith wasn’t to be fully consummated quite yet.  Faith is by nature oriented toward the future:

Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.

Here we come to the concept of mystery that is introduced by the Apostle Paul.  This mystery is at the heart of the salvation history, i.e., it is the disclosure of:

 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints.  To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:26-27).

In other words, the entire salvation history is fulfilled in the coming of Christ, and the faithful response of Jews and Gentiles alike who come to faith in Christ.

Hebrews then exhorts his audience, who are believers in Christ, to follow the example of those faithful Hebrews in the past:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of  the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

There is a metaphor here that illuminates the scene.  The Christians are running a race, as though they are in the Olympics.  Athletic games of that kind were a common occurrence in that day, especially in those regions influenced by Greece.

The cloud of witnesses refers to all of the Old Testament saints that the writer has mentioned in the previous chapter.  But the picture he paints is of a great crowd, perhaps sitting in the stadium watching and cheering for the new athletes of faith.

As with runners in a race, these spiritual athletes are encouraged to lay aside weight and sin which might encumber them and prevent them from running well.

But the real object is to follow Jesus who sprints on ahead of these spiritual athletes as the pioneer and perfecter of their faith.  These two words are significant.  The word translated pioneer is the Greek word archegon; the word perfecter is from the Greek teleioten.  Literally, these words also mean first and last, and beginning  and end.

Faith begins in Jesus and ends in him.  And life begins and ends in him. In the metaphor here in Hebrews, Jesus is the pioneer who leads the way in this spiritual race, and he is the perfecter — or as one translation has it, the finisher — who leads the runners across the finish line to victory.

Finally, we have the means whereby Jesus completes this race — the cross is the ordeal through which he must pass before he is seated as a champion at God’s right hand.  Note that there is a sharp contrast between the joy that is the ultimate goal of the victor and the shame of the cross.  The believers who run behind Jesus have previously been exhorted to persevere in their race, however difficult it might seem, and are following Jesus who endured the cross. 

We have the beginnings of credal statements here:

he suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead and buried.
On the third day he rose from the dead
And is seated at the right hand of the Father (excerpt from the Apostles’ Creed).

APPLY:  

Those who follow Christ by faith are by definition spiritual athletes.  The word used in Hebrews for race is agon — which is a technical term often used for athletic contests.  We note that agon is the root of agony. 

We are running a race. And we can take comfort that those who have gone before us are in some way cheering us on as the cloud of witnesses.  Witness is of course the Greek word martyrion, where we get the word, martyr.  Those who have themselves paid a price for their faith are surrounding us.

But even more comforting is the author and finisher of our faith — Jesus.  He has paved the way for us through his own agony.  But there is the sense that following Jesus does involve sacrifice.  We are told to shed every weight and sin that slows us down.  The imagery makes us think of the pounds that we pick up by self-indulgence, but also those habits that take our focus away from Jesus who runs ahead of us.

If we are to follow him across the finish line, we must keep the focus of our faith on him, and like him despise the shame for the sake of the joy set before us.

RESPOND: 

I like to think of myself as an athlete, although the truth is that the last time I was heavily involved in competitive athletics was in high school more than 42 years ago.

But some of those habits are still there.  I know that competing in games of any kind requires discipline, focus on the essentials, and the willingness to set aside those things that might distract us.

I practice spiritual disciplines of prayer and Bible study every day; and worship and/or preach every Sunday.  I also know that there are weights and sins that can distract me from following Jesus.  I try to cultivate a sense of detachment from the world so that possessions and things and temptations don’t distract me from running the race set before me.

What really comforts me, though, is the awareness that Jesus has already borne my sin upon the cross, and crossed the finish line, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  It is not my agony that enables me to cross the finish line, it is his!  And I follow in faith knowing that he has already completed the race on my behalf!

Lord, I thank you for despising the shame of the cross for my sake, that I might experience the joy of victory through you.  Give me the willingness to cast off the weights of this world and the sins that slow me down, so that I may follow you without encumbrance.  Amen.

 PHOTOS:
"Andrew Murray consecration Hebrews 12 1" by Martin LaBar is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for April 7, 2019

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Philippians 3:4b-14
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Paul focuses on his own autobiography as a witness to the Gospel of grace that he proclaims.  In this passage we see through Paul’s eyes his own transition from a self-righteous overachiever to a man completely dependent upon Christ.

He begins by demonstrating to the Philippians that he has a great personal resume, in purely human terms.  He has every reason to be:

confident in the flesh,

if the goal is to be reached through human achievement.

The list he offers highlights his accomplishments as a highly committed, deeply religious person:

circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;  as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

His place in the Judaism of his day, regarded as the true faith of the Chosen People, was absolutely secure.  Not only had he received all the normal marks of an observant Jew (circumcision, a place in the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews), he was a member of the most exclusive religious “fraternity” of his day — the Pharisees.

To be a Pharisee was to be a part of a highly scrupulous group.  The word Pharisee means those who are set apart. They were renowned for their strict observance not only of the Law of Moses, but also of the Oral Law — that body of interpretations and applications that had been passed down by generations of rabbis.

Moreover, Paul’s zeal for his faith was so intense that he sought to root out those whom he regarded as heretics, this new Jewish sect that were called Christians.  His quest to rid the world of this threat led him to Damascus — and conversion!

Yet, Paul could honestly say that his devotion to the law of Moses was so impeccable that he was blameless.

However, compared to the glory and grace that Paul had come to know in Christ, his own accomplishments are meaningless to him:

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ . . .

Note the three-fold reference to loss, which illustrates that Paul has given up all of the achievements and credentials of his former life.  In comparison to knowing Christ, his long list of merits are mere trash.

Paul reiterates the core of his message of grace when he outlines his new aim —  to be found in Christ:

not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.

Throughout his epistles, Paul has made it clear that it is impossible to establish one’s own righteousness by obedience to the law.  While the law is holy and just and good, the human capacity to fulfill the law invariably falls short.  Only by complete surrender through faith in Christ does the believer receive the:

righteousness from God based on faith.

Paul states clearly his own personal mission statement:

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death,  if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

This highlights an important aspect of Paul’s spirituality — that faith in Christ means identification with Christ’s cross and his resurrection.  We can see that very clearly in Galatians 2:19-20.

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Nevertheless, Paul confesses his own deep humility, acknowledging that he is still in the process of growing when it comes to following Christ:

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this 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 heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

There are two key points that seem striking here.

First, there is the paradox that Christ has already made Paul his own, yet there is a response still required in order for Paul to continue to make Christ his own.  Christ’s grace has already accepted Paul as he is.  But Paul is aware that identifying with Christ’s crucified and resurrected life requires that he press on to make it his own.

There are several analogies that spring to mind — we are embraced by someone who loves us, but we also must embrace them in return if we are to experience the completion of affection.

But Paul’s own analogy brings us to the second point —  Paul uses an athletic analogy to describe himself:

forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

One can almost see the stadium and the runners as they are being cheered on by the crowds.  Paul runs his race so that he may cross the finish line and receive the ultimate prize.

So, the analogy prevails.  He has been selected for the “team” by the grace of Christ. It is time to forget those previous efforts of achievement that fell short of victory, without looking back.  And now he strives to perform in the spiritual contest with his utmost effort so that he may fulfill the high calling of Christ.

APPLY:  

Ours is an achievement-oriented society.  From our first report cards that our moms put on the refrigerator to the lists of awards and honors and degrees that follow our names in our resumes, we are hungry for recognition.

While this may be admirable and desirable from a human point of view for our resume building, this is not how we experience the glory of Christ.

Christ’s grace is available to all, from the president of the United States to the homeless woman pushing a shopping cart filled with her only possessions.

As Paul tells us, Christ has taken hold of us by grace.  He has already offered himself to us completely and without reserve.  He emptied himself of all but love, and offered his life on the cross so that he might raise us up with him.

What response should this elicit from us?  If we fully grasp what Christ has done for us, it inspires us to give all that we have and all that we are to follow him.  This is the path to sanctification.

We remember, however,  that even this striving:

toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus

is still not our accomplishment.  It is not something that we achieve, but rather something that we receive by grace.

As Paul reminds us in his paradoxical statement earlier in this letter to the Philippians:

work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;  for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13).

No matter how intense our effort, how earnestly we press toward the goal, we are enabled to do so only by God who is at work in us.  That is why we are truly humble before God, who is the author and finisher of our salvation.

RESPOND: 

Years ago, I was seeing a Christian counselor about my depression.  He recommended a book that helped me to apply all of my theological training to my personal problems.

The book was The Search for Significance by Robert McGee.  I can sum up the message very simply —  we are taught in our culture to base our self-worth on our performance and the opinions of others.  Our accomplishments and the opinion of others become the mirror in which we measure ourselves.

Unfortunately, even the most accomplished and most popular persons in the world, in their most honest moments, must accept that they fall short of perfection. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has nothing to say to those who do not accept that they are sinners.

The Gospel of grace tells us that we are already accepted for Christ’s sake.  We are loved.  There is nothing more that we need do in order to be more acceptable to God. Our acceptance by God is not based on our performance or the opinion of others. Christ has performed all that needs to be done for us to be reconciled to God. And Christ’s opinion of each of us is that we are worth dying for!

When I read McGee’s book, and began to apply its message in my own life, it liberated me from the effort to establish my own righteousness or to “prove” myself.

And, when I could accept that I was already accepted by Christ, I was free to give my very best effort to press on toward the life that he envisioned for me.

I had “made the team” already.  But now I didn’t want to simply sit on the bench.  I wanted to excel and perform at the highest level possible —  not for my own sake but for Christ’s sake.  My motivation for obedience and excellence was no longer to bolster my ego or my resume, but gratitude for what Christ has done for me.

Our Lord, whatever I have accomplished is rubbish in comparison to the glory of knowing you through your death and resurrection.  I receive your grace with humble gratitude, and press on toward the goal of your high calling.  Amen. 

PHOTO:
“Philippians 3:13-14” by Brett Jordan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. This image is designed to be wallpaper for an iphone.

Epistle for August 14, 2016

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Hebrews 11:29-12:2 

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Our lectionary reading for this week’s epistle picks up the thread of last week’s epistle, and continues the survey of salvation history that began with creation (Hebrews 11:1), and continued with the prime example of the “man of faith,” Abraham (Hebrews 11:8-12).  As we will see, this salvation history leads us to the ultimate object of faith in the person and work of Jesus.

Hebrews picks up the litany that punctuates each Old Testament hero or saving event — by faith:

By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.

Here we see the heart of the salvation history of Israel — their liberation and deliverance from slavery; their conquest of Canaan represented in the conquest of Jericho.  Both of these events required the faithful response of the people, and led to supernatural intervention on their behalf.

What might seem astonishing is that even a prostitute, Rahab, is incorporated into the litany of the salvation history!  She has no ritual or moral purity of her own.  She is not an Israelite. It is her faith alone that saves her.

Hebrews then seeks to sum up the salvation history recorded throughout the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament), admitting that the scope of the story of faith is overwhelming:

And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection.  Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.  They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented—  of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

There are stories of prophets and others whose names are unmentioned here, but whose exploits illustrate the principle of faith that Hebrews is teaching — names like Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah.

Tales of torture and persecution are included in the Apocryphal and Deuterocanonical books, and the writer of Hebrews may be referring to some of those atrocities as a way of celebrating the faith of Jewish martyrs in the time before Christ. [The Apocryphal and Deuterocanonical books are not accepted as part of the official canon in Protestant churches, but still regarded as helpful to faith. ]

And yet Hebrews tells us that though all of these men and women were people of faith, their faith wasn’t to be fully consummated quite yet.  Faith is by nature oriented toward the future:

Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.

Here we come to the concept of mystery that is introduced by the Apostle Paul.  This mystery is at the heart of the salvation history, i.e., it is the disclosure of:

 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints.  To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory(Colossians 1:26-27).

In other words, the entire salvation history is fulfilled in the coming of Christ, and the faithful response of Jews and Gentiles alike who come to faith in Christ.

Hebrews then exhorts his audience, who are believers in Christ, to follow the example of those faithful Hebrews in the past:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of  the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

There is a metaphor here that illuminates the scene.  The Christians are running a race, as though they are in the Olympics.  Athletic games of that kind were a common occurrence in that day, especially in those regions influenced by Greece.

The cloud of witnesses refers to all of the Old Testament saints that the writer has mentioned in the previous chapter.  But the picture he paints is of a great crowd, perhaps sitting in the stadium watching and cheering for the new athletes of faith.

As with runners in a race, these spiritual athletes are encouraged to lay aside weight and sin which might encumber them and prevent them from running well.

But the real object is to follow Jesus who sprints on ahead of these spiritual athletes as the pioneer and perfecter of their faith.  These two words are significant.  The word translated pioneer is the Greek word archegon; the word perfecter is from the Greek teleioten.  Literally, these words also mean first and last, and beginning  and end.

Faith begins in Jesus and ends in him.  And life begins and ends in him. In the metaphor here in Hebrews, Jesus is the pioneer who leads the way in this spiritual race, and he is the perfecter — or as one translation has it, the finisher — who leads the runners across the finish line to victory.

Finally, we have the means whereby Jesus completes this race — the cross is the ordeal through which he must pass before he is seated as a champion at God’s right hand.  Note that there is a sharp contrast between the joy  that is the ultimate goal of the victor and the shame of the cross.  The believers who run behind Jesus have previously been exhorted to persevere in their race, however difficult it might seem, and are following Jesus who endured the cross. 

We have the beginnings of credal statements here:

he suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead and buried.
On the third day he rose from the dead
And is seated at the right hand of the Father (excerpt from the Apostles’ Creed).

APPLY:  

Those who follow Christ by faith are by definition spiritual athletes.  The word used in Hebrews for race is agon — which is a technical term often used for athletic contests.  We note that agon is the root of agony. 

We are running a race. And we can take comfort that those who have gone before us are in some way cheering us on as the cloud of witnesses.  Witness is of course the Greek word martyrion, where we get the word, martyr.  Those who have themselves paid a price for their faith are surrounding us.

But even more comforting is the author and finisher of our faith — Jesus.  He has paved the way for us through his own agony.  But there is the sense that following Jesus does involve sacrifice.  We are told to shed every weight and sin that slows us down.  The imagery makes us think of the pounds that we pick up by self-indulgence, but also those habits that take our focus away from Jesus who runs ahead of us.

If we are to follow him across the finish line, we must keep the focus of our faith on him, and like him despise the shame for the sake of the joy set before us.

RESPOND: 

I like to think of myself as an athlete, although the truth is that the last time I was heavily involved in competitive athletics was in high school more than 42 years ago.

But some of those habits are still there.  I know that competing in games of any kind requires discipline, focus on the essentials, and the willingness to set aside those things that might distract us.

I practice spiritual disciplines of prayer and Bible study every day; and worship and/or preach every Sunday.  I also know that there are weights and sins  that can distract me from following Jesus.  I try to cultivate a sense of detachment from the world so that possessions and things and temptations don’t  distract me from running the race set before me.

What really comforts me, though, is the awareness that Jesus has already borne my sin upon the cross, and crossed the finish line, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  It is not my agony that enables me to cross the finish line, it is his!  And I follow in faith knowing that he has already completed the race on my behalf!

Lord, I thank you for despising the shame of the cross for my sake, that I might experience the joy of victory through you.  Give me the willingness to cast off the weights of this world and the sins that slow me down, so that I may follow you without encumbrance.  Amen.

 PHOTOS:
"Andrew Murray consecration Hebrews 12 1" by Martin LaBar is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for March 13, 2016

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Philippians 3:4b-14

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Paul focuses on his own autobiography as a witness to the Gospel of grace that he proclaims.  In this passage we see through Paul’s  eyes his own transition from a self-righteous overachiever to a man completely dependent upon Christ.

He begins by demonstrating to the Philippians that he has a great personal resume, in purely human terms.  He has every reason to be

confident in the flesh,

if the goal is to be reached through human achievement.

The list he offers highlights his accomplishments as a highly committed, deeply  religious person:

circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;  as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

His place in the Judaism of his day, regarded as the true faith of the Chosen People, was absolutely secure.  Not only had he received all the normal marks of an observant Jew — circumcision, a place in the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews — he was a member of the most exclusive religious “fraternity” of his day: the Pharisees.

To be a Pharisee was to be a part of a highly scrupulous group.  The word Pharisee means those who are set apart. They were renowned for their strict observance not only of the Law of Moses, but also of the Oral Law, that body of interpretations and applications that had been passed down by generations of rabbis.

Moreover, Paul’s zeal for his faith was so intense that he sought to root out those whom he regarded as heretics, this new Jewish sect that were called Christians.  His quest to rid the world of this threat led him to Damascus — and conversion!

Yet, Paul could honestly say that his devotion to the law of Moses was so impeccable that he was blameless.

However, compared to the glory and grace that Paul had come to know in Christ, his own accomplishments are meaningless to him:

 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ . . .

Note the three-fold reference to loss, which illustrates that Paul has given up all  of the achievements and credentials of his former life.  In comparison to knowing Christ, his long list of merits are mere trash.

Paul reiterates the core of his message of grace when he outlines his new aim, to be found in Christ,

not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.

Throughout his epistles, Paul has made it clear that it is impossible to establish one’s own righteousness by obedience to the law.  While the law is holy and just and good, the human capacity to fulfill the law invariably falls short.  Only by complete surrender through faith in Christ does the believer receive the

righteousness from God based on faith.

Paul states clearly his own personal mission statement:

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death,  if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

This highlights an important aspect of Paul’s spirituality — that faith in Christ means identification with Christ’s cross and his resurrection.  We can see that very clearly in Galatians 2:19-20.

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Nevertheless, Paul confesses his own deep humility, acknowledging that he is still in the process of growing when it comes to following Christ:

 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this 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 heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

There are two key points that seem striking here.

First, there is the paradox that Christ has already made Paul his own, yet there is a response still required in order for Paul to continue to make Christ his own.  Christ’s grace has already accepted Paul as he is.  But Paul is aware that identifying with Christ’s crucified and resurrected life requires that he press on to make it his own.

There  are several analogies that spring to mind — we are embraced by someone who loves us, but we also must embrace them in return if we are to experience the completion of affection.

But Paul’s own analogy brings us to the second point:  Paul uses an athletic analogy to describe himself:

forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

One can almost see the stadium and the runners as they are being cheered on by the crowds.  Paul runs his race so that he may cross the finish line and receive the ultimate prize.

So, the analogy prevails.  He has been selected for the “team” by the grace of Christ. It is time to forget those previous efforts of achievement that fell short of victory, without looking back.  And now he strives to perform in the spiritual contest with his utmost effort so that he may fulfill the high calling of Christ.

APPLY:  

Ours is an achievement-oriented society.  From our first report cards that our moms put on the refrigerator to the lists of awards and honors and degrees that follow our names in our resumes, we are hungry for recognition.

While this may be admirable and desirable from a human point of view for our resume building, this is not how we experience the glory of Christ.

Christ’s grace is available to all, from the president of the United States to the homeless woman pushing a shopping cart filled with her only possessions.

As Paul tells us, Christ has taken hold of us by grace.  He has already offered himself to us completely and without reserve.  He emptied himself of all but love, and offered his life on the cross so that he might raise us up with him.

What response should this elicit from us?  If we fully grasp what Christ has done for us, it inspires us to give all that we have and all that we are to follow him.  This is the path to sanctification.

We remember, however,  that even this striving

toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus

is still not our accomplishment.  It is not something that we achieve, but rather something that we receive by grace.

As Paul reminds us in his paradoxical statement earlier in this letter to the Philippians:

work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;  for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13).

No matter how intense our effort, how earnestly we press toward the goal, we are enabled to do so only by God who is at work in us.  That is why we are truly humble before God, who is the author and finisher of our salvation.

RESPOND: 

Years ago, I was seeing a Christian counselor about my depression.  He recommended a book that helped me to apply all of my theological training to my personal problems.

The book was The Search for Significance by Robert McGee.  I can sum up the message very simply:  we are taught in our culture to base our self-worth on our performance and the opinions of others.  Our accomplishments and the opinion of others become the mirror in which we measure ourselves.

Unfortunately, even the most accomplished and most popular persons in the world, in their most honest moments, must accept that they fall short of perfection. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has nothing to say to those who do not accept that they are sinners.

The Gospel of grace tells us that we are already accepted for Christ’s sake.  We are loved.  There is nothing more that we need do in order to be more acceptable to God. Our acceptance by God is not based on our performance or the opinion of others. Christ has performed all that needs to be done for us to be reconciled to God. And Christ’s opinion of each of us is that we are worth dying for!

When I read McGee’s book, and began to apply its message in my own life, it liberated me from the effort to establish my own righteousness or to “prove” myself.

And, when I could accept that I was already accepted by Christ, I was free to give my very best effort to press on toward the life that he envisioned for me.

I had “made the team” already.  But now I didn’t want to simply sit on the bench.  I wanted to excel and perform at the highest level possible – not for my own sake but for Christ’s sake.  My motivation for obedience and excellence was no longer to bolster my ego or my resume, but gratitude for what Christ has done for me.

Our Lord, whatever I have accomplished is rubbish in comparison to the glory of knowing you through your death and resurrection.  I receive your grace with humble gratitude, and press on toward the goal of your high calling.  Amen. 

PHOTO:
“Philippians 3:13-14” by Brett Jordan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. This image is designed to be wallpaper for an iphone.