Jan 05, 2012
False Assurances or Pressing Toward the Goal
Posted by Pastor Todd Murphy in | Comments (0)
Philippians chapter 3 is where Paul shares his perspective on living the Gospel-centered life. This passage is famous for his contrast of his former life as a Shammaite Pharisee with his new identity and ethos in Christ. The problem is that we often read this text with an untextured flatness that fails to see its dynamic nature. We read it as simpley a “before and after” much like the marketing spin you would find in an infomercial hocking a woman’s belly flattener or butt lifter. No Paul is not so arrogant to be talking as we do in our typical modern testimony’s that comes off somewhat like “I used to be a bad person, but now that I have Jesus; so now I am not a bad person any more.” To the contrary, Paul is not pointing out how bad he was, but in fact how zealously good he was at scrupulously following the precept of the law (Phil 3: 4-10). What Paul is saying is that as far as good goes, he was better than most, but that is still not enough! Another way to say it is, “see how far I exceeded everyone else? and I was still damned without Christ. So if even I was damned, so is everyone else.” The sum result is that he does not take confidence in any of it. We need to note the extremely challenging verse 11: “that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection of the dead.” What does he mean by that? There is no smug and self-assured posture in Paul, even in light of encountering Jesus face-to-face on the road to Damascus. No Paul sees the Christian life as something that is pursued with abandon. He does not have the resurrection stuffed in his back pocket because he went down for an alter call. Now lets look at the verses that follow.
Phil. 3:12 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.
We could write an entire chapter or book on just this. But let us just make several critical observations. Notice first the progressive nature of his self assessment. He says, “not that I have already obtained.” He then says, “but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” Here we see the opposing mystery of being in Christ, and yet pressing into the kingdom. It is not that Paul doubts whether or not he is in Christ, he just knows that to smugly abuse that and not be obedient in fervently pursuing Christ would be sin, if not be an indicator of disbelief. In verse 13 he then says, “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.” Does this sound like someone who is sitting still spiritually or his he headed somewhere. This is a man who is both walking with Jesus and pursuing him as the end goal. But here is my biggest point. In this passage it is often assumed that the things he is leaving behind are just his former life as a Pharisee. I think that is a narrow way to read it. At this point, he is speaking in general terms. Forgetting what lies behind is any form of self-earned righteousness. In other words he refuses to not only take confidence in the things he did before he became a Christian, he actually also refuses to take stock in anything he has done as a Christian or as an apostle! If we understand Paul correctly then, this has big implications for “assurance.” This means that to point people to their their original conversion experience as a form of assurance is false doctrine. Paul is unwilling to put his assurance in anything but the active pursuit of the Kingdom. And this is why he says in the verse 14; “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” For Paul the Christian life is journey of faith and practice.
Posted by Pastor Todd Murphy in | Comments (0)
Before you post that comment, give it a ponder.
