Philippians 3:12-21Do you look up to some people as holier than you ever hope to be? If so, you may not understand the doctrine of sanctification.
When you accept Christ as your only hope for life and salvation, committing your life to Him as Lord and savior - you are reborn.
Like a newborn baby with new appetites and desires, you are alive to God for the first time. You want to be holy, to serve others, to pray, to worship, to read the Bible, to honor and please God. But you're not mature in any of this yet. Sanctification is the process of growing into your new identity as a Christian.
Regeneration (salvation) is birth. Sanctification is growth.
In this passage, Paul says that he is not yet perfectly like Jesus; but he's pressing on. He's growing toward perfection in Christ-likeness. He's leaning into it. He's applying himself to it.
Are you? Am I? Are we more like Jesus today than we were a year ago? Two years ago? A decade ago?
If I notice over the next several months that my five-month-old daughter isn't growing and advancing as a little person, I'm going to be concerned. It's just as concerning when Christians do not grow over time.
Here's how Paul went about pressing toward perfection in Christ-likeness:
1. Forgetting what is behind.
2. Reaching toward what is ahead.
Both steps form one action: pressing on.
Perhaps you are missing out on the joyful life promised to Christians because you are stuck in the past.
Maybe you've sinned and you cannot move on. You must confess and repent before God and those you've sinned against if you ever hope to move forward toward Christ-likeness. If this is you, see 1 John 1:9.
Maybe you've made mistakes that have lead to you a place in life that you regret. You think "Oh, what could have been!" or "If only ____!" And rather than moving forward, you're stuck looking backward. You must accept where you are and reach for what's ahead. If this is you, see Romans 8:28.
Maybe you have some accomplishments under your belt and you've become satisfied to look back with nostalgia at the great retreat you attended or the amazing answer to prayer you received. You must cherish those memories, yet strain forward.
Maybe you've been sinned against and you cannot bring yourself to forgive. While some would have you dwell in the past and examine it from every angle, God's word would have you forgive and dwell in the future, examining the hope you have in God's grace through Jesus from every angle. Bitterness will kill you. Let go of the past and move forward.
It's not that all memory is bad. Memory is a great tool for the Christian so long as it helps you to move forward. Remember God's faithfulness. Remember lessons learned. Press on toward the future.
This is the future for Christians: "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself." (verses 20-21)
If you think that you could never be as holy as those you look up to in the Christian walk, you're not doubting yourself or being humble. You're doubting the power and promise of God.
It's time for you to forget what's behind and reach forward to what's ahead, pressing on toward the goal: perfection in Christ-likeness.
Hi Matt! I really like this post/recap! I think pressing on is one of the most important things we can do to continue to grow as people.
ReplyDeleteIn my line of work (Mental Health) there is so much in the past that matters, because it is the path upon which people got to where they are, but it is not changeable, where the future, and even how we view the past, is something we can do something with!
I agree, memory is great as long as it's built upon and not lived around.
Thanks Rebecca! Your input is always appreciated.
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