For those who call themselves Christian, every day should be a reminder of what is not yet. Hope for some of God’s promises are still that, hope. “For who hopes for what he already sees” (Rom. 8:24)? If you have read the previous three articles of this series, you hopefully understand where the Christian is positioned, with Christ. After having buried your sin and its sentence of death with and through him, you have come out alive, a new creation by his Spirit, blameless and without reproach, having been joined to his person; all of this through faith in him. With this done, you have the promise of a new and sinless body for eternal life in the Kingdom of God.
That last sentence is the, “Not yet.” And so, every day should remind us that what is born again in Spirit still possesses a vessel, a body of flesh that is born in sin. Every day is a reminder because every day is a war zone. “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another” (Gal. 5:17). As we grow spiritually and, in our faith, this battle should become more and more acute. Through experience and maturity, being battle tested day after day, moment after moment, we should start to sense not just the obvious points of attack by our own flesh and the evil spiritual forces (Eph. 6:12), but also the subtle. What is against the Spirit of God makes himself look like a friend in most instances only to stab you in the back. There is great reason for us to be on the alert (1 Pet. 5:8; Eph. 6:18; 1 Cor. 16:13); enemy spies are rampant.
It is a good thing, a great thing, that we rely not on our own abilities and powers to survive the war but on God’s. He is faithful to go before us and to protect us, to give us everything we need to make it through this life of conflict between good and evil. Yet, he still calls us to action and holds us accountable for our decisions. We are joined to Christ through faith and we remain with Christ through faith. Through faith in God’s power, not ours, we will endure the war. Our decisions are based on the faith we have in Him and we believe He will always do what is good for us; that is His promise (Rom. 8:28). Because of God’s work in us, we will endure to the end to obtain the prize of eternal life and all the rest of His great promises.
In this article, we are going to lay the final piece of foundation before we start to build upon it with the attributes that make up what is to, “Put on Christ.” This writing will be directly connected to those individual attributes because it will tell us what we are doing when we put on Christ and at what end they have their aim. In fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12-13) we will put on Christ, learning to discipline the body (1 Cor. 9:24-27) becoming imitators of Christ and those who have set an example for us (Heb. 6:11-12). All the while we will boast in God alone (1 Cor. 1:30-31), enduring to the end (Mat. 24:13) to obtain the promised prize (Phil. 3:9-14).
In Fear and Trembling
“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12-13). These verses directly follow what is said about the enormously great and humble act that Christ made by being obedient to God to the point of death, “Even death on a cross,” to bring us salvation. It is because of this that Paul gives the exhortation. To, “Work out your salvation,” is not to say that you need to work to accomplish your salvation but it means instead that you should bring your faith to completion. Notice that Paul says in verse 13 that, “It is God who is at work in you.” You will bring your salvation to completion by resting not in your own power but in God’s. “Resting not in your own power but in God’s,” is to have faith and trust in God in other words. You have faith and God has power. Your fear and trembling are in regard to the reverence and awe for the all-powerful one.
Disciplining the Body
“Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:25-27). Paul tells us that he runs (lives) his Christian life in such a way that he is always aiming for the “Imperishable wreath.” That imperishable wreath is eternal life in God’s kingdom and Paul is intent on reaching that end such as the previous passage said we should work out our salvation and/or bring it to completion. Paul’s game-plan? His war strategy? It is to discipline his body with self-control. He is running a Christian race and he is fighting a war on the Christian side. The standard to run a Christian race and the standard to fight with the Christians is to put on Jesus Christ. Otherwise, disqualification is imminent and then certain. Rather than obeying the lusts of his body born in sin, Paul is intent on controlling it, making it submissive to the Spirit of God working within him.
Imitating
“And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Heb. 6:11-12). If we combine this passage with the last, we can notice some commonalities. The writer of Hebrews contrasts diligence with sluggishness to maintain the full assurance of hope until the end to inherit God’s promises and salvation. Just as you can probably imagine a runner of a race or a soldier of war being successful only through diligence rather than sluggishness, so should we live out our Christian lives. But the key word I wanted to focus on in this passage is, “Imitators.” Ultimately, we should imitate Jesus because he is the perfectly obedient one full of all truth and love. It is Him, after all, that we are putting on, soon to talk about the attributes that He carries. But it is also those of the faith who have run the race before us that we should imitate. They have successfully inherited the promises through diligence, having faith in God, relying on God’s power, and discipling their own bodies. Speaking of Abraham, Hebrews 6:15 says, “Having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.” May we be imitators of Abraham and those we can confidently say have inherited the promise.
Obtaining the Prize
I want to finish this foundation setting aspect of this series with the passage we began with in the first article titled Be Perfect. Philippians 3:7-17 wonderfully holds much of what we have set in place. God has set it in place, actually, and we are just looking and grasping. I encourage you to read it through and I will point out some of the major points along the way in parentheses. “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish, so that I may gain Christ (Joined to Him), and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection from the dead (He has gone before us in death and resurrection. The same is applied to us through faith in Him – baptism representing). Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect (It is not assumed but we must continually run this race, this war, with faith), but I press on (Diligence) so that I may lay hold of that (The promises, eternal life, God’s kingdom) for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet (Again, not assumed); but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead (Again, diligence), I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God (Again, God’s kingdom) in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect (Joined to Christ), have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by that same standard (Jesus Christ) to which we have attained. Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us (Imitate).”
God has set a standard that we must live by and the mysterious beauty of this is that we meet the standard by being joined to the standard, Jesus Christ. Jesus has accomplished all things for us by his perfect obedience to the Father, living in love for God and man and then through his atoning sacrificial death on the cross and then resurrection. But we must remember that though we have been joined to Christ through faith and have received His Spirit, there is a race and war that remains while we possess the sin-natured bodies we have been born into. Until these bodies die, and we receive the new and glorified body for God’s kingdom, we must bring our faith to completion, diligently aiming for the end, disciplining the body, imitating those before us, patiently enduring until we obtain the prize, boasting in God all the way for His work, not ours.
-Pastor Ben