Philippians 3:15-21

Philippians 3:15-21

What does it mean to be mature as a disciple of Christ? What marks a person that is moving in the right direction in their spiritual walk? Everyone is a disciple of someone. Some, but not all, are Disciples of Christ. Among those, some of His disciples are good and others are not. What's the difference? In verse 14 Paul identifies knowing and loving Christ as the focus of the disciple’s life. Maturity is the passionate love of Christ; to know Him and to be in Him. While knowledge is important and behavior must be holy, the pursuit of Christ is the mark. In verse 15 Paul gives great freedom and expresses his trust in the Philippian Christian. Those who share this pursuit are mature. Those who don't get it will come around eventually, under the Lord's prompting. Paul doesn't go into a lot of detail, simply insisting they will get there. But in the meantime he calls them to live holy lives and not to lose ground in their moral behavior.

He says this because at the time there were false teachers who taught that since a disciple has been and is freely forgiven, they could indulge in sin. These people who claimed to be disciples were in fact enemies of the Cross. Paul's description of them in verse 19 sounds as if he were describing many pseudo-Christians today, as they attempt to disconnect and redefine right and wrong. What is sometimes described as “liberal theology" is nothing more than an attack on the cross of Christ. The attempted inclusion of immorality into Christian life is nothing more than the world, the flesh, and the devil parading around while pretending to proclaim Christ. They are thoroughly fit for and belong to the world.

In contrast our citizenship, our belongings are in Heaven. The Philippians enjoyed the privilege of Roman citizenship, and for them this metaphor would have been uniquely powerful. A Roman citizen’s life was profoundly better than that of a subjugated people of the empire. As citizens of Heaven, we enjoy many but not yet all the privileges of our citizenship. In the meantime we eagerly wait for the Savior’s coming. The Greek word “eagerly wait” is a powerful multi-compound word made up of three parts. Properly it means “waiting that decisively puts away all that should remain behind.” To say it more smoothly, “eagerly waiting” is not passively waiting but waiting by getting ready to go. And the way we get ready to go is not attending to or focusing on that which we leave when Christ returns.

“Lord, help me get ready to go. AMEN”