Does it really make any difference if I pray?

"In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Matt. 6:9-10

I've been thinking lately about the whole concept of prayer. And while doing this, I was reminded of a magazine article I read a while ago (don't recall which magazine offhand) about some scientists and researchers who conducted a study on the effectiveness of prayer. They apparently came to the conclusion that you couldn't scientifically prove that prayer actually works. Duh! Really?

Anyway, it does bring up something that a lot of the faithful do wonder about...that is, do my prayers really matter? I mean, if God's will is going to be done anyway, does it really make a difference if I pray? And, if He knows my needs before I even ask, why do I still need to ask? And by their actions, you might conclude that many Christian's answer to these questions would be in the negative. For if we really thought that prayer did indeed make a difference, we would pray about everything! But most believers admitedly don't pray like this. My desire here in this blog is to share some thoughts that will hopefully motivate you to pray more.

Part of the problem that I see is that we're confused about our relationship with God in the outworkings of His eternal plan. While we know that God's will indeed will be done and His ultimate plan cannot be thwarted, we can, if we're not careful, begin to at least subconsciously adopt a Christian version of a que sera sera, whatever will be will be..." attitude. I contend that this rather fatalistic view is not taught in the Bible, nor do I believe that God wants us to believe that our prayers don't matter.

Now, there are certainly other reasons that we don't get our requests answered. One notable reason is that we are praying contrary to God's will and, really, contrary to our own best interests. Other reasons would be that prayer is for us, to help us come into a better understanding of God's will for something, or to cast our anxieties upon Him, to find peace that passes all understanding. Another obvious reason to pray is to commune with God, to draw near, for no other reason than to spend time with Him and grow in grace. I do not want to discount those important reasons nor do I wish to minimize their purpose in prayer. But I also believe that there is much more to prayer than this, and so it's imperative that believers understand this so we can work more effectively in the Kingdom.

First, we need to remember that the Bible does indeed tell us to pray. In fact, we are to told to pray without ceasing (I Thess.5:17) and if it were not so, Jesus would've told us to pray, even to be persistent in our asking. In Matt.7:7 (NLT version), “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you." Of course,we also know that Jesus prayed constantly during His earthly ministry and now, we see in Romans 8 and Hebrews 7, that both the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, and Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us before God (to "intercede" literally means to meet, to stand up for someone else). So,prayer and intercession are obviously important to God!

That our prayers really matter is the underlying principle Jesus is teaching in the so-called "Lord's Prayer" in Matt.6:9-13. We notice three things right up front about this prayer:

First, that we address God as our Father...He's our Father! This speaks of intimacy and special priviledge. Because of faith in Jesus' Blood shed on the Cross for us, we have access to our heavenly Father, the Giver of all good things. He is someone we can approach with confidence, and where we can find grace and help in time of need (Heb.4:16)

Second, hallowed be Your name...we worship Him as God alone, acknowledging the exceeding glory of His holiness. That He is our only source and supply. That we put no other gods before Him nor do we look to any one else to get our needs met.

Third, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." We invite God's rule, His activities into our lives here on the earth. The rest of the prayer deals with doing exactly this in our everyday lives.

Now, before I go further, let me say that God doesn't need to do this. But, for His own reasons, He chooses to include us in His affairs. And let me also say that this does not diminish His sovereignty in any way. In fact, it's part of it! Also, it doesn't mean we can get whatever we want if we pray. The key to this, and to prayer in general, is that prayer is connected somehow with God's will being released on the earth as it's already done in heaven. And if it didn't matter if we prayed for His will to be done on earth, Jesus' instructions here would be absolutely pointless.

Here's what Andrew Murray said about prayer..."God's giving is inseparably connected to our asking...only by intercession can that power be brought down from heaven, which will enable the Church to conquer the world."

Now, before you say that this is heresy, consider this...

God sent Israel into captivity because there was no one to intercede for them..."So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one." Ezek.22:30. Therefore, Israel had to be put in God's furnace of affliction for 70 years because no one was praying or interceding.

This begs the question...what if someone would've "stood in the gap" and prayed for them? Would the outcome have been different? The answer can only be, yes, otherwise God would not have said so. This doesn't change His foreknowledge of Israel's future, or His ultimate will, but only how He waits for men to partner with Him through prayer and intercession in order to effect outcomes.

Still not convinced? Then consider these examples...

Abraham saves Lot from destruction by interceding with God when He planned to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 18)

Moses intercedes for Israel when God was determined to totally destroy them and start over while they were in the wilderness because they refused to enter the Promised Land (Num.14).

Daniel prays for God's will to be done after finding out that the time of Jeremiah's prophecy, that Israel would be in captivity for 70 years, was about to come to an end (see Daniel 9:1-3).

The question is, what would've happened in just these few examples, if no one had set their hearts to pray or to intercede? You can't say that these situations would've still turned out the same. Certainly, Lot would've died in Sodom, Israel would've perished in the wilderness, and at least there's a possibility that the outcome of Israel's return from captivity would've been different too. You can only rightfully say that God foreknew what they would do and planned for it in advance. But either way, from our perspective at least, it makes a huge difference whether we pray or not. Whether we choose to cooperate with God's plan for our generation.

Let me close with this...that God is more amazing than we can imagine! Now, there's nothing surprising or revelatory about that statement, but it's much more than that. While He knows the end from the beginning, and He establishes our way, and His plan cannot be thwarted, yet...He waits for us to ask, to knock, to seek...to release His will upon the earth. That is mind-boggling! Do you realize what this means, mighty saint of God? It means that we have a part to play in history and what we do does make a difference! And like Abraham, Moses, Daniel, Jesus, and those faithful who have gone before us, we can partner with God...as His friend...Who, as we draw near and abide in Him, tells us His secret things (Gen.18:17-19:Psalm 25:14; John 15:7-8) in order to execute His plan and purposes and, thus, glorify His name on the earth!

I hope that you will pray and seek His face. And may His will indeed be done in you, and me, as it is done in heaven. Amen.

Just how do I keep my salvation?

"Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith..." Hebrews 12:2a

Nothing like giving a provocative title to a blog, eh? Let me just jump right into the middle of one of the biggest Christian debates in all history. I'm feeling rather theologically mischievous today, but I really do have a good point to all this that may help you, so please bear with me.

Okay...this really conjures up the old question, "Can I, or can't I, lose my salvation?" Which is right? Or...maybe...it's not really either choice; that is, as most of us understand the question...and maybe...both are right. Maybe we don't even understand what we're asking. Let me explain...

First, the argument. There is one side of evangelical Christianity that says that if salvation is a free gift of God's grace (unmerited favor), and it has nothing to do with us, and if we can't possibly come to God on our own or save ourselves, then we can't lose it either. In other words, "once saved always saved." It's a compelling argument that can be substantiated in Scripture. A champion of this theology was John Calvin, a noted theologian in the 16th Century. American preachers like Jonathon Edwards, reformation theology in general, and a host of other evangelicals adopt this view. While I tend to agree with most of Calvin's postulates, I believe that some of his defenders, zealous to prove God's sovereignty, have taken it to extremes, thus putting God in this box, making Him some control freak that's really doing little more than playing games with souless human robots. He created us in His image with a will to choose, only to totally take it away from us! And He further compounds the ridicule by telling us to choose! This extreme Calvinistic argument is a bit ridiculous in my view.

On the other side of the debate, there are people who believe man has, at least, limited free will and responsibility (meaning "response-ability"); thus they can indeed lose their salvation. These people, too, substantiate their view with just as many Scriptural references as the Calvinists. The champion for this view was a theologian named Jacobus Arminius, who was born shortly after Calvin. Interestingly enough, Arminius was actually taught by Calvin's son-in-law and was himself a "Calvinist" until he heard someone argue the other side better than he so he rejected pure Calvinist teachings. John Wesley, founder of the Methodists, was also a preacher of note who adopted many of the Arminian beliefs, along with many Pentecostal and holiness persuations. I will add at this point that some have taken this position to mean that if we died while "sinning," we've lost our salvation, which I personally think is as ridiculous as extreme Calvinistic views.

I must also mention here that both sides believe that a person cannot save himself but only by God's grace drawing him. And neither believes in man's unlimited free will. But these are the two basic views given in a very simplistic fashion.

Ok, enough with the history. Which one is right? Or are they both wrong? Are they both right? Is there yet another option? (Did I get you to say hmmmm yet?) Actually, in a way (and I mean, a way), all of these answers could be right.

We must understand that Scripture does indeed teach us that our salvation has nothing to what we have done but what we believe. So...just what are we to believe then?

The first thing we need to understand is that our sin nature condemned us to die and be forever separated from God ("death" means separation). Without going into detail here on that, suffice to say, there are many Scriptures to support this truth. The second thing we need to understand is that God must have justice for our sin, our violation of His creation purpose (to glorify God), and that this justice was satisfied by Christ Jesus. More on this later. But first I want you to notice something about the following passage.

In 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them.”

Notice here that we had nothing to do with this exchange and payment for sin. God reconciled us (straightened out man's sin problem) through Christ. In other words, we weren't involved in this "reconciling" equation at all. But there is another thing we must know about this reconciliation. It is a gift from God that no one deserves. Of course, Paul plainly says this very thing in Ephesians 2:8-9...
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."

So this salvation is a free gift. (that's an important point) For a gift is not something we have anything to do with other than to "receive" it graciously from the giver (or Giver, in this case). Just like if you gave me a gift, maybe a box of candy. I had nothing to do with whatever it took to make the candy, nor do I necessarily deserve it; the only thing I can do is respond to you by receiving it from your hand. I do this because I believe you when you say you're giving it me. And after receiving it from you, it is now mine.

And I say this because it is not mine until I accept the fact that the gift is actually mine. Before my receiving it, it was only potentially mine; in other words, it was indeed a gift provided for me but might as well not even have existed unless I actually "receive" it. And with regard to the free gift of salvation, there is nothing I can do except receive it by believing that God's justice has been satisfied on my behalf.

Why this is important is because Scripture says that Christ died for the sins of the "whole world" (I John 2:2). As I already pointed out, it is a free gift from God for all mankind, but nonetheless, until a person actually accepts this free gift...or "receives Christ by faith" ...this free gift does them no good. In this regard, everyone who is lost is already forgiven, as well as everyone who is saved. The only difference between the two is that the latter are saved by faith (having received the free gift), and the former are lost because they did not believe, thus, did not receive it by faith. Again, it had nothing to do with whether they lived a good life, lived a wicked life, obeyed or disobeyed all the commandments, but whether they received by trusting in the free gift of God.

Back to the "exchange" in 2 Cor 5... The question is, if it was all Christ's work that God is satisfied with, then what has changed about this, or will ever change about this historical fact in the future? For that matter, will anything about the gift change? You're right, nothing will change becuase it's already done...it is finished! And it had nothing to do with me or my performance. Christ's Blood satisfied God at Calvary 2,000 years ago...it still does now...and ever will satisfy God in the future. So, the question is, if we had nothing to do with satisfying God's requirements to make us right before Him, and it's a free gift, then how can anything you or I do ever change that? For if I sin, even in the future...did Christ's atonement still satisfy God? Yes. Did it change anything concerning my salvation? No. So does Jesus' Blood shed still atone for all I have done or ever will do? The answer is still, Yes.

Sounds like Calvin was right...but hold on a minute....what about all the Scriptures about people who have left the faith, those apostates, and those who have turned away from the grace of God? Furthermore, why did Paul and the other writers spend so much time telling believers to "keep the faith" and persevere if "falling away" was an impossibility? Arminianists may point to many Scriptures like the following:

"For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame." Heb.6:4-6

Sounds to me like believers are able to walk away and even go past repentance (like Esau). And I know full well our Calvinist friends have their answers to these apparent warnings, but even our beloved salvation verse, John 3:16 says “anyone who believes” does not mean anyone who believed at one point in time, but rather, it is a continuous act of believing. Numerous epistles in the New Testament also exhort people to overcome and promise eternal life to those who do so. If overcoming was guaranteed upon salvation, the exhortation would be foolish. The point is, both sides can make equally compelling arguments, and both sides have problems with their arguments. I am not going to belabor those differences anymore here.

Okay, again, you may ask...what is it? What's your point, Mel? Well, here's my point...if salvation is already settled in heaven, not based on anything I do, and at the same time, I must somehow persist and persevere, it must mean something else to "keep the faith" (otherwise it's pointless to tell me to do something God will do for me anyway).

I believe that it means what I said at the beginning...that our salvation is not based on what we do but what we believe. My "keeping" and "persevering" is only in my continuing to believe and trust in what Jesus did, not what I do or don't do. For nothing ever changes about God's salvation. And as long as I continue to believe that, I have "kept the faith."

So you see...it has absolutely nothing to do with whether I still sin or not...God has already given up on me anyway! My flesh will always be my flesh. God is not interested in redeeming my flesh! To think otherwise is to still be arguing with God! But it has everything to do with whether I give up (renounce) any other way but to put my entire dependence upon God and know that He is satisfied with Jesus' payment for me on the Cross. Whether I sin or not is entirely a different matter...only by walking in the Spirit, in other words, using my will to yield to God's will, can I overcome sinning. The flesh is always the flesh; the spirit is the spirit. But that's another subject...

So when I'm "looking unto Jesus," I have been saved...I am being saved...and will be saved. But, on the other hand, if I still believe that I have to make myself right with God somehow by rules and regulations, through what I do, whether it sounds Christian or not, then I have fallen from grace (Gal.5:4).

So, let me be clear in what I am saying here...my (and your) only part here is to keep believing and totally trusting what Jesus did; God's part is to save me and keep me. And His "keeping" comes from my trusting Him by faith. Faith comes first through my cooperation, helped by His grace, then, and only then, His promise comes into my experience...my peace with God, my justification, my sanctification, imparted entirely by the Spirit through faith in Christ. And, in that way, I enter into the "rest of God" (Heb.4)

So...was Calvin or Arminius right? My answer...Yes! Did God "predestine" me, have foreknowledge, already plan in advance that I would would believe...or did I have make the choice and turn to Him? The answer again...Yes! It was preplanned, provided for and I have to make the choice. In fact, He even helps me make the choice because He knew I would make the choice! (Ponder that one...it will make your time-bound head hurt!) And even though He gives me a choice to keep the faith, the Holy Spirit in me helps me do so. So God gets all the glory; I get His salvation and joy of the Lord! Hallelujah!

Furthermore, I can have "blessed assurance" because I can be and remain confident in what Jesus did, and know that I know that I know...that I am without a doubt, saved! Why? Because God's requirements aren't up to me to keep! Believing in Christ's finished work on the Cross is what I "keep." I stop struggling with God and agree with His assessment of me, that I am hopelessly unrepairable, but Jesus' life and Blood is enough and nothing can ever change that! I have absolutely no confidence in a sinner's prayer, or that I was repentant or sorry enough, or that I follow rules good enough, but my confidence is in that Jesus satisfied God's requirements for me. This, I believe! This, I hold on to by faith.

Brothers and sisters, if we can just get a revelation of this, we will get our eyes off of ourselves (on either side), forever bound by sin-conscienceness and fears, and the whole debate outlined here becomes totally irrelevant! There is nothing I can do to lose God's salvation...as long as I believe that it is enough for God.

You may ask, "This sounds a lot more like Calvinism than Arminianism, that I really can't lose my salvation. Well, that's fine if that helps you, but there is a critical distinction. Calvinism leads me to forfeit my will and basically wait for God to act on the earth in all His affairs. In this way, it is a passive faith. But if I do have a will, then it must be that God wants me to use it to partner or cooperate with Him, to release His decrees and purposes on the earth.

Like Daniel, whose intercession and prayers released God's purposes for Israel's return from captivity, or Jesus' admonition for us to pray for God's will to be done on the earth as it is in heaven, it does make a difference what we do. For instance, even though God has already done everything, we still must pray, we must still seek, we must still ask to see His purposes come to fruition. If we don't pray, not much, if anything, happens. Scripture even says that we can "hasten" the coming of the day of the Lord (2 Pet.3:12). It's time to wake up from our slumber and passivity and get on with God's business! More on that some other time...

I will leave you with this thought...What is the work are we to do? Jesus answered it best in John 6:29...“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." So let's keep believing and run the race set before us!

This thing called holiness

“Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?” Acts 3:12

Lately, I've been pondering this whole concept of holiness...what it means, what it looks like, and how we possess it as Christians. Last Sunday, I spoke on the subject of pursuing peace and holiness from the text in Hebrews 12:14 (this message will be published on our web site by 1/11/07). My main point being that you cannot have true holiness without pursuing peace with others around you. It's as much about reconciliation as it is about consecration. I do not want to belabor that subject again here but continue on with what I see in Scripture about holiness.

I feel compelled to share this because I believe this subject has confused so many Christians, either by being ignored altogether or abused by a legalistic few professing a version of holiness that is no more than Christian humanism (which is not Christian at all!). I believe this has greatly impeded the realization of any true holiness and has resulted in much damage to the honest seeker's pursuit and walk with the Lord, even negating the Cross of Christ and the efficacy of grace. I also want to say up front to please bear with me on this post if it seems a bit theological rather conversational. I feel in order to make my points, some theological background is necessary. I will try to keep the doctrinal aspects as concise and conversational as possible.

Before leaving the subject of Hebrews 12:14, I do want to say this. That all who hold faith in Christ have an innate desire to pursue holiness; that is, that God's holiness would be made manifest in their lives. They cannot help but have this desire because the Holy Spirit dwells in them, and He, of course, is holy. If one finds that he or she does not have this abiding desire, it can only mean one of two things. Either this person is not born from above (John 3:3) or the cares of this life have choked out and deadened the very life of Christ in their hearts.

Our understanding of what holiness is comes from a couple of Hebrew and Greek words in the Old and New Testament. First, the Hebrew word qodesh, which means apartness, separateness, sacredness, as pertaining to God; and to be separated by, set apart by God, as pertaining to man. In the New Testament, two main Greek words are used...hagiosune, which means majesty, moral purity; and hagiosmos, which means to be concrecrated to, the effect of consecration and sanctification of our hearts and lives (as used in Heb.12:14). These will serve to describe my usage of the word here.

Having laid the groundwork, I will continue with my thoughts on the subject. First, at the risk of repeating my remarks from last Sunday, we must understand that we have no ability whatsoever, nor will we ever have the ability, to "attain" to any state of holiness through efforts of our own. Which means that you and I will never be any more holy or less holy than we are right now; we have absolutely no holiness apart from God's divine holiness residing in us. This is precisely what Peter meant in our text from Acts 3 above. Peter and John were only able to heal the lame man because of their faith in the fact that God is good, not because Peter or John were, or ever will be, good.

The only holiness we can ever have is what we "obtain" as a free gift by faith. Furthermore, until we see the hopelessness of our ability to "make ourselves holy," and Christ's total ability to do so, we will never experience true holiness. For if holiness could've been attained by self-discipline or even through outward spiritual disciplines, then the Pharisees would've certainly attained it! (They prayed, studied, fasted, tithed...more than you are I ever will!) Yet, it was Jesus Himself who told them that their father was the devil! This is not to minimize our need for spiritual disciplines, only to point out that doing those things, in and of themselves, do not make one holy.

Christ is not our sanctifier, He Himself is our sanctification. (See I Cor.1:30). What I believe that the Bible means by this is that Christ does not sanctify (make us holy) by doing something to us that makes us a better, "holier" people who have attained some improved level of moral purity; but instead, He resides in us, watching over and working in our souls, both to will and do continually (See Phil.2:13).

Furthermore, the degree of manifest holiness in us (as it is in our experience in everyday life) is totally proportional to the degree that we "embrace Christ" and our hearts (soul) realize the reality that we are only complete in Him (Col.2:10). In order for this to be revealed to us, we must first allow the Holy Spirit to show us that God has already given up on us ever achieving some righteous state, so that we will stop all other means of attaining godliness other than receiving His holiness by faith.

Why is this self-revelation necessary for us to see true holiness? Because we, even as otherwise mature Christians, tend to see our "sins" as some temporary slip in our behavior that can somehow be remedied with enough moral resolve and effort. But God sees it as a permanent defect with us. In this sense, we literally "lack God's glory" (Rom.3:23). The Bible never teaches self-denial (that I should or even can stop doing this or that); it only teaches denial of self (Matt.16:24; Mark 8:34). In other words, it is not what we do that must die, but our trying to save ourselves (or sanctify ourselves) that must die. This usually means, for believers and unbelievers alike, a seemingly endless cycle of failing over and over again, struggling in every way to make ourselves right before God, redoubling our resolve to "stop sinning," only to fail again, until we finally come to the end of ourselves and, at last, surrender all notions of ever being good, so that God can be good for us. It is not until we reach this death of self, that we receive life and enter God's rest (Heb.4:1)

I cannot possibly overstate this fact. Until we reach this point of ultimate frustration and see the utter futility of clinging on to our self-life, trying be good, we cannot begin any pursuit of true holiness. But when we do finally rest from our dead works (Heb.6:1), Christ can then begin to rule in our hearts and "be holy" through us and for us. Therefore, our holy living and moral purity is directly proportional to how much we have allowed Christ's holiness and moral purity to rule in us. We have no holiness apart from this, period. Christ then becomes our sanctification only insofar as the utter failure of our soul-man is revealed to us, and only insofar that we have "received Christ," or "put" Him on (Gal.3:27).

This is why Jesus said to the rich young ruler, "Why do you call me good? Only One is good and that is God." (Matt.19:17) Jesus was making a statement that defines the very core of true Christianity; which is, the only goodness we have is imputed goodness, that is, God's goodness freely and undeservedly given to us by God. As Paul also said in I Cor.4:7, "For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?" The only difference between me and the most vile sinner on earth is God's mercy and grace daily working in me. In other words, my only boast is Christ!

How does this look in our everyday lives? First, we must understand that God gave us a free will. He didn't have to, but He did because He wants our love, and love is not love at all unless it is freely given. And while it is true that we cannot possibly come to God unless the Father draw us, unless He chooses us first; it is equally true that we must choose Him. In other words, we must choose to be chosen! Indeed, from Genesis to Revelation, God is asking man to choose whom he will serve. As an old preacher said long ago..."Without God, we cannot not; without us, He will not." The truth is, we use our will every moment of every day, either to serve God or to serve ourselves. So, in this light, we will begin to experience the sanctified life as we continually use our will to surrender and yield to the Spirit in us, turning over the reigns, if you will, to Christ to rule and execute His ability and power in our affairs, thus, bringing to our experience the ability to do His will. This is refered to in Scripture as "walking in the Spirit"(Rom.8:1-17; Gal.5:16). Plainly speaking, we replace our previous way of doing things, where we found security in self, to turning over complete trust and security in Him who called us out of darkness. From this we see that faith and trust are very intentional and active in our thoughts and decisions; not passive, as James tells us in his epistle.

Let me bring this long post to a close. Even though many so-called legalistic Christians, who like to use "holiness" as a club to rail at all of what's wrong with Christian behavior, may totally agree with the doctrine I have laid out, they are, by their actions, diametrically opposed to what I am saying. They speak of free grace and the all sufficiency of Christ, but carry out their sanctification completely by works. Their humanistic gospel is one filled with fear, confusion, and manipulation, not faith working through love (Gal.5:6). In fact, Paul took the entire letter to the Galatians to condemn this pseudo-spirituality, this counterfeit version of Christianity. God has only one answer to this, "...This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” (John 6:29). If a true seeker of God cares to turn their focus from self to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of their faith, they will undoubtedly see that Christ is our only victory, Christ Himself is our only sanctification, Christ Himself is our only holiness! He Himself is the narrow path; He is the highway of holiness (Isa.35:8). And to God alone be all glory and honor and praise!

Pressing onward to perfection

“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.” Phil.3:12 (NLT)

It's been a while since I have been able to post on this blog. You know, the holidays and other excuses. So, today, I have made a New Year's resolution to renew my posting vigor. I shared the above passage last Sunday and thought it would be good to ponder further on its implications this new year.

My thoughts today are on pressing onward to perfection. First, we notice that this passage implies that we are all on a journey, or in a race, if you will. We are a people in process. And while we know we have not arrived at our destination, at least we know we have left the station.

"Perfection" is an interesting word here. This word is music to the perfectionist's ears! They love these verses and gleefully point them out to others that we must obey them to the letter. They love to talk about the need for perfection and why it must be possible because, after all, didn't Jesus tell us to be perfect? (Matt.5:48) Being a recovering perfectionist myself, I know of its spiritually toxic allure. Of course, we also know that this elusive pursuit usually leads to an endless cycle of frustration and self-condemnation.

So what does it mean to "be perfect" or to possess this seemingly ever evasive virtue? To answer what the Bible actually means by this, we need to look at the original Greek. The word used in both this passage and the Matthew account is teleioo, which means “To complete, accomplish, finish, carry through to the end, bring to a successful conclusion, maturity, reach a goal, to fulfill.” So what Paul (and Jesus) is saying is that we are to "be perfected," we are to complete our mission and carry out to completion that for which we were created to do. And just as important here, notice what it doesn't mean; that is, what we normally mean by perfection.

The exemplification of this journey to perfection is found in Paul's farewell statement in 2 Tim.4:6...“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

Returning to our text..."I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me." Another translation says …that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” Press on to what? Lay hold of what? The answer...press on, lay hold of...that for which I was created by God to do since before the foundation of time. This perfection...this successful journey to complete the mission that you and I were created to complete.

So I mean to say here is that this pursuit to perfection has nothing to do with sinlessness or achieving some flawless state. Our sin remains judged at the Cross and always will be. In fact, to say we are without sin is to call God a liar and the truth is not in us (I John 1:10). Of course, we know we will be judged for our works (I Cor.3:11-13), by how we have fulfilled our particular calling. And, furthermore, it's not about sinlessness as much as it's about completing the mission according to our ability (i.e., Parable of the Talents - Matt.25:14-29).

In conclusion, dear one, on this newest annual turn of the chronological clock, let us press on...let us make our own renewed "resolution" to fulfill our calling...keeping the faith, running the race set before us...so that one day, like Paul, we will be able to say that we have fought the good fight, having laid hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of us.