The truth that is to follow is to be a great source of comfort for you today. Nobody knew this better than the apostle Paul.
I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14)
Paul had every reason to believe he could earn the favor and blessing of God. He was part of the “in” crowd at the Temple. He was a Pharisee of Pharisee’s and lived his life to the letter of the law. Yet in spite of all of his performing, Jesus showed up and made it clear that Paul was never going to be able to earn his way into God’s favor, no matter how hard he tried. In fact, his focus on earning and performing was only driving him further away from God . . . not closer.
What a comfort for those of us who are straining to keep running on the performance treadmill of life! We do not have to perform our way into relationship with God. And we do not have to maintain, increase, or improve on our performance to remain there. It we were not good enough to get in, we certainly not good enough to stay in. It is a prize that is to be won, not earned; and it has been won by Jesus.
The more Paul dug deep into this truth, the more he could focus on pursuing and finding pleasure in God, rather than performing for God. Because of what Jesus had already done for Paul, he could live out practically what he already was positionally: a possession of the Prince of Peace. Paul knew it was Jesus who took hold of him. and not the other way around. When we understand this Gospel-saturated truth, we are free to be what we have been called by God to be.
This truth empowered Paul to rise even above a past that was littered with sin, even the wickedness of his involvement in the death of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. A past like Paul’s would have paralyzed him if he was still stuck on a performance-based religion—the need to earn eternal life and God’s blessings in everyday life. Guilt would have ground him into the ashes of defeat. But Jesus freed him from that, and now Paul was indeed free to focus on the faith that had been won by Jesus on the cross.
So for all of you recovering Pharisees (and believe me, I am the chief of them), let us rest in the truth that Jesus has done everything that needs to be done for us to have a relationship with Him. We cannot damage that relationship or destroy it, no matter how badly we perform. Resting in the truth that we are covered in the righteousness of Christ is reason to celebrate, and the more we celebrate this truth the more we will consistently live a life that is pleasing to God and beneficial to others. As J.I. Packer rightly observed, “No need in Christendom is more urgent than the need for a renewed awareness of what the grace of God really is.”
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 