Most of us have desires which have not been met, but what is it that we want? Many want more things. They think that happiness depends on material possessions or wealth. But wealth does not satisfy. Solomon wrote, “ He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase: this also is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 5:10) Other people crave fame or power and are willing to pay a terrible price to get it. In the end, though, power or position has little value. As Jesus said, “For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits his own self?” (Luke 9:25)
The Apostle Paul also had desires. He, too, was willing to make great efforts to obtain what he wanted. But the things he desired were very different from what most people want. In chapter 3, verses 10 through 11 of his inspired letter to the Philippians he writes: “that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed to his death; if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
Because of these statements, some have concluded that Paul was seeking martyrdom. Some might even think that Paul regarded martyrdom as a good deed which would earn him eternal life. Let there be no mistake about this. Paul is not seeking to earn eternal life, nor is he expressing any doubt about whether he will be raised from the dead. While dying for Christ is not excluded from what Paul is saying, there is a broader meaning. Elsewhere he writes, “…don’t you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism to death, that just like Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection; knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him;” (Romans 6:3-8)
In order to live with Christ, we must first die with him in baptism. Just as God’s power raised Christ from death, His power gives new life to those who have been baptized into Christ. What Paul is saying, though, is that being baptized into Christ’s death is only a beginning. Knowing Christ and dying to sin is an ongoing process. In verses 12 through 14 he writes “Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect; but I press on, if it is so that I may take hold of that for which also I was taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers, I don’t regard myself as yet having taken hold, but one thing I do. Forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
In these verses Paul likens the Christian life to a race. In order to win the prize it is necessary to finish the race. The blessings of heaven await, but we cannot receive them if we abandon living for Christ. Similarly, no one ever won a race by looking backwards. We must turn away from whatever is in our past and keep our eyes on the goal. In another place Scripture says, “…let us… lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)
Running a race can be difficult. We get tired. There may be obstacles in our way. We can be tempted to quit. In verses 15 and 16 Paul gives two important principles which can help us continue on. He writes, “ Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, think this way. If in anything you think otherwise, God will also reveal that to you. Nevertheless, to the extent that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule. Let us be of the same mind.”
We need to understand that God wants us to succeed. We may not be able understand everything on our own. If we are trying to live for Christ, however, God will reveal to us what we need to know in order to do so. Secondly, while we should never allow the sins and mistakes of the past to hinder us in moving forward, past victories and accomplishments can motivate us to keep going. If we have been given new life in Christ, we are not the same as we were before. We have made progress. Difficulties have been overcome. While we, like Paul, have not yet attained full perfection, we are more Christlike than we once were. Do we wish to throw it all away by giving up?
But how can we go forward? How do we know which is the right path to follow? Paul gives the answer in verse 17, “Brothers, be imitators together of me, and note those who walk this way, even as you have us for an example.”
From this we see that we need the fellowship of like-minded people who will help us run our race. We shouldn’t try to do it on our own. Scripture says, “Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24-25) A second thing which we must do is to follow Paul’s example. If we want to know how to live our lives for Christ, what better example could we have than those of His Apostles? This is one reason why it is important to study and know what is written in the New Testament, for it is in these Scriptures that we find the teaching of the Apostles and learn about their lives.
Paul next draws a contrast between those who have chosen not to live for Christ and those who have. In verses 18 through chapter 4, verse 1 he writes, “ For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, as the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who think about earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working by which he is able even to subject all things to himself. Therefore, my brothers, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.”
All of us need to ask ourselves whether our minds are on earthly things, or whether we are longing for heaven and eagerly waiting for our Savior. Are we standing firm in the Lord?