Tag Archives: my example

PAUL’S HAPPY LETTER…DOGS – 14

Bible Study, ,

“Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬-‭19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

In this ongoing battle against the ravages of the old selfish nature, Paul boldly offered his readers two models…himself and his associates who lived under the authority of Jesus…and those who lived for and served themselves. 

Having shown his readers what his model was like…working hard to bring his old, rebellious nature to heel…submitting with joy to the unjust suffering his testimony had attracted…living in fellowship with God and one another…Paul reveals the model of those in the opposite camp. In this exposure, he shares the grief of his Master…not gloating about the punishment they deserve but deep sorrow for wasted lives. 

God has created every person on this earth, from the beginning of time, to express His image by the way they live…to live unhindered in His presence…and to enjoy the blessings that accompany union and fellowship with Him. 

After Adam’s rebellion, God provided a way for fallen humans to return to His original plan. By removing the sin barrier, He calls us back to Himself and restores His plan for us to live in unhindered fellowship with Him again. 

What we do with His invitation is our choice. Some return to the Lord… others turn their backs on Him, and carry on nurturing their selfish nature. Eventually…God gives them what they want. He confirms their choice to be  treated as trash. How tragic is that! 

Now let’s be honest. Apart from avoiding the damage selfishness does to us…denying the satisfaction of our bodily passions…avoiding alienating ourselves from others by tramping on them to get our own way…rejecting our inclination to inflate ourselves by our pride and arrogance…and of course, not cutting ourselves off from God by our stubborn rebellion…there is another reason for choosing to live God’s way. 

This is the reason the Bible urges us to follow the way of wisdom. 

“Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Scripture teaches us that all of history is divided into two “ages”…this present age and the age to come. “This present age”…the world as it is now, with its sin and death, is an invasion, an interruption in God’s perfect plan.  This world system is transient, temporary…and will finally give way to “the age to come”, the one God prepared for His people from the beginning of time. 

The true meaning of “eternal life” is “life of the age”, that is, life in the permanent age…drawing our life from God and living under His rule… that is already here and still to come. This sounds contradictory but it isn’t. 

Jesus came to earth…lived as a servant, died a humiliating death, rose again, and returned to the Father…to give us access to His life by faith in Him. This union begins now when we are born into it by faith in Jesus…while this transient age is still here where we live now and will continue to live in until Jesus returns. Hence, we who believe in Jesus, are living in two “ages” simultaneously…this present evil age which will pass away…and the age to come which is already here in part.

If we choose to live fully under our own authority…making our own rules and satisfying our own desires…we will perish along with this age when Jesus returns to purify the earth from the effects of sin. He will set up His perfect rule on a renewed earth, ruling over those who have already submitted to His authority, in union with Him and sustained by His life. Those who refuse to submit to Him will be cast out into darkness. 

Paul uses derogatory language to describe those who are foolish enough to choose death…a permanent state of separation from God and all that He is. He calls them “dogs”…not the pampered pets we have in our homes…but the filthy, wild creatures that roam the streets and feed on garbage. 

“Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3‬:‭2‬ ‭NIV‬

Where will these creatures live?

“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭22‬:‭14‬-‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

…outside the city of God…in the darkness…forever cut off from God…from light, comfort, and peace. 

Paul’s warning is serious and real. Anyone who tries to lure people away from trusting Jesus alone for salvation…anyone who lives for self alone…is a “dog”… despised and worthless…part of this present age…transient and soon  to be discarded with the corrupted earth. 

The wise alternative is to submit to God’s rule, live under His authority, and become a citizen of His eternal realm.

Our destiny is our choice!

To be continued

FOLLOW MY EXAMPLE

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FOLLOW MY EXAMPLE

“All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

“Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.” Philippians 3:15-17.  

Paul sounds rather arrogant, doesn’t he? Follow my example! What right did he have to set himself up as an example? Didn’t Jesus say that, if we judge others, the same measure we use to judge will be used against us? What do we use to measure other people? Usually ourselves. So how Paul could set himself up as an example for other people to follow?

Paul was not being self-righteous or arrogant, as we would suppose. He was acting like a true rabbi. A rabbi’s job was to model his “yoke”, his teachings based on the way he understood the Torah – the Law of Moses – and the way he put his teachings into practice in his own life, and to “bind” his yoke on his disciples – those whom he called to follow him.

“Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1.

On the Damascus road, Paul had become a follower of his rabbi, Jesus. As he had learned his rabbi’s yoke and put it into practice in his life, being “loosed” from the yoke of Pharisaism which he had followed from his youth, so it was his duty to bind his yoke on his followers. In no way did Paul set himself up as the measure of righteousness. Jesus was the standard and, just as Jesus modelled the life of a son and invited people to follow him, so Paul followed Jesus as his pattern, and called people to follow him. He was simply making visible to the next generation what Jesus had made visible to His disciples.

It is reassuring to know that, at the same time, Paul did not expect perfection from his followers. He knew that maturing was a process which took a lifetime to work out. All he could do was to be the model and urge believers to follow him and put it into practice in their daily lives. He also depended on the Holy Spirit to reveal the way to them and to enable them to obey as they understood and believed what Paul had taught them.

The main hindrance which Paul understood very well, was translating their understanding into everyday living. It was no use having the knowledge in their heads, but not doing what they knew and believed.

“…Everything that does not come from faith is sin.” Romans 14:32b.

This opens us a truth we need to understand. It is possible to have two opposing beliefs at the same time. Let me explain. You may believe that God will provide everything you need because He is your Father. That belief will work for you as long as you are earning a steady income. But what would happen if you were to lose your job? You would go into a tailspin of anxiety and worry. Why? Your experience and the emotions it has produced has cancelled out your trust unless your previous experience has been of God’s provision in times of crisis.

Your mind will tell you one thing; your emotions will tell you another, and usually your emotions win. You will believe what feels true, not what is true and respond to that belief instead of to God’s promise.

“So,” Paul said, “let’s not go backwards by failing to live up to the measure of maturity we have already attained.” Life is a journey. As believers in Jesus, we are all going somewhere. Paul called it “maturity”. What is maturity? According to him, maturity has to do with becoming one in Christ.

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11-13.

Paul’s counsel was, “Keep moving. If you stop, you’ll start going backwards.” Now that’s good advice, don’t you think?

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.