Our Journey

For the past few weeks we have been talking about being set apart from the rest of the world. We are set apart because we are Holy as we work at becoming as much like God as we can. In this process we are sanctified, or in the process of being sanctified. That's the direction that we're going today as we talk about reconstructing or reconditioning our lives to be as much like God as we can. Whether you realize it or not, we are all in the process of becoming better Christians every day. It is a journey. Title. Prayer

I was reading this past week about St. Stephen's cathedral in Vienna, Austria. The church was named after Steven, the first martyr. It was constructed in the mid- 1100s but was rebuilt, renovated, and restored over the centuries. It's not the largest or the most ornate cathedral, but it's stunning in other ways. Since Vienna is the home of the Vienna boys’ choir, you can imagine the beautiful sounds that resonate from its interior.

The cathedral's greatness doesn't come from its interior or exterior facade, which is beautiful, but its greatness comes from centuries of care given to maintaining its acoustics as the building was reconstructed.

You see, our world values what is seen and immediate. We tend to value things that we can touch. But some things, like precision architecture and Christian maturity, can't be rushed. Spiritual growth is not something that’s instant. It's not something that just happens and you're there. As we're going to see today, sanctification takes a lifetime, but the results are definitely worth the effort.

I will be using as our Scriptural text for today Philippians 3. This letter was written by the Apostle Paul to the church at Philippi. Paul's original name was Saul. He had been a Pharisee prior to his conversion to Christ. We always think of a Pharisee as being self-righteous. There's some truth to that. A Pharisee commanded the respect of nearly everyone within the Jewish community. Being a Pharisee implied an extreme level of self-control and living by ethical standards that were far beyond the typical Jew.

Saul not only attained the status of a Pharisee but he also claimed to be blameless. With regard to his external behaviors and lifestyle, he had lived an upright life, at least in an ethical sense. His goal at this point in his life was to round up these Christ-followers and have them jailed and even crucified. He thought he was doing the right thing.

One day as he traveled on the road to the city of Damascus, the resurrected Jesus appeared to him, knocked him off his horse to the ground, and he was blinded for a few days. In this conversion process Saul himself became a Christ-follower. His ways were changed immediately. It was then that God changed his name from Saul to Paul. But he knew he wasn't perfect. We’ll see that as we begin our story.

Philippians 3:12-14 – “Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, 14 I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.”

Paul realized he was a sinner. In fact, in his letter in 1 Timothy 1:15, he claimed to be the worst of sinners. He was so convicted about this truth when he met Jesus, that it caused him to reevaluate everything in his life; his devotion, his heritage, his reputation, and his titles. As he thought about it all, he came to the conclusion that all of them were worthless in comparison with having the righteousness of God through his faith in Christ.

In the Jewish tradition, their understanding was that righteousness was mostly an outwardly conforming to the demands of the Old Testament law. In the New Testament, being set apart has to do with a change of mind and heart through the power of the Holy Spirit. If we consistently surrender to God's Spirit, we increase the power that we have over the sinful desires of our body. Paul was committed to do these things until Christ called him home to heaven.

Can you see that to be more God-like, it's not what we do, but what is done to us? God expects believers to exhibit holy living and righteous deeds, but we have to understand that none of these have any bearing whatsoever on us earning salvation. Only God can declare us righteous. And He does so because of what Christ did for us, not by what we can do for ourselves.