Grace / Life with God
Living by Grace
Paul worked hard because Christ had already taken hold of him. Grace gave him something to do.
Paul was an intense guy. Before he became a Christian, he pursued the church to destroy it. After he became a Christian, he pursued the life Christ had called him to. The man still had plenty of energy. Jesus had given him a different use for it.
In Philippians, Paul says he wants to know Christ, the power of His resurrection, and what it means to share in His sufferings. He wants his life to be changed by the sacrificial death of Jesus. And he's looking forward to the resurrection of his own body. That's where he's headed. ()
Then he says he hasn't arrived yet. He's still pursuing it. And he tells us why: Christ Jesus has already taken hold of him. ()
That's how grace works in a life.
Christ has already taken hold of you
When I preached this, I said grace is like a rocket. The astronauts sitting in that capsule didn't make the thing go boom. They're going to space by a power that isn't theirs. If they had to get themselves up there on their own power, they couldn't. And even if they could, they'd spend every bit of their time and energy pedaling that little squirrel wheel. They wouldn't have time for any science. They wouldn't have time to fix the toilet.
Grace launches us. We don't launch ourselves. And grace sets the trajectory too. The astronauts don't get to swing the rocket around and head for Mars.
Paul works hard because of what Jesus has done for him. Knowing Christ has given him a reason to get up and go after something. He's learning to live the life God has given him.
When you know you're saved by grace, you've got room to think about what you can do for somebody else. You can spend your time learning to love people, helping where you can, and becoming more like Jesus. God has given you something, so now you've got something to give.
Paul says the same thing in Ephesians. We're saved by grace through faith, and we're God's craftsmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. God prepared a life of doing good for the people He saves. ()
That puts good works in their proper place. They grow out of the life God's given us. We can do them with gratitude and confidence in Him.
You can learn from people who know how
Paul tells the Philippians to imitate him and to pay attention to other people who live according to the example they've been given. ()
That's how you learn a craft. If you want to learn carpentry, you watch somebody who knows what he's doing. He shows you how to measure, how to cut, how to drive a nail. You try it, and you get some help with the parts you're still getting wrong.
We can learn to live with God that way, too. Watch somebody who's learned how to be generous. Pay attention to somebody who can admit he's wrong and make things right. Learn from people who know how to treat somebody kindly when he's got nothing to offer them in return.
You've still got plenty to learn. So did Paul. You can get on with learning it as somebody Christ has already taken hold of.
Grace gives us compassion and confidence
Remembering how God saved us ought to make us kinder to other people. We were sinners who needed mercy, and God gave it to us. When we see somebody who needs help, we're looking at our kind of folks.
Knowing God's grace also gives us confidence to try to do some good. Maybe you're not sure you'll get it right. Maybe somebody else is better at it. You can still be kind, still help, still learn. God has a life for you to live, and He's at work in you.
That can be as ordinary as noticing somebody who needs a hand, making an apology you've been putting off, or being glad when something good happens to somebody else. There's a lot of good to do in a regular week.
Jesus has a future for us
Paul ends this part of Philippians by looking forward to what Jesus will do. We're citizens of heaven, and we await the Savior who will transform our bodies to be like His glorious body. He has the power to do it. ()
That's the future God has for us. And in the meantime, we get to live with Him, grow with one another, and follow the example Jesus gave us in His own life. He loved us and gave Himself for us. His grace makes us able to love and give, too.
— tobe