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The Surpassing Worth and the Single-Minded Pursuit (Philippians 3:8-14) · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed thinking. Our goal here is always to
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really dig deep into the way Christian life is structured,
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theologically speaking. And today we're focusing on what
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the sources show us in Philippians chapter 3,
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specifically Paul's argument there we're looking at the well,
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the engine that drives spiritual life.
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You know how a believer moves from this settled place before
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God to actively, vigorously chasing after Him?
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It's quite a mechanism he lays out.
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It's incredibly precise in its structure, almost clinical you
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could say, but then it's intensely personal when you see
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how it plays out. We got this great stack of
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sources for today and they detailed this exact cadence.
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It's like a four part movement Paul uses.
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It really maps out Christian existence.
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It shows how justification, well, that's the unshakable.
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Route OK the foundation. Right.
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And that route supplies the, let's call it the life SAP,
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which is union with Christ, this closeness, this communion, and
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that naturally leads to the fruit.
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That's sanctification, the growth, and it's all heading
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towards the harvest, which is glorification, the end goal.
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So it's a whole system, an ecosystem, really.
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What jumped out at me right away was the starting point.
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It's this total rethink of how we value things, how we define
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ourselves. The sources put it really
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starkly. Paul starts like an accountant,
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you know, gains and losses on a Ledger, and he ends up looking
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like a runner, focused, straining forward.
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And that gets us to the, well, the really countercultural take
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away here. It flips everything on its head.
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The world tells you, you know, build your resume, Polish it up,
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make yourself look good. Paul takes his own amazing
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resume, calls it Scubala. We'll get into that word and
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basically says get rid of it and run.
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Wow. So we have to figure out why.
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Why tear down your own status? Why is that the only way to
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start growing spiritually? Because if the roots in the
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wrong place and the wrong soil, the plant just can't produce the
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right fruit. It's fundamental, all right.
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Let's start with that doctrinal earthquake.
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Then Paul takes inventory. He lists all the stuff he used
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to think made him somebody. What exactly was on that old
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resume? What were the highlights for
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him? Well, the sources break it down
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into about 3 main categories. Things that gave him status,
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things he was proud of. First, there was his ancestry,
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his heritage. Born a Hebrew from the tribe of
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Benjamin. I mean top tier religious and
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cultural background in that context.
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Right, the pedigree. Exactly that put him inside
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God's covenant people, historically speaking.
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Second was his zeal, his passion.
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He was intense. He even persecuted the early
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church out of this, you know, fervent devotion to the law as
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he understood it. That was his outward show.
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OK, heritage, passion. Yeah.
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And the third one, this seems like the trickiest one.
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His own sense of righteousness based on the law.
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That's it. His performance under the law.
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He actually says as to righteousness under the law.
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Blameless. Now, that doesn't mean he
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thought he was sinless. But externally, according to the
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rules, he was meticulous. He called it my own
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righteousness from law. It was a status he built himself
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brick by brick, based on his effort, his background, his
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religious drive. So he's got this tower of self
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achieved merit carefully constructed, and then boom, he
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introduces this totally new way of measuring value.
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What happens to the tower when you use this new scale?
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It just crumbles. It's not just small, it's well.
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It's revealed as worthless because the new standard is the
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surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus.
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My Lord, that phrase itself surpassing worth.
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The sources really highlight this.
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It's like Christ has this blazing worth, an inherent value
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that outshines everything else. OK, so the key thing isn't that
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Paul suddenly decided to hate himself or become some kind of
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gloomy ascetic. No, not at all.
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That's a crucial point. His rejection of the old stuff
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wasn't driven by negativity, it was driven by joy, by finding
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something infinitely better. He wasn't trading down, he was
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trading way up, giving up pebbles for a diamond.
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Precisely. He found a superior delight in
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Christ. And once you see the diamond,
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the pebbles just, you know, lose their appeal.
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As one source mentioned, created things, even good things, only
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become dangerous when we try to make them rivals to God.
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When Christ's value becomes clear, everything else that
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tries to compete just looks like, well, like spiritual
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chunks. And recognizing that leads him
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to this radical refiling. That's where the Greek grammar
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comes in, right? He doesn't just devalue it, he
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actively marks it down in his mental Ledger.
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Yeah, you see this two step thing in verses 7 and eight.
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First, he uses the perfect tense.
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Pogami. These things I've counted as
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loss for Christ that points to a past decision, a settled
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judgment. When he met Christ, he looked at
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his old life, his old assets, and said, Nope, loss.
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Verdict rendered. Done deal.
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But it wasn't just a one time thing at conversion.
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He keeps doing it. Right, He switches to the
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present tense. Kogumai.
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Indeed, I count like right now, continuously.
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All things to be lost because of the surpassing worth of knowing
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Christ. This is his ongoing habit, his
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mindset now. Anything, anything that might
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compete with Christ for his ultimate allegiance.
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Even good things like ministry success or reputation today.
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He has to actively, consciously keep putting it in the loss
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column, yes. It's this constant vigilance,
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maintaining that dependence, that humility.
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And to describe this loss, he uses the most graphic term he
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can find, Scubala. Yeah, let's talk about that
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word. It's not just garbage, is it?
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No, it's much stronger. It's like refuse, filth, dung,
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waste. It's visceral.
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It's meant to shock. Why use such a strong word?
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Because the things he's talking about, heritage, zeal, law,
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keeping, these are the sneakiest rivals to Christ.
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Because they look good, they feel religious.
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Exactly. They're not obviously evil
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things, they're good things that we twist into saving things.
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We try to build our acceptance on them.
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If you just said they were worthless, maybe we'd think OK,
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neutral. But Scubala, that means the
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stuff is toxic, it's actively harmful if you rely on it and
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needs to be cleaned out. OK.
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So the harshness makes sense because of positive goal.
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It clears out the debris for something, yes.
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The whole point of this demolition is positive, that I
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may gain Christ. Gaining Christ means letting go
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of every scrap of self-made status.
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You can't hold on to your own righteousness and receive God's
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righteousness. They're incompatible.
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Which brings us right from his internal revaluation to God's
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external declaration. Gaining Christ leads to this new
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status and be found in Him. This is the pivot point.
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The scene shifts. We move from the accountant's
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office to God's courtroom. Justification, the sources
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emphasize, is a forensic verdict.
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It's a legal ruling from God. When God looks for a believer,
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when they're summoned, as it were, their official address,
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their legal location is in Christ.
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And it's final. Legal.
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Yes, once for all and absolutely complete.
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Nothing lacking. And crucially, this status
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changes where our standing comes from.
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Yeah, we stop relying on my own righteousness from law, that
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Iknomus phrase. And we receive the righteousness
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from God. IK Theo, that contrast is
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everything. It really is.
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It's sort of the heart of reformed understanding, isn't
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it? It tackles that core human
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problem, pride, and our inability to actually be
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righteous on our own. It does.
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The righteousness from God is, as the sources say, totally
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alien to the Sinner. It comes from outside us.
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It's graciously given. Its source is entirely Christ
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and his work, His perfect life, his substitutionary death.
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It's complete. It's efficient.
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We should probably spend a moment here on imputation versus
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infusion. That distinction trips people up
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sometimes, but it seems vital for understanding Paul here.
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How does imputation work? It's fundamental imputation
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means God credits or counts Christ perfection, His
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obedience, and His payment for sin to the believer's account
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legally transfers it. He doesn't infuse righteousness
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first, meaning He doesn't make us inherently perfectly
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righteous inside and then declare us righteous based on
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that interchange. If he did that, if justification
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depended on infusion, on us actually being perfectly
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righteous internally. Then our standing would depend
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on our own state, wouldn't it? And since we're not perfect in
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this life, our justification would be shaky up and down.
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Our assurance would evaporate. OK, so imputation anchors are
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standing outside of ourselves. Exactly.
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It's grounded entirely in the outward, objective grace of what
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Christ did, his finished work. The sources point clearly to
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Christ's obedience, his life and his death and his resurrection
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for our justification. Our standing is solid because
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his performance is solid and finished.
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The Westminster Confession really nails this down.
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God justifies by imputing Christ's obedience and
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satisfaction, crediting it to us.
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So, thinking about performance again, Paul tried his own
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performance. Eknomu failed, called it
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Scubala. Now the new status rests on
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someone else's performance. Christ's a perfect performance
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given freely. That's the core exchange, and
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because it's based on an alien imputed righteousness, the only
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way to receive it is by faith alone.
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Paul uses that double faith language here.
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You know, the epistats through faith and epitapiste on the
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basis of faith. It emphasizes faith is the only
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instrument, the open hand that receives the gift.
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Right. Because if you add anything
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else, if you say faith plus my effort or faith plus my
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sincerity or faith plus how righteous I feel inside.
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You're right back to boasting. You're sneaking works back in
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through the side door and Paul says that ruins the whole thing.
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Faith alone as the instrument is structurally necessary to
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exclude every shred of boasting. If it's by grace through faith,
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then none of the runners own qualities, speed, zeal,
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background, even present obedience.
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None of that gets them into the race.
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The only ticket is the settled status in Christ.
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And that secures assurance we keep coming back to.
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This assurance isn't based on how good we feel or how well we
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think we're doing our inward temperature, as one source put.
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It no, thankfully, it rests on that objective legal reality,
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that outward verdict Christ for us, the root of our Christian
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life, is sunk deep into his perfect work.
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It's done, signed, sealed. So our confidence isn't based on
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how we ran yesterday or prayed this morning.
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It rests on the fact that God sees us in Him, covered by
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Christ's righteousness. That forensic status is the rock
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solid platform for everything else Paul talks about.
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OK, so the foundation, the root is justification, settled,
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status secure. So what happens next?
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What grows from that root? The source is called this the
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life SAP, the the living connection, and the goal, the
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purpose, the telos of this justified life is to know
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Christ. Yeah, that shift is really key.
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We go from the legal reality of standing in Christ, our status,
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to the experiential reality of walking with Christ.
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And this knowing you and I, it's way more than just intellectual
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knowledge. It's not just knowing about Him.
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It's personal, it's participatory.
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It's this ongoing covenantal communion, it's the active
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experience of life with the risen Lord that flows directly
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from being justified so. Justification establishes the
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relationship. And union is the life of that
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relationship. Ongoing dynamic.
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And Paul describes this knowing this union as having two sides,
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like a pattern pressed on to the believer's life, a cross shape
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affecting everything, feelings, goals, actions.
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It involves both, well, power and pain.
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That's right, the life SAP flows in two main currents experienced
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together. First, there's the power of his
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resurrection to numb and toes anastasis.
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And we need to be clear, this isn't primarily about seeking
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some kind of, you know, spectacular, one off miracle.
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It's more ordinary, more day-to-day.
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Exactly. It's the Spirit's regularly
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sanctifying energy. It's the power that enables us
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to actually fight against sin, mortification, and to obey God
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willingly, even cheerfully. Vivification.
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OK, so resurrection life isn't just a future hope, it's present
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power for living differently now.
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Precisely. It's the energy that breaks sins
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hold on our will. The same power that raised Jesus
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from the dead is actually at work in us for the sometimes
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boring effort of saying no to temptation, choosing obedience,
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acting with integrity when no one's looking.
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But like you said, there's the other side, the second bowl, the
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fellowship of his sufferings. Koineniatune, Patamatune.
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This is where it gets tough. Maybe if we have resurrection
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power, why the suffering? How do those fit together?
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Well, Paul reframes suffering completely.
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The sources point out. It's not seen as God being angry
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or abandoning us as justification dealt with that.
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Instead, suffering becomes intimate participation with
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Christ. That word, Koinenia fellowship
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or sharing, means we actually get to share in the experience
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of our crucified Lord. That changes everything about
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how you'd view hardship. It's not a sign you're doing
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something wrong necessarily. Right.
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It can be a sign you're actually drawing closer.
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You're walking the path he walked.
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Suffering becomes the very terrain where pursuit happens.
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If you're chasing after Christ, you should expect the path to
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look something like his path. This really pushes back again
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any idea that becoming a Christian means instant comfort
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or an easy life. Paul holds up suffering almost
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like a privilege, a sign of deep connection with Jesus.
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And he uses that striking phrase later being conformed to his
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death. Similar physomenos tutunatuatua.
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It sounds like an ongoing process.
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It is. That participle indicates it's
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happening now. Our sanctification is in a sense
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the process of our lives being shaped like Christ's cross.
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The old self is being put to death daily.
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That's mortification. And the new resurrection life is
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growing vivification. This conformity means the
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justified person immediately enters a kind of school where
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the subject is Christ himself, learned through both power and
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pain. So this knowing Christ is active
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now through power and suffering, but it's always looking ahead,
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isn't it pointing towards the ultimate goal, Resurrection from
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among the dead, Exan assess and tenec neckly.
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Yes, that future orientation is vital and Paul uses this really
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specific intense word exanastasis literally out
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resurrection. It suggests the believers
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resurrection is distinct, rising out from among the rest of the
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dead. It points to the unique destiny
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of those united to Christ. Our present union guarantees our
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future glory. OK, but we have to tackle this
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phrase Paul uses you piss. If somehow I might attain to
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that resurrection, doesn't that sound like doubt?
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If justification is so secure, why the if?
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Somehow, doesn't that undercut the certainty?
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That's a common question, and a really important one.
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But if we read it as Paul doubting his final salvation, it
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makes the whole argument fall apart.
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He just spent verses establishing the certainty of
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justification. So the sources consistently
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argue this isn't doubt about the destination.
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It's better understood as humble Pilgrim reserve, meaning it
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expresses his deep awareness of his own weakness on the journey.
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He knows the end is secure because of Christ, but he also
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knows the path is hard, and he depends entirely on God's grace
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to get him there. It's humility about the process,
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not uncertainty about the outcome.
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Got it. It's like saying I know the
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destination is fixed but man this road is tough and I need
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God's help every step to make it.
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Exactly. It perfectly captures that
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already not yet reality of Christian life.
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We already have resurrection life, we already bear the marks
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of the cross, but we're not yet perfected.
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Our whole life has lived in that tension, moving between Christ's
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finished work for us and our final glorious state with Him.
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So union with Christ, this life SAP, keeps the believer moving,
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never static, tasting the future power now, but always pressing
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on towards the fullness yet to come.
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OK, so we've established that already, not yet.
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Tension justified, united with Christ, but not perfected.
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Paul immediately clarifies where believers stand in that reality.
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Which brings us to the fruit, the active pursuit, the
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sanctification. And he kicks off this section
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with a really strong denial. Almost seems defensive, but it
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guards against Ride. Yeah, he says flat out.
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Not that I have already obtained this or I'm already erfected.
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That's a crucial statement, The verb tense there, perfect tense,
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refers to having reached the final goal, the prize, Paul says
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I'm not there yet, unequivocally.
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So right there, that shuts down any idea of achieving sinless
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perfection in this life. Absolutely.
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If the apostle Paul, writing late in his ministry, says he's
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not perfected, then we can pretty much throw out any
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perfectionist scheme. It tells us that Christian life
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isn't about reaching a state of perfection now, but about
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maintaining the right direction. Direction sustained, as one
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source put it, running the race is the essence of faith until
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the very end. And that denial, I'm not there
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yet, leads straight into the positive assertion.
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But I press on Dishku. That's a powerful Bourbon Creek,
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isn't it? Oh yeah, Dishku means to pursue,
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to chase vigorously. It's active, determine,
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striving. It describes the characteristic
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movement, the gate of the Christian life.
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And the irony, of course, is that Paul used to be the
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persecutor, Dishkan, hunting down the church.
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Now he's the pursuer, Dishkat chasing after Christ.
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Same intensity, totally different object.
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OK, but just telling people press on can sound like sheer
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effort, like legalism. Again, what fuels this?
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What's the engine? Can't just be willpower.
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No, and this is maybe the most brilliant part of the the whole
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passage. The order is critical.
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Paul's effort flows directly from God's prior action.
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He says I press on because I was seized.
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That's Catalumphian, a divine passive by Christ Jesus.
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God acted first. Christ grabbed hold of Paul.
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That divine sovereign grip is what creates Paul striving in
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response. Wow, so it's like Christ caught
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him, set him on the path, and now Paul runs because he's been
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caught, propelled by the one who holds.
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Him, That's the picture. Union creates exertion.
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Our striving isn't trying to climb a ladder to God.
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That's legalism and it's not sitting back and doing nothing.
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That's quiet ISM. It's the response of being
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securely held assurance knowing you're justified, knowing Christ
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has seized you. That assurance fuels the
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ambition to chase after him. It's grace driven effort.
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And this effort, this pressing on, gets practical.
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Paul lays out this runner's resolve, a one thing plan.
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It sounds like spiritual growth actually simplifies things,
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focuses the mind. It does.
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The mature runner gets rid of anything that slows them down,
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any distractions. The focus becomes this single
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minded pursuit of Christ. And he describes his focus with
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two key actions using participles that evoke running.
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First, forgetting the things behind epilan phenomenos.
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This isn't just letting things slip your mind, it's an active,
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deliberate choice not to be defined or held back by the
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past. And the sources stressed this
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forgetting works both ways, right?
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Forgetting failures and forgetting successes.
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Exactly. You have to actively forget
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failures, the regrets, the sins, the traumas, things that produce
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shame or make you want to quit. But just as importantly, you
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have to forget the achievements, the past victories, the
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spiritual highs, the resume items.
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Those things tempt you to coast, to become proud, to rest on your
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laurels. So past failures can paralyze
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you. Past successes can make you
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complacent, Paul says. Get rid of both.
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Yes, file them away. The only thing that matters for
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the race is your current direction, your forward
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momentum. Don't let the past, good or bad,
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dictate today's run. Which leads right into the
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second action, straining to the things ahead.
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Epic T Nominos. That's the posture.
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Think of a sprinter leaning into the finish tape, body stretched
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out, eyes fixed forward, total concentration on the goal.
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Paul is saying the Christian needs that same forward lean,
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focused on what's ahead. Christ.
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Not looking back, not distracted by what others are doing or
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saying. Single minded.
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OK, so we're running, straining forward, forgetting the past.
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But where does this race happen? It's not just internal
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willpower, right? There's a context for this
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pursuit. Right.
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The sources make it clear this pursuit, the straining, happens
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within the means of grace. These are like the lanes on the
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track. They are the God ordained places
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where the spiritual athlete trains and runs.
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So we're talking about things like regular engagement with
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Scripture, reading it, hearing it preached, yes.
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And prayer, consistent, honest prayer and sacraments, Baptism
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and the Lord's Supper and fellowship, real life together
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with other believers. These aren't optional add-ons,
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they're the track itself. They're the environment where
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growth happens. We press on by using these means
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diligently, consistently, not looking for shortcuts or purely
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emotional highs outside of them. It's often the steady, sometimes
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mundane rhythm of engaging with these means that build spiritual
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muscle overtime. Which implies that how we
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measure progress is different from how the world measures
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success. It's not about big moments or
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public applause, necessarily. No true progress, the sources
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suggest, is seen in that cross shaped obedience that grows in
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the quiet places. It's the integrity you maintain
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when nobody's looking. It's the hard, repetitive work
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of fighting a particular sin. It's serving other Christians
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without needing thanks. It's speaking about Christ when
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it's awkward or costly. It's about the sustained
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direction, that quiet daily process of becoming more like
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Christ in his death and resurrection life.
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Consistency matters more than occasional bursts of speed.
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All right, so the runner is secure in their status
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justification, knows their purpose, union with Christ, and
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is actively running the race. Sanctification.
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But a race needs a finish line, a goal.
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Otherwise, why run? Paul says he presses on toward
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the goal. Scope is for the prize Brabian.
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And the motivation here is certainty.
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The sources emphasize this. The certainty of the prize makes
21:06
effort inevitable. It's hope, but not a wishy washy
21:10
hope. It's a confident expectation
21:12
that actively draws the runner forward.
21:15
If the prize were uncertain or if we had to earn it by our
21:18
performance in the race, we'd probably give up when things got
21:21
really tough. So given that we're justified by
21:24
Grace, and the race is run by Grace, what exactly is this
21:27
prize? The Brabian?
21:28
We need to be clear what it isn't.
21:30
Right. It's definitely not wages.
21:32
It's not payment for finishing the race.
21:34
Paul isn't talking about earning salvation through effort here.
21:37
It's also not primarily about earthly rewards or how
21:40
successful your ministry looks or how much impact you had.
21:43
It's not even about specific spiritual experiences you might
21:45
have along the way. So it's a gift consistent with
21:48
the grace that started everything.
21:49
Exactly. It's a gracious bestowal, as the
21:52
sources put it. It's God crowning his own work
21:54
in us. It fits perfectly with the grace
21:56
established back at the root. And the prize itself, what is
21:59
it? Ultimately, ultimately, the
22:01
prize is Christ himself. It's arriving at perfect
22:03
communion with the risen Lord in the unveiled presence of God.
22:07
Glorification. The final harvest is the
22:10
absolute fullness of the union with Christ that we began to
22:13
experience in this life. Think about it.
22:16
Paul starts by counting everything lost to gain Christ.
22:19
Verse 8. He finishes the race by fully
22:21
and finally gaining Christ in glory.
22:24
The goal and the reward are the same person.
22:26
That keeps the focus pure, doesn't it?
22:28
It's not about getting stuff from God, but getting God.
22:31
It completes the whole picture. We start with Christ for us
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justification. We live by Christ in US Union
22:37
and sanctification, and we end up eternally with Christ
22:41
glorification. If the prize was anything less
22:43
like heavenly treasure or status, the race could become
22:46
selfish. But since the prize is Christ,
22:48
the race has run out of love and longing for Him.
22:51
We run because we want more of the One who seized us.
22:54
And Paul connects this prize to the upward call of God in Christ
22:58
Jesus. What's packed into that phrase?
23:00
It seems to gather up God's entire saving purpose.
23:04
It connects back to God's initial effectual call that
23:07
brought us into relationship with Him in the 1st place.
23:10
The same God who sovereignly called us out of darkness into
23:14
His light, uniting us to Christ by His Spirit.
23:17
We'll be the one who calls us up into the final glorious state
23:20
with Christ. Yes, it's the consummation of
23:23
that call. It confirms that the status we
23:26
received being found in Christ reaches its absolute fullness
23:29
when we are raised with Christ and glory.
23:31
It underlines that the whole thing, from election before time
23:34
to glorification at the end, is God's initiative, God's work
23:37
achieving God's purpose. And knowing that finish line is
23:40
secure, that the prize is certain, and it's Christ
23:42
himself, that's what keeps the runner going through the hard
23:45
parts. That's the engine of
23:46
perseverance. We strain forward because the
23:49
destination is guaranteed and the reward fellowship with
23:51
Christ is infinitely desirable. That hope pulls us through the
23:55
daily grind of obedience. Hashtag tag 6 succeeds.
23:58
Doctrinal synthesis and conclusion.
24:00
OK, so when you step back and look at Philippians 3, these
24:03
verses, 8 to 14, it really does function like a single living
24:07
system, a theological Organism as you called it.
24:11
We've traced this four part rhythm, this cadence that
24:13
structures the whole Christian life.
24:14
Yeah, it's worth quickly reviewing that flow because
24:17
seeing the connections is key to really grasping it.
24:20
Right. So first, the root
24:22
justification. That's our new status, based
24:24
entirely on Christ's righteousness, counted to us,
24:27
Christ for us. That's the secure starting
24:30
point. Then a second the life SAP union
24:32
with Christ. That's the ongoing personal
24:34
connection. Experiencing his resurrection
24:36
power and sharing in his sufferings.
24:38
That's the source of vitality. 3rd The fruit sanctification.
24:42
That's the act of pursuit, the pressing on, the sustained
24:45
direction forward, all fueled by God's prior grace.
24:48
That's the daily walk. And finally forth the harvest
24:52
glorification. That's the certain prize, the
24:53
finish line, which is Christ himself fully enjoyed the
24:56
consummation of God's call. And when you see it laid out
25:00
like that, it's such a balanced structure, it seems designed to
25:03
push back against all the common ways we can get the Christian
25:06
life wrong. It really does.
25:07
It dismantles the counterfeits. Legalism just crumbles when Paul
25:11
calls his own righteousness Scubala and rests entirely on
25:14
Christ's imputed righteousness. You can't earn what's freely
25:18
given based on another's perfection.
25:21
So we live from acceptance, not for acceptance.
25:24
Exactly. And any kind of perfectionism
25:26
gets shut down. By Paul's own admission, I'm not
25:28
already perfected. The pressure to arrive now is
25:31
lifted. But it doesn't lead to laziness
25:33
because he immediately follows with I press on.
25:36
Right. So it equally challenges any
25:38
kind of quietism or antinomianism, the idea that
25:41
since we're saved by grace, our effort doesn't matter, Paul
25:43
says. No, grace makes you run.
25:45
Justified people are active people.
25:48
Grace produces effort. So it holds together assurance
25:51
and effort, security and striving.
25:54
Perfectly. The assurance comes because our
25:56
standing is secure outside of us in Christ.
25:59
The ambition, the striving, comes because the Christ who
26:02
secured us also seized us and now propels us forward toward
26:07
himself. It's a dynamic system fueled by
26:10
grace from start to finish. When you grasp that the root is
26:13
totally secure, it actually frees you up, doesn't it?
26:16
Frees you to focus your energy on the running, on producing the
26:19
fruit. Completely.
26:21
You're released from the crushing burden of trying to
26:23
perform for God's approval, and instead you're motivated by the
26:26
joy of walking in His approval, wanting to know Him better.
26:29
So let's bring this home for the listener.
26:31
We live in a world that's constantly telling us to build
26:33
that resume project, that perfect image.
26:35
How do we apply Paul's radical counter message day-to-day?
26:39
Well, you have to embrace the paradox he presents.
26:42
The world says Polish the resume.
26:43
Paul says, count it, refuse and run.
26:46
Practically, that means taking stock.
26:48
What are the trophies, the past successes, the skills, the
26:51
status symbols that you're still secretly relying on or boasting
26:54
in? And what are the traumas, the
26:56
past failures, the deep regrets, the wounds that are holding you
26:59
back, paralyzing you and. You need to consciously do what
27:02
Paul did. Reclassify them, see them as
27:05
kuala, as things that cannot define you or determine your
27:08
standing with God. Yes.
27:10
Name them and then actively forget them in the sense Paul
27:13
means refuse to let them control your present race.
27:16
Turn your focus forward. And straining forward isn't
27:18
passive. It means having that one thing
27:20
plan. It means making concrete
27:22
choices. Where and when will you engage
27:25
with the means of grace this week?
27:26
Like scheduling time for the word, for prayer?
27:29
Yeah, making specific plans. Exactly, and identifying
27:32
specific areas of cross shaped obedience.
27:35
What sin needs fighting today? Who needs serving?
27:38
Where can you speak of Christ? It's practical daily choices.
27:43
Remember, the goal isn't to achieve sinless perfection
27:46
overnight. The goal is movement.
27:48
Consistent forward movement fueled by the grace of the One
27:51
who already seized you. Success isn't measured by how
27:54
impressive you look to others, but by that quiet, determined
27:58
pressing on in the direction God has called you.
28:00
That's it. Pressing on toward that upward
28:02
call of God in Christ Jesus, knowing the prize is certain and
28:05
the prize is Him. And that upward call reminds us
28:07
the whole race is a divine summons from start to glorious
28:10
finish. Thanks for joining us for this
28:12
deep dive at Reform Thinking.