The Upward Call of God
Philippians 3:1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. 2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, 4 though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. 7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.
Paul let go of any claim to his own goodness, his own devotion, his own zeal for God so that all he was left with was a boast in what Jesus had done to make Him righteous.
Paul let go of anything and everything he once would have known that would have given him an ability to boast according to the flesh spiritually speaking.
Paul wasn’t letting go of a wicked life of chasing after self pleasure in the way of sin. He was letting go of a devoted life to the law of God and being incredibly devoted to being very religiously zealous.
He was letting all that go and not looking back to it because He knew it would interfere with his pursuit of Christ.
Knowing Christ has nothing to do with what we have done or will do to gain access. It has everything to do with what Christ Himself did and how we are to walk in faith towards Him and have our confidence in Him.
Jesus paid it all! Jesus completed the work. Only Jesus was able to say, “It is Finished.” When we try to add to anything He already did to make us acceptable and right with God it is like saying the cross was not enough. I refuse to insult the Father or the Son by speaking or acting as though Jesus came up short in His effort to save me and bring into a full and flourishing relationship with the Father.
My confidence is in Jesus and what He accomplished at the cross when He took upon Himself the sin of the whole world, died, went to the grave with it but three days later came out of that grave without it bearing with Him the gift of God’s righteousness and eternal life for all who will believe. I believe and through that gift I have a very close relationship with God because of all that Jesus did and having nothing to do with anything I did to obtain it.
