A Most Precious Faith
Scripture:
Philippians 3:8-11 (ESV)
For his sake I have
suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may
gain Christ 9 and be
found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but
that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that
depends on faith— 10 that
I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings,
becoming like him in his death, 11 that
by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Devotion:
In this scripture, Paul is expressing
his desire to be found worthy of attaining the resurrection with Christ. In the
verses prior to these Paul has been reciting all his “religious” qualifications
for gaining entrance into heaven. And he gives quite a list of them. However,
Paul knows that none of those things will gain his desired resurrection with Christ.
What are we clinging to in hopes of
being qualified for the resurrection on the last day with Jesus? Do we live
upright and God-fearing lives? Do we treat those less fortunate than ourselves
with compassion and loving kindness? Do we belong to the “right” church? Do we
have advanced degrees in theology? What is the reason God should grant us resurrection
from the dead?
These things and all sorts of other
laudable and praiseworthy things will fall short of meeting the requirement
for entrance into eternity with Jesus in heaven. We must, as Paul puts it so
bluntly, count all these as rubbish, utterly worthless, and useless things that
cannot gain entrance for us into the heavenly kingdom.
There will no doubt be many shocked
and surprised on that last day when the dividing line between the sheep and
goats is drawn (See Matthew 25:31-46) and they find themselves cast into the
outer darkness prepared for the devil and his followers. Indeed, elsewhere
Jesus states that there will be many who say to him did we not do mighty works
in your name only to hear Jesus' reply “depart from me for I never knew you,”
Paul zeroes in on what will be
required to participate in the resurrection on the last day. In a word it is faith.
When all our lives have been lived and it comes time to depart this old earth, we
will not be able to take a single godly work with us. Just as you will leave
behind all your material possessions, so will you also leave behind all the
godly work that you have done in this life.
The only thing you can take with you
to present to God as your “golden ticket” into heaven will be faith in Jesus
Christ his son. Rich or poor, strong or weak, educated or not, the only thing
that matters in the end is faith in Jesus. Now some will say why should we
bother with good works if they count for nothing in gaining entrance to heaven?
The answer to that question is easy. The works will be the natural result of
the faith that we had while on this earth. They are rewards for our faith.
Prayer:
Great and mighty God we come before
you clinging to our faith in Jesus as our only hope for salvation. May we be
rid of all the things we have accumulated during our lives if we can hold onto
one single thing. That being our faith in Jesus. For to have that precious faith
is worth more than all the wealth we could ever own. Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment