by Larry Ferrell | March 30, 2018
Our study of Philippians has already brought us to two verses that were an expression of Paul’s great and lifelong desire to know Jesus Christ (3:10). Paul lived this desire. But as he wrote these words Paul must have realized that there would be some among the readers at Philippi, as there are today also, who would dismiss them as something that no Christian could possibly be expected to accomplish. They would admit that the ideal was a good one, but they would call it totally unpractical. Paul does not allow this kind of thinking to continue. He immediately adds that although even he has not realized the goal in its entirety, he is still trying; and we must understand him to imply that his readers should be trying also (Phil. 3:12). Paul’s confession is not only a statement of the demands of Christian discipleship; it is also an announcement of the principles by which this calling should be realized.

First, Paul acknowledges that he was called by Christ Jesus. It’s very important to recognize that all discipleship begins with God’s call or, as Paul says, with being taken hold of by Christ Jesus. God’s call must be foremost, for nothing can take place spiritually in a person’s life until this happens. Actually it involves the creation of spiritual life. The call to discipleship must begin with the power of God to make a spiritually dead person alive, for only then are the standards of that calling significant. This is what the new birth means. Before conversion God says that a person is dead in his trespasses and sins. The person is alive physically and intellectually, but he is not alive spiritually. Thus, he cannot respond to spiritual stimuli. While he is in this state the Word of God is a hidden book to him, and the gospel of Jesus Christ is nonsense. Then God touches his life. God’s touch brings life out of death, the life of the spirit, and the person then believes in Jesus Christ and begins to understand the Bible. This is what it means to be taken hold of by God. If you are only pretending, then you must begin where the others have begun. You must begin by acknowledging God’s call to you in Christ Jesus and your need for Him, and you must commit yourself to Him.

The second step in becoming an effective disciple of Jesus Christ is to be aware of the purpose for which He has called you. Paul says, “I press on to take hold of that which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Phil. 3:12). What is that thing for which the apostle Paul and we as Christians have been taken hold of? The answer is spelled out in Romans 8:28-29. What was God’s purpose in saving you? His purpose was that you might be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. If you are a Christian, God saved you to make you as holy, pure, gracious, and loving as Jesus. At this point I can almost hear someone saying, “Well, if that’s the case, I’ll just wait for God to do it. I’ll enjoy that holiness in heaven.” But this is not the way Paul means it. Paul had a great sense of the present demands of discipleship. Everything he mentions in this chapter has to do with the Christian’s present conduct. It is the attainment of a kind of life so filled with Christ that those who do not know him will regard it as the life of eternity. Paul is saying that he wishes to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ now. This should be your desire also. If it’s not, it will become your desire more and more as you begin to realize that this was God’s greatest purpose in calling you to faith in the Lord Jesus.

The first two of these points now lead to a very practical conclusion, for Paul writes that because God has called him and because he has done so for a purpose, he himself must determine to follow after Jesus. This means that God’s calling always puts an obligation on His children. This is personal. Discipleship is always personal. Discipleship can never be conditioned upon God’s plans for some other Christian. Christ’s call is always the personal one to “Follow me.” It’s also true that discipleship is costly. In fact, it costs a person his all. There are always Christians who think that they can be Christ’s disciples piecemeal. They think that they can follow him and inch at a time after first assuring themselves that there is no danger and that following him also conforms to their own plans for themselves and their future. But this is not discipleship at all. Discipleship means abandoning your sin, your past, your own conception of yourself and your plans for your own future, even at times your friends or your family, if that is God’s will for you, and following Jesus. You may be saying. “But isn’t that hard? To give up the things I treasure?” Well, it is true that it is hard sometimes. But it is also true that there is a far greater sense in which we really never give anything up in the service of our Lord. We give things up, but Christ gives us more. And even the things we surrender are so arranged by God that they work for our spiritual well-being.

Perhaps there is something that God has been asking you to lay aside in order that you might be a more effective witness for him. I don’t know what that is. The thing that is a hindrance for one disciple is often entirely different for another. But whatever it is, you know it. At this point in your life, for you it is the touchstone of your discipleship. Will you cast it aside to follow Jesus? If you do, you will grow in your Christian discipleship, and God will bring great blessing into your life and through you also into the lives of others.

Philippians 3:12 Reflection Questions:
Do you see the demands of Christian discipleship unpractical? Have you ever felt that way?
Are you one of God’s children? Has He picked you up and made you His? Or are you just pretending Christianity?
Where are you at in your journey to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ?

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