Have you come to that point?
It’s a life of many things—done for one supreme purpose.
Paul was consumed with one goal in life, one purpose for living. He did many things he had a skill in tent-making that he used to earn a living, he had a love to travel, he had a tremendous communication skill set in both speaking and writing, he was a genius in making and staying in touch with friends, he loved to sail around the Mediterranean Sea, he was somewhat of a power-walker (walking hundreds of miles in walks around the Roman Empire), he had social skills that made him able to comfortably move among the highest circles of the wealthy, he was very sensitive to the needs and concerns of the poor—and on and on we could go picking out the multi-faceted life of this accomplished person.
But, here in Philippians 3, Paul confesses that everything he did was harnessed to one dominating purpose in his life. One thing connected every other thing.
“Paul had reduced the whole of sanctification to the simple and clear goal of doing “one thing,” pursuing Christlikeness”.
Paul had connected with the very purpose of God in election and predestination. As he had previously stated in Romans 8, he was focused on his reason to even be alive. We, like Paul, were divinely chosen to be conformed to Christ-likeness. As Paul says to the church at Rome:
Romans 8:29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. NKJV
Conformity to Christ is Christ-like living. Christ-like living, as we saw last time, is personal sanctification.
From GEW-19b – The Eternal Reward of Grace-Energized Kindness (070902AM)
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