Hold True

Devotion: Philippians 3:15-16

The Apostle Paul resumes his thought from 3:3 where he stated, "For we are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh." The next paragraph (3:4-14) is a description of the Apostle setting aside his confidence in the flesh and describing the life of faith as one of humble reliance upon Christ Jesus in all things.
The Apostle describes the basic posture of the Christian life as humility--not a self-deprecating attitude, but one that puts the self in proper relationship to God, to creation and to other people. This posture, though one necessarily adopted in faith, is one that is developed over time. It is a bit like developing good posture in the literal sense (we sit up, we strengthen the back, and little-by-little, our posture improves). The Apostle here indicates that the life of faith characterized by humble reliance of Christ is both something we attain and something we are attaining.

"Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained." -Philippians 3:15-16

Maturity comes when we surrender to Christ day-by-day. This leads to a change of heart and mind that take hold immediately and continue to take hold each day. The Apostle is so sure of this view, that our confidence is only and ever in Christ and never in the self, that he claims everyone who is growing in faith, becoming mature, will come to this same conclusion.
So where do we find ourselves? We are somewhere between starting out and finishing up. The question is not if we are totally perfect, but rather are we being perfected? The Apostle suggests that we should receive and hold onto what we have been given by God in faith, but also be open to the Lord giving more and leading us to greater maturity in faith. In this we have comfort that God is still doing a work in us. So, let us hold true to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and see God perfect us.

News for You:

• CPC is having a Rummage Sale coming up Friday 3/31 and Saturday 4/1 from 9 am-4 pm each day. The sale will benefit Camp Chelan.
• Holy Week services are as follows:
• Maundy Thursday (4/13): A service of confession and communion at CPC 7 p.m.
• Good Friday (4/14): Community worship service at Cornerstone at 7 p.m.
• Resurrection Sunday (4/16): A service of celebration at CPC 10 a.m