As diligence is a work in progress, Paul gave us a hint into the one thing he does to ensure consistent and persistent actions. This daily devotional shows the correspondence of forgiveness to godliness.
Nuggets
- Forgetting the past is hard to do but important for disciples of Christ.
- We get a redo so that we can pursue the goal of godliness.
To read devotions in the Redo for Godliness series, click the appropriate button below.
Devotions in the Moralities Lead to Godliness series
We have been taking the scenic route from looking at Manton’s sermon entitled The Moralities of Christianity. We’ve added additional essential moralities devotions from Bird’s Christian Morality. This is the last devotion on diligence.
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Let's Put It into Context
“Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy — dwell on these things” (Phil. 4: 8 CSB)
The definition of moral, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior.” Morality, then, is “a doctrine or system of moral conduct.” When it is the plural form — moralities — it is a “particular moral principles or rules of conduct.”
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Our morals determine our character. Character, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “the complex of mental and ethical traits marking and often individualizing a person, group, or nation.”
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Diligence is a consistent, persistent effort. We’ve talked about this before.
Devotions in the Consistency Needed for Spiritual Growth series
Diligently Putting the Past Behind Us
“… But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind …” (Phil. 3: 13 CSB)
Forgetting the past is hard to do but important for disciples of Christ.
Sometimes, we may not fully understand what “… forgetting what is behind …” entails (Phil. 3: 1 CSB). Oh, we understand we are to forget and quit the past sins — which may mean changing our circle of friends.
Alexander pointed out that we have to forget the past good works. That may seem a little strange to us. I mean shouldn’t the good mean it is still good?
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When we performed that good work, we were not doing it to glorify God. Our goal was not to expand His kingdom.
Our goal was probably tied up with trying to make something better in this world. It has nothing to do with our spiritual condition.
Maclaren added that we need to forget the past circumstances. Whether they brought good or bad is not the issue.
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Many times, we feel — like Paul — that it is the bad stuff that we are carting around as baggage. Paul showed us here how he was working on his progression.
For Paul, he boiled it down to one thing: he was aiming for perfection, knowing he wouldn’t achieve it here. Robertson wrote that “the mark was perfection of character — the prize was blessedness.” What Paul was aiming for was the mark, not the prize.
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Time out. So, we are not supposed to be aiming for blessedness or perfection. Blessedness means we have been perfected. The perfected state indicates the combination of the graces which, when all are present, form spiritual wholeness or completeness. We aren’t supposed to aim for the nice, shiny prize of Heaven.
We are to aim for what gets us there — changing our character to be like God’s. Maclaren described it as the mark being made like Jesus with the prize any other blessings that may be coming our way.
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Pentecost, however, did see our attainment of God’s character as the prize. I can see that, too. We aren’t going to be totally successful in the change until we get to Heaven.
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To me, it just strengthens the fact that — aim or prize — it is all about what our character is and Who it looks like. Gaining Heaven is secondary. Being with and like God is primary.
Robertson gave us a wonderful explanation of what perfection is. We tend to think of perfection as doing all the do’s and not doing all the don’ts. That isn’t going to happen — even after we become disciples.
Perfection is about being. It is about obtaining the character of God.
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No, that doesn’t give us license to go out and sin. It gives us the assurance that God will continue to forgive us when we ask as we work through our salvation on the Sanctification Road.
Glossary
But we are so caught up with thinking we have to do everything just so in order to earn that perfection. We have to give up that notion.
To do that, we have to let the past be past. That includes the past before we knew there was a loving God. The big forget is our past sins and the associated guilt.
Oh, yeah. In part, there is a big not going to happen involved. We can’t just flip a switch and shut off those memories. On top of that, Paul wanted us to remember before we were in Christ. Now he is saying forget.
Glossary
Tullock explained that Paul meant we should forget being concerned about it. So, we committed [insert sin]. We have asked God to forgive us. He did. That sin is now a non-issue.
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What Paul did was to take the emphasis off of this life and put it on spiritual things.
We may be saying that there is no way we can live up to the Energizer Bunny for God’s example. We don’t need to.
All we have to do is follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit — the same Spirit that prompted Paul. We can be obedient in whatever way the promptings lead, just as Paul was.
Let me process this. Maclaren said, “Our highest condition is not the attainment of perfection, but the recognition of heights above us as yet unreached.”
So, we are to be making progress, all the while knowing there is more progress to be made. We are not only mortifying sin but also replacing it with God’s likeness — all the while knowing we are going to come up short.
Glossary
We talked not long ago about whether God asked us to give up everything. Whatever He has asked us to give up, we need to forget about.
To read a related devotion, click on the appropriate button below.
Ooo, baby. Jenkins said that another important thing to forget was our doubts. Hopefully, we, too, have been able to put aside our doubts as to whether God really did save us and whether He is there when we really can’t feel His presence.
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But we have a lot of other doubts, don’t we? We keep asking God what His Will is. But what we are asking is what job we should have, who our significant other should be, etc. He keeps saying, “Obey my laws and commandments” and “Have my character.”
King reminded us that God gives us three absolutes:
- Absolute pardon
- Absolute assurance
- Absolute conformity
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When we sincerely ask for forgiveness of our sins, God will forgive them and give us assurance that He has done that.
But that means, when God says He wants us to conform to His character, He means just that. He won’t let us integrate it with the worldview character.
Diligently Reaching toward the Future
“… and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3: 13-14 CSB)
We get a redo so that we can pursue the goal of godliness.
There are so many times in life where we beg God for a redo. We messed up, and we want a second, third, fourth chance with God.
God gives us that chance. Robertson wrote, “But in Christian life, every moment and every act is an opportunity for doing the one thing of becoming Christ-like.”
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Every single moment of our lives can be a redo. We are given the opportunity.
We just have to grab it and do it right.
Yes, we have to reach for it. God isn’t just going to give us perfection without us ABCDing and redoing our character.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Wadsworth made a great point. We kick ourselves for not having God’s character.
But we never give ourselves credit for being dissatisfied with who we are. Wadsworth wrote, “Dissatisfaction is always the first step in improvement.”
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We have to want to change our character to be godly.
Wadsworth went on to say we should never be satisfied. Our growing process must be a life-long process. We never arrive while here on earth.
We shouldn’t become complacent with where we are on the Sanctification Road. We can also do better at imitating God.
Making the Connections
Progress. Aim. Forgiveness. Pursuing.
We can’t lackadaisically go through life and think we are fulfilling God’s purpose in our lives.
Instead, we have a limitless opportunity for growth. Maclaren wrote, “No bounds can be set to that progress of growth.”
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How Do We Apply This?
How do we redo our character? It is all wrapped up in the decisions we make. Those decisions have to follow God’s laws and commandments. They have to take into consideration what God is calling us to do.
It is as simple as that. There really is no three-step process that guarantees results every time.
We have to make the decision to make God a priority — and He will do the rest.
Pentecost gave us a list of how to do that.
- We just have to love God. We can’t forget God’s mercy that He has shown to us. We’ve got to grab hold of the fact that He is in control.
- We have to give up our earthly goals and ambitions. We have to focus on what God is calling us to do.
- We have to always try to do better. We can’t settle for good enough.
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We are only going to redo our character and be successful at it if we are totally committed to God. We need to “… love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mk. 12: 30 ESV).
Father God. Lord, we do sin. Forgive us when we do not follow Your laws and commandments — do not exhibit Your character. Help us to diligently strive to have Your character. Amen.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
If you have not admitted that your relationship is not right with God,
have not asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior,
and have not confessed your sins,
please read through the Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
Related Links
Related Links
I have created a worksheet of the questions above. Click on the button below to access it.
Don’t know what your spiritual gifts are?
Take this Spiritual Gifts Inventory
The Disciple’s Job Description
Complete Job Description
Individual Description
The Disciple’s Job Description
Complete Job Description
Individual Description
Job Duty #4
Proclaim the Gospel (Mark 16: 15)
Job Duty #6
Make Disciples (Matthew 28: 19-20)
Job Duty #1
Be a Living Sacrifice (Romans 12: 1-2)
Job Duty #2
Work Out Our Salvation (Philippians 2: 12)
Job Duty #3
Bring Him Glory (Matthew 5: 16)
Job Duty #4
Proclaim the Gospel (Mark 16: 15)
Job Duty #5
Love People (John 15: 12)
Job Duty #6
Make Disciples (Matthew 28: 19-20)
Job Duty #7
Other Duties as Assigned
(Ecclesiastes 3: 1)
It Was Enough
Vocalist: Elaine Guthals
Keyboard: Chris Vieth
What do you think?
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