Knowing Jesus at the heart level brings us many gains. This daily devotional looks at how we gain living for Christ in this life and the next.
Nuggets
- Knowing Jesus as our Savior and Lord means we can put our trust in Him.
- Living for Jesus through faith brings righteousness.
Devotions in the Joy in the Gospel series
A favorite topic of Paul’s is how we gain in Christ. I guess he knew we would have to hear it several different times in several different ways before it would start sinking in.
Let’s see what track Paul took this time with the Philippians.
Let's Put It into Context #1
Here is a running list of what we’ve discussed previously.
Let's Put It into Context #2
“But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ” (Phil. 3: 7 CSB)
We’ve talked before about Paul’s belief that to “… to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1: 21 CSB). We interpreted that as, regardless of the circumstances, Paul was devoted to the Christ of the gospel which he preached.
Paul was following what Jesus taught. “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it” (Lk. 9: 24 CSB). He knew Jesus was Lord of the living and the dead. “… that he might be Lord over both the dead and the living” (Rom. 14: 9 CSB).
Paul was giving up or surrendering control of his life. That meant whenever God chose to end Paul’s physical life, he was good with that. In all aspects of his life, Christ was the priority.
Paul did not hold anything back to keep control of it himself. Plus, what he did give God control over, He gave him complete control.
Let’s do some substitutions to see if we can make it a little more understandable what Jesus was getting at. For whoever wants to save his/her worldview life will lose his/her eternal life, but whoever loses his/her worldview life because of me will save his/her eternal life.
We have to remember that God is in for the long haul. He is preparing us for eternity.
But what are we losing? We are losing the love of this world. We are giving up the things of this world — the possessions, the priorities, and the principles that the worldview prizes.
We benefit because we become new creations. When we choose to lose our worldview life, we gain spiritual life. We are no longer spiritually dead.
God wants this to be our attitude. Put Him squarely in control and praise Him no matter the circumstances.
Disciples are called to give up thinking about ourselves. We are to think about others.
God and Jesus’ priority has always been and will always be our spiritual condition. So, when we think about Paul saying, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1: 21 KJV), he is talking about giving up our worldview life and gaining godliness in this life and eternal life when we die.
Let’s Put It into Context #3
Knowledge is more than cognitive understanding. It is the comprehension of what has been communicated by the Holy Spirit regarding the qualities associated with the object bringing faith, love, and obedience. We comprehend who Jesus really is and the meaning of His role in our salvation.
Hodge noted we should look at our intelligence through the elements of thought, feelings, and free will. These as separate elements, but they are not independent.
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Watson reminded us that knowledge brings with it a certainty about truth. We know Christ through prophecy, miracles, and experience.
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To me, this means knowledge leads us to believe without any doubt.
The Value of Knowing Jesus
“More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ ” (Phil. 3: 8 CSB)
Knowing Jesus as our Savior and Lord means we can put our trust in Him.
If we ask others what they would consider gains and losses, they would say that money and prestige is a gain. Losses would be illness, sorrow, and disappointments.
We have to remember that Paul was a full-fledged Jew. He had just told the Philippians “If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised the eighth day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, a Pharisee; regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless” (Phil. 3: 4-6 CSB).
All of that, Paul counts as loss. He freely put less priority on that to gain what Christ would give him. He gave up the religion for the relationship.
Vaughan saw it an issue of that in which we put our trust. Trust is assurance that the promises of God are true.
Glossary
If we put our trust in the temporary things of this world, we will lose everything. If we put our trust in Christ, we will gain our soul — and everything.
I think too many think coming to Christ means all gain and no loss. That won’t fly.
Disciples see what we gain another way. We look at what we are gaining eternally. Vaughan characterized that as being “… better to have a good conscience than a bad one, to be moral than immoral.”
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But then, we do gain here in this lifetime. We gain knowledge and wisdom.
It isn’t just any knowledge, though. It is knowledge about the Son of God.
Without this knowledge, we will not find salvation. Without knowledge, our hearts aren’t engaged. We know we have to get our knowledge from the head level to the heart level.
Vaughan asked some good questions. He wrote, “What of your own are you discarding in order to rest in Christ alone? Where are your transfers from one side of your reckoning to the other because of Christ?”
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God asks us to discard the sin in our lives.
No, don’t read that as we can keep the sin if we decide not to discard it. That is a non-negotiable.
What is our decision is whether we are going to submit our lives to God. God doesn’t force us to worship Him.
But once we choose God as our Father, once we ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, we have to be all in. We can’t pick and choose what we are going to believe and what we aren’t. It is God’s way or the highway.
That is why Jesus told us to count the cost before choosing to become His disciple. “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” (Lk. 14: 28 ESV).
God has written it all down for us what He expects. He wants us to make a conscious, informed decision.
Too many just count the cost of this world. They see what sins they have to give up, and don’t like the cost.
Too many don’t take into account what happens after this life. They either don’t think hell is real, or they don’t think God will send them there.
It is, and He will.
Those of us who truly prize Jesus as our Savior and Lord have nothing to worry about. That means we need to keep doubts out of our minds. Doubts eat at our faith.
Boston said that we have to know Christ, not just have an opinion about Him. Opinions may contain doubts.
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What Paul was saying here is that everything pales when compared to the knowledge of Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
What does it really mean to gain Christ?
- We gain Him as our Savior.
- We gain Him as our Friend.
- We get to enjoy the benefits of knowing Him.
Boston warned us that we will have a battle on our hands. That is why God has provided us armor.
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To read devotions in the Armor of God series, click the appropriate button below.
But Boston took that one step farther. He said that we have to be content on the battle.
Devotions in the Contentment Leads to Tranquility series
I know. We say that is against our nature.
The Value of being in Christ
“and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ — the righteousness from God based on faith” (Phil. 3: 9 CSB)
Living for Jesus through faith brings righteousness.
We’ve talked several times about what it means to be in Christ. In Christ means those who have admitted our sins, believed in Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer, and confessed God as Sovereign God.
Glossary
Boston expanded that definition. He said that being in Christ means being united with Him through faith, walking in the Spirit with Him, and living for Him.
To read a related devotion, click the appropriate button below.
When we are a disciple of Christ, we bury ourselves in the gospel, which is the biography of Jesus. It tells about Who He is, what He has done, and what He will do.
Boston reminded us that, when we are searching for and seeking God, Satan will be working overtime to tempt us.
We find protection in Christ. We get to hide in the palm of God’s hand. Boston wrote, “Over trouble He will lift up our head; and when death comes it shall be without its sting.”
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Living in Christ means abiding in Him. That means we persist and endure through all this life has to offer. Yes, it means we are abiding in Him for our lifetime.
Why are we in Christ? We are there because God has a purpose for us.
This stresses that we are justified through Jesus. Justification is the act through the merits of Christ that makes us free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
We have to be careful that we don’t tell Jesus what those sins are and what they aren’t. We need to go to Him as we are and accept all God says are our sins.
Too many times we think we are righteous in our own right. Righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws. Manton said that when we have self righteousness, we try to compete with Christ.
Oh, yes, we think we are righteous because we don’t consider some things sin. We also see our works as giving us righteousness. They don’t.
Manton had an interesting definition of God’s righteousness. He wrote, “The righteousness of God is His gracious method of pardoning penitent believers in the gospel, and accepting them to life in Christ.”
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God gives us the gift of righteousness only when we show our faith in Him through accepting His gift of salvation.
Let’s say it a different way. We are in Christ only when we have accepted God’s gift of salvation. We receive righteousness only when we are in Christ.
Making the Connections
The bottom line with Paul — and with God — is that we gain Christ. Our spiritual condition is always the #1 priority with God.
God will always grant us salvation when we truly repent of our sins. “God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (I Cor. 1: 9 NIV).
We aren’t going to get to rewrite Scriptures. We don’t get to call what is or isn’t a sin.
We get to obey. We have to have faith.
How Do We Apply This?
- Lose our expectations of what we should give up to establish and gain from a relationship with God.
- Live a life in which we are set apart for Christ.
- Vaughan said that we should “Renew that act of self-dedication at not very long intervals.”
- Show that we gain with Christ by living a life of ministry.
- Show to others that we gain with Christ by living a life of ministry.
- Know Christ.
- Grow in Grace and knowledge (I Pet. 3: 18) by seeking Him.
- Humble ourselves because of knowledge.
- Comport ourselves with dignity because we are found in Christ.
- Don’t discount sin — or God’s forgiveness
- Don’t compare anything to Jesus
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).
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Doing things God’s way brings us great gains — much more than we lose. That is true not only in this life, but also in the next.
Father God. We are so focused on this life and what we want to get out of us. Forgive us. Help us to keep our focus on You. May we always walk in the Spirit so that we may be in Christ. Amen.
What do you think?
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