When we talk of moral excellence, we are talking of God’s character. This daily devotional looks at the joy we receive in imitating His character.
Nuggets
- We find joy in having the character of God.
- God knew we needed role models, so He provided Jesus and Paul.
Devotions in the Joy in the Gospel series
Disciples of Christ are called to navigate the Sanctification Road so that their character changes to be that of God’s. Paul talked to the Philippians about this.
Let's Put It into Context
Here is a running list of what we’ve discussed previously.
Moralities in the Gospel
“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)
We find joy in having the character of God.
We used this verse earlier this year as the basis of our moralities. By the end of the series, we decided that we have to kick the earthly morals up to spiritual graces. Later, we added that is what leads to holiness.
To read a devotion in the Moralities Lead to Godliness series, click on the button below.
Verse Commentary
This is a great verse. It reminds us of the different elements that make up our character.
- We have to have God’s truth in us.
- We have to be people of integrity.
- We can’t still be slaves of sin.
- Our behavior has to be praiseworthy.
Our gaining spiritual perfection comes down to moral excellence. Our character has to be right — it has to be like God’s character.
Oh, yeah. That is going to be a battle to change us to imitate God.
Not only are we fighting our own sinful nature, but we are also fighting Satan.
Well, God is fighting for us.
But that doesn’t mean we don’t have to put on the armor. We still do.
To read devotions in the Armor of God series, click the appropriate button below.
Satan isn’t going to let us sit on the sidelines. He is going to try to get us in the thick of battle whenever he can.
God doesn’t want to in the thick of the battle, but He wants us to be doing more than just sitting on the sidelines. He wants us cheering Him on through our prayers.
Paul had spent the last chapter or so showing us how we couldn’t rely on what we consider our good works. Now, he is showing us that we must live godly lives.
Pope said that God wants us to think about perfection. But it goes beyond just thinking about it.
We have to strongly appreciate and rightly determine, as Pope said, “… the place morality holds in the gospel.”
Resource
Hmmm. I wonder if worldview people would read that as the place morality holds and stop there. That would be another way for them to cut God out of the equation.
We just talked about God hears our prayers when we are living godly lives. Pope contended that was also how we received all of God’s grace.
We just used this verse when we were discussing how we could have good thoughts. Paul believed whole heartedly that we can train our minds to change from focusing on sinful thoughts to focusing on God.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Paul called the thought process renewing our minds. We can’t gain perfection unless we think about gaining it.
The Disciple’s Job Description
Complete Job Description
Individual Description
Job Duty #1
Be a Living Sacrifice (Romans 12: 1-2)
Thinking about it is meditating on it. It isn’t going to just happen to us.
We must pursue sanctification. That makes it a conscious choice that we have to think about and make a decision.
Renewing our minds brings with it a variety of obligations. It doesn’t end when the Spirit of God show us what God teaches. We have to apply that teaching to our lives.
We can’t just think perfection is a goal with a single action plan. It is too complex to just say we are working on being perfect.
We have to have God sanctify our thoughts, our speech, our feelings, our priorities … all the different elements that keep us from being perfect. Isn’t that a comforting thought? We’ll do it right when we make the right choices.
What we don’t want to miss in this long sentence is the last part — “… dwell on these things” (Phil. 4: 8 CSB). We don’t get to pick and choose.
No, Paul didn’t say dwell on all these things. He didn’t think he had to with the Philippians. They knew what he meant.
Paul also recognized the enormity of what he was telling the Philippians to do. We could study God’s truth daily and just barely scratch the surface.
Same with the pure. Same with the lovely. Same with the moral excellence.
Paul knew he was giving them a lifetime assignment.
When Pope wrote about “… intent contemplation of perfection …”, he was probably talking about our endurance “… which feeds the soul’s regenerate longing to attain it.”
What flew around in my mind was intentionality. We have to choose to put in the work to go gain perfection. We have to choose to look at each separately as well as being a whole.
We have to look at them as the means to gain holiness and righteousness. We can’t say, “Well, this is another one of God’s laws and commandments.
No. This end goal is attainment of moral perfection.
Let’s put it this way. We are to meditate on gaining spiritual perfection. We are to think about all the elements.
But we can’t stop there. We have to put them into practice. We have to get them out of head knowledge and into heart knowledge.
That is how we change our characters.
Pope wanted to make one thing clear. Our obtaining perfection was not a gift from God, like grace and faith are. He said it more of a seal that rewards our efforts.
That reminded me of the seal that Paul talks about in Ephesians.
- “In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed” (Eph. 1: 13 CSB).
- “And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by him for the day of redemption” (Eph. 4: 30 CSB).
Glossary
I read that as God gives us His stamp of approval when we are successfully navigating the Sanctification Road to gain His perfection.
This is how we work out our salvation. We navigate the Sanctification Road to gain His perfection. We live our lives by these standards.
But let’s look at it this way. Paul uses words like whatsoever and if anything. He wasn’t placing limits. Stewart said he wasn’t making distinctions among the elements. He saw them linked together.
Resource
Stewart made a great point. Our goal is not just to have an absence of evil. It is to have the presence of God.
That is why just being a good person doesn’t cut it. We may not be a murderer, but do we love God? We may be members of all the Save the Kids, Save the Animals, Save the Planet organizations we can fit in, but are we doing that in God’s Name?
The most important element is God.
We don’t get salvation just so we have fire insurance. If our objective isn’t sanctification, we’ll still be introduced to the fire.
• “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heave” (Mt. 7: 21 ESV).
• “Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20: 15 NIV).
We must make sure our relationship is right with God.
Joy of Imitating an Appropriate Role Model
“Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you” (Phil. 4: 9 CSB)
God knew we needed role models, so He provided Jesus and Paul.
For some, God’s standards may be something new. They may not understand what is being asked of them.
God knows some of us learn better by seeing than reading. We have to be shown how things play out in real life.
Jesus not only came to earth to be the sacrifice for our sins, but He also came to show us how to live according to God’s Will. He showed us what God was expecting and what was acceptable.
Paul was also a good role model. Lyth said from him we learned “… faith, zeal, self-consecration, [and] purity.”
Resource
Others can be good role models, too. We just have to pick them wisely.
Making the Connections
In verse eight, Paul gave a good snapshot of the character of God. Isn’t that great?
This is a good start to knowing the character of God. He will reveal more of Himself to us as we seek to know Him better.
How Do We Apply This?
- Seek God to know His character
- Exhibit the character of God in our lives.
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).
It is imperative that we change to have God’s character. That is how we gain perfection.
Father God. You are perfect. We want to be. Help up to gain Your character. Amen.
What do you think?
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