Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 

Philippians 3:21 

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 

Philippians 1:21 

Because to Paul, ‘to live is Christ,’ he pressed on to become the person Christ intended him to be. He was keenly aware he had not, at the time of writing, become that person yet. Thus he said, ‘not that I have already attained or am already perfected.’ He gave his full attention and effort to the imitation of Christ. In this Paul lived out in practical ways the truly spiritual life. Christ had apprehended Paul on the Damascus road. Paul had become, a believer in Christ, received the justification which comes by faith, and then having set aside any dependency upon human pedigree or credentials, set out to imitate Christ in every way. Thus, in imitating Christ, he would come to ‘know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.’ This was the all-consuming passion of Paul’s life. Christ had laid hold of him with the intention of transforming him into the image of Himself. Because of how Christ had worked in Paul’s life, he had become passionately preoccupied with pursuing this holy attainment. In many respects, Paul is the pattern of the believer, who having been thus apprehended, desires to become like Christ. 

Our Wise and Holy God, 
we rejoice that You have set Christ before us. 
We praise You, that as we look unto Him, 
Your Holy Spirit works to conform us into His Image. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death… 

Philippians 3:10 

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 

Philippians 1:21 

What does it mean ‘to be made conformable’ to Christ’s death? Paul understood the thoroughgoing nature of living Christ. That involves identifying with Christ in every way. It means imitating Him in the foregoing of rights; in the undertaking of the servant role; in the discounting of personal pedigree, and in the loss of all things in exchange for the knowledge of Him. It means the justification that can only occur by the imputation of His righteousness, that is the righteousness which is of God by faith. Also it involves a sanctification process which is, ‘the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death.’ What this entails is a series of experiences in life which enable us to identify with Christ. Our experiences of life, rightly understood, occur to give us the greater opportunity to see as He sees, feel as He feels, and think as He thinks, even to the point of dying as He died. While this does not look exactly the same in every person’s experience, the end purpose of identifying with Christ is the same. Thus, the Holy Spirit renews us in the whole person after the image of Christ including, ‘being made conformable to His death.’ 

Our Great God and our Savior, 
we rejoice that You have endured all things for the sake of Your people. 
We praise You, that as You conform us to Your Image, 
You enable us to follow in Your steps. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death… 

Philippians 3:10 

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 

Philippians 1:21 

What is the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings? If we are going to attempt to arrive at an answer, we are going to have to come to some conclusions about His sufferings. What were Christ’s sufferings? We may cite a number of things which qualify. Christ suffered desertion by His friends. He suffered treatment as a criminal, in spite of His innocence. He suffered abuse because of His message. He suffered ridicule because of His claims. He suffered misunderstanding, some from ignorance and other from willfulness. Paul remarked that he wanted to know Christ ‘and the fellowship of His sufferings.’ What does that mean? It meant he would endure similar treatment. By this treatment he would come to know, understand and identify with Christ. By these experiences he would grow to be like Christ. This would extend even to dying as Christ had, as an innocent person, executed by an indifferent ruler. Thus, Paul understood the whole of what it means to say, ‘For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.’ Few things cause our flesh to shrink back as much as this does. Yet it is the way of Christ and of all who follow Him. 

Our Good and Gracious God, 
we rejoice that You have set Christ before us 
as our ultimate example. 
We praise You that, as we follow Him, 
we grow to be like Him. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Our Hometown

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

Philippians 3:20

The Apostle Paul lived very practically and realistically upon the earth. He did not suffer delusions regarding the true nature of humanity and all the circumstances that come as the result of total depravity. Paul rightly understood that although he lived in the world, he was not at home here. As he reasoned with the Philippians regarding what is important, he arrived at the conclusion which serves as our text for today. While Paul was realistic about earthly things, he was also realistic about Heavenly things. This world was not Paul’s home, nor is it our home. Therefore he says. ‘For our citizenship is in heaven….’  The chief value of heaven is Christ. Paul was not so much captivated by the prospect of a perfect environment as he was captivated by the Person of Christ. It is Christ Who makes heaven our hometown. We look forward to heaven because Christ is there. We look forward to Him coming to take us there. We will never be truly at home here. Every day that passes is one step closer to going home. Christ is already there, ‘ever living to make intercession for us.’ We sojourn here for a little while longer, living in the pup-tents of our earthly bodies. With eyes of faith we look beyond this scene of time and see the hometown from which Christ will come for us.

Our Gracious Master and our God,
we rejoice that wherever You are is home for us.
We praise You that we can look forward to
a glorious eternity in Your Presence.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush was Burning

‘By Faith’

…and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith….

Philippians 3:9

We spoke yesterday of imputed righteousness or ‘justification.’ Today, we want to take a few moments to dwell upon how we receive this justification. Again, to quote the Catechism, ‘justiification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.’ Notice the concluding words and ‘received by faith alone.’ What must we conclude from these things? We are left either to believe God or not. If not, then how are we to answer the abundant proofs from the Scripture that God justifies and that faith is the vehicle. What shall we say to such statements as, ‘the just shall live by faith?’ What can we respond to, ‘without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him? Can we carelessly or easily cast aside, ‘for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works lest any man should boast?’ All these bold statements, plus our text for today, along with a host of other passages, lead us to the inevitable conclusion that our acceptance with God requires faith. Who can give me this faith but God Himself? Who can enable me to embrace Christ, but the Holy Spirit? To drum up this faith is impossible. God must grant it. The Holy Spirit must bestow it. Christ must be the Object of it. O, that it would be so for every one of us; that we would have that living experience that, ‘the just shall live by faith.’

Our Good and Gracious God,
we praise you for your act of free grace and the pardoning of our sins.
We rejoice that you accept us on the basis of Christ’s imputed righteousness,
and that we shall live by faith.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning