4. Pursuit for the cause: (3:15-16)
Paul appeals here to other believers who are mature to have the same mind he had. He encourages others to press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus just as he was. He wants others to be involved in running the race like he was. We believers need to be engaged in running the race like Paul and we need to be striving to be more like Christ.
Paul is confident that God would work in the lives of believers who may not think completely like he did. But we can trust the Lord to do a revealing work in their lives. We can trust Christ to help them those who fear and obey Him to mature in their walk with Christ.
Paul encourages us to walk by the same rule, to be of the same mind. We must follow God’s Word in our own spiritual lives. We must follow God’s Word in leading our families for God’s glory. We must follow God’s Word in ministering in the church. We must follow God’s Word in our dealings with those in the community. We need to be engaged in the pursuit of becoming more and more like Christ, just as Paul was.
It is time to think of ourselves running the race with the same fervor and determination which Paul had displayed.
The future of Believers: (3:17-21):
Paul is giving a pattern or an example of Christ. Because Paul fully followed Christ, he is urging us take the example of his life. He is heartbroken over the way some professed Christians are living, people who “mind earthly things. They were not spiritually minded; they were earthly minded. They were holding on to earthly rituals and beliefs that God had given to Israel, and they were opposing the heavenly blessings that the Christian has in Christ (Eph. 1:3; Col. 3:1-3).
The word “spiritual” and “fellowship” have suffered much abuse. Too many people think that a “spiritual Christian” is mystical, dreamy, impractical, and distant. To be spiritually minded does not require one to be impractical and mystical. Quite the contrary, the spiritual mind makes the believer think more clearly and get things done more efficiently. To be “spiritually minded” simply means to look at earth from heaven’s point of view. “Give our heart to the heavenly things, not to the passing things of earth” (Col.3:2). “Practice occupying your minds with the things above, not with the things on earth”. D.L. Moody used to scold Christians for being “so heavenly minded they were no earthly good,” and that exhortation still needs to be heeded. Christians have a dual citizenship on earth and in heaven. And our citizenship in heaven ought to make us better people here on earth. The spiritually minded believer is not attracted by the “things” of this world. He makes his decisions on the basis of eternal values and not the passing fads of society. Lot chose the well-watered plain of Jordan because his values were worldly, and ultimately he lost everything. Moses refused the pleasures and treasures of Egypt because he had something infinitely more wonderful to live for (Heb. 11:24-26). “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mk. 8:36).
“For our citizenship is in heaven.” The Greek word translated “conversation” or “citizenship” is the word from which we get the English word “politics.” It has to do with one’s behaviour as a citizen of a nation. Paul is encouraging us to have the spiritual mind, and he does this by pointing out the characteristics of the Christian whose citizenship is in heaven. Just as Philippi was a colony of Rome on foreign soil, so the church is a “colony of heaven” on earth. Some of the privileges a believer can get are given in short as follows:
- Our Names are written in Heaven’s Record: The citizens of Philippi were privileged to be Roman citizens away from Rome. When a baby was born in Philippi, it was important that its name be registered on the legal records. Similarly when the lost sinner trusts Christ and becomes a citizen of heaven, his name is written in “the Book of Life.”
Citizenship is important. When you travel to another country, it is essential that you have a passport that proves your citizenship.
Ex: Philip Nolan in the classic tale “The Man Without a Country” was a classic example of man without country. Because he cursed the name of his country, Nolan was sentenced to live aboard ship and never again see his native land or even hear its name or news about its progress. For 56-years he was on an endless journey from ship to ship and sea to sea, and finally was buried at sea. He was a “man without a country.”
A Christian’s name is written in “the Book of Life,” and this is what determines his final entrance into the heavenly country (Rev. 20:15). When we confess Christ on earth, He confesses our name in heaven (Matt. 10:32-33). Our name is written in heaven (Lk.10:20) and it stands written forever.