Paul the apostle used his
own life as an example of the incompleteness of the flesh to
accomplish a relationship with God. He began listing his national,
law abiding and personal connection which exceeded any other person
to demonstrate to the Philippians how the flesh efforts always come
short. In chapter three and verse six of his letter to them, Paul
continues his list of accomplishments where we read:
Concerning zeal,
persecuting the church;
touching the
righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
The
verse begins, “Concerning zeal, persecuting the church;"
In addition to being circumcised
the eighth day, a direct descendant of Israel, of Benjamin's tribe,
Hebrew of Hebrews, and a Pharisee, there was no one who had more
“zeal” which is
“excitement of mind, ardor, and fervor of spirit” than Paul. We
read in Acts chapter nine and verse one and two:
And Saul, yet breathing
out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord,
went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to
the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were
men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
Paul
was so zealous for the Jewish way that he was “persecuting”
or “to making to run or flee, putting to flight, and driving
away” anyone who was found to be a part of the Christian church.
The
verse goes on to say, “touching the righteousness which
is in the law, blameless.”
When it came to the “law”
and the “righteousness”
that could be kept outwardly, Paul said he was “blameless”
which means “deserving no censure, and free from fault or defect”.
No one could bring an outward charge against Paul for any part of the
law which could be kept.
As
we consider these traits of Paul it might help us to line up our
lives beside his and see how we fair if we were measured against him.
Are we as “zealous”
as he? Would we be found “blameless”
and without fault if our lives were examined by the righteousness of
the law? As we take the time to examine our own lives perhaps we will
find ourselves coming up short in comparison with Paul's
characteristics, however, because Jesus did what we cannot do for
ourselves, we can have access to the Heavenly Father and be in a
relationship with Him. We, like Paul, might be able to make a list of
our fleshly accomplishments, however none of them will ever come
close to the spiritual work that is already completed through Christ
Jesus. May we learn that a relationship with God is not based upon
what we do but upon what Jesus did in being all we could never be in
our fleshly lives.
Next
time we
see Paul give the Philippians more words of wisdom about the flesh,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ;
www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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