Pastor’s Thoughts – 11/13/2026

The great commandment given by Christ Himself is; “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37). This command should bring a serious sense of self-examination. The issue is – does true love for God exist in us? If we are in Christ and the Spirit of God is in us, we will thankfully respond with a – yes! But, in answering honestly, we will also say within ourselves that our love for God has not arrived fully as we would desire it to be. A true honest love for God will include a recognition that although love for Him does exist, we are not yet loving Him as He deserves to be loved. The love for God by His elect is real, but it does not yet match the infinite glory that is due Him for what He has done for us in sending His Son.

We should ask ourselves; how do we grow in our love for Him? Paul gives us the answer in Philippians as he prays for the church, “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment” (Phil. 1:9). The means of growing in love for Christ is connected to praying for, “real knowledge and all discernment.” We know from our Lord’s prayer in John 17:17, “Sanctify them in truth, Your Word is truth,” that the source of the real growing in knowledge is the Bible. He is therefore saying that we must be constantly and consistently growing through a greater understanding of God’s Word. This is later reflected in the motivation of Paul, “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (Phil. 3:10).

The kind of knowledge which Paul expresses is more than information. He goes on desiring to have growing, biblical knowledge, that incorporates His Lord’s infinite power which is shown in His resurrection. This was a power that overcame death. Paul is not wishing for some carnal degree of power, but is reflecting on knowing the overcoming ability found in Christ. He does not stop there, but says, “And the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (Phil. 3:10b). By including this, Paul wants to have complete communion with the Lord. He desires a relationship where nothing is held back, and there is absolute conformity in His heart to serve God through all of life’s challenging circumstances. Paul stated in the letter to the Romans; “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). Paul knew that to fully know Christ that he must experience a similar rejection from the world that Christ Himself received, and yet also the overcoming ability found in saving faith. Paul was not looking for an easy life or a shortcut. Instead, he was looking to unreservedly know His Lord, and experience a life of constant and growing relationship with Him. He knew that an ever closer understanding and more perfect walk with Christ was his greatest prize, and therefore the substance of his ambition.

Paul declares his desire as something ongoing; “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:12). He never indicates the expectation of the completion of his goal. What he is saying is that the real goal is to be pursuing Christ. He therefore adds; “But I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:12b). The fact that the goal of the perfect knowledge of Christ is impossible does not diminish Paul’s ambition of closeness to the Lord.

How will Paul therefore go about his ambition to know Christ? He says; “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press forward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14). His statement, “one thing I do” speaks of the priority of this goal as his foremost concern and ambition. He is in the pursuit of, “the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” What does, “the upward call of God,” mean? The phrase in Greek literally means a call from above from Christ Himself who is at the right hand of the Father. It has the specific idea of our Lord’s personal summons, not only to Paul, but all who are in Christ. This is the same kind of summons found throughout Scripture. In Romans for example, Paul gives eleven redemptive theology chapters leading to this summons; “Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship” (Rom. 12:1).

All Christians are called to a set apart growing relationship with God. Because Christ is our Lord, and Paul says, “To live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21), we must grow in our knowledge, love, and commitment to Him. What we do in this pursuit is not a means of salvation, but it is a result of salvation. Even though Paul, who is our example, never attained perfection by his own admission, he still pursued a life of pleasing God and came to the end of his days proclaiming, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Tim. 4:7-8).

Paul’s use of, “finished the course,” is consistent with his never fully obtained goal to be always in pursuit, and thereby growing in His knowledge of Christ. The Christian life is a life of change toward Christ’s likeness. All who are the thankful recipients of His marvelous grace follow the new path of knowing and serving Him. We are privileged to have His Word as the sufficient source of godliness to apply to all the situations of life leading to our growth in Him. It is the transforming Word that causes us to press on in our love, commitment, and gratitude to Him.