On to Perfection

Paul expressed his goal of going on to completion, a process that would culminate in bodily resurrection when Jesus arrived in glory.

Paul instructed the congregation of Philippi to “completion” in Jesus. Bodily resurrection must take place for the consummation of this process and the completion of our salvation. This will occur when Jesus appears “on the clouds of Heaven.” God will continue to perform what He began with our conversion until “the Day of Christ.”

The Apostle began his Letter by giving thanks for what God accomplished in the Assembly and its contribution to the Gospel, “from the first day until the present.” He remained convinced that God would complete what He had started among the Philippians - (Philippians 1:3-10).

[Photo by Axi Aimee on Unsplash]

The phrase “Day of Jesus Christ” refers to his future coming when he will appear in glory and gather his saints to himself. It will be a time of judgment and salvation – condemnation and punishment for the wicked, but vindication and everlasting life for faithful disciples - (Romans 2:16, 1 Corinthians 1:8, 2 Corinthians 6:2, Ephesians 4:30).

In his letters to the Thessalonians, Paul equated this day with the expectation of the “Day of the Lord” in the Hebrew Bible, an event that would destroy some, but mean life and salvation for others - (1 Thessalonians 5:1-2, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-9).

As for going on to “completion,” Paul provided an example based on his life. After his conversion, he put his Jewish heritage aside to pursue perfection in Jesus Christ:

• “What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ…I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them dung that I may win Christ.”

This he did after obtaining the knowledge of Christ. He found Jesus and faith in him to be of infinitely greater value than his past accomplishments and heritage in Judaism:

• “…That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed to his death, if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained or am already made perfect, but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus” - (Philippians 3:10-12).

Some believers chose a different path and made themselves “enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.”

Paul had in view Jewish believers who stressed their faithfulness to the traditions and regulations of Judaism, including circumcision and calendrical observations:

• (Philippians 3:1-3) – “Beware of the dogs, beware of mischievous workers, beware of the mutilation. For we are the circumcision who in the Spirit of God are doing divine service, and are boasting in Christ Jesus, and not in flesh having confidence.”

The Apostle to the Gentiles described such believers as those “whose glory is their shame,” an allusion to the rite of circumcision on which they placed so much value. In contrast:

• “Those who worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Jesus have their citizenship in heaven, from whence we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our lowly body, that it may be fashioned like his glorious body.”

The coming resurrection of the righteous is necessary to “complete” or “perfect” us. It is not optional but central to the Apostolic doctrine of salvation. The process of salvation will remain incomplete until the resurrection occurs on the “Day of Christ.” It will mean receiving a new body of the same nature as the glorious body of the Risen Jesus and exchanging our mortal state for an immortal and glorified body like his.

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RELATED POSTS:

• He Nullified Death - (Paul reminded Timothy of Christ’s own resurrection since false teachers were denying the future resurrection of believers)

• The Last Enemy - (The arrival of Jesus at the end of the age will mean the end of the Last Enemy, namely, Death. Its sentence will be reversed - 1 Corinthians 15:24-28)

• Comfort one another - (Foundational to the believer’s future hope is the bodily resurrection of the righteous dead when Jesus arrives in glory)