Tag Archives: the apostle paul
Straining Toward the Goal
March 13, 2015“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” PHILIPPIANS 3:12 (ESV)
The above, from Paul’s letter to the Philippian church, contains very serious language and includes a buzz word that has been carefully avoided altogether for centuries of church history. The word is Perfect or perfection. This word and its variant form, unless having to do with Christ or another member of the Godhead, is blasphemy, right? Wrong: according to Paul, it’s the goal with which WE are to strain for, or in other words, to stretch and endeavor to achieve or accomplish. So why does this seem blasphemous? Why does the word “perfection” or the idea of being perfect seem foreign, vast and even contrary to God’s ways?