Day 23

“I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”    — PHILIPPIANS 3:8-9

It’s not nice to be called a fool! Paul called the Galatian Christians fools! “You foolish Galatians!” he writes, “Who has bewitched you?  … I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law or by believing what you heard?  Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human eff ort?” (Galatians 3:1-3). We no more have the ability to become a Christian by human eff ort, than we do to be the Christian we have become by human eff ort. Yet so many are trying so hard, and in the words of Paul, becoming fools in the process.

Becoming a Christian does not derive from what we do for God, but what Christ has done for us. Similarly, being the Christian we have become does not derive from what we do for God, but from what He does in us. Both aspects operate by faith. Faith in Scripture is never simply a question of believing facts. It is a disposition of trust in an object that enables that object to work on our behalf. Placing faith in an aircraft enables the aircraft to fly me through the air. Faith in Christ enables Christ to do for me what I can never do for myself. Most of us know that is true when becoming a Christian, but then fail to appreciate that it is equally true when it comes to living the Christian life. It is our disposition of trust in Christ that enables Him to work, and it is His work in us that is the substance of Christian living. 

To have to rely on ourselves would put some at a great disadvantage as there are those who are gifted and able in areas where others are not. But a life of faith in God places each of us on level ground. In fact, the weaker we know ourselves to be the more likely we are to put our confidence exclusively in Christ. That is why God exposes our weaknesses, not to humiliate us, but to bring us to greater dependence on Himself.  

This makes the Christian life accessible to everyone, for it requires humble dependence on Christ saying, “Lord, I can’t but You can.”

PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, you are just and honourable in all your ways. No one has an advantage over anyone else, for we live with trust in You on equal ground with one another.

TO REFLECT UPON: What good works of God do I see in myself which have had the most impact in changing my life?