October 7, 2004
Becoming What We Are
Read: Philippians 3:1-11
The Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. —2 Corinthians 3:17
Bible In One Year: Isaiah 28-29; Philippians 3
At a British university, a group of students had raised the question, "What do you want to be?" Different answers were given—a champion athlete, an influential politician, a noted scholar. Shyly, yet clearly, one student said something that caused thoughtful silence: "You may laugh at me, but I want to be a saint."
Imagine—a saint! Whatever his concept of sainthood, many in our secular society would view that ambition as eccentric. Yet if we are Christians, it ought to be the highest priority of our life. The essence of sainthood is simply to be like Jesus. Paul said that the overarching purpose of God the Father is to make us like His Son (Romans 8:29).
Of course, every believer is guaranteed perfect conformity to Christ in the world to come. But God does not want us to wait passively until we enter heaven for that supernatural transformation to take place (1 John 3:2). We are to be cooperating with the Holy Spirit to grow more and more like Christ "in this world" (4:17).
Yes, we are already saints by faith in Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:1). But each day we face the challenge of becoming what we are—Christlike in every area of our lives. —Vernon Grounds
More of His love to others I would show;
More self-denial, like His in Galilee,
More like the Master I long to ever be. —Gabriel
To belong to Christ is to be a saint; to live like a saint is to be like Christ.