As Paul concludes this chapter, He relays deep emotion on what it means to follow after Christ Jesus, knowing "our walk in life" is not a perfect one, but one that demands forgiveness not only to God but with ourselves as well, keeping in mind our life is a walk entirely created and completed by faith...our faith in Christ Jesus...
" The reason I gave up everything that made "me being me", that is to say the pride of being a true Hebrew, a serious student of the Law, and being a Pharisee myself...was for one reason...to know Him!
Now let me make this clear, I am not there yet, I have not reached all the goals and type of life Christ offers me, I am far from perfect and encounter failures in my own life just like anyone else, even with Christ Jesus living within me. Yet, I have discovered the secret to living out this life in honor of Him: Press on! I keep moving forward, letting go of those things behind me, and that not being only my former life but the failures I have made in following Him in my new life. I keep my eyes focused on Him, knowing and acknowledging my sins are forgiven through Christ Jesus, and forgiving myself...because He has forgiven me! My focus is on the prize...the prize of eternal life and the joy of being with Him!
Now for those of you who understand what I am saying, continue to encourage one another in a like matter. Find things in our Christian walk to agree on, and keep your focus on those things. And when disagreements do arise, and most surely they do, look to Christ Jesus Himself (for this is what I do), and allow the Holy Spirit to clarify things as they arise in our lives.
Hold on to the true teachings of Christ that are now anchored in your life, and stay in the race...keep running...with your eyes on the finish line...our Lord Jesus Christ!
I ask all of you, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the real Gospel...and stick with me too! We are in this together! If you need an example or pattern of life to follow, follow mine!
For I must tell and warn you, and what I am about to say rips at my very own heart and causes tears (of lament) to fill my very own eyes: there are those around us, even in our very own midst, whose conduct speaks loud and clear, their very own conduct showing them to be enemies of the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And with that, they are doing their best to encourage others to join with them in their false way of following Christ.
I have been forced to warn you of these type of characters before, and now this situation has arisen to the forefront once again.
Just remember, these people are trying to get your own mind and hearts away from following Him...burdening you down with a bunch of laws on the "do's and don'ts" of life, teaching you to somehow "earn your salvation" by the amount of "good works" you do, and causing your lives to become distracted from your one and true call to life..."the Call to Worship"...and that being Christ Jesus, our True and Anointed King!
These enemies of the Cross are surely headed for destruction. All they really want out of life is to live this life in total ease and fill their appetite in life with their own self-indulgence. Their thoughts are not on Christ and His Kingdom, but on what they can get out of this life...totally consumed on thinking about one thing...themselves!
But for us, we know where Life really originates, and we know where Life lives now... in Christ Jesus! We are no longer given solely to all this world has to offer, but have taken up citizenship in another place, and that being the Kingdom of Heaven! And this is all made available to us now because of Him, the Risen One! We eagerly await His Return as our King and our Savior!
For when He comes, He will transform these weak and poor physical bodies into glorious ones just like His own. He will do this by the very same power He is using to arrange everything as it should be, and that is all things being subject to Christ Himself!"
" The reason I gave up everything that made "me being me", that is to say the pride of being a true Hebrew, a serious student of the Law, and being a Pharisee myself...was for one reason...to know Him!
Now let me make this clear, I am not there yet, I have not reached all the goals and type of life Christ offers me, I am far from perfect and encounter failures in my own life just like anyone else, even with Christ Jesus living within me. Yet, I have discovered the secret to living out this life in honor of Him: Press on! I keep moving forward, letting go of those things behind me, and that not being only my former life but the failures I have made in following Him in my new life. I keep my eyes focused on Him, knowing and acknowledging my sins are forgiven through Christ Jesus, and forgiving myself...because He has forgiven me! My focus is on the prize...the prize of eternal life and the joy of being with Him!
Now for those of you who understand what I am saying, continue to encourage one another in a like matter. Find things in our Christian walk to agree on, and keep your focus on those things. And when disagreements do arise, and most surely they do, look to Christ Jesus Himself (for this is what I do), and allow the Holy Spirit to clarify things as they arise in our lives.
Hold on to the true teachings of Christ that are now anchored in your life, and stay in the race...keep running...with your eyes on the finish line...our Lord Jesus Christ!
I ask all of you, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the real Gospel...and stick with me too! We are in this together! If you need an example or pattern of life to follow, follow mine!
For I must tell and warn you, and what I am about to say rips at my very own heart and causes tears (of lament) to fill my very own eyes: there are those around us, even in our very own midst, whose conduct speaks loud and clear, their very own conduct showing them to be enemies of the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And with that, they are doing their best to encourage others to join with them in their false way of following Christ.
I have been forced to warn you of these type of characters before, and now this situation has arisen to the forefront once again.
Just remember, these people are trying to get your own mind and hearts away from following Him...burdening you down with a bunch of laws on the "do's and don'ts" of life, teaching you to somehow "earn your salvation" by the amount of "good works" you do, and causing your lives to become distracted from your one and true call to life..."the Call to Worship"...and that being Christ Jesus, our True and Anointed King!
These enemies of the Cross are surely headed for destruction. All they really want out of life is to live this life in total ease and fill their appetite in life with their own self-indulgence. Their thoughts are not on Christ and His Kingdom, but on what they can get out of this life...totally consumed on thinking about one thing...themselves!
But for us, we know where Life really originates, and we know where Life lives now... in Christ Jesus! We are no longer given solely to all this world has to offer, but have taken up citizenship in another place, and that being the Kingdom of Heaven! And this is all made available to us now because of Him, the Risen One! We eagerly await His Return as our King and our Savior!
For when He comes, He will transform these weak and poor physical bodies into glorious ones just like His own. He will do this by the very same power He is using to arrange everything as it should be, and that is all things being subject to Christ Himself!"
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