Read: Philippians 3:8

Consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord… Phil 3:8a

Have you ever made this evaluation in your own life? Have you ever really tried this? Just sit down, and list your assets, the things that are important to you, things you think you could not do without. The factors to which you look for respect, for advancement and acceptance in the eyes of the world. What are your assets, your background, your name, your family standing, your money, your fame, your physical assets, your personality, your education, your training. Have you ever learned Paul’s secret concerning them?

Write them down and see what it is you are counting on. Then remind yourself that as long as you depend on these you cannot lay hold of the riches of God in Christ Jesus. You cannot serve two masters. You cannot cling to both. You cannot drink from this empty cistern and at the same time from the inexhaustible rivers of water that flow from Christ. There must be a flinging away of dependence upon these things, counting them as loss, trash, refuse. Glad to see them go, indifferent whether they stay or not. Then you are set free to lay hold of all that Paul experienced in Christ, which he calls the surpassing worth of Jesus Christ.

Continue reading Ray Stedman – Adequate Living →

Read: Philippians 3:4-7

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. Phil 3:7

What was the ground of Paul’s confidence that he could achieve his mission? He could be confident in four things: his ancestry, his orthodoxy, his activity and his morality. But it is important to see how and when Paul changed his mind about these matters. Most commentators suggest the change came in the dust of the road on the way to Damascus, when he was converted in that remarkable encounter with Jesus Christ. I don’t think that is true. Only one of these values was changed at that time.

When Saul of Tarsus, the persecutor, blinded by the light, was led captive into Damascus, he immediately got busy in another direction and substituted another form of activity in which he took great pride. For at least five to ten years after his conversion, Paul was just as confident in the flesh as before his conversion. His life was therefore as barren and ineffective as when he was Saul of Tarsus and persecuted the church, with one exception: he was born again, and the indwelling Holy Spirit was teaching him what he needed to become an effective minister for Jesus Christ.

Eventually, Paul learned that all his background, training and education, his ancestry and morality and activities, added not one thing to God’s purpose in him. He came to the place that he could write, But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ (Phil. 3:7).

Continue reading Ray Stedman – Dangerous Confidence →