Say you will have a buddy whose method to the Christian life appears considerably excessive. Too strict. Overly disciplined.

You heard him say one thing the opposite day about beating his personal physique — figuratively (you assume), however nonetheless. Actually, the way in which he talks usually makes you squirm somewhat bit. Pressure, agonize, wrestle, labor, attempt — these are widespread phrases for him. Perhaps too widespread for somebody saved by grace.

Then once more, he does repeatedly have fun God’s grace — greater than you do, truly. He’s a joyful, worshiping man, not gloomy or obsessive within the typical sense. His seriousness is nearly all the time tinged with one thing merry, and for all his drive he appears marked by uncommon peace. He’s heat towards you, pleasant.

However nonetheless, the person by no means appears to let up. He reads his Bible, and prays, and speaks of religious issues with an earnestness that embarrasses you. He talks of preventing sin as if he had a sword strapped to his thigh. He denies himself many harmless pleasures (with out anticipating you to take action) as a result of, he says, they “sluggish his pursuit of Christ.” You’ll be able to’t assist however really feel a contact kittenish in his presence, your Christianity extra purr than roar. So that you surprise.

Is that this legalism? Asceticism? An try to be superhuman?

After which, as soon as once more, you do not forget that this buddy is the apostle Paul.

Pauline Paradox

Now, if the apostle himself had overheard our concern, he could have sympathized, at the very least somewhat. For Paul had recognized the hazards of self-discipline. Hebrew of Hebrews, law-keeping Pharisee, zealous persecutor, Paul ran more durable and sooner than most (Philippians 3:5–6; Galatians 1:14). But his disciplined ft solely carried him farther and farther from Christ (1 Timothy 1:13). He was rigorous, exact, self-denying, and misplaced.

“When Paul misplaced his legalism, he didn’t lose his self-discipline. Not even somewhat bit.”

But, remarkably, when Paul misplaced his legalism, he didn’t lose his self-discipline. Not even somewhat bit. God remodeled him, as an alternative, into a shocking apostolic paradox: He preached justification by religion alone, and he pursued holiness with worry and trembling (Philippians 2:12–13). He worshiped God for his grace, and he “labored more durable than any” (1 Corinthians 15:10). He boasted of Christ’s sufficiency, and he beat his physique lest someway he ought to fail to complete the race (1 Corinthians 9:27).

We wrestle to stay such paradoxes. The grace of God, for many people, appears to provide a extra informal Christianity, a religion and not using a sweat. However when Paul’s personal self-discipline handed by means of the fires of grace, it emerged on the opposite aspect not consumed however refined — free from the dross of self-righteousness, aglow with the Spirit’s flame.

Redeeming Self-discipline

Mentions of self-discipline lace Paul’s letters. We may think about his toil in educating (Colossians 1:29), his striving in prayer (Romans 15:30), his refusal to make use of his full apostolic rights (1 Corinthians 9:12), or that startling assertion already talked about: “I strike a blow to my physique and make it my slave” (1 Corinthians 9:27 NIV). However we could hear the heartbeat of Paul’s self-discipline most clearly in Philippians 3:12–14 and its context:

Not that I’ve already obtained this or am already good, however I press on to make it my very own, as a result of Christ Jesus has made me his personal. Brothers, I don’t think about that I’ve made it my very own. However one factor I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining ahead to what lies forward, I press on towards the objective for the prize of the upward name of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul the persecutor died on the Damascus highway — and in his place arose a person who pressed and strained for Christ. A mighty self-discipline nonetheless drove him ahead, however a self-discipline far totally different from the one he had recognized. A brand new energy, new objective, and new pleasure now gripped him.

New Energy

Paul had recognized one thing of energy in his pre-Christian life, however it was energy “from a self-strength,” as John Owen places it (Works, 6:7). The supply of Paul’s unredeemed energy was Paul; he relied on self, not the Spirit, for his energy. Not solely did such energy show powerless towards sins of the center (Romans 7:7–8), but additionally, being an offspring of the flesh, it may by no means please God (Romans 8:8).

However then, Paul says, “Christ Jesus . . . made me his personal” (Philippians 3:12). And with Christ’s presence got here Christ’s energy — energy from above and past him, and but energy now dwelling inside him. And so, Paul noticed former sins, as soon as unconquerable, fall lifeless at his ft (Romans 8:13). He “pressed” and “strained” with a brand new form of energy (Philippians 3:13–14). And he labored as one who knew “it’s God who works in you, each to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).

With Paul, disciplined Christians don’t run on the energy of self-resolve; they know and worry the manufactured energy of the flesh. However in addition they take significantly these 4 acquainted, radical phrases: “God works in you.” God works in you — and due to this fact you aren’t sure to the slim limits of your self-strength. God works in you — and due to this fact laziness isn’t a celebration of his grace however a tacit denial of his presence. God works in you — and due to this fact each resistance is a chance to show his energy.

New Objective

The facility behind Paul’s self-discipline, then, was decidedly totally different after Damascus. And so too was the objective or intention of his self-discipline. As soon as, Paul ran to realize “a righteousness of my very own that comes from the regulation” (Philippians 3:9). However then, blinded by the risen Christ, he realized there was just one righteousness value having, and it was one which self-discipline may by no means win: “the righteousness from God that relies on religion” (Philippians 3:9). So, in a second, Paul stopped working for righteousness.

However he didn’t cease working. For although he already wore the gown of Christ’s righteousness, one other gown nonetheless awaited: the gown of resurrection. “The resurrection from the lifeless” was the “it” he pressed on to make his personal, the “prize of the upward name of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:11–12, 14). By self-discipline, Paul reached to share his Lord’s timeless life.

Paul knew, after all, that self-discipline couldn’t earn his resurrection — nor was he finally unsure about reaching that land past loss of life. He may already really feel the hand of Christ upon him; he may already say, “Christ Jesus has made me his personal” (Philippians 3:12). And but, Paul additionally knew that God-empowered self-discipline — urgent on, straining ahead — was Christ’s approach of bringing his individuals to glory. In a world the place many professing Christians hand over after making an excellent begin, self-discipline retains the righteous working until resurrection.

By self-discipline, we throw off each hindrance that slows our tempo towards heaven. We shake off each hand that wraps round our ankles. We set our gaze forward, the place Christ himself awaits us. And with holy resolve we are saying, “By the facility of God inside me, I gained’t enable sin to maintain me from him.”

New Pleasure

Maybe Paul as soon as noticed self-discipline as many people have: as a purse-lipped advantage, a grim necessity, a wholesome fruit with bitter style. Self-discipline is an alarm at 5:00am; it’s wind sprints and diets and lengthy hours over boring books. Sure, Paul could have seen self-discipline as such. However then he noticed the face of Jesus, and self-discipline grew to become stuffed with new pleasure.

What spark lit the fireplace of Paul’s resolve? What gunshot despatched him racing towards resurrection? This spark, this shot:

I depend all the pieces as loss due to the surpassing value of realizing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I’ve suffered the lack of all issues and depend them as garbage, so that I’ll achieve Christ and be present in him. (Philippians 3:8–9)

“The surpassing value of Christ has captured our hearts, calling forth our personal surpassing work.”

Christian self-discipline could press and pressure. It could rise early to learn and pray; it might quick and go willingly with out; it might say many a painful no. However not from any barren sense of oughtness. Fairly, the surpassing value of Christ has captured our hearts, calling forth our personal surpassing work.

Not that we all the time really feel the identical sense of Christ’s value. Typically, self-discipline is the music of residing longing; different instances, it’s the prayer of longing misplaced. However whether or not self-discipline strikes primarily from want or for want, its sights stay set on him whose presence is our pleasure. Out, then, with any ideas of stern and frowning resolve. The one self-discipline well worth the title runs beneath the banner of delight.

From ‘Carried out’ to ‘Do’

So, say you will have a buddy whose method to the Christian life appears considerably excessive. Too strict. Overly disciplined. So that you surprise. Doesn’t the gospel cry “Carried out!” quite than “Do!”?

Certainly it does (John 19:30). However as you watch your buddy extra carefully, you understand that on the opposite aspect of the gospel’s “completed,” there’s one other form of “do”: not the doing that strives for God’s favor or provides something to Christ’s cross, however the doing that rises from contemporary energy, resurrection objective, and a brand new and deep pleasure in God.

So, by grace, you begin working more durable. You pray and press on; you belief and pressure ahead. And you start to find that God’s grace is an even bigger surprise than you as soon as thought. Not solely does grace grant our forgiveness and win our worship, however it works — laborious. And to high off the paradox, it retains us glad whereas we work.

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