What You Need to Know to Grow

What You Need to Know to Grow

Philippians 3:12

As the church, we exists to live for Christ and make him known.

There is more to living for Christ than just making him known. Living for Christ is also living to grow in Christ. If a person is truly striving to live for Christ, then that person will be striving to grow in Christ. The apostle Paul shows us this truth from the example of his own life in Philippians chapter three, verses twelve through sixteen.

Listen to what Paul says in Philippians 3:12-16

Philippians 3:12–16 ESV

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

I want to point out that Paul is talking about an attitude that we need to have concerning Christian maturity. In Philippians 3:15 “15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.” Paul says those who are growing and maturing in their walk with the Lord have this attitude. Therefore, we all need to have this attitude that Paul conveys in these verses.

In verses twelve through sixteen, Paul gives us four things we need to know to grow. First, Knowing Christ is the goal of spiritual growth.

I. Knowing Christ is the goal of spiritual growth

In Philippians 3:12 “12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”

We see the goal vaguely stated in the last part of verse twelve. Paul says, “but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”

And then, if you look at Philippians 3:14 “14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Paul’s goal is to lay hold of that which Christ laid hold o him. But what does that mean? To answer this we have to look back to verses seven through ten.

In these verses Paul is revealing what happened to him when he met Christ as Lord and Savior. Listen to what he says in Philippians 3:7-10 “7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,”

When Paul says, “I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus” he is speaking about his Damascus road experience. Christ got a hold of his life, and with that hold came a wonderful purpose for his life. What is that purpose? Paul states it in verse eight, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ, “Than I may know him.”

The knowledge that Paul is referring to is not a head knowledge, but an experiential knowledge, a knowledge that leads to a closer fellowship, and intimacy with Christ Jesus. That is what it means to grow spiritually, to know him more and more in the experience of your daily living. Paul wanted to know more of the righteous life that comes by walking by faith in Jesus Christ everyday. He wanted to know more of the power of God in his life. He wanted to be conformed to the death of Jesus Christ. This means that he wanted to have greater victory over the sin in his life.

To know Christ is to grow in Christ, and to grow in Christ is to be conformed into the image of Christ. That is the goal of spiritual growth. The second thing we need to know is therer will always be a need to grow.

II. There will always be a need to grow

Paul’s says in Philippians 3:12 “12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”

There is something very insightful in the first part of this verse. Paul says, “Not that I have already obtained it…” Paul is saying that he hasn’t come to a point in his Christian walk were he knows all he needs to know about Christ. He is saying that he hasn’t come to a point in his spiritual walk were he has no need to grow. He hasn’t obtained perfection. But notice also he says, “or have already become perfect.” The tense of the verb “become perfect” is a perfect passive, which means that the perfecting is that which is done to Paul by God. Paul says I haven’t arrived in my spiritual development, and God isn’t finished with my spiritual development. There is always a need to grow in our conformity to the image of Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul, whom we should consider a spiritual giant, sees himself as not fully developed in his maturity. In one sense Paul wants to warn believers from thinking that they have no need to grow. In another sense, he reveals to us that spiritual growth is an ongoing process all the days of our lives. He says, “I press on.” This verb is a present active which means that it is an ongoing action. Spiritual growth and conformity in the image of Jesus Christ is an ongoing action.

I also sense something else in Paul’s words in verses twelve. I sense a dissatisfaction and discontent on Paul’s part with his spiritual condition. Paul wants to know Christ more and more in his daily experience, but he is constantly reminded that he falls short of it. Why did Paul have this dissatisfaction? I believe that he had this dissatisfaction because the more he was conformed into the image of Jesus Christ, the more he became aware of the sinfulness in his life. That is why Paul would say, “I am the chief of sinners.” I believe a good sign that a person is growing in Christ is that they are also growing in a dissatisfaction with their condition. People who are growing are people who say, I have not arrived and God is not finished.

Mature people know the continued need for spiritual growth. And if you don’t have this attitude about growth, then my concern is that the reason you don’t have this attitude about growth is that you have never been born-again. Third, we need to know it takes determination to continue to grow.

III. It takes determination to continue to grow

Listen to Philippians 3:14 “14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” This is the second time that Paul used the verb “press on.” It means to continue going in a forward motion. The point that Paul is making is that spiritual growth is not a passive experience. We don’t just sit back and do nothing. It involves activity on our part. Paul, in his normal fashion, tells us how to move forward in our spiritual growth.

Listen to what he says in Philippians 3:13 “13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,”

The one thing that drives Paul is a determination to press forward in knowing Christ. Paul gives to participles in verse thirteen that reveal how we move forward in our spiritual growth. First, we forget what is behind.

a. Forget What is Behind

When Paul says that we need to forget what is behind he is talking about the experiences in life that can keep us from experiencing what God would have for us in the present. Those who are growing, let the past go, the good and the bad, and are constantly looking forward believing that God will continue to do his work now and in the future.

There are many people who aren’t allowing God to do a great work in their lives now because they have not forgot something in the past. It could be that someone hurt them or wronged them and they have unforgivness and bitterness in their heart.

I will never forget talking to a couple several years ago who were having marital problems. The wife had been in a previous marriage that was not that great. There was a great deal of abuse. Because of that past experience she couldn’t trust her present husband and their marriage was being affected. The same is true in our Christian walk. Some of us have stopped growing because there is something in the past that we have not forgotten.

But not everything we need to forget is bad. Sometimes we need to forget the good things of the past so that God can do a great work in the present. There is a good illustration of this in the Old Testament with the people of Israel. As they were following Moses in the wilderness there were occasions where the people of Israel wanted to go back to Egypt. They wanted to eat the good food they God provided for them there. Because some of them couldn’t forget the past, they failed to enjoy the great work that God had in store for the people of Israel.

If we are going to progress in our spiritual walk, we have to learn to forget our past failures, and blunders, and accept God’s total forgiveness. We have to learn to let God heal our past hurts so that we can move forward in our spiritual growth. Some of us need to forget the good ole days and press on to the better days that God has in store for each one of us. This is true of Christians and it is true of churches as well. Secondly, Paul says we press forward towards the goal by reaching forward to what lies ahead.

b. Reach Forward to What is Ahead

Paul says that we have to strain forward to what lies ahead. It conveys this intense stretching out to grasp something that is in front of us.

We press on towards the goal as we forget what is behind and strain forward to that which is ahead. Finally, we need to know the reward for spiritual growth is now, and not yet.

IV. The reward for growth is now, and not yet.

Listen to Philippians 3:14 “14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Why do we move forward in spiritual growth? Paul says, “for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” If we are not careful we will miss what Paul is talking about. If we say that the prize is we get is purely a heavenly prize then we will fail to realize that the future prize is also a present prize.

If we look at the prize only in the distant future, then we fail to realize the blessing that God has for our lives now. Everyday we wake up we need to realize that God wants to work in our lives that day, conforming us in the image of his Son. There is great reward now for those who everyday forget what is behind and reach out to the goal ahead. The reward is knowing that no matter what, God is at work in my life, that he is conforming me into Christ image, and I can start each day off afresh pursuing a greater knowledge of Jesus Christ. Why wait until you get to heaven to hear “Well done, my good and faithful servant,” when you can hear the Lord say that everyday as you seek to know him more intimately.

Let us never quite our pursuit of knowing Jesus Christ and growing in him. Let’s do whatever it takes as Christians and as a church to know Jesus more intimately. May our cry be, “We want more of Jesus!” Because it really is all about Jesus!