At the end of World War I, General Pershing sent word to the troops in Europe announcing a victory parade through the streets of Paris. There were two requirements for the soldiers to qualify to march in the parade: They had to have a good record; and, they had to be at least 186 centimeters tall. Word came to one company of American soldiers and the excitement built about how great it would be to march in that victory parade. Being Americans, no one knew for sure just how tall 186 centimeters was. But the men began comparing themselves, lining up back to back to see who was the tallest. The taller men in the company were ribbing the shorter ones, “Too bad for you, Shorty! We’ll think of you when we’re in Paris!”

Then the officer came to find out if there were any candidates for the parade. He put the mark on the wall at 186 centimeters. Some men took one look at the mark and walked away, realizing that they weren’t even close. Others tried, but fell short by a small amount. Finally, the tallest man in the troop stood up to the mark and squared his shoulders. But he discovered that he was a quarter of an inch shy of the mark (6’ 1/2”). When those men compared themselves with themselves, some thought they were tall enough to qualify. But when the standard came, it proved that none qualified.

It is commonly thought that the way to get into heaven is by being a good person. People who believe that compare themselves with others and think, “I’m good enough because I’m better than my no good neighbor who drinks beer and watches sports on TV every Sunday. I usually go to church; I don’t get drunk (at least not on Sunday); I don’t gamble (sure, I buy an occasional lottery ticket, but I don’t gamble as much as he does). I don’t hit my wife (we yell a lot, but I’ve never hit her!). I pay my taxes (well, at least most of what I owe; nobody declares everything!).” That’s the way people justify themselves and convince themselves that they’re going to get to heaven. They compare themselves with others and figure that they’re in the top half that’s going to make it.

How good does a person have to be to get into heaven? Jesus made it clear in the Sermon on the Mount: “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). In that sermon, Jesus hit at the Pharisees, who thought that they were good enough to qualify for heaven. They had never murdered anyone. But Jesus said that if we’ve been angry with our brother, we have broken God’s law and are guilty enough to go into the fiery hell (Matt. 5:22). The Pharisees prided themselves on never committing adultery. Jesus said that to lust after a woman in our heart is to break that commandment (Matt. 5:28). The absolute righteousness of God, not just in our outward behavior, but in our thoughts, is the standard we must live up to if we want to get to heaven by our good works.

God’s Ten Commandments are like a ten-link chain that holds a boat to a dock. It only takes one broken link to cause the boat to be swept away by the current and dashed to pieces by the waterfall just down stream. Some, who are pretty good people outwardly, may look at someone who has broken every link in the chain and think, “I’m better than he is.” But one broken link is just as effective as ten broken links in plunging that boat to destruction. That’s why Paul concludes in his argument in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Or, as he puts it in Galatians 2:16, “by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified.”

In spite of the repeated clear teaching of God’s Word, the error persists that everyone who by human standards is a decent person, will get into heaven on the basis of his good deeds. At the root of that persistent heresy is pride, which is what keeps most people from Christ and the gospel. As we saw in our last study, Paul was plagued by a group of false teachers, called Judaizers, who infected the churches he founded with a subtle error that appealed to pride. They did not deny that a person must trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. But they added works, especially the Jewish rite of circumcision, to faith in Christ as an essential requirement for salvation. Paul strongly warns the Philippians to beware of this subtle, but damnable, error (3:2).

In our text, he goes on to argue that if ever there was a person who could be right with God on the basis of keeping the Jewish law, it was himself. He had the credentials by birth; he had the track record by experience. But on the Damascus Road he came to realize that all those things he was counting on for right standing with God were worse than worthless. He threw them all on the trash heap and laid hold of Christ through faith. In warning us against this counterfeit Christianity, which still persists today, that mixes faith in Christ with faith in good works, Paul shows that ...

True Christians count all human merit as loss in order to gain Christ through faith.

The picture here is a ledger sheet of your life. Before Christ, you entered on the asset side a number of things that you thought were gains that would qualify you for heaven. But, if you’ve truly met Jesus Christ, you had to take all those things and move them to the debit side of the ledger:

1. True Christianity means writing off all human merit as loss.

You cannot cling to the notion of your own goodness and be a true Christian. True Christianity requires that we see the utter worthlessness of the best of our worth or works when it comes to commending us to God so that we give up all trust in such things (Isa. 64:6). And, while not all conversions are as sudden and dramatic as Paul’s was, every person who is truly converted will have the same radical change of focus that Paul experienced. You will recognize that there is no place for human goodness of any kind as justifying evidence in the court of heaven. If you are trusting in anything you are or anything you have done for eternal life, you abandon it and throw yourself completely on the mercy of God through the cross of Christ.

A. We must write off all inherited and acquired merit as loss.

Paul is challenging the Judaizers to a showdown, saying that he can match and excel any human goodness they want to glory in as the basis for right standing with God. He is proving that he did not change directions because somehow he couldn’t come up with the necessary credentials for the good works route to God. His list (3:4-6) contains four inherited and three acquired qualities which he formerly trusted in for right standing with God, but which he had written off as loss rather than gain.

Of the inherited qualities, he begins with circumcision, since that was what the Judaizers put at the top of the list. Paul lets them know that he wasn’t circumcised as an adult convert, but in accordance with Jewish law, he was circumcised on the eighth day. He was a blood-born citizen of the covenant nation of Israel, specifically of the tribe of Benjamin, in whose territory was the holy city Jerusalem, the tribe that provided the first king and later remained with the tribe of Judah in the southern kingdom when the northern tribes broke away. “A Hebrew of Hebrews” points both to his lineage and language, that he spoke the native tongue.

In addition to these qualities, Paul had worked hard to acquire a number of things which he thought would commend him to God. He had become a Pharisee, the strictest sect of Judaism. They sought to obey the Law in the most scrupulous manner possible, down to tithing even their table spices (Matt. 23:23). Also, as a Pharisee Paul was zealous to persecute the Christians, whom he viewed as rejecting the Mosaic Law. As to the righteousness which is in the Law, that is, outward obedience, you couldn’t have found any violation with Paul.

Let’s bring these inherited and acquired qualities into our cultural framework. I’ve asked some people, “Are you a Christian?” and they’ve replied, “Of course, what do you think I am, a Hindu?” They thought that because they were American and America is predominately Christian, therefore they are Christian. If you think that because you were born in a “Christian” nation or family, you’re therefore a Christian, you must write that plus off as a loss if you want to gain Christ by faith. Others think that because they were baptized, either as an infant or later, they are Christians. Others put faith in their church attendance or membership. Some trust in the fact that their doctrine is orthodox or that they have served faithfully in the church. The most common idea of all is that because I’ve always tried my best to live a good life, that will get me into heaven.

Please note that Paul was sincere, totally committed, zealous, faithful, outwardly righteous, and yet utterly wrong and headed straight for hell! He was using the wrong measuring stick, comparing himself with others and trusting in his own good deeds and dedication as the basis for his eternal destiny. But when he saw the blinding glory of the righteous Lord Jesus Christ, he was undone. He had to write off everything he had been trusting in as a total loss. I like the way Bishop Lightfoot brings out the nuance of the Greek text of verse 7: “All such things which I used to count up as distinct items with a miserly greed and reckon to my credit--these I have massed together under one general head as loss” (Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians [Zondervan], p. 148).

In verse 8 Paul not only calls his former credits a loss, but garbage. He may be playing off his calling the Judaizers dogs (3:2), meaning, “Let the dogs who eat garbage go after all my former deeds that I thought were good.” You must take every item of human goodness and merit and throw them in the garbage if you want to gain the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ.

B. We must continue to write off all human merit as loss as we walk with Christ.

Verse 7 looks at what Paul did starting at his conversion (the Greek perfect tense means a completed action with ongoing results); verse 8 emphasizes the ongoing aspect of it (present tense), that every time Paul felt any pride in human merit, in his dedication, in his many labors, in his persecutions, or anything that he had done, he would sit down with his ledger and move that item from the gain to the loss column.

Because we all struggle with pride, it can sneak up on us in many ways. We can take pride in our moral purity, in our faithfulness, in our devotional life, in our doctrinal correctness, in thinking that we are somehow better than other Christians. We must constantly put self to death by counting whatever we think is gain due to our efforts as loss so that we can more fully apprehend Christ as all in all. True Christians count all human merit as loss.

2. True Christianity means gaining the Lord Jesus Christ as our only basis for acceptance with God.

Paul expresses the same idea over and over here so that we don’t miss it: he counted all things as loss “for the sake of Christ” (3:7); “in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (3:8); “that I may gain Christ” (3:8); that I “may be found in Christ” (3:9); “that I may know Him” (3:10, which we’ll look at next week). Salvation centers in the person of Jesus Christ. If you have Him, you have it all. If you don’t have Him, you don’t have anything in terms of gaining heaven. What does it mean to gain Christ?

A. Gaining the Lord Jesus Christ means coming to a personal knowledge of Him.

Note, “Christ Jesus my Lord” (3:8). There are no group or family plans! Just because He is your parents’ Savior does not mean He is yours. Every true Christian can say with Paul that He is “Christ Jesus my Lord.” And while growing to know Him is a lifelong quest (as we’ll see next week), it begins at the point of salvation when He becomes to you “Christ Jesus my Lord.” If you have not personally come to know Jesus Christ as the one who died for your sins and was raised up so that you could be right with God (Rom. 4:25), you are lost.

B. Gaining the Lord Jesus Christ means a positional identification with all that He is.

When we personally come to know Christ as Savior and Lord we are placed in Christ, so that all that is true of Him becomes true of us. In Him we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Eph. 1:3; see also vv. 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13; 2:4-6). At the instant we abandon trust in our own good works and put our trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ, we are placed in Him. God the Father views every believer through the merits of His Son. This standing or position before God is given to us through faith in what Christ did for us on the cross.

A dad took his son and some of his son’s friends to the carnival. He bought a roll of tickets to the rides. He was standing at the turnstile where he handed a ticket to his son, to his son’s friend behind him, to the next boy, etc. Then a boy whom the dad didn’t recognize came along and held out his hand. The dad yanked back the ticket and said, “Who are you?” The boy said, “I know your son.” So the dad gave him a ticket, too. God treats everyone who truly knows His Son the same as He treats His Son.

Part of that position we inherit in Christ is a righteousness that is not of our own, derived from keeping the law, but the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith (3:9). There are two ways to go about qualifying yourself for heaven, but only one will work. The way that never works is to try what Paul tried before his conversion, to attain a righteousness of your own by attempting to keep God’s law. It is an attempt to commend yourself to God by your own good deeds. The reason it cannot work is that it is always at best an external righteousness. It cannot deal with the corruption that is in every fallen, rebellious heart. It can never come close to keeping the spiritual nature of God’s law which is that we must love God with all our being and love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

The other way, the only way to be right with God, is to receive the righteousness that comes from God through faith. We can never attain to God’s perfect righteousness. Because of His great mercy, God sent His Son Jesus who perfectly fulfilled the law of God both in its requirements and in its penalty on sin, which is death. The astounding offer of the gospel is that apart from human works, God takes your sin and puts it on Jesus and He takes His righteousness and puts it on you. This transaction takes place the instant you believe in Christ as your Savior and Lord.

If it all happens at that instant, then why does it sound as if its a process? Paul says that he continues counting all his former merits as garbage so that he might gain Christ and be found in Him, which suggests he is looking toward the day of Christ in the future. How so? F. F. Bruce explains that though Paul was already in Christ, “his ambition to be found in him on that great day can be realized only if he is continuously and progressively living in union with him during this mortal existence, and to this end Paul gladly jettisons everything else, including his formerly prized righteousness that comes from the law” (New International Biblical Commentary [Hendrikson Publishers], pp. 114-115). In other words, those who are in Christ by faith must continue to walk as they received Christ Jesus the Lord, not depending on their own works as the basis of their standing with God, but on the finished work of Christ. On the day of judgment, human works will be revealed as worthless; righteousness from God by faith will stand.

3. True Christianity means gaining Christ and all that is in Him through faith in Him.

Faith is not something we must work up; it is simply the hand that takes what God freely offers. Salvation does not depend on our faith, but on Christ and His faithfulness. Faith does not save us or make us righteous; Christ saves us and God declares us righteous based on what Christ did on the cross. Faith is simply receiving what God has promised. It looks to God, not to itself, and not to any human merit or works. Even faith is the gift of God, so that we cannot boast in it (Eph. 2:8-9; Phil. 1:29).

Conclusion

In the 1730’s in England, a young man named George Whitefield desperately wanted to be right before God. As a student at Oxford, he was part of the Holy Club, along with John and Charles Wesley. The members of that club rose early every day for lengthy devotions. They disciplined themselves so as not to waste a minute of the day. They wrote a diary every night in which they examined and condemned themselves for any fault during that day. They fasted each Wednesday and Friday and set aside Saturday as a sabbath to prepare for the Lord’s Day. They took communion each Sunday. They tried to persuade others to attend church and to refrain from evil. They visited the prisons and gave money to help the inmates and to provide for the education of their children. Whitefield nearly ruined his health by going out in cold weather and lying prostrate before God for hours, crying out for deliverance from sin and Satan. For seven weeks he was sick in bed, confessing his sins and spending hours praying and reading his Greek New Testament. Yet, by his own admission, he was not saved, because he was trusting in all these things to save him.

Finally, “in a sense of utter desperation, in rejection of all self-trust, he cast his soul on the mercy of God through Jesus Christ, and a ray of faith, granted him from above, assured him he would not be cast out” (Arnold Dallimore, George Whitefield [Cornerstone Books], 1:77; see pp. 60-77 for full account). The burden of his sins was lifted, he was filled with joy, and he went on to become the great evangelist used of God in the First Great Awakening.

Thankfully we do not all have to go through the agony of soul that George Whitefield went through. But we must all come to the same place he did, where we throw overboard as worthless all trust in human merit and cling to the Lord Jesus Christ as our only basis for acceptance with God. If we lose all our pride and self-trust in exchange for Christ and His merit, we gain everything!

Discussion Questions

1. Why is trusting in Christ plus our own good works not to trust in Christ at all?
2. Some argue that to preach submission to Christ as Lord for salvation is to add works to faith. Why is this fallacious?
3. How would you counsel a person who said, “I’d like to believe in Christ, but I just don’t have faith”?
4. If Paul was already “in Christ,” why does he make it sound as if it is an objective yet to be gained?

Copyright 1995, Steven J. Cole, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible © The Lockman Foundation

For many years I have jogged, but I’ve never won a race. There are at least three reasons I’ve never won: (1) I’ve only entered one race so far in my life. You don’t win races if you don’t enter them. (2) I don’t have the attitude it takes to win. Winners are a determined bunch. I don’t have that kind of mind-set. (3) I don’t put into my running the kind of determined effort required to win. Winners don’t just jog for exercise; they’re into it all the way. They read magazines about running; they set goals for themselves; they train and push themselves toward those goals. But I don’t work at it as they do.

Several times in the New Testament the Christian life is pictured as a race (1 Cor. 9:24-27; 2 Tim. 4:7; Heb. 12:1). In our text the apostle Paul uses that analogy to describe his own spiritual experience. In so doing, he gives us some basic principles for spiritual growth or, to use the athletic analogy, how to get into shape spiritually so that we can run to win the race set before us.

Last week we saw the goal of the Christian life (3:10-11): To know Jesus Christ and to be like Him. Christianity is a developing personal relationship with the living Lord Jesus. In 3:12-16 Paul shows us how to reach this goal through the process of Christian growth:

To grow as a Christian you’ve got to be in the race, have the proper attitude, and give it the proper effort.

1. To grow as a Christian you’ve got to be in the race.

This may sound perfectly obvious, but in reality there are a lot of people trying to run in a race they’ve never entered. They’re trying to grow as Christians by living a good life and doing what Christians are supposed to do, but they’ve never truly become Christians in the first place. As we saw in 3:4-6, Paul himself thought that he was doing everything he needed to do in order to be pleasing unto God. He was sincere; he was dedicated; he was zealous and energetic. But there was one major problem: he was not genuinely converted to Jesus Christ.

Because it’s such an important principle and because so many people think that being sincere and trying hard is the way to be right with God, Paul repeats it again in verse 12. He is speaking here of his effort in the Christian race, but he clarifies again that behind his effort is the foundational fact that he was first apprehended by Jesus Christ: “I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.”

The word “lay hold” is an intensified word that means to apprehend or seize something after a pursuit. It is used of a demon seizing a boy and throwing him to the ground (Mark 9:18). If a policeman chased a robber and apprehended him, he would have a firm grip on the man, so as not to let him get away. Paul says that the reason he runs in this race is because Christ Jesus chased him down, seized him, and put him in the race. On his part, Paul was headed for Damascus to persecute Christians. But the Lord seized Paul and turned him around so that he began serving Jesus.

The same idea is reflected in verse 14, “the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” God’s call almost always refers to His effectual calling of His elect unto salvation (Rom. 9:11; 1 Cor. 1:24, 26). We’re saved because God called us to salvation. To use the sports analogy, it’s as if a coach calls a player to himself and says, “I want you to go into the game.” The player is in the game because the coach has called him into the game. He gives it his best effort to please the coach who called him to play.

If you have not been laid hold of by Christ, you’re not in the race. The Christian life begins not with the weakness of a human decision to follow God, but with God’s powerful, effectual calling you and laying hold of your life. This means that no Christian is his own person; you belong to Jesus Christ who bought you. The reason you’re in the race is because Christ grabbed you and said, “I want you to run for Me.” Because He laid hold of you, you give it all you’ve got. It’s the same balance we saw in 2:12-13, that because our salvation comes from God who both wills and works in us, therefore we must work it out.

Thus Christian growth is a process that stems from the definite awareness of being apprehended by Christ Jesus. To grow as a Christian, you’ve got to be in the race because Christ laid hold of your life. This is foundational to all else.

2. To grow as a Christian, you’ve got to have the proper attitude.

Any athlete will tell you that attitude is often the difference between victory and defeat. A team that lacks in raw talent can sometimes defeat a team with much more ability because they have the right attitude going into the game. Attitude is crucial in the spiritual life as well. The Greek word translated “to think” or “be minded” (in 3:15, “have this attitude”) is used 10 times in Philippians out of 26 New Testament uses. Since the theme of Philippians is joy, there is a definite correlation between attitude and joy. Two strands of Paul’s attitude come through in these verses: He views Christian growth as a lifelong process, so he has a long-haul attitude; and, he views Christian growth as the kind of thing where you never can say, “I’ve arrived,” so you have to keep moving ahead.

A. The long-haul attitude: Christian growth is a lifelong process.

Paul had been converted for at least 25 years when he wrote Philippians. There is no question that he is one of the outstanding believers of all times. Yet over and over he reveals his mind-set, that he was still in the process: “Not that I have already obtained it” (3:12), meaning, “I have not yet come to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings and conformity to His death in a complete and total way.” “I do not regard myself as having laid hold if it yet” (3:13). Twice he says, “I press on” (3:12, 14); the word literally means to pursue, and by way of extension, to persecute (Paul uses it of himself in this way in 3:6). He’s still “reaching forward” (3:13) as a runner stretches toward the finish line. He’s been at it for 25 years, but he doesn’t view himself as having arrived!

The Christian life isn’t a 100 yard dash; it’s a lifelong marathon. You need the mentality of a long-distance runner if you’re going to make it. You may have been a Christian for 40 or 50 years, but you can’t start thinking, “I don’t need to grow any more” and stop running. Long distance runners have to complete the entire course; they can’t decide after many miles that they’ve run far enough.

This attitude of viewing Christian growth as a lifelong process is crucial for at least two reasons. First, we all have the human tendency to want quick fixes and easy answers to difficult problems. I believe that many get into the charismatic movement because it appeals to this desire for easy answers: “Do you have major problems? What you need is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray over you in tongues, you’ll have an emotional experience and speak in tongues yourself, and you’ll be delivered once and for all from all these tough problems you’re struggling with.” They emphasize instant, miraculous deliverance from any problem. I wish it was that easy!

Another form of this teaching is that you need to just “let go and let God.” If you struggle against sin or wrestle with stubborn emotional problems, you’re told that it’s because you’re in the flesh. The implication is that life in the Spirit is effortless and easy once you’ve discovered the secret of “the exchanged life.”

But both of these views go against the clear teaching of Scripture, that the spiritual life is a continual battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. We are instructed to discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness (1 Tim. 4:7), which also is an athletic metaphor. There is no quick, easy, instantaneous way to get in top physical conditioning. You have to work at it every day, and the day you stop is the day you start going downhill. Olympic champions who retire do not stay in shape the rest of their lives because of their former training. They have to keep working out all their lives. It is the same spiritually.

The second reason it’s important to maintain this attitude, that Christian growth is a lifelong process, is that it enables us to be gracious and patient with one another. If you view Christian growth as an instant experience where you’re delivered once and for all from all problems, then if you’ve got problems, obviously it’s because you haven’t had this experience. So, get with it! Stop having your problems! This view makes us impatient and intolerant toward people who are struggling.

But if we remember that growth is lifelong and that even Paul admits that he hasn’t arrived after 25 years, we can bear with one another and be gracious to those who are still struggling with problems even after many years of being Christians. The analogy of how we grow as humans is helpful and applicable to us as children of God. It takes years for children to grow to maturity. You don’t expect more of them than they’re capable of at their stage in life. You expect babies to dirty their diapers and to burp in your face and to cry in the middle of the night. If your teenager is still dirtying his diapers and burping in your face and waking you up with his crying in the night, you’ve got a problem! If a brother or sister is growing, we need to be patient and gracious, realizing that it is a lifelong process. We need this long-haul attitude. Spiritually, the important thing to ask yourself is, “Am I actively involved in the growth process?”

B. The “not-having-arrived” attitude: Christian growth requires always moving ahead.

If anyone could think he had arrived, it would have been Paul. But he always kept in mind that he wasn’t there yet. He didn’t want to rest on his laurels or to start coasting. Remember, this is a man who had had numerous visions of the Lord. He had been caught up into heaven and had seen things that no other living person had seen. He had written some of the most profound theology ever penned. But his attitude was, “I need to keep moving ahead.” You see this even in his final days, when he was in the dungeon in Rome, and he wrote to Timothy asking him to bring his coat, and then he adds, “and the books, especially the parchments” (2 Tim. 4:13). He was facing execution, but he wanted his books so he could keep growing!

In verse 13, notice that “I do” is in italics, meaning that it is not in the original. The brevity of Paul’s phrase in Greek makes it more emphatic: “But one thing!” Paul’s single attitude of always moving ahead has three ramifications: Forgetting the past, reaching forward to the future, and pressing on in the present.

(1) An attitude of moving ahead from the past: Leave it there! “Forgetting what lies behind.” Again, the picture is of a runner who does not make the mistake of looking over his shoulder. His eyes are fixed on the goal. If he made mistakes earlier in the race, he doesn’t kick himself by replaying them in his mind. If he did well, he doesn’t gloat about it. He leaves the past behind and keeps moving on toward the finish line.

Many Christians today are being told that to experience healing from their difficult pasts, they need to delve into their pasts and relive the hurtful things that happened to them. This approach has come into the church from the world, not from the Word. It would be wrong to say that verse 13 is all that the Bible says about the past. Even earlier in the chapter, Paul has mentioned his own past life in Judaism. It can be helpful to reflect on what happened to us in the past in order to understand where we’re at in the present and where we need to grow. There is a biblical case for self-examination, which means evaluating things that have happened in the past, both good and bad, as a means of growing now.

But our text shows that there needs to be a balance. Paul means here that we should not be controlled by the past. Someone has used the analogy of a car’s rear view mirror. You don’t drive by looking in the mirror. You drive by looking ahead out of the windshield. But it’s helpful to take occasional glances in your mirror and use the information to make decisions about how to drive safely in the present and future. But if you spend too much time looking in your mirror, you’ll probably crash because you’re not paying attention to the present. In the same way, we need to take periodic glances backward, but we also need to put the past (good and bad) behind us, accept God’s grace and enabling for the present, and move on with what He is calling us to do now.

(2) An attitude of moving ahead toward the future: Aim for the goal! “Reaching forward to what lies ahead” (3:13). Paul uses a term describing a runner who stretches and strains every muscle as he runs toward the finish line. “The upward call of God” is His call to salvation which culminates when we stand before Him to give an account and receive rewards for how we’ve run the race. Will our work stand the test and receive His “Well done” because we did it out of love for Him and for His glory? Or, will it be burned up and we be saved, but as through fire (1 Cor. 3:14-15)? Everything we do--how we conduct ourselves in our families and in public; how we spend our time and money; how we serve the Lord--should all be done with the mind-set, “I’m going to stand before the Lord and give an account someday; I want to be pleasing unto Him.”

(3) An attitude of moving ahead in the present: Keep moving! “I press on toward the goal” (3:13-14). Paul had a holy dissatisfaction with where he was at, so he kept pressing on. Yesterday’s blessings or experiences wouldn’t do for today. He walked daily with the Lord, always wanting more, always learning, always growing, never treading water or coasting.

In 3:12 Paul says that he is not perfect, but in 3:15 he implies that he and some of his readers are perfect. He isn’t contradicting himself within four verses. In 3:12, he means that absolute perfection is not attainable in this life. In 3:15, he uses the word in relative terms to mean “mature.” We can become mature, and the mature Christian will share Paul’s view that he is setting forth here, that we haven’t arrived, but that we can and must keep growing.

But Paul recognizes that some will not share his attitude because they are not mature. To those who disagree with him, Paul says, “Stay teachable and God will show you where you need to grow” (see 3:15). He adds verse 16 so that no one will mistake him to mean that you can just kick back and not work at growing. He means that wherever you’re at, you need to keep living in obedience to the light God has shown you and keep seeking Him for more. If God has dealt with some sin in your life, don’t slip back into it again. If He has cleaned out a dirty closet of your life, don’t start throwing junk in there again.

If you want to grow in the Lord, it’s essential that you maintain a teachable heart. A teachable heart is humble, because it admits, “I may be wrong or lacking in understanding; I may need to repent and change.” A teachable heart is submissive, ready to respond to new light God gives from His Word. A person with a teachable heart is not a know-it-all, refusing to learn from other Christians. With that kind of teachable heart, keep moving in the present.

3. To grow as a Christian, you’ve got to give it the proper effort.

We need the balance of God’s Word here. Some say, “God is sovereign and we don’t need to do anything.” Others say, “It’s all up to us.” Scripture says, “God is at work in you, so you work!” It’s both/and, not either/or. Some say that any effort on your part shows that you’re in the flesh. If that’s so, Paul was fleshly, because it’s clear here that he was pressing on, he was reaching forward to the goal as a runner giving it his all. The Christian life is an active cooperation with the sovereign God.

Paul’s “one thing” (3:13) implies focused concentration and effort, that he sets aside distractions and works at keeping his mind on the goal of knowing Christ and becoming more like Him. A runner in a race can’t afford to admire the scenery or look at the people on the sidelines. An Olympic champion is not a person of many interests, who dabbles at his sport when it’s convenient. Every day he gets up and puts his mind on the goal, to win the gold. Everything else--his social life, his schedule, his diet--takes subservience to that overarching goal.

The question each of us needs to answer is, “Do I devote myself to knowing Christ and being like Him in the same way an athlete devotes himself to winning his event? Does knowing Christ and growing in Him consume me, or do I just dabble at it when it’s convenient?” If you want to grow, you’ve got to put your full effort into it--not just occasionally, but all the time.

Conclusion

Dr. Howard Hendricks, in the video series we just watched on Sunday evenings, tells about an elderly Christian woman he knew who would come into a social gathering, where everyone was chit-chatting about nothing significant, and say, “Tell me, Howie, what are the five best books you’ve read this past year?” Even though she was up in years, she was still actively growing in the Lord. When she died in her nineties, her daughter discovered on her desk that the night before she died in her sleep, she had written out her personal goals for the next five years! Like Paul in prison, right up to the end she wanted to be growing! I heard about a mountain climber whose epitaph was, “He died climbing.” That ought to be true of every Christian.

If you want grow as a Christian, make sure you’re in the race--that Christ has laid hold of your life and saved you from sin. Make sure you have the right attitude--that you haven’t arrived, but you’re in the lifelong process of moving ahead. And, give it the proper effort--focusing on the goal of being like Christ, and doing everything in light of that high calling.

Discussion Questions

1. How can a person know that Christ has laid hold of him? What are some signs of true conversion?
2. How can a Christian know how much (if any) to delve into the past? Do we need to work through “repressed” memories, etc.? Support your answer biblically.
3. Should every Christian have clearly defined written goals? Do you suppose Paul did? How can goals help? Can they hinder?
4. How can we determine what is God’s part and what is our part in the Christian life?

Copyright 1995, Steven J. Cole, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible © The Lockman Foundation

A Chronological Daily Bible Study of the Old Testament
7-Day Sections with a Summary-Commentary, Discussion Questions, and a Practical Daily Application

Week 52

Sunday (Malachi 1:1-5)

Introduction and God’s Election of Israel

1:1 What follows is divine revelation. The word of the Lord came to Israel through Malachi:

1:2 “I have shown love to you,” says the Lord, but you say, “How have you shown love to us?”

“Esau was Jacob’s brother,” the Lord explains, “yet I chose Jacob 1:3 and rejected Esau. I turned Esau’s mountains into a deserted wasteland and gave his territory to the wild jackals.”

1:4 Edom says, “Though we are devastated, we will once again build the ruined places.” So the Lord who rules over all responds, “They indeed may build, but I will overthrow. They will be known as the land of evil, the people with whom the Lord is permanently displeased. 1:5 Your eyes will see it, and then you will say, ‘May the Lord be magnified even beyond the border of Israel!’”

Prayer

Lord, when You make a sovereign decision nothing in all of Creation may stand against it. May I remember that the blessing of my salvation is a gift from God and that there will never be a time in all of eternity that I may cease from giving thanks.

Scripture In Perspective

Malachi prophesied “divine revelation” to Israel [more specifically, the returned-remnant in Jerusalem and surrounding region, following the exile].

He brought the challenge “I have shown love to you,” says the Lord, but you say, “How have you shown love to us?”

The Lord God told Malachi to take them back to an earlier time “Esau was Jacob’s brother, yet I chose Jacob and rejected Esau. I turned Esau’s mountains into a deserted wasteland and gave his territory to the wild jackals.”

Esau was Jacob’s older brother but the Lord allowed their combined choices to result in Jacob’s ascendancy over Esau.

Edom says, “Though we are devastated, we will once again build the ruined places.” So the Lord who rules over all responds, “They indeed may build, but I will overthrow.

Edom was the name of the land and culture spawned by Jacob’s brother Esau.

Esau had carelessly given-away his birthright to succeed his father and to inherit both his leadership and most of his property because he was impetuous and independent with a haughty attitude - and was not a God-fearing man.

The Edomites persisted in resentment toward the descendants of Jacob, making them vulnerable to the manipulation of the enemy, and they constantly sought ways to take advantage of them whenever they saw a weakness.

While the nation identified as Edom was obliterated, as God prophesied, around the 5th Century the people blended with other tribes – bringing their toxic-resentment with them – possibly carried forward and leveraged by Muhammed into modern day radical Islamacist blood-hate.

Malachi encouraged them that they would one day desire that all people know and follow the Lord God “... then you will say, ‘May the Lord be magnified even beyond the border of Israel!’”

Interact with the text

Consider

God chose Israel, descendants of Jacob – the second born child of Issac, the miracle son of the elderly Abraham and Sarah – over the Edomites, descendants of Esau – the first born of Isaac.

Discuss

Why would the chronically-rebellious and repeatedly-blessed remnant of Israel need to be reminded of the Lord God’s love through their unique election/selection?

Reflect

Just as the nation of Israel rose and fell cyclically, so also did the Edomite nation – yet God's curse upon Edom doomed them no matter how hard they struggled against it.

Share

When have you needed to be reminded that your blessing as a Biblical-Christian was far more than a promised eternity and membership in a unique social network?

Faith In Action

Pray

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you an opportunity in your life where you may be His instrument to cause “... the Lord be magnified even beyond the border of Israel!” [“Israel” as a symbolic term - referring to all current believers.]

Act

Today I will gather with one or more believer and share our deepest feelings of gratefulness that the Lord God of Creation has allowed us to be adopted into His eternal and earthly families.

Be Specific ________________________________________________

Monday (Malachi 1:6-14)

The Sacrilege of Priestly Service

1:6 “A son naturally honors his father and a slave respects his master. If I am your father, where is my honor? If I am your master, where is my respect? The Lord who rules over all asks you this, you priests who make light of my name! But you reply, ‘How have we made light of your name?’ 1:7 You are offering improper sacrifices on my altar, yet you ask, ‘How have we offended you?’ By treating the table of the Lord as if it is of no importance! 1:8 For when you offer blind animals as a sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you offer the lame and sick, is that not wrong as well? Indeed, try offering them to your governor! Will he be pleased with you or show you favor?” asks the Lord who rules over all. 1:9 But now plead for God’s favor that he might be gracious to us. “With this kind of offering in your hands, how can he be pleased with you?” asks the Lord who rules over all.

1:10 “I wish that one of you would close the temple doors, so that you no longer would light useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and I will no longer accept an offering from you. 1:11 For from the east to the west my name will be great among the nations. Incense and pure offerings will be offered in my name everywhere, for my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord who rules over all. 1:12 “But you are profaning it by saying that the table of the Lord is common and its offerings despicable. 1:13 You also say, ‘How tiresome it is.’ You turn up your nose at it,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and instead bring what is stolen, lame, or sick. You bring these things for an offering! Should I accept this from you?” asks the Lord. 1:14 “There will be harsh condemnation for the hypocrite who has a valuable male animal in his flock but vows and sacrifices something inferior to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and my name is awesome among the nations.”

Prayer

Lord, from the earliest days of Cain and Abel You taught humankind Your standard for respect, in our hearts and in our actions. May I give the best of my first and last of everything to Your glory and Your good purpose.

Scripture In Perspective

The Israelites were giving the flawed versus the flawless animals in sacrifice.

Their attitude, as well as their offerings, were like that of Cain rather than that of Abel.

Malachi shared with the Lord God’s observation that they would not dare present such flawed sacrifices to their political governor yet they carelessly presented them to God.

He informed them that God considered their offerings “worthless” and that the priests, co-conspirators in the “worthless” offings, should simply close the doors of the temple.

Malachi declared the Lord’s intent to find honorable followers who would sacrifice rightly to him and that harsh consequences awaited those who continued the practice of dishonorable sacrifices.

Interact with the text

Consider

The Israelites called the Lord God “Father” yet they treated him with disrespect which would not have been tolerated in their culture by an earthly father.

Discuss

Why would anyone continue to imagine that they could diss the Lord God and be blessed in the long-term?

Reflect

Later on, when many Jews joined with those who sent Jesus to be crucified – even taunted Him along the way – the same disrespectful and haughty attitude pervaded their relationship with God.

Share

When have you experienced or observed religious leaders mis-leading people, resulting in harm to them, and eventually great harm to themselves?

Faith In Action

Pray

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a place where you offer careless “religious ritual” when His requirement is only your first and your best.

Act

Today I will humbly and joyfully accept the Lord God’s challenge to reassess my relationship with Him – in everything that I do – so that I am intentional about doing all things as if for Him, surrendering every decision to Him, and making my life the most perfect sacrifice it can be as a testament and as a tool to His glory and in His service.

Be Specific _____________________________________________

Tuesday (Malachi 2:1-16)

The Sacrilege of the Priestly Message

2:1 “Now, you priests, this commandment is for you. 2:2 If you do not listen and take seriously the need to honor my name,” says the Lord who rules over all, “I will send judgment on you and turn your blessings into curses – indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart.

2:3 I am about to discipline your children and will spread offal on your faces, the very offal produced at your festivals, and you will be carried away along with it. 2:4 Then you will know that I sent this commandment to you so that my covenant may continue to be with Levi,” says the Lord who rules over all.

2:5 “My covenant with him was designed to bring life and peace. I gave its statutes to him to fill him with awe, and he indeed revered me and stood in awe before me. 2:6 He taught what was true; sinful words were not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and integrity, and he turned many people away from sin.

2:7 For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him because he is the messenger of the Lord who rules over all.

2:8 You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law; you have corrupted the covenant with Levi,” says the Lord who rules over all. 2:9 “Therefore, I have caused you to be ignored and belittled before all people to the extent to which you are not following after me and are showing partiality in your instruction.”

The Rebellion of the People

2:10 Do we not all have one father? Did not one God create us? Why do we betray one another, in this way making light of the covenant of our ancestors? 2:11 Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the holy things that the Lord loves and has turned to a foreign god! 2:12 May the Lord cut off from the community of Jacob every last person who does this, as well as the person who presents improper offerings to the Lord who rules over all!

2:13 You also do this: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears as you weep and groan, because he no longer pays any attention to the offering nor accepts it favorably from you. 2:14 Yet you ask, “Why?” The Lord is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young, to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law. 2:15 No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. What did our ancestor do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth.

2:16 “I hate divorce,” says the Lord God of Israel, “and the one who is guilty of violence,” says the Lord who rules over all. “Pay attention to your conscience, and do not be unfaithful.”

Prayer

Lord, You chose Levi for his faithful heart, and You called, entrusted, and equipped Levi and his descendants to lead the people in right-worship – their failure contributed to the failure of the people. May I be careful under whose spiritual leadership I submit myself that I am not also led-astray.

Scripture In Perspective

Malachi prophesied the Lord God’s anger at the betrayal of the Levitical priests “For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him because he is the messenger of the Lord who rules over all. You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law; you have corrupted the covenant with Levi,”

Malachi reminded them of their terrible sin within the family of Israel “... Do we not all have one father? Did not one God create us? Why do we betray one another, in this way making light of the covenant of our ancestors? Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem.”

He prophesied the Lord God’s judgment of disobedience and rebellion “I will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, who refuse to help the immigrant and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.”

Malachi encouraged them with the Lord God’s provision of merciful redemption for the repentant “...Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord who rules over all.”

He reminded them of the dissonance between their words and the truth “But you say, ‘How should we return?’ Can a person rob God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and contributions! You are bound for judgment because you are robbing me – this whole nation is guilty.”

Malachi challenged them in their arrogance “You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord who rules over all? So now we consider the arrogant to be happy; indeed, those who practice evil are successful. In fact, those who challenge God escape!’”

He prophesied the Lord God’s planned Great Throne Judgment and the Lamb’s Book of Life “Then those who respected the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord took notice. A scroll was prepared before him in which were recorded the names of those who respected the Lord and honored his name. “They will belong to me,” says the Lord who rules over all, “in the day when I prepare my own special property. I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you will see that I make a distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not.”

Malachi prophesied the symbolic coming of one to prepare and proclaim the coming Messiah “Look, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord arrives. He will encourage fathers and their children to return to me, so that I will not come and strike the earth with judgment.”“

Interact With The Text

Consider

The priest could never blame the people for their own sin – they were provided for and taught as priests – they could and should have stood their ground on faithfulness to the Lord God.

Discuss

Why would the Levites cry that the Lord did not receive their offerings when they knew them to be unacceptable?

Reflect

God generally addressed divorce in the Bible in reference to leaders or potential leaders, and in every case to believers, because there is no authority over non-believers. In this text Malachi was merging illustrations of the unfaithfulness of the Levitical priests to God (through the covenant with Levi) with their unfaithfulness to their literal wives, and with His general displeasure about divorce and violence (including the violence to faith and/or marital covenants that leads to rebellion and divorce.

Share

When have you experienced or observed the confusing influence of religious leaders whose lifestyle contradicted their claim to spiritual maturity and authority?

Faith In Action

Pray

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a place in your life where you are violating your covenant with God, which makes Him Lord of all things, and thus creating an unfaithfulness in your relationship with Him.

Act

Today I will confess and repent, seek and accept His forgiveness, and make changes in my daily disciplines and peer-accountability which move me toward a closer walk with Him.

Be Specific _________________________________________________

Wednesday (Malachi 2:17)

Resistance to the Lord through Self-deceit

2:17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” Because you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s opinion, and he delights in them,” or “Where is the God of justice?”

Prayer

Lord, Your patience is enduring, even as we thoughtlessly misrepresent You and Your working in this Fallen world. May I take special care to think carefully before I suggest that You endorse sin or will fail to administer grace-tempered justice in Your perfect time and in Your perfect way.

Scripture In Perspective

In Jeremiah 17:9 the Lord declared the heart of humankind to be “desperately wicked”, here again He prompted Malachi to inform the people that He understood their evil/fleshy capacity for self-deceit.

He warned them that the Lord God had grown tired of their stubborn persistence in speaking about the Lord falsely.

When the people responded that they did not understand what they had said that was wrong and therefore “wearied the Lord” Malachi provided two examples from God:

“Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s opinion, and he delights in them,”

“Where is the God of justice?”

In the first case they were accusing the Lord of rewarding sin.

In the second case they were accusing God of ignoring justice, or perhaps of being an absentee judge.

Interact With The Text

Consider

It is not possible to weary God as a human is wearied, He never lacks for any resource, so the term should be understood to refer to a stubbornness in clinging to a false doctrine that frustrates His effort to disciple “how long must I bear this stiff-necked people?” and the like [Exodus 32:9, Numbers 14:27, Isaiah 46:12, Acts 7:51, John 14:9, 1 Corinthians 10:5-6].

Discuss

Why would the people ever say that the Lord thought evil-doing was good and delighted in those that did so?

Reflect

Questioning the motives and/or timing of God was an error common to Adam and Eve in the Garden and of Job.

Share

When have you wondered why the evil prosper or why God doesn’t enforce immediate justice?

Faith In Action

Pray

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a circumstance where you tend to question God’s toleration of evil, especially by those who claim His name, yet you forget that your sin is as offensive as theirs.

Act

I agree to pray for both sinners, the other, and myself. I will confess and repent, seek and receive the Lord’s forgiveness, then exercise the discipline of prayer before I am too quick to condemn others. (Note: This does not mean the absence of discernment, as the apostle Paul taught, but merely learning to avoid self-deceit.)

Be Specific ________________________________________________

Thursday (Malachi 3:1-5)

3:1 “I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming,” says the Lord who rules over all.

3:2 Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can keep standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap. 3:3 He will act like a refiner and purifier of silver and will cleanse the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will offer the Lord a proper offering. 3:4 The offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in former times and years past.

3:5 “I will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, who refuse to help the immigrant and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Prayer

Lord, You established the proper relationship of humankind with You via multiple covenants, and once-again it became necessary for You to enforce the terms of the most-recent covenant. May I remember to give You honor from my covenant of absolute surrender at the time of my salvation.

Scripture In Perspective

Malachi delivered a frightening Word from the Lord – He was sending a messenger of judgment.

He explained the purpose of the messenger was to “clear the way” for God by making clear that one must choose to stand with Him or against Him.

Although all said that they looked forward to the redeemer, the promised One, His coming would not be without challenge and conflict.

There had been moments in the past when the offerings to the Lord God had been as it should, and He declared that it would one day be that way again, though He did not say that it would necessarily look the same.

Malachi listed a number of examples of expectations of, or grievances with, the people; “divination” (witchcraft in any form), adultery (Jesus would define that as mere lust for another, not one’s spouse, in the heart), covenant/promise-breakers, exploiters of workers, widows, or orphans, and those who refused to treat immigrants with kindness (within the context of the law of the land – not facilitating criminal acts).

The key text is that those who did not stand with “the God Who rules over all” lacked respectful-reverence “fear”.

Interact With The Text

Consider

The Lord God made clear His expectations in his instructions to Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and later through covenants with Abraham, Moses, and again with the remnant returned to Jerusalem. None had any excuse before the covenantal law.

Discuss

Why would the people be so rebellious yet still say that they longed for a messenger-redeemer?

Reflect

Even the short list of offenses would have covered most, if not all, of the people then – as it would today.

Share

When have you experienced or observed the desire for a leader yet still persisting in behaviors which would be found unacceptable to that same leader?

Faith In Action

Pray

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you one of the listed offenses he would like you to eliminate from your life.

Act

I will confess and repent, seek and receive forgiveness, then know the greater peace with the Lord through His indwelling Holy Spirit that comes from obedience.

Be Specific _____________________________________________

Friday (Malachi 3:6-18)

Resistance to the Lord through Selfishness

3:6 “Since, I, the Lord, do not go back on my promises, you, sons of Jacob, have not perished.

3:7 From the days of your ancestors you have ignored my commandments and have not kept them! Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord who rules over all. “But you say, ‘How should we return?’

3:8 Can a person rob God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and contributions!

3:9 You are bound for judgment because you are robbing me – this whole nation is guilty.

3:10 “Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter,” says the Lord who rules over all, “to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all.

3:11 Then I will stop the plague from ruining your crops, and the vine will not lose its fruit before harvest,” says the Lord who rules over all.

3:12 “All nations will call you happy, for you indeed will live in a delightful land,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Resistance to the Lord through Self-sufficiency

3:13 “You have criticized me sharply,” says the Lord, “but you ask, ‘How have we criticized you?’

3:14 You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord who rules over all?

3:15 So now we consider the arrogant to be happy; indeed, those who practice evil are successful. In fact, those who challenge God escape!’”

3:16 Then those who respected the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord took notice. A scroll was prepared before him in which were recorded the names of those who respected the Lord and honored his name.

3:17 “They will belong to me,” says the Lord who rules over all, “in the day when I prepare my own special property. I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.

3:18 Then once more you will see that I make a distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not.

Prayer

Lord, You are always faithful and we rarely are, You constantly offer us opportunities to be reconciled and restored, we rarely make good use of the opportunity. May I not miss any opportunity to improve my relationship with You through increased faithfulness.

Scripture In Perspective

When the people questioned why God said they were unfaithful He gave them the example of their failure to submit the covenantally-agreed tithes and offerings.

The tithes were intended for the support of the Levite priests and their families.

Part of the meat-offerings were set-aside for the Levite priests and their families.

They also had storehouses for the portion of grain offerings set aside for them.

The Levites were not given lands in which to grow crops or to raise herds, as they were to be undistracted from their priestly responsibilities, so they had no other means of support.

Jewish history records that the lack of God-ordered support caused many of the Levites to take on jobs apart from their priestly duties.

Those who made excuses for their failure of faithfulness used the old argument that the evil were doing better than they – so they may as well selfishly and rebelliously look out for themselves.

The scroll was the list of those that the faithful leaders generated as a result of their review of the faithfulness, or lack thereof, of the remnant in Jerusalem.

The implication of the text is that those on the scroll were justified by their faith, as expressed in their faithfulness, just as was said of Abraham and David (Romans 4:1-8).

Interact With The Text

Consider

The people had agreed to bring offerings for sacrifice to God for their sins, with the understanding that part of the meat-offering would be used to feed the Levites and their families.

Discuss

Why would the unfaithful think they could get away with blaming God for their selfishness when it was they who blocked God’s blessings which allowed the evil to prosper instead?

Reflect

There are no longer meat-offerings or a tribe of landless-priests to be supported via tithes. The temple was built and maintained via gifts, not tithes or offerings, each is a unique form of giving with a Biblically-unique purpose. The meaning and purpose of gifts, offerings, and tithes changed in the new covenant of the New Testament.

Share

When have you experienced or observed excuses made which ignored the true source of the problem and rather blamed other people, and God, instead of the guilty party accepting responsibility?

Faith In Action

Pray

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal a place where you are making excuses for your own unfaithfulness.

Act

I agree to confess and repent, seek and receive the Lord’s forgiveness, then act to reconcile my conduct so that I may be restored to a healthier relationship with the Lord and His people.

Be Specific _____________________________________________

Saturday (Malachi 4)

4:1 “For indeed the day is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant evildoers will be chaff. The coming day will burn them up,” says the Lord who rules over all. “It will not leave even a root or branch.

4:2 But for you who respect my name, the sun of vindication will rise with healing wings, and you will skip about like calves released from the stall. 4:3 You will trample on the wicked, for they will be like ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Restoration through the Lord

4:4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, to whom at Horeb I gave rules and regulations for all Israel to obey.

4:5 Look, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord arrives.

4:6 He will encourage fathers and their children to return to me, so that I will not come and strike the earth with judgment.”

Prayer

Lord, You explained to Israel over and over the reasons for their troubles, Your hope for their repentance and restoration, and the coming of the Messiah – followed eventually and ultimately by the judgment. May I learn from the mistakes of the past, celebrate Your provision for my salvation, and live as a useful instrument until the Lord returns to take me home.

Scripture In Perspective

Malachi delivered the Lord God’s repeated warning that he would eventually bring judgment.

The purpose of the warning was to motivate the people to return to faithful living.

For those who desired to be faithful, but who had suffered due to the unfaithfulness of others, the His holy cleaning of the unfaithful would be liberating.

Just as in Esther the faithful would be His instruments of punishment for their enemies.

Malachi delivered His reminder of the provision of the Law, so often disobeyed, to Moses at Mount Horeb.

He shared the prophesy that a spiritual Elijah would be sent to deliver a final call to repentance to Jews, before the Wrath, and before the Great Judgment.

This is the final canonical and chronological text of the Old Testament. There really was nothing left to be said – a time would pass and then the beginning of the final period of humankind in Fallen Creation would begin as the texts of the New Testament describe.

Interact With The Text

Consider

The final last days of these end times will conclude in His wrath on earth, the removal of every shred of unreconciled evil and imperfection to Hell, then the obliteration of it all forever.

Discuss

Is it encouraging to see how the Lord God tied key events in His story together as He also prophesied key details of the conclusion to come?

Reflect

The image of Elijah would be important as he, like the Jewish remnant (and their predecessors) whom Malachi addressed, had seen moments of great blessing and power, as well as a failure of confident-trust – but Elijah had been reinvigorated and sent-out again in God's service. Elijah in Malachi 4:5-6 was a prophetic-symbolic representation of John the Baptizer – as Jesus would so declare in Luke 7:24-28.

Share

When have you experienced or observed a person of great faith suffer from doubt then be restored and used again by God?

Faith In Action

Pray

Ask the Holy Spirit to give you an opportunity to share these texts with someone trapped in the traditions and troubles of the past and uncertain of hope in the future.

Act

I will respectfully offer to share this text with the one whom the Holy Spirit has prepared and to whom He has sent me. I will be in pray before, during, and after so that I am a clean vessel for His message.

Be Specific _________________________________________________

All Bible text is from the NET unless otherwise indicated - http://bible.org

Note 1: These Studies often rely upon the guidance of the NET Translators from their associated notes. Careful attention has been given to cite that source where it has been quoted directly or closely paraphrased. Feedback is encouraged where credit has not been sufficiently assigned.

Note 2: When NET text is quoted in commentary and discussion all pronouns referring to God are capitalized, though they are lower-case in the original NET text.

Commentary text is from David M. Colburn, D.Min. unless otherwise noted.

Copyright © 2012 by David M. Colburn. This is a BibleSeven Study –“Genesis 3. Prepared by David M. Colburn and edited for bible.org in August of 2012. This text may be used for non-profit educational purposes only, with credit; all other usage requires prior written consent of the author.

An overview of some of the features within the NET Bible Study Enviroment