(6)              Verse 10 of Philippians chapter 3 makes a reference to the power of resurrection (confer John 5:21-29; John 10:18; John 11:25; John 11:26; Acts 2:31-38; Romans 6:4-11; Romans 8:10; Romans 8:11; 1Corinthians 15:21-23; 2Corinthians 1:10; 2Corinthians 4:10-13; 2Corinthians 13:4; Ephesians 1:19-21; Colossians 2:13; Colossians 3:1; 1Thessalonians 4:14; 1Thessalonians 4:15; 1Peter 1:3; 1Peter 4:1; 1Peter 4:2; Revelation 1:18, 20:5-6) which our righteous boastfulness carefully ignore. John 11:25-26, v.25) “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26) And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” Is it not all about faith? Faith and not the good works that justifies our walk with the LORD.

“If by any means I might attain” of verse 11 should not be viewed as a Pauline statement of skepticism. It cannot stem from a sense of dubiety or else it contradicts Romans 8:35-39 and 1Corinthians 9:26-27 where ‘uncertainly,’ adelos (ad-ay’-loce) means: ‘ignorantly; without observation.’ What Paul is revealing here is not about the precariousness of the topic but a certain ardour and an exertion of the strength of faith on the part of the believer. His reference is to the resurrection of Revelation 20:5-6.

Romans 6:6-7 “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7) For he that is dead is freed from sin.” Romans 8:10, “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Colossians 2:13, “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;” Colossians 3:1, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” This is what is expected of born again children of Jesus, as a proof of our spiritual profession.

The offspring of kings must be found walking the paths of majestic nobility or else their blue hue of the blood of their birth gets questioned. What about a one who has just completed his secondary school education but can neither produce any good written sentence nor read fluently? What is the proof before gainsayers that he did pass academically through every class of the six years of secondary education?

1Peter 4:1 tells us: “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;” Jesus, therefore, having suffered in the flesh and entered into death for us, has for once and for all, obtained a judicial freedom for the saints. Are we His body? Did He put His flesh or body to the death of sin?

It is the Church that forms His mystical body that received the soteriological justification, and made righteous for celestial destiny. Amen! How many of our trespasses has He forgiven in Colossians 2:13? ‘All’, which, in Greek, is pas (pas): ‘individually, each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone, all things, everything.’ If God forgives me all my sins and robes me in His own divine righteousness, of what transgression am I culpable especially when Jesus has made sure that the legality of my culpability has been settled? Selah!

                 Check out the Pauline Hebrews 4:10, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” All the works of righteousness He had already perfected on our behalf. Note that the entrance into the rest is in the aorist which serves as a voucher to the perfection of the act of rest that the Lord entered on our behalf. The word ‘rest’ is katapausis (kat-ap’-ow-sis): ‘reposing down, that is, (by Hebraism) abode.’ Katapausis comes from katapauō (kat-ap-ow’-o): ‘to settle down, that is, (literally) to colonize, or (figuratively) to (cause to) desist.’ Is there any need for additional work, from a born again child of God, to keep him in this rest engendered by the grace of God, according to scriptural didacticism? Selah!

Get born again by praying this prayer with all your heart and truthfully: Dear heavenly Father, I come to You now in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe in my heart that Jesus died for my sins and You raised Him from the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and I receive Him as my Lord and my Saviour. I give God all the glory, Amen.              (…to be concluded…)

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