Forgetting what lies behind...

Philippians 3:4-21 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

⁴ although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: ⁵ circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.

⁷ But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, ⁹ and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, ¹⁰ that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; ¹¹  in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

¹² Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. ¹³ Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching 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 us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; ¹⁶ however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.

¹⁷ Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. ¹⁸ For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, ¹⁹ whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. ²⁰ For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; ²¹ who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

“forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” These two verses are critical to our Christian walk. We, like Paul need to forget what is behind us, our past sin, who we were before Christ saved and changed us. The devil will try to remind us of our past and convince us that who we were or what we did somehow disqualifies us from the fullness of the promises God has for us as His children. In Isaiah 43:25 God says what He remembers about our sin.        "I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins.”   2 Corinthians 5:16-17 says:         Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.        God does not hold our past against us, nor does He disqualify us from service based on our past. David was an adulterer and a murderer, Paul persecuted the church. The blood of Christ redeems all sin. The only sin that is not washed clean by the blood of Christ is the sin or sins we choose to hold onto, those we won’t confess as sin.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)  

The sins of the past, who or what we were are not all that we need to forget though. Just as we have been forgiven by God we also need to forgive others. We cannot look back or hold onto the wounds, the anger and the bitterness that comes with unforgiveness. We may not have the ability to completely remove those things from our memory, but we must choose not to allow them to affect us now and in our future. We need to forgive even those who don’t deserve our forgiveness, even those who have not repented. We need to forgive not for their sake but for our own, so that we are no longer weighed down by carrying the burden of their sin. We need to allow the Lord to heal and strengthen us in the place where we have been wounded. Just as Isaiah 53:5 says of Christ:    But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. If we allow God to fully heal us we can then take the lessons we have learned and help to bring healing to others in those areas. If we minister out of hurt, anger or bitterness, that will be the fruit of our ministry.

The final thing we need to forget as we press on in Christ is all the good that we have or were in our own strength or ability. Paul begins this passage by listing his earthly qualifications, his heritage, his training and education in human standards. The he says:    “ I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,  and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith”      Throughout scripture we see God calling and using ordinary people to do extraordinary things. God doesn’t call and use the strongest, the smartest or the most successful by worldly standards. Over and over we see God using the least, David, a young shepherd boy, Gideon, the least of his clan, Peter, James and John, mere fishermen, all ordinary people called by God to do extraordinary things. God isn’t concerned with our abilities. We need to walk in the fullness of the gifts He has given us, not in our own strength. We need to come to the place where Paul was concerning strength and weakness.       And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.  (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)  When we rely on our own abilities we become open to pride. When we rely on our own ability we move to accomplish our own will.

God calls us to trust Him, to walk in His strength not our own. He will call us out of the ordinary into the extraordinary in Christ, by the Holy Spirit. The greatest ability we can have for God is availability, so that like all those who He has used extraordinarily before we will answer His call; yes Lord.  “ For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;  who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”     Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.    Amen.