Forgetting what lies behind

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

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.

In today’s text Paul says:  One thing I do: 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.      It certainly is easier said than done, at times, to forget what lies behind us. Even when we have been forgiven of our past actions and sin, the consequences of those actions remain, sometimes throughout our lifetime. One of the hardest things to do can be to forgive ourselves, particularly in those areas where we are forced to live with the negative consequences of our actions and our decisions. Even with God’s forgiveness, one bad decision can cause lives to change, relationships to be impacted, there can be physical harm, financial implications, and on and on. How do we forget what lies behind us, when we are haunted by the consequences of our actions every day?  First we need to ask ourselves, do we believe that God so loved the world that He sent Jesus that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) We need to ask ourselves if we believe that God demonstrated the love He has in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)  We need to ask ourselves whether we believe that Jesus died for sins, once for all, that His sacrifice on the cross covered every sin past present and future. If we believe that, then we must believe what 1 John 1:9 says:    If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.   We must believe what God says:  "I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins.”  (Isaiah 43:25) God says He blots out our transgressions for His own sake. He remembers our sins no more. God created us for fellowship with Him. He loves us and wants that fellowship. So it is for His sake, for the sake of His love for us and fellowship with us that He takes away our sin. In Psalm 51, David’s psalm of contrition, after He had sinned with Bathsheba and caused the death of Uriah, her husband, David reveals an important understanding about sin. In verse 4 he says:  Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight.    Regardless of who and how our actions have affected others and ourselves, sin is against God. Sin separates us from God. It breaks our fellowship with God. Sin doesn’t change God’s love for us; He loved us while we were sinners and demonstrated His love in the cross of Christ. He forgives our sin, for His own sake, so that our fellowship with Him can be restored.

We need to recognize that when we hold on to unforgiveness for ourselves we are doing one of two things. Either we are saying our standards are higher than His, that even though God has forgiven us we cannot forgive ourselves. Or we are saying that our sin is bigger than God’s ability to forgive. Jesus died for all sins, nothing is beyond the power of the cross, where Jesus said:  “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)     Paul says:  But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 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, 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, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.      Paul relinquished all of his past identity, all of his past achievements, everything good that he had done in his own strength. All of that had no value compared to the value of knowing Christ Jesus. We too are called to give up the value we hold in the things of this world. If we will give up the things we considered gain, then we should also give up and release the things which have caused pain.   Romans 8:28-30 says:  And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.   God didn’t and doesn’t cause the consequences of our sin. The things which remain, the things we have to live with as a result of our actions and our decisions are not God’s punishment. Rather, if we will submit ourselves and all of the things of our lives, all of the good things and all of the bad things to Him, He will cause them to work together for our good. In the case of David, in the end, Solomon was born from the marriage of David and Bathsheba. Solomon was the one to continue David’s reign and even more it is Solomon through whom the line of Christ is traced. For us it says, He will cause us to be conformed to the image of His Son. We will become more like Christ when we allow God to work in and use even our mistakes and their consequences. We become the brethren of Christ, God’s beloved children, justified by the cross and glorified with Him. Ephesians 2:4-10 says:  God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.      God has forgiven us in His mercy and grace, He has restored us to fellowship with Him. We are actually seated with Him in heavenly places so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  It is a future glory we will have in Christ, but also as Paul says:   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. 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, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.    We too should press on for the prize of our upward call, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.    

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You for Your grace, Your mercy and Your love. Thank You that You forgive my sin for Your sake, that I might be fully restored to fellowship with You, I submit everything to You, all the good and all the bad in my past, present and future; I ask that You would cause it all to work for good, to accomplish Your purpose in and for my life.  Amen.