Resolve and Faith
“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14
In our pampered day and age, we have very little resolve. As a matter of fact, resolve is not really even talked about any more. Not only do we not talk about resolve, as if it were some foreign language or legalistic law, but we also rarely talk about faith that leads unto godliness and truly growing in Christ in order that we would get over ourselves and see others as truly better.
Peter talks about how we have been granted “everything pertaining to life and godliness,”[1] and yet so many, through their lifestyle, show this statement to be false; but let me tell you, this in not false, but a powerful truth that proves so many have forgotten, maybe never known, from what they were saved, if they indeed are regenerate. And in the midst this “everything” we see that both self-control and perseverance[2] are both indeed included of the gracious gifts that “pertain to life and godliness” granted through God’s “divine power.”[3]
This truly is to say, a resolve upon God, in relation unto our “life and godliness” has been given to the believer. This challenges us to ask ourselves, “Am I at all concerned about being Christ-centered (Christocentric) and focused and fixed upon Him, His will, His commands, His reality unto living for Him, through Him and in Him? Do I really desire to grow in holiness and sanctification and to be godly? Am I resolved, no matter what comes against me, to continue to lie down personal, and often fleshly, desires and to flow against the system and values of this world?”
Friends, there is but little time to grow in the things of God, to be about His business, prayer, the study of the Word, and loving others greater than ourselves. But to the contrary, this world’s system, and all that the devil and his workers has to offer, is time to do anything and everything that would bring temporal flashes of emotions and leads our soul from God; thus paving the way straight to hell.
Therefore, let us put to death the selfish emotions of temporal and fleshly seeking entertainments offered up by Satan, and the wretchedness of our deceptive hearts; may we, as the Apostle Paul, “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.”[4]
“Joy is the devil’s substitute for joy.” Leonard Ravenhill
Listen to what Henry Scougal says,
“Let us be often lifting up our hearts towards God; and if we do not say that we love him above all things, let us, at least, acknowledge that it is our duty, and would be our happiness, so to do: let us lament the dishonor done unto him by foolish and sinful men, and applaud the praises and adorations that are given him by that blessed and glorious company above: let us resign and yield ourselves up unto him a thousand times, to be governed by his laws, and disposed of at his pleasure: and, though our stubborn hearts should start back and refuse, yet let us tell him, we are convinced that his will is always just and good; and therefore desire him to do with us whatsoever he pleaseth, whether we will or not.”[5]
Jeremy B. Strang
Christian. Husband. Father. Author.
Grace Upon Grace / Foothills of True Grace / As Christ: A Man and Marriage / Realities of a True Christian
[1] 2 Peter 1:3
[2] 2 Peter 1:6
[3] 2 Peter 1:3
[4] Philippians 3:13b-14
[5] Henry Scougal, “The Life of God in the Soul of Man,” pg. 93
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