Friday after Populus Sion, The Second Sunday in Advent
Posted on December 13, 2019 by under
Scripture: Philippians 3:12-16 (NKJV)
3:12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
Devotion
John Wesley, in his book A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, argues that Christians may reach sinless perfection. He says, “Perfection is loving God with all the heart, mind, soul, and strength. This implies that no wrong temper, none contrary to love, remains in the soul; and that all the thoughts, words, and actions, are governed by love.” Later he says in regard to involuntary sins: “A person filled with the love of God is still liable to these involuntary transgressions. Such transgressions you may call sins, if you please; I do not.”
How very different from what St. Paul says here: “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected…” We Christians are afflicted with sin constantly. We cannot go a few seconds without sinning. And yet we do not live in despair. We do not live in hopelessness. We have been freed from the weight of our sins because of Christ’s atoning sacrifice. We “press on.” We live freely and confidently in Christ. We know our sorry state. We know the truth about our sinful hearts and minds, but we are even more aware of the Champion who is ours and has secured eternal life for us. We keep heaven before our eyes so that our path may be straight.
We pray: Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of Thine only-begotten Son, so that by His coming we may be enabled to serve Thee with pure minds; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
