“17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. 18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. “
-Philippians 3:17–21
Every Christian should “strap in and buckle down for his roller coaster” of a text and then, spend precious time soaking in its truths! Paul begins with a word of encouragement to us as his fellow heirs in Christ, “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.” Do not let this verse go breeze by you unnoticed, dear reader, for if we will act on this instruction, the rest of the passage will speak all the more to our hearts! The instruction that Paul gives us is to first “imitate” him, but then also to “keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us”. Now, I know what you may be thinking: “How can we imitate Paul and those who walk with him if they’re all dead!?” In response to that fair question, I would say this… Are there no examples of those who walk according to the same Gospel that Paul preached? My prayer is that your answer would be a resounding yes! If there is a brother or sister in your life that you can look to as an example of what it means to walk according to the Spirit, then watch them and watch them closely! Do not overlook their human failures; in fact, to observe them with such high regard requires that you keep the failures in mind! But instead of using their scars of sin as reason to curse them and revile them, you view the scars as proof of their upbuilding and strides toward renewal!
There is no better example found than in a man who walks to the Cross with his face mired in the mud of conviction and with his body covered in the dust of repentance because it is through the Holy Spirit’s work in him that he got up from the ground in the first place! We are assured that this kind of man is the kind of man to watch through Paul’s following warning: “For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.” Shakespeare could not have penned a line more tragic-sounding! Paul witnessed so many people walking with complete disregard FOR their life; some were even outright imposters. They walked impressively, to the point where Paul had written and spoken HIGHLY of them, yet even they turned their backs on the Cross of Christ! A prime example of this kind of tragedy is found in Demas, a young man and partner of Paul in his ministry (Col. 4/ Philemon 2) who later went on to abandon Paul out of his abundant love for the passions of this world (2 Tim. 4).
Let us not for a second believe that these individuals turned their back on Christ because Christ wasn’t who He said He was; let us not even begin to consider that Satan had the brighter glory! God’s inspired Word through Paul’s hand is clear that for those who walk the way of a sinful, unrepentant life, “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.” What a contrast is the culmination of a life of groaning in labor together with brothers and sisters in the Spirit: “…our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. “ So, brothers and sisters, there are no tricks or human schemes when it comes to the glory of God! What we have waited for, we will receive and what we have believed, we will see! The true Christian’s road, though full of painful twists and throws up and down on slippery slopes, will end in greater glory, a grander kingdom, a newer heaven, and an eternal life! Therefore, dear saint, in this troubling life when you find yourself pummeled by the pressures of this wretched world, find that brother or sister in Christ, take their hand and rise from the wretched ground. And strain forward, because you are Glory Bound!