Paul's Prison Epistles: Paul And The PhilippiansSample

Paul’s Example of Perseverance: Philippians 3:1-16

In Philippians 3:1-16, Paul offered himself as a positive example of perseverance in the faith, both with regard to his mindset and behavior.

Specifically, Paul explained that when he had come to faith in Christ he had ceased to rely on earthly standards to gain God’s favor and blessing and had begun to rely solely on Christ. But this was not because he failed to measure up to earthly standards. On the contrary, by earthly standards Paul should have been among God’s most highly favored. Consider the description of his credentials in Philippians 3:4-6:

If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless (Philippians 3:4-6).

If any mere human being could have merited God’s blessings by keeping the law, it was Paul.

But the truth of the matter is that no fallen human being can be good enough to merit God’s blessings of salvation and eternal life. And so, Paul refused to rely on his earthly merits and depended only on Christ’s merit, which God credited to him by means of faith.

At the same time, he also made it clear that merely professing faith is not sufficient to guarantee our salvation. On the contrary, we must also persevere in faith in order to obtain eternal life. We must maintain our faith, and we must live holy lives, or else we prove our faith to be false.

This is why he placed so much emphasis on perseverance in Philippians 3:12-16, writing about salvation in Christ in these terms:

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me… I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus… Only let us live up to what we have already attained (Philippians 3:12-16).

Professing faith is not enough; we must prove our faith by persevering. And if we do not persevere to the end, maintaining our faith in Christ for our salvation, and remaining faithful to him in godly living, we prove that our faith was false.