Philippians: Living for What Really Mattersनमुना

If we want to be bold women of God, we need to be willing to fight for authenticity in community. We have one life to live—one shot (thanks, Hamilton) to make a mark in the name of Jesus. And with Paul as our teacher, we’ll learn how to do that.

But we need to first understand a bit more about who this man Paul is. You may know Paul’s backstory already, but as we walk through it again, God may point something new out to you today. God likes to highlight things at certain times, as He wants you to know, learn, and grow.

In Acts, we learn that Saul (Paul’s original Hebrew name) hated those who believed that Jesus was the Messiah. If we look at Philippians 3:5, we can get a sense why he felt this way: Not only was he from a Jewish family, but he was a devout and legalistic Pharisee. This new faith seemed like heresy to him.

In Acts 9:10-11, we see God ask a man named Ananias to do something that seemed crazy: to meet up with Saul. Ananias knows of this man, who has been horribly persecuting Christians. Ananias probably felt like God was asking him to go to his death! But God knows something Ananias doesn’t: Saul is now a completely new person.

You can make yourself better, but only Christ can make you new. And if ever there was someone who became a new creation, it was Paul. What exactly does new mean, though? If we look at the original Greek in 2 Corinthians 5, we see the word kainos, which means, “recently made, fresh, recent, unused, unworn.” (Strong's Concordance G2537.)

So often as Christians, we talk about being restored…but restored just means we’re just an improved version of what we were before. This verse here in 2 Corinthians tells us that no matter what we’ve done or how we’ve lived, in Christ, we are brand new.

What does that tell us about Paul? When he chose to follow Jesus, his history against the church was wiped clean, though it doesn’t mean there weren’t consequences (like having to build trust and demonstrate the authenticity of his newness to a multitude of believers). But in God’s eyes, there is no before—only now and evermore.