Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. But throughout the writings of
Paul, one clear message shines out in all that he preached and
taught. He was completely centered on this one subject that is itself
the very basis of the gospel, and in fact without which no
true gospel can be proclaimed. He summed it up to the Corinthians
saying, For I determined not to know anything among you save
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Over the years, many have come
along and sought to add to that simplistic message all types
of forms, traditions, and various duties for the sons of God which
they consider equally as important. Yet anything which is added to
that plain message does not serve to empower the gospel or to strengthen
the sons of God, but rather to dilute the message and to avert
the eyes of the hearers from the one source of their hope
and confidence to a system of fleshly works. Throughout his
writings, Paul sets forth many exhortations to the children
of God. Yet in every instance, his purpose in doing so is to
bring the mind of those he has exhorted back to the very basis
of his message rather than to lay a burden upon the back of
those who have already felt the lash of the law and are acquainted
with the weakness of their own flesh. He instructs the Philippians
about the humility and single-mindedness of Christ when he exhorts them
to let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. He
instructs the Romans about the finished work of Christ in satisfying
the law when he exhorts them to reckon ye also yourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in
your moral body, that ye should obey it in the lust thereof.
Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness
unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive
from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness
unto God. For sin shall not have dominion
over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace. Likewise,
he instructs the Colossians of the all-sufficiency of Christ
when he exhorts them to lie not one to another, seeing that ye
have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the
new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of
him that created him. Where there is neither Greek
nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor
free, but Christ is all and in all. Paul did not browbeat his
hearers, nor did he lay a heavy burden upon them to perform some
deeds in the power of their flesh which will supposedly improve
their standing with the Lord or enhance their blessings in
spiritual matters. Rather, he sets himself forth
as an example of that determination that had been given him to run
the race set before him. Quite often parents try to instill
their values into their children by instruction, only to see those
children disregard those values as they reach maturity. The truth
is that a parent cannot cause their children to adopt their
values or believe what the parent believes. What they can do, however,
is set forth a clear example that leaves no doubt in their
children's minds of those things which the parents believe and
are committed to walk in. This is what Paul is doing here,
as he uses the illustration of running a race with the intention
of winning, regardless of the cost or amount of effort involved.
Paul clearly understood that he had no power in and of himself
to perform this. The sons of God are thus called
to triumph in that victory which Christ has won for them. He has
thus set for us an example that we should follow in his steps.
Therefore, we see Paul willing to be an example to his children
in the gospel as he declares unto them his determination to
fight a good fight and keep the faith. In order to win a fight,
one must identify his opponent and then enter the ring and actually
fight that opponent. The greatest opponent of the
sons of God is found in their own bosom. For the flesh lusteth
against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these
are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things
that ye would. Paul fought this fight, but he
also recognized the source of his victory. O wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank
God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Christ is the victor and
the victory. If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at 4the4 at windstream dot net.