What happens inside of you when you mess up?
I mean a real personal failure. Does it ruin
everything or do you just shrug it off and figure,
ah, it's not that big a deal? Do you confess
it and move on or does it stay with you and wreck
any possibility of joy or peace? Well, today
we're going to talk about what it means to put
our past behind us. Don't go away. Thanks for
listening to this edition of Living on the Edge
with Chip Ingram. We are an international teaching
and discipleship ministry that motivates Christians
to live like Christians. Well, today we're diving
into the remainder of Chip's message, Pursuing
Hope from our series, I Choose Hope. And in case
you missed the first half or any other part of
this study in Philippians chapter three, catch
up through the Chip Ingram app. It's a great
way to listen to Living on the Edge anytime.
Well, there's a lot to get to, so here's Chip.
What the Apostle Paul is doing is he's addressing
two extremes. There were two extremes about what
it meant to be spiritually mature. And in very
subtle ways, he's addressed both of them. On
the one hand, spiritual maturity is not compulsive
perfectionism. When the Judaizers and legalistic
people came in, you gotta live up, you gotta
live up, you gotta live up, you gotta live up,
you gotta live up. And by the way, there's some
of us and there's some of you. Maybe it's not
even conscious, but you live with this, who you
are and where you're at on your journey, it never
measures up. You live with this low -grade guilt
that messes with your life all the time, and
as a result, some of you parents, you are passing
that on to your kids. No matter what they do,
however much progress they make, it's never enough.
There's this perfectionism. And what he's saying
is that that's not spiritual maturity. Reading
your Bible every day, praying every day, having
all your ducks in a row, it's about a relationship.
The test of spiritual maturity is loving God
and loving people and a transformed life. It's
not this external perfectionism. But there's
another extreme, and he addressed that in the
very last verse. Spiritual maturity is not complacent
passivity. On the one hand, these Judaizers were
coming in and giving people a list of rules.
You got to do all this. But there was another
group. The other group, it's a big word, antinomianist.
Learned a big word today. Anti, against, nomi,
the law. And what they would say is, you know
this stuff about Jesus? It's even better than
we thought. This is what grace means. You pray
and you receive Jesus into your heart. You are
forgiven. God loves you unconditionally. There
are no rules. You can live however you want.
There is no morality. It's just grace, grace,
grace. Some people have called it cheap grace.
So you can keep living in sin, quote, because
God understands. He's a gracious God. You're
already forgiven. And this is where he says you
need to live up to the standard. Okay. Thank
you, Chip. We have now learned a great deal about
the Apostle Paul and what was going on in the
life of the church. Help me a little bit on what's
this really got to do with me. I want you to
lean back. I want you to really think. I want
to summarize some things because God wants to
give you hope. You need to find it. You need
to experience it. but you need to pursue it.
You need to pursue it in such a way that no matter
what you do, you never measure up. It's not an
option. On the other hand, there's not just this
laxity that I guess God just winks at everything.
Genuine spiritual maturity is a passionate pursuit
of knowing and becoming like Jesus. Will you
get it in this life? Well, I know. but it's a
passionate pursuit. So let me give you, again,
what I think are three really major takeaways.
Number one, spiritual maturity does not mean
that we are perfect. Write that word in. What
I mean by that is sinless. We never will be in
this life. He says he wants to know Christ. He
gave us the disclaimer, but that's huge. It doesn't
say that we're perfect, but it does give us a
direction. He says, but I press on, but I hold
on. And so what it does mean is that spiritual
maturity is a lifelong process of knowing and
becoming like Christ. So what I want you to know,
there is no quick fix. Becoming like Jesus, knowing
God takes time progressively in his word. It
takes you being honest with yourself and talking
with God from your heart. It requires, and this
is a non -negotiable, that you're involved in
relationships with people where there's honesty
and love and support and understanding and accountability.
And apart from God's word, people, prayer, and
are you ready? Suffering and difficulty and pain.
Those are the avenues by which God begins to
conform us to himself. And as those things are
happening, he calls us. Paul's ministering. He
calls us to serve first wherever we live with
our roommate, our family. He calls us to serve
that I'm an agent of light and love in my neighborhood
and at the coffee shop and at the gym and where
I go to work. And what he's saying is it is going
to be a journey. There's an already not yet,
okay? You already are loved. You already are
forgiven, but you're not yet perfect. And there's
a tension that you're going to live in. But there
is a direction, not perfection. There's a direction.
There is a focus. There's an intentionality.
So can I pause? How are you doing? Not legalism.
Not oughts and shoulds, but I mean, how are you
doing at pursuing intentionally and with intensity
a deep, rich, growing relationship with the God
who made you? and saved you and loved you. And
if you're a follower of Christ, his spirit lives
in you. His word has been given to you. And in
this room and all around the world, you're a
part of a supernatural body called the church
that his spirit lives in them. And they will
minister to you and you will minister to them.
And this process of transformation continues
and continues and continues. The second major
takeaway. is that spiritual maturity does mean
our lives are characterized by a passionate pursuit
of knowing and becoming like Jesus. Verse 12,
we're never going to be perfect. Verse 13 and
14, passionate pursuit. How do you do that? You
have to come before God. It's when we see him,
when we get glimpses of him, when he reveals
himself in his word and prayer and people and
as we serve. We come before God. We come before
God regularly, come together and worship. It
really matters. That's part of a passionate pursuit.
And yes, there's prayer and all the things I
mentioned, but he gives us two very specific
things that I think a lot of people don't get.
There's two things that need to happen for your
passionate pursuit. Number one, he says, forgetting
what lies behind and reaching or straining forward
to what's ahead. See, for some of you, you have
to forget some of your past life and failure.
I have shared a little bit of my wife's story,
but part of her journey, she came to Christ after
being abandoned. She had these two little boys.
Her life was desperate. She came to know Christ
after her husband left with this other woman.
She became a believer. She began to grow. But
even after we were married, even after I was
most of the way through seminary, even after
I was pastoring a church, my wife kind of had
this part of her that she didn't want people
to know because she was actually told, you're
a second -class citizen. I mean, a biblical divorce
for adultery or being abandoned, that may be
true, but you're a second -class citizen. And
so her freedom never took off because she lived
under condemnation. She wasn't forgetting her
past. And I'll never forget. I sat in a room
with Bill Lawrence and Bill Lawrence looked at
my wife and said, your past has been completely
forgiven. He's radically changed your life. And
he said, Teresa, you're a trophy of God's grace
and it's on his mantelpiece. That's how God sees
you. And it was a barrier. It was a barrier.
How many of you, you won't forget your past,
your baggage, your pain. The abortion, the divorce,
the lying, the stealing, the one night affair.
I don't know where you've been. What I know in
a group this size and a church this size, we
got everything under the sun. You have to forget
what lies behind, but not only the difficulty
and the past, but also you got to forget some
of the success. We've got some people here that
you feel like you've done your part and you're
living on old verses and your passion and your
drive, your life isn't characterized by pressing
ahead and knowing him and serving him, it's kind
of like, you know, I did my deal. You have to
forget your success, whether it's in the secular
world or whether it's your spiritual success.
That's, he says, required. for a spiritual pursuit.
And that's the negative. And the positive is
straining forward. Literally, it's the picture
of a runner who's not swerving. It was used in
the ancient games where when you were riding
a chariot, there would be two wheels and it would
be flat. And you had to lean forward and hold
on in such a way with absolute focus in order
to not fall off and to win the race. And that's
the picture that most people think Paul's alluding
to. Pursuing hope means pursuing a deep, rich
relationship with Christ. Perfection? No. Complacency?
No. Passionate pursuit? Yes. Raises the question,
doesn't it? How do you know? I mean, how would
we know if we're making progress? I mean, beyond
the activities, right? The Pharisees read the
Bible. The Pharisees prayed a lot. The Pharisees
gave their money. The Pharisees went to their
worship service, but they weren't close to God.
J .I. Packer has this moment in his book, Knowing
God. He says, if you want to know how well you
know God, there's a litmus test. There's four
things that characterize people that genuinely
know God. It's not their external stuff. These
are things you can actually measure. He writes
in his book, those who know God deeply have great
energy for God. So just, you know, privately,
maybe on your notes, just, you know, write great
energy. Yes or no. Do you have great energy for
God? Or ask yourself, where do you have great
energy for? Because that'll tell you what you
worship. Second, he says, those who know God
deeply have great thoughts about God. great thoughts
about God? Do you find yourself thinking God
is infinite and powerful? Do you find yourself
looking at nature and thinking he must be so
beautiful to create that? Do you have great,
high thoughts about God? Third, people who know
God deeply have great boldness for God. Do you
find yourself not caring what other people think?
I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
Savior of the world. Now, you don't have to put
it on a big bumper sticker and you don't have
to get a Bible this big and put it on your desk,
but are you bold? Do you step out? Are you unashamed
of the gospel, unashamed of Christ, not worried
about fitting in and being corrected in the way
that everyone sees things? If you have great
energy, great thoughts, and a boldness, those
are evidences. You have a genuine, deep, and
growing knowledge of God. And fourth, those who
know God have great contentment in God. There's
a peace. Your life isn't about the next promotion.
It's not about the next house. It's not the next
remodel. It's not the when -then strategy, right?
You know, I'm single. When I have a maid, we're
married. When we have a kid, we're in a small
house. When we can buy a house that's a bigger
house, when -then, when -then. If you really
know God, It's fine to get married. It's fine
to have a house. All those things in and of themselves.
If you are growing, there's a contentment with
who you are in this room, in your present state.
And I don't mean to over -spiritualize, but Jesus
really is enough. He's your hope. He's supplying
grace. He gives you joy in the midst of suffering.
He gives you power in the midst of difficulty.
That's what he's saying. You're listening to
Living on the Edge, and Chip will be back to
continue today's teaching in just a minute. But
first, today is the last day of our mid -year
match. So now's the time to partner with us because
every dollar we receive until midnight tonight,
June 30th, will be doubled for greater impact.
To get your gift in, go to livingontheedge .org
or call us at 888 -333 -6003. Again, that's 888
-333 -6003 or visit livingontheedge .org. And
thanks in advance for doing whatever God leads
you to do. We'll hear again as Chip. The final
takeaway is that spiritual maturity does mean
Our lives will exhibit significant spiritual
progress within and without. Perfection, no.
Complacency, no. But progress. Progress within
and progress without. I get that from his final
verse, too. Without is action. He says, live
up to the truth that you've already obtained.
And within is to understand the tension. of the
already and the not yet, okay? See, let me give
you a picture of this. I've shared very openly
about my marriage and our journey. In fact, it
is better now than it's ever been, and we just
celebrated 39 years. When I said I do to Teresa,
I knew her, okay? I know her already. We're married
already. We're completely married. I'm committed
to her. We have a relationship now, but it's
not perfect, right? It's been growing for 39
years. Some of the growth were some really deep
valleys and then some really nice high peaks.
And it involved difficulty and pain and sometimes
deep health issues and raising children. But
so we already had a relationship five minutes
after we were married already. But we were not
yet as deep, as close, as rich as we are now.
And I pray if I get to live long enough in another
five or 10 years, if the Lord doesn't return,
it'll keep getting deeper and deeper and richer.
And so what the apostle Paul is saying to that
church and to this church, he says, maturity
is the sense of. You know, every time you make
a mistake, you don't start condemning yourself
and you're a terrible person. But on the other
hand, you don't have issues in your life that
you let keep going and saying, well, everyone
struggles. I mean, everyone's materialistic,
so I guess I can be too. Everyone has major debt
issues or most men struggle with pornography.
All these kind of things that we give each other
a pass. You know, everyone I'm around, they kind
of talk about other people and they gossip a
little bit. And so we just all give each other
a pass on. He said, no. No. You understand the
tension internally that you haven't arrived and
you don't beat yourself up. But externally, wherever
God has spoken to you and you've made progress,
you're living in that progress and you don't
use the we haven't arrived yet as an excuse.
Does that make sense? Now, let me just take a
moment because I'm concerned for two groups.
One group is you have really high standards.
You are very into getting everything right, and
you're passing that on to your kids. And can
I graciously say, you've got to lighten up. There's
another group, and it's... more and more and
more and more in America. It's just that, hey,
Jesus loves us. I pray to prayer. I come to church
when I can. I live with my boyfriend. I live
with my girlfriend. I had an affair. I'm doing
things that the Bible says aren't right, but
I get to choose what I believe, what I don't
believe. You're really an antinomian. I want
you to know that there are very serious consequences
to that. Here's my heart. Spiritual maturity
and pursuing it is about experiencing hope. Hope
is not about perfection. It's about direction.
Hope is not about duty. Hope is about devotion,
your heart, your passion. And hope is not about
complacency over here or being compulsive over
here. It's about you saying, I want to press
on toward the hope of knowing and growing in
my relationship with Jesus and allowing him to
change me every moment of every day. That's how
you pursue hope. Father, I thank you that you
love us, that your spirit is within us, that
you care about us. And Lord, I pray right now
for the people in this room and even advance
that people will log on and watch this that feel
such condemnation and are so overwhelmed and
so feel like no matter what they do, even with
you, they never measure up. Will you free them?
Would you help them to believe with all their
heart? It's an already, but it's a process and
it's a journey. And Lord, I pray for those that
somehow over time have justified clearly behavior
and attitudes that are not only wrong and immoral,
but they're destructive. And it breaks your heart
because it's hurting them and it's hurting others.
Would you, like an arrow, pierce their heart,
convict them in order to draw them to yourself,
give them the grace to turn away and repent and
then begin to grow? Lord, we want to be holy
and blameless. We want to follow you. We want
to anchor our hope in you, Lord Jesus. We thank
you for how much you love us. And we come to
you, Father, with great appreciation. In Jesus'
name, amen. You're listening to Living on the
Edge with Chip Ingram. And the message you just
heard, Pursuing Hope, is from our series, I Choose
Hope. Chip will join us in studio to share some
insights from today's talk in just a minute.
In times of uncertainty, where do you turn for
hope? And how confident are you in your source
of comfort to provide the stability you desire?
As Chip teaches through Philippians chapter 3,
he'll share what God has to say about our fears
about the future and how feeling secure is possible
even when anxiety comes. Learn how to embrace
a more resilient hope that will help you face
each day with certainty and peace. Well, before
we go, Chip's in studio here to share a really
timely and special word with all of you. Thanks
so much, Dave. As we come to the end of this
mid -year match, we've talked a lot about what
God is doing through Living on the Edge. And
this really has been an invitation to each one
of you personally. to say, I want to be a part
of that. I want to make a difference. Over the
last month or so, we've talked about strengthening
families that have real challenges, equipping
a generation that's bombarded by harmful messages
and is looking for meaning and peace and purpose,
about supporting pastors and leaders here and
all around the world. And each of these areas
represent a real, tangible way for you to invest,
not just your resources, but your heart in what
God is doing. Think about the multiplied impact
we can have together. Imagine more leaders and
pastors equipped for the spiritual battle, more
hurting people finding genuine hope, a generation
that gets anchored in the truth amidst the chaos
that they are experiencing. To see more believers
start really growing and maturing and see the
gospel breaking through, this is the picture
that your partnership helps paint, addressing
real struggles with real solutions rooted in
faith by the power of the Holy Spirit and the
content of God's Word. Here's my question. Will
you choose to be a vital part of this work? Will
you choose to make an impact that truly lasts
and that echoes into eternity? Join me and this
incredible team as we step forward in faith,
believing together that by God's grace, we can
do more than we could ever ask or think. And
thank you from the bottom of my heart for prayerfully
considering how you can partner with us. for
the glory of our great God and the building of
his kingdom that will last forever and ever.
Amen. Thanks, Chip. Well, today is the last day
to partner with us during our mid -year match.
Every gift we receive until midnight tonight
will be doubled dollar for dollar. Now to give,
go to livingontheedge .org or call 888 - If you're
sending a gift by mail, it must be postmarked
by today. Thanks again for your generosity and
for standing with us as we encourage pastors,
disciple God's people, and reach this next generation
with the power of the gospel. We'll hear again
as Chip to share a few final words for us to
think about. As we close today's program, I said
there are two things that need to happen. for
us to really experience hope through an intimate
relationship with Jesus. First, forgetting what
lies behind. And second, reaching for what lies
ahead. Now, this first one is really hard for
some people, forgetting what lies behind. In
the context, the Apostle Paul is looking, he
wants to forget all of his past failure, his
baggage. In the vernacular today, it's some of
us have made some really bad, poor decisions,
both before we were Christians. And some of us
after we were Christians. And it plagues you.
I've met people, counseled with people that,
quite honestly, they're still living in the shadow
of the divorce they had. They literally moved
to another town and no one knows about. Or the
abortion they had. Or the sexual addiction that
is five years in the rearview mirror. Or, you
know, the drug addiction. Or you name it. We
all have failures and difficulties in our lives.
The Apostle Paul would say, when you understand
the cross, when you understand the new life that
you have, when you confess your sin, he is in
fact faithful and just to forgive us for our
sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
That God literally looks at us through the blood
of the Lord Jesus as righteous and pure. Now,
what I want you to know is that if you don't
forget what lies behind, then it will have you
in your mind thinking you're a second -class
Christian, God can never really use you, you
have nagging guilt, and you'll live a life of
duplicity trying to hide something of your past.
The fact of the matter is that deliverance is
a trophy of God's grace. Now, I can hear some
of you because, believe it or not, I've done
this for quite a few years. Here's what I hear.
Chip? I know God has forgiven me. I just can't
forgive myself. I mean, I've sat in rooms and
I've heard that, I don't know, 25, 50 times in
the last 30 plus years. And it's sincere. It's
really sincere. And I know God's forgiven me,
but I just can't forgive myself. And this may
sound really harsh. So lean back because I don't
want to sound too harsh. But I listen very carefully.
But after hearing this many, many times over
many, many years. Then I kind of, in a very gentle
voice, look at them eye to eye and I say, well,
so what you're telling me is your opinion of
your sin is more righteous than God's and you
completely disrespect what he's done and you
don't believe what he said. And they look at
me like, well, I never looked at it quite like
that. I said, well, you need to start looking
at it like that. Because you've become a prisoner
of your own self -pity. You've become a prisoner
of your belief system. If the God of the universe
has said, I had to give my son to pay for that
sin and you are not receiving that gift, then
you are disrespecting the God of the universe
like no other person. And sometimes that jolts
them. But here's the second half. Have you ever
told someone not to think about something? I
mean, don't think about the pink elephant with
white tennis shoes. Don't think about that. Don't
think about that. You know I'm playing a game.
The more you try not to think about it, the more
you think about it. The Apostle Paul says, I'm
forgetting my past success. I'm forgetting my
past failures. But notice what he says. I'm reaching
forward. The word means I'm running without swerving.
I'm full court pressing. I'm pressing forward.
I am intense in pursuing. Think of something
you've pursued. Think maybe of that girl or that
guy that you were in love with that you pursued
or that career or that athletic achievement or
that you wanted to be that kind of dancer or
musician or artist. Think of the level of intensity
and discipline and whatever it took, quote, to
make that Olympic team. The Apostle Paul is saying,
that's the kind of focus and passion and discipline
I have brought to getting to know Jesus. When
that is forefront, guess what? You forget what
lies behind. And so here's what I want you to
know. Spiritual maturity and experiencing God's
hope is much more about direction than perfection.
It's much more about devotion than duty, and
it's fundamentally more about transformation
than any tradition. God wants you to know, put
the past behind you. If you seek me, you will
find me when you search for me with all your
heart. That's his promise, and it's for you,
and it's for you today. So seek him. Great reminder,
Chip. Well, before we go, let me give you one
last reminder about our mid -year match. So many
of you have already been incredibly generous,
and I want to thank you for partnering with us.
But if you haven't done that yet, up to midnight
tonight, every gift we receive will be matched
dollar for dollar. Your gifts enable us to create
new resources, encourage pastors, and reach this
next generation with the gospel. If today's your
day to join the team, go to livingontheedge .org
or call us at 888 -333 -6003. That's 888 -333
-6003 or visit livingontheedge .org. App listeners,
tap donate. And thank you in advance for your
generosity. We'll listen in next time as Chip
wraps up his series, I Choose Hope. Until then,
this is Dave Drewy saying thanks for joining
us for this edition of Living on the Edge.