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Enemies of the Cross of Christ Phil. 3:18-20
Enemies of the Cross of Christ Phil. 3:18-20
What is here said about those who are enemies of the Cross.
Their END: destruction. Paul goes straight to the final analysis of this lifestyle! Choices have consequences. You only go around once… but you will be judged on HOW we use life. Long ago the writer of Ecclesiastes taught: “9 Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things” (Eccl. 11:9).
Paul earlier had written: “ To live is Christ, to Die is gain “ (Phil. 1:21). If “To live” is ANYTHING other than Christ, to DIE IS LOSS (here, ‘ruin’, destruction). Ruin? While some have taken this to mean ‘annihilate, to cause to cease to exist’, it more properly speaks to ruin, to destroy from its real purpose and function. We were created to live with God. We were created to live in spiritual harmony with God, not to live a worldly, sensual, materialistic life.
If you miss heaven (living WITH God), you will have missed all that is important to life! Such an end is indeed a ruin and destruction of what we were created/designed for!
Three things mentioned by Paul as the lifestyle of these enemies -
God is their appetite (belly / sensual). This is an “if it feels good, do it” life. It is a life lived for selfish pleasure rather a life of principle and character. It is a life that is never satisfied for all such pleasures are temporary and leave one seeking the next experience.
They glory in the which is shameful. They turn things ‘on its head’: good = evil, evil = good. They boast in that which God abhors and condemns.
They set their minds on earthly things. Such ‘earthly things’ are things that pertain to our short life in the flesh – once to die and then the judgment. It is a life that is built upon things that perish. Read again the parable of the rich fool. So is everyone who lays up treasure on earth and not treasure in heaven.
Disciples – goal and reward. Again we see two lifestyles set before us. We see the wide path that leads to ruin and the narrow path that leads to God. Unlike the enemies of God above, disciple set their minds upon things above (Col. 3:1-2). They seek above all else, God and His righteousness. They too are faced with the struggle of the ‘inner man’ and the ‘outer man’, the spirit and the flesh, the worldly and the godly. They choose God. Their citizenship is in heaven. They live on earth but wait for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. What a great day when God responds: “Well done, thy good and faithful servant. Enter into the joys of your Lord”! What will you hear at the end of your life? Which description is of YOUR lifestyle?
Hugh DeLong
