Paul's love and desire to help the church were his driving forces.
The benefits he can bring far outweigh any possible challenges.
Someone looking at Paul may have said, You don't have a wife, children, property, you do not hold a political position, your ethnic group rejects you, you are in prison, you are a pariah.
Also, look at Jesus. He became the weakest of the weakest, the one spat on, with a crown of thorns wrapped on his head, and he was naked on the cross in the ultimate humiliation. He was counted among criminals (Isaiah 53).
That is something like what happened to Paul; he was treated like a criminal (put in prison), even though all he did was the will of God in the preaching of the gospel.
So, when people looked at Christ and wept for him, He said they should not weep for him (Luke 23:27-31). He was correct because after three days, He rose from the dead.
And that was a vindication that this can only be God. That is God telling you what He thinks about the death of Jesus - the fulfillment of His will. He allowed Him to be there for three days before calling Him out.
His death fulfilled the prophecy that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). The lamb that God himself provides.
Paul introduces a concept in the focus verse, which he called progress.
That means Christianity is a journey. Christianity begins when we answer the call to follow Jesus, and that means He is going somewhere with us. It is answering the call of the shepherd. He said My sheep hear my voice and they follow me (John 10:27). To follow means there is a journey at hand, a journey into God, a journey into sharing God's holiness.
Paul expects minister the word. And Peter tells us the word is essential for spiritual growth.
And yearn like newborn infants for pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up to salvation, (1 Peter 2:2)
We are supposed to grow up into Christ (Ephesians 4:15). The word of God is so vital; it is life-changing.
But we know that progress is not automatic.
- Some people, according to the Bible, are ever learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 3:7).
- Paul said some people ran well, but they were hindered (Galatians 5:7).
- You may be in a church for many years and grow in age, but not spiritually, because the word of God is what is responsible for growth, not the ideas of man.
Paul said we should be full of the word of Christ (Colossians 3:16).
We are not supposed to be trying to feed the people with the wisdom of this world. If something can be put in a secular book and it would be okay, then why do we need to go to church to hear it?
Without Christ at the center, that word is clearly not about Christ, though it may be a wise or good word.
We see Jesus chide a people for not putting him at the center (John 5:40).
If Christ is now elevated day in and day out, something else is being elevated, and therefore people would not grow.
And the kind of heart we have also determines growth. Jesus made it clear in the parable of the sower that the challenge is going from the seed-word (not seed-faith) to fruit (Mark 4:13-20).
But the people who preach themselves and not of Christ would quote this verse also. So we need to watch it; the devil has his apostles, and he even appears like an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:13).
The progress that Paul was aiming for is progress in the faith, and this faith is not a gimmick that you want to play on God to get things from him, but it is actually about your new life in Christ.
Even Paul did not think he had come to the end of his spiritual journey,
- still longing to know Christ and the power of his resurrection (Ephesians 3:7-9).
- Still saying there is a prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13-14)
- still saying this one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind, I stretch forward (Philippians 3:13-14).
Jesus said we should come to Him to find rest for our souls (Matthew 11:28-30).
So, in a way, spiritual growth can be measured by how much at rest we are in the spiritual reality that the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus realize for us. And from that emanates joy as a component of the spiritual life.
