To Live Is Christ by Matt ChandlerSample

“Gospel Courage”

We have seen so far that living a life worthy of the gospel means being humble and seeking unity. These are concepts Paul will continue to develop throughout this letter. But before Philippians 1 ends, he gives us another characteristic of the worthy life, something else that makes the gospel look big.

The Christian living a life worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ is fearless, regardless of the situation.

Fearless faith results from holding on to Christ as our treasure. Gospel courage comes from gospel preciousness. If we truly believed that our reward in heaven far surpasses all the comfort and convenience and collections of the world, we, too, would be willing to consider them all as loss.

Paul encourages those in the Philippian church to remember the gospel that saved them, the gospel that brought them all together and made them family, the gospel that secures them second by second for the glorification of eternity so that they will hold all else loosely and ultimately fear nothing.

The wealthy businesswoman, the fortune-telling slave girl, the duty-bound jailer—they all found a greater thing, a more beautiful thing, a more glorious thing than what they’d been holding on to before. Liberated by Jesus and totally secured, they could lose all confidence in the flesh and find unassailable courage in their redeemer.

* Have you done anything requiring fearless faith? How did it end up turning out? Is the gospel your firm foundation for your courage?