The price of our upward calling

The Prize of our Upward Calling

What is the prize of our upward calling! What is the goal or aim of a believer? We have been admonished saying; “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God --- and righteousness and sanctification and redemption ---that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord" (1Corinthians 1:26-31).

The fundamental issue here is, why are we in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and who became our righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption? The reason why Jesus Christ became all these things to us is for us to fulfill our upward calling of God in Christ Jesus which is; “To be partakers of God’s divine nature”.

The apostle Paul wrote; “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind” (Philippians 3:12-14).

With regards to the prize for our upward call of God in Christ Jesus the apostle Paul wrote; “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all his house” (Hebrews 3:1-2).

According to the apostle Peter the reason why we are to give serious consideration to the Apostle and High Priest of our confession it is because, “Grace and peace be multiplied to us in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these we may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2Peter 1:2-4).

So then, how do we become partakers of God’s divine nature? Let us use the growth of a tree as an example: Jesus said; "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit” (Matthew 12:33).

Naturally we stem from a tree which is considered to be deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, but have now been grafted to a tree which is holy, so how can we partake of its holiness?

To be continued

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph