‘DIRECTIONAL ARROWS’ FOR ‘WALKING THE WALK’

Posted by Angella Diehl, Webmaster on April 16, 2025 under AM Bible Study |

Wednesday AM Bible Study; April 16, 2025 from Philippians 3:17-4:1

Theme: Paul gives us four principles for faithfully ‘walking the walk’ of the Christian life.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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This morning, we come to some of the most passionate and personal words that the apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippian brothers and sisters. You almost feel that—if he could have spoken these words to them personally—he’d have been leaning forward, clasping their hands in his own, and speaking with serious earnestness and emotion in his voice. He was pleading with them to do something that their spiritual well-being and eternal joy depended on. Starting at Philippians 3:17, and then going on to the first verse of chapter four, Paul told his beloved fellow Christians:

Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved (Philippians 3:17-4:1).

Paul here uses an important figure of speech for the Christian life. He calls it a ‘walk’. It’s one that he used quite often. In Ephesians 4:1—at the conclusion of his long explanation of the spiritual blessings we have in Christ, Paul wrote, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called …” In 5:8, he wrote, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light …” And in 5:15-16, he wrote, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” A ‘walk’ is the perfect way to describe our Christian conduct in action; because referring to it in this way’ takes it out of the realm of the mere theoretical and puts it into the realm of the practical. It brings our faith down to where we place our feet in life. And the passage before us, he explains how to truly ‘walk the walk’.

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Throughout his letter to the Philippians, Paul warned his brothers and sisters about the dangerous threats they faced in their Christian ‘walk’.  At the beginning of Chapter 3, he let them know that there are some who wanted to spoil their walk by (1) drawing them away from the sufficiency of what Jesus did for them on the cross, and (2) by getting them instead to try to earn God’s favor through a conformity to religious rituals and rules and regulations. To counter this threat, he set himself before them as a living example of confident trust in Christ—showing them how he sought to “be found” in Christ, not having his own righteousness through the works of the law, “but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith” (3:9). But this didn’t mean that he was passive about putting his Christian life into action. He admitted that he—even he—was still far from where he should be; but that he diligently sought to live out in practice the righteousness that God had given him by faith in Jesus. In verses 12- 16, he 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 (v. 12-16).

And so; how do we do this? How do we ‘walk’ the walk of the Christian life according to the rule that we are to follow? In the passage before us, Paul lays out four basic principles. We can think of them very much like ‘directional arrows’ on a walkway that take us safely to the conclusion of our journey—telling us how to stay on the path and how to make forward progress —through four principles for faithfully ‘walking the walk’ of the Christian life.

The first principle—the first ‘directional arrow’ in walking the Christian walk—is to …

1. PAY CAREFUL ATTENTION TO WHOSE ‘WALK’ WE IMITATE.

In 3:17, Paul told his readers, “Brethren, join in following my example …” The word that he used for the phrase ‘join in following’ is summimātās—which is a combination of the word for being an ‘imitator’ and the preposition ‘with’; so that the word itself refers to ‘one who joins in following someone’s example’. The New International Version captures this meaning when it translates to Paul as saying, “Join with others in following my example, brothers …”

Paul didn’t say this because he wanted to place himself up above others, and to merely be thought of as the great example of a godly walk. It’s true that Paul was able—under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—to sincerely say in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). But this wasn’t out of any self-originating pride. In the context of the passage before us, it was as if he was saying, “Dear brothers and sisters, I am a sinner just like you. But even though I admit that I have not yet arrived to perfection in the way I live for the Lord Jesus, I am earnestly pressing on. I am seeking—with all my being—to follow the example that the Lord Jesus Christ set for us when He walked upon this earth. So; just like a little child would look up to the example of his or her godly father, or just like a youngster would look up to the example of a godly older brother, you look up to me and follow my example. I love you and want God’s best for you. I’m going in the direction that you should go. I’m laying down a safe and reliable pattern for you to follow. So look carefully at my footsteps and follow me.” It would be very much like what he said in Philippians 4:9, “The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”

And Paul didn’t want his readers to follow just his example alone; but also the example of other godly men and women that God has placed in their lives. He went on to say, “… and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.” Jesus has set the initial pattern; and Paul followed that pattern faithfully. He set that pattern before Timothy also, who, as the first verse of this letter shows us, helped Paul in what he wrote and was a part of the ‘us’ that Paul mentioned. And what’s more, other godly men and women who have gone before also faithfully followed the pattern of Paul and Timothy. And now, he encouraged his readers to join them in following his example, too.

Dear brothers and sisters, do you give careful thought to whose example you imitate? Who are those examples? What is the direction in which their life is heading? Paul is encouraging us to think carefully about the examples we follow in life—not simply because it would be nice to imitate an example if that’s the kind of thing we might like to do. Rather, he was urging us to do this because we will—by nature—imitate some kind of example. We really can’t choose whether or not we will imitate the example of others; but we can most definitely choose whose example we will imitate.

So; one of the ‘directional arrows’ in ‘walking the walk’ is to do as we’re told in Hebrews 13:7;

Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct (Hebrews 13:7).

Now; one reason that Paul wanted his fellow Christians to think carefully about the examples they imitated was because of the danger of being fooled into following the wrong example. And this leads us to another ‘directional arrow’ in ‘walking the walk’; that is to …

2. RECOGNIZE THAT SOME WHO ‘WALK’ ARE ENEMIES OF THE CROSS.

In verse 18, Paul wrote, “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ …” This was, apparently, something that Paul had warned the Philippians about before—not just once, but several times. It was because they could easily be fooled into thinking that someone was a worthy example of the Christian walk when—in fact—they were not. This danger is highlighted to us by the fact that he warned of “many” who “walk”. In other words, these false ‘examples’ had the outward appearance of “walking” on the true path. You might say that they appeared to be “in the fold”. But the deceptiveness of their nature is shown in that they were actually in a state of enmity against God’s grace through faith in the cross of Jesus.

It’s important to notice that Paul doesn’t say that they presented themselves as enemies of ‘Christianity’. Nor does he even say that they appeared to be enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. They may have even talked much about their affection for the Lord Jesus and their admiration of His teaching. But the truth of their condition is known in how they were hostile to the idea that God would send His Son to die for us and that we are made completely righteous in God’s sight by faith in the atonement provided for our sins on Jesus’ cross. It appears that Paul was even thinking of some specific people when he wrote those words—and that it saddened him so much that he actually wept as he did so.

Jesus once taught us that we can know a false teacher by their sinful conduct. He said,

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:15-20).

But a sincere Christian wouldn’t probably be tempted to follow such an example. Paul was talking about another kind of dangerous false teacher—someone whose example might superficially appear attractive to a struggling Christian. In the larger context of Chapter 3, these would be ‘moralists’ who slip into the Christian fold and seek to deny the cross by glorying in religious works—much as Paul had once done. They were like the “false apostles” that Paul wrote of in 2 Corinthians 11;

… deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

They appear righteous—and they look like they ‘walk’ in the Christian faith—but they are actually enemies of the cross in that they do not do as Paul did and forsake all their works in order to trust in the sufficiency of Jesus’ sacrifice alone. They are religious ‘moralists’ and ‘legalists’ who seek to earn God’s favor under the pretense of the gospel.

Paul went on to explain why they are dangerous. He described them as those “whose end is destruction”. They looked like they were people who would lead you to eternal life because of their moral commitments; but because they trust in their own works, they themselves are heading for eternal loss. He said that they are those “whose god is their belly”; that is, they’re only concerned with what will benefit themselves and fill their stomachs through their deceptions toward the church family—pretending to follow something they actually deny—“men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth”, as Paul described them in 1 Timothy 6:3-5; “who suppose that godliness is a means of gain …” He also says that they are those “whose glory is in their shame”. They place their trust in their own works, and depend on them in order to earn God’s favor … never realizing that God has already called those works of righteousness “filthy rags” in His sight (Isaiah 64:4). And finally—and most tellingly—they are those “who set their mind on earthly things.” They show themselves to be the enemies of the cross by the fact that they focus their hopes on religious rules and regulations—having to do only with things on this earth—in order to ‘deserve’ God’s favor by their own power.

Paul earnestly—and with tears—warned his readers to beware of such and not follow their example. As he wrote in Colossians 2,

Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations—”Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using— according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh (Colossians 2:20-23).

We must, therefore, pay careful attention to who we imitate. We must make sure that we only imitate the walk of those who—like Paul—”count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus”! That’s yet another ‘directional arrow’ in ‘walking the walk’. Now; we must not follow the path of those whose way leads to destruction, because ‘destruction’ is not the destiny of someone who is under the grace of God through faith in the cross. Ours is a destiny of eternal life as those who are already in God’s favor through His grace. And this leads us to a third ‘directional arrow’; to …

3. REMEMBER THAT OUR ‘WALK’ REFLECTS OUR CITIZENSHIP.

In verse 20, Paul wrote, “For our citizenship is in heaven …” Paul wrote this letter to believers who lived in the city of Philippi. And sometime before this letter was written, Philippi had been given the great honor of being declared a Roman colony. This meant that, even though the Philippians lived in far-off Macedonia, they were officially considered citizens of the imperial city of Rome. They had their citizenship in Rome just as much as if they lived in the imperial city itself. And so, in a way that the Philippians would very clearly understand, Paul reminded them that they were, by faith in Jesus, citizens of heaven just as much as if they were already there. Such a citizenship—or ‘conversation’ as it is in the King James Version—should have a direct impact on the way we ‘walk the walk’. We should live like people who are true citizens of our heavenly homeland.

What’s more, we look toward our homeland for the coming of our Lord. As Paul went on to say in verses 20-21, we have our citizenship in heaven, “from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.” We are to live on this earth with eager anticipation of the day when our true Lord and Master Jesus will return for us. When He comes, He will transform these present “lowly” bodies of ours that are so easily subject to pain and temptation and imperfection and death— whether by being transformed while we are alive on the earth at the time of His return, or by being resurrected from the grave—into full conformity to His own glorious body.

What a glorious body it was that He had when He was raised from the dead! And these bodies of ours will be made suitable to that same glorious homeland where our Savior is right now. We may look at ourselves and wonder how such a thing can be done; but He will do it, as Paul said, “according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself”.

And this future expectation is to show itself in the way we ‘walk the walk’ in daily Christian living right now. We are to live consistently—here on earth—as people who, by faith in Jesus, now hold citizenship in heaven and who are destined to be glorified like Him in order to dwell there with Him forever. As the apostle Paul put it in Colossians 3:1-4;

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory (Colossians 3:1-4).

So; there are three ‘directional arrows’ that show us the way to consistently ‘walk the walk’ in our daily life: (1) Be careful who we imitate, (2) Recognize that some ‘walk’ as enemies of the cross, and (3) Keep in mind that our walk must reflect our heavenly citizenship. And Paul then gives a fourth ‘directional arrow’; and that is to …

4. MAKE SURE WE ‘STAND FAST’ IN OUR ‘WALK’.

In the first verse of Chapter 4, Paul wrote, “Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved”. That may sound like a contradiction—that we ‘walk the walk’ by ‘standing fast’. But this is really only a reaffirmation of what Paul had already written in 1:27-30;

Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me (v. 27-30).

The way his readers were to ‘walk the walk’ was by making sure that they were established, and stable, and ‘stood fast’ in the truth of the gospel of God’s grace. Even though they were threatened because of their faith in Jesus, or even though they may suffer for the gospel as Paul was suffering, they were not to let themselves be moved from their faithfulness. They were to remain immovably committed to their confidence in the sacrifice that Jesus made for them on the cross. And that’s why Paul closed this section with these words.

Paul loved these dear believers deeply. And the thing that would bring him the greatest joy would be to see them in heaven—hearing Jesus say to them, “Well done!”—just as he once told the Thessalonian believers in 1 Thessalonians 2:19; “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?” That’s why he urged them to “stand fast” in their walk and never give up until the day of glory!

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Dear brothers and sisters; you and I are in that walk right now. And if we are careful to stay on it, it won’t be long before we will have reached our journey’s end in victory. And so; let’s be diligent to ‘walk the walk’ in the way we should. Let’s follow the ‘directional arrows’ that God has laid out for us in His word.

AE