True Value in God’s Eyes: Knowing Christ Above Religious Achievement

Summary

Using a personal illustration, this article contrasts human and divine definitions of value. While people often measure worth by achievement or appearance, God values knowing Christ above religious performance. The Apostle Paul rejected confidence in spiritual accomplishments, treasuring union with Christ instead. True worth is found not in what we do for God, but in allowing Christ to live and work through us by His Spirit.

Value Is Determined by the One Who Judges

Value is in the eye of the beholder. I drive a 2009 Subaru Outback with several dents in the body. It would have no chance in an auto beauty contest. It is rarely clean inside or out, and the air conditioner does not work.

Its all-wheel drive enables me to venture where two-wheel drive could not take me. I use it like a truck.

I rely on it exclusively for fishing trips. My dad and I used it for years to pull a boat and trailer, usually to the Susquehanna River. It was his car.

Emotional Worth Versus Public Approval

My dad passed away nine years ago. The car does not impress J.D. Power. It did not include it in the top ten highest-rated 2009 mid-size SUVs.1 

I have an emotional attachment to it. It is worth more to me than to anyone else.

How We Misjudge Spiritual Value

In the spiritual realm, God determines the ultimate worth. Similar to how I view my car, we readily attach far greater value to some religious rights and practices than God, the ultimate J.D. Power of life.

We believe regular church attendance earns God’s favor. Serving on our church’s governing board accrues extra credit with Him. Teaching a class at church sets us apart. Participating in mission trips put us over the top.

We believe God loves us more because of our religious achievements. We think we gain His approval by what we do for Him.

Paul’s Rejection of Religious Confidence

The Apostle Paul disagreed. He put zero confidence in his human religious effort to please God, even though he had more reason to be confident in it than we do in ours. For the right standing with God, he depended only on what Christ Jesus had done for him (Philippians 3:3–4).

Knowing Christ Above Religious Achievement

He considered all his religious accomplishments worthless “compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8 NLT). Knowing Christ was like finding the Hope Diamond in a mountain of rocks.

He wrote, “For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!” (Philippians 3:7–11 NLT).

His religious achievements meant nothing to him—garbage, all of them. His faith in Christ made him right with God. He wasn’t satisfied with that.

He wanted to become one with Christ and experience the power that raised him from the dead. God used him to heal all the sick people who came to him in Malta (Acts 28:9). He raised Eutychus from the dead (Acts 20:7-12).

He expected to experience the resurrection from the dead himself. He even chose to be one with Jesus in the suffering that inevitably comes when preaching the gospel in a world opposed to God’s will and ways.

Allowing Christ to Work Through Us

What we do for Jesus doesn’t matter as much as what we allow Him to do through us by the power of His Holy Spirit. Human life value peaks with being one with Christ. That is our destiny.

1.     2009 Subaru Outback Reliability, Consumer Ratings & Pricing

Photo: Image Creator (microsoft.com)