Knowing Christ | Thursday: Christ Has Made You His Own
THURSDAY | October 29, 2026
Knowing Christ | Room to Grow | Philippians 3:7-16
We press on because Christ has laid hold of us, even though our growth is not yet complete.
Philippians 3:12
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
English Standard Version
Devotional
After hearing what knowing Christ produces, an honest believer may feel the weight of how far there is to go. We still protect our comfort. We still depend on approval. We say we want Christlikeness, then resist the circumstances that expose our pride. The sermon anticipated the question that can follow: If I struggle this much, am I even a Christian? Paul’s answer requires us to listen carefully to both halves of this verse.
He begins by denying that he has arrived. This is the apostle whose life has been transformed by Christ, whose former confidence has been overturned, and whose desire is to know his Lord even through suffering. He does not present himself as a man beyond the need for growth. His final conformity to Christ remains ahead. The passage leaves no room for the claim that a Christian must achieve sinless perfection in this life.
Recognizing that does not make Paul comfortable with sin. He presses on. His confession of incompleteness produces pursuit rather than surrender. We can misuse our remaining weakness by turning it into an excuse: Everyone struggles, so nothing needs to change. Paul reasons differently. Because the goal has not yet been reached, he keeps moving toward it. Maturity includes an honest awareness of how much growth remains.
Then he tells us why he can keep going: Christ Jesus has made him his own. The order matters. Paul is not pursuing Christ in the hope that sufficient effort might persuade Christ to claim him. Christ’s gracious possession of Paul is the reason for Paul’s pursuit. The Savior’s initiative gives his effort a foundation that his shifting feelings could never supply.
That truth speaks to the discouraged Christian. Your hope does not finally rest in the firmness of your resolve this morning. It rests in the Lord who has taken hold of you. His grace brings you back to confession and faith when your failures become clear. You do not honor him by pretending those failures are small. You honor him by bringing them into the light and trusting that his mercy is sufficient for the sinner he has claimed.
It also speaks to the complacent Christian. Belonging to Christ means that our lives are his. We cannot reasonably appeal to his ownership as a reason to ignore his commands. Grace does not tell us that pursuing holiness is unnecessary. It establishes why that pursuit is possible and why it matters. The One who made us his own is the One we now long to resemble.
Think about a recurring struggle you are tempted either to excuse or to despair over. Perhaps anger repeatedly harms those closest to you. Perhaps you avoid prayer, cherish resentment, or hide a pattern you are ashamed to name. Pressing on begins with a concrete response to what God has exposed. Confess without qualification. Ask a mature believer to help you. Remove an occasion for sin. Return to the Word you have neglected. These actions do not buy Christ’s ownership; they express dependence on him.
Paul will soon describe mature believers as those who think this way. Spiritual maturity is not an impressive appearance of having nothing left to address. It is a life increasingly governed by Christ, honest about its remaining sin, and unwilling to stop pursuing him. There is room to grow, and there is a Savior sufficient for the whole journey. Christian, rest in his righteousness and take the next faithful step because he has made you his own.
Questions for Reflection and Application
Do you tend to respond to remaining sin with despair, excuses, or repentance?
Why does the word “because” matter in Paul’s explanation of his pursuit?
What would change if Christ’s ownership, rather than your recent performance, governed today’s obedience?
Which specific step of repentance or growth should you take, and who can help you?
Journal
Name a recurring struggle. Write one excuse you need to reject, one truth about Christ you need to trust, and the next concrete step you will take.
Meditate and Memorize
Related Scriptures
Philippians 1:6
Philippians 2:12-13
John 10:27-29
Hebrews 12:1-2
Memory verse - Philippians 3:12
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for making me your own. Keep me from despair when I see my sin and from complacency when I hear of your grace. Give me honesty, repentance, and a steady desire to know you. Help me take the next faithful step in dependence on you. Amen.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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