Thursday | 08 October 2026
The righteousness of faith is expressed through the works of our name that belong to our sonship. In addition to the grace that is necessary for us to live as sons of God, the Lord will also supply what is necessary to meet our human needs as sons of men during our earthly pilgrimage in this present world. Jesus said, ‘All these things will be added to you.’ Mat 6:33.
In relation to our pilgrimage as a disciple of Christ, we must continue to choose the more excellent way, all the way to the end of our pilgrimage. In this regard, the way in which we finish the race is far more important than the way in which we begin the race. Jesus declared, ‘He who endures to the end shall be saved.’ Mat 24:13. It is sobering to consider that King Solomon was the wisest man who has ever lived, and yet, in his old age, the multitude of his wives turned his heart to the worship of idols. Despite the wisdom that he had demonstrated during his kingship, he did not proceed to gain understanding. Rather, he stumbled backwards into idolatry and died under the judgement of God. 1Ki 11:1‑10.
The apostle Paul recognised the possibility of losing his salvation if he did not keep walking as a disciple of Christ until the end of his life. He wrote to the Corinthians, ‘I discipline my body and bring it into subjection [I keep presenting my body as a living sacrifice], lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified [castaway]’. 1Co 9:27. He proclaimed his faith to keep walking as a pilgrim on the more excellent way until his dying breath, by saying, ‘I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind [the good] and reaching forward to those things which are ahead [the better], I press toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus [the best].’ Php 3:13‑14.
Further Study:
2 Timothy 4
References:
Mat 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Mat 24:13
But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
1Ki 11:1-10
But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites — from the nations of whom the LORD had said to the children of Israel, ‘You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely, they will turn away your hearts after their gods.’ Solomon clung to these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not fully follow the LORD, as did his father David. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the people of Ammon. And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. So, the LORD became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the LORD God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the LORD had commanded.
1Co 9:27
But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
Php 3:13-14
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.