Christian sanctification is the pursuit of something outside myself, not something inside myself.

It is the pursuit of Christ-likeness.

And the more I know Him, and the more I am focused on Him, and the more I am in communion with Him,

the more the Spirit makes me like him.

Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur.

I'm your host, Phil Johnson.

If you were to ask a group of Christians the question,

how do I grow in godliness and And take a poll of their answers.

They'll probably give you a list of things to do, like reading your Bible and praying and worshiping with other believers. And all of that is right and good, but sometimes it's more

important to know what not to do, what to stay away from at all costs. With that in mind,

John MacArthur is going to look at what the Bible says about fleeing your enemies,

helping you recognize the influences in your life that will keep you from becoming more like Christ.

It's part of John's current study called Reaching for the Prize.

And now here's John with a lesson.

Let's open our Bibles then to Philippians

chapter three, Philippians chapter three. And we are continuing our look at this wonderful

subject of pursuing the prize. You know from this particular text that the heart of the section is found in verse 14.

Paul says, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul says, I pursue the prize. I press toward the goal.

We have noted all along that the prize and the goal is the same thing, it is to be like Jesus

Christ.

That was the single focus of Paul's life back in verse 8.

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