Philippians 3:8 + Salvation by Allegiance Alone by Matthew Bates

We spend our lives surrounded by things competing to become our greatest treasure: success, comfort, reputation, relationships, possessions, even the desire for life to turn out the way we hoped.

But St. Paul offers another way: “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8).

In this final episode of Still Becoming: Six Conversations about Spiritual Maturity, Lisa asks what it means not merely to believe in Jesus but to belong to Him.

A recent conversation with new friends leads Lisa to a surprisingly difficult question: Why believe in a personal God? She reflects on the ways God has made Himself known through creation, answered prayer, Scripture, inexplicable peace, and ultimately through Jesus Himself. The Incarnation reveals a God who does not remain distant. He comes close because He desires to be known.

Drawing from Matthew Bates’ exploration of the Greek word pistis, Lisa considers faith through the lens of allegiance: mental agreement, professed loyalty, and embodied faithfulness to Jesus as King. If Jesus is Lord, He doesn’t simply get a place in our lives while we decide whether He is doing a satisfactory job of making them better. He gets our allegiance.

But what slowly erodes that allegiance? Isolation. Listening to lies about God and ourselves. Closing the door on God’s voice while opening the door to doubt. Self-pity. Making comfort one of our highest goals. Filling our lives so completely that we have little room left for prayer.

The question becomes deeply practical: Does the way I actually live reveal that Jesus is my supreme treasure?

Our calendars, attention, money, fears, habits, and choices all reveal something about what we value most.

Spiritual maturity does not mean we never become distracted or start chasing the wrong things. It means we keep returning. We keep recalibrating. We keep learning to receive the good gifts of this life without asking them to give us what only Jesus can give.

Because the treasure is not simply faith, Christianity, or even spiritual maturity. The treasure is Jesus.

Key Scripture
Philippians 3:8. I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

Journaling Questions

1. Where am I being tempted to look for something that only Jesus can give me? If I looked honestly at my calendar, my attention, my spending, and the things I worry about most, what would they tell me about what I currently treasure?
2. Where is my allegiance to Jesus being undermined right now? What voice am I listening to more than His?
3. Where am I asking Jesus to make my life comfortable instead of asking Him to make me faithful?
4. Is there an area of my life where I am waiting to decide whether I trust Jesus based on how He handles something I care deeply about?
5. What would embodied loyalty to Jesus look like for me right now—not in theory, but in one concrete choice?
6. If Jesus really is my supreme treasure, what am I afraid to place in His hands?

Show Mentions
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