RUNNING FOR THE CROWN - THE RACE FOR THE HIGH PRIZE...

:) (Part 1)

After having been saved by grace through faith in the blood of Jesus, we are put in
a RACE by the Lord Jesus, the author/initiator of our faith: "the RACE set before
us" (Hebrews 12:1-2).

This race has one goal -- to obtain the "CROWN OF GLORY" (1 Peter 5:4), also called
the "CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS" (2 Timothy 4:8) or the "CROWN OF LIFE" (James 1:12),
which is the "PRIZE of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14).

This crown of glory is the "INCORRUPTIBLE" crown "that fades not away", being
"incorruptible imperishable" (1 Corinthians 9:25; 1 Peter 5:4, 1:4):
-> It is our *hope*, for which we wait for eagerly, and which is "the REDEMPTION OF
OUR BODY" (Romans 8:23),
-> this body which shall "PUT ON INCORRUPTIBILITY" and "IMMORTALITY" (1 Corinthians
15:53-54)
-> and shall be transformed/changed by our Lord Jesus into the likeness of "HIS
GLORIOUS BODY, according to the WORKING/POWER whereby he is able even to subdue all
things unto himself" (Philippians 3:11), :D "according to the WORKING of his mighty
power", :D which the Father of glory "WORKED in Christ when He raised him from the
dead..." (Ephesians 1:19-20).

So this is what we are running for! "If by any means I might ATTAIN unto the
RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD" (Philippians 3:11). This is what we want to "APPREHEND"
or "LAY HOLD of", that for which Christ Jesus also has laid of us! (Philippians
3:12).

You may be saved, yet without winning a crown in the end: saved as through fire.

______________________________________________
REWRITTEN PART 1

RUNNING FOR THE CROWN (Part 1): NOT LOSING OUR FULL REWARD - THE EXAMPLE OF MOSES

After having been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, we are put in a
RACE by the Lord Jesus, the author/initiator of our faith: it is "the RACE set
before us" (Hebrews 12:1-2).

This race has one goal: to obtain/receive the "CROWN OF GLORY" (1 Peter 5:4), also
called the "CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS" (2 Timothy 4:8) or the "CROWN OF LIFE" (James
1:12), which is the "PRIZE of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians
3:14), the "REWARD OF THE INHERITANCE" (Colossians 3:24).

You may be saved, yet lose your crown, your full reward!
-> "Behold, I (Jesus) come quickly: hold that fast what you have, so that NO ONE
may TAKE YOUR CROWN." (Revelation 3:11)
-> "Look to yourselves, that we LOSE NOT not those things we worked for, but that
we receive a FULL REWARD." (2 John 1:8)
-> "If any man's work is burned, he shall suffer LOSS; but he himself shall be
saved, yet so as through fire." (1 Corinthians 3:15)

Who lost his full reward, his crown, in the old testament?
-> MOSES, the mighty man of God, who saved the people out of Egypt, yet could not
enter into the promise land, because at one point "he spoke rashly/unavisedly with
his lips" (Psalms 106:33): "Because ye BELIEVED ME NOT, TO SANCTIFY ME in the eyes
of the children of Israel..." (Numbers 20:7-13).
-> So it is always a question of FAITH! Keeping the faith -- i.e. keeping the Word
of Christ, "the deposit entrusted to you", "the form of sound words" (2 Timothy
1:13-14), "the word of my patience" (Revelation 3:10), in all circumstances, and in
all assignments that we receive from the Lord Jesus, to "SANCTIFY THE LORD GOD in
your hearts" (1 Peter 3:15).

Please note that this is not a matter of salvation, but of receiving the
INHERITANCE, the FULL REWARD, the PRIZE of the high calling... Moses was not damned
to hell (in fact, God sent Michael the archangel to fight off his body with the
devil who had power over death before the cross - cf. Jude 1:9, Hebrews 2:14 - but
that's another teaching for another time, God willing... :) ), but he could not
inherit the promised land, which at that time was the land of Canaan, but for us
today is the sum of all the promises of God which are yes in Christ Jesus,
including the final one: receiving our victory over death, immortality,
incorruptibility, in a glorious celestial body like that of the Lord Jesus (2 Cor.
1:20; 1 Cor. 15:40,44,53,54; Rom. 8:11,23; Phil. 3:20-21)! :D

----------------------

So we must run in a way to win the crown!

-> "Know ye not that those who run in a RACE run all, *but* one receives the PRIZE?
So run in such a way that ye may obtain." (1 Corinthiens 9:24)
-> "And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not CROWNED *unless* he
competes according to the rules." (2 Timothy 2:5)

How then may we run to win?

-> By KEEPING THE FAITH - "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race,
I have kept the faith." (2 Timothy 4:7)
-> i.e. KEEPING THE WORD OF GRACE (Acts 20:32), "the form of SOUND WORDS" (2
Timothy 1:13), "the WORD OF MY PATIENCE" (Revelation 3:10, 14:12), "the WHOLESOME
or SOUND WORDS of our Lord Jesus Christ and the doctrine which is according to
godliness" (1 Tim. 6:3),"the deposit entrusted to you" (1 Tim 6:20), "the good
thing committed to thy trust" (2 Tim 1:14)...
-> contrasted with "profane and vain babblings, oppositions of science falsely so
called" (1 Tim 6:20), in all circumstances, and in all assignments that we
receive from the Lord Jesus,

______________________________________________
REWRITTEN PART 2 - WHAT IS THE CROWN OF GLORY? THE CROWN OF LIFE?
- to be exactly like him
- to have a new name, the name of the Father, a name better than that of sons and
daughters!