As a young believer, I was taught to walk the aisle, confess my sins, rededicate my life, and that somehow by re-doubling my efforts, I could be a better Christian. In the book of Judges, the nation of Israel sinned, experienced suffering under the ungodly Philistines, repented of their sins, rededicated themselves to God, and then what? They fell into sin again. They repeated the cycle over and over as a nation. This is life under the Old Testament with its self-effort and failure. This is religion imploring us Christians to commit ourselves to live better, walk with God more, and check off the list our actions of obedience: had a quiet time, read the Bible, went to church, etc.

But this is not the teaching of the New Testament. Paul did not set his vision in Philippians chapter one. Rather, he declares his “earnest expectation” and his “hope” (Phil. 1:20, KJV). Not his goal. Not his purpose. In 1:6, Paul tells the Philippians, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” It is God’s work in them that Paul was confident of, just as he was confidently expecting God to work out in his own life “all boldness” (v. 20). He was not talking about a personal vision, but the “fruit” (v. 11) of being in a right relationship with God through Christ.

The command to “live for Christ” does not occur in the New Testament, and yet it is preached from the pulpit of many churches. God never asks us to live for Christ. He asks us to believe that we have died with Christ, and that we have been raised again in Him. Paul declares this plainly, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). Or, as Paul tells the Philippians in 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

The reason that Christians fail in their commitment to Christlikeness is because no one can live the Christian life. Failure is the only option for those who seek to follow God in their own strength. Some, who have a stronger will, or who are more naturally pleasant, will give the appearance of Christlikeness, but their own inner guilt and self-condemnation will betray them. Their walk is merely a portrayal of what they think is Christ and not the very life of Christ lived out in the Spirit within them.

As this pertains to Christian businessmen, I would say that Christianity is not about morality. It is not about right and wrong. It is about life, and more specifically, it is about Christ’s life living through you. As you “yield your members” (Romans 6:13) to the Spirit of God, He will cause the fruit (Gal. 5:22-23) of righteousness to be evident in your life. Honesty and propriety (I Cor. 13:4-8) in business will naturally flow from your heart, not as an overwork but as an overflow. And, the glory will go to God, not to your own fleshly efforts.