The Prize of the High Calling of God

What is the greatest danger to the Christian life? Is it the government or the next pandemic? Is it the wrath of unbelievers or exposure to their lifestyles? The life of a committed Christian is often fraught with difficulty and danger, yet this is not something that should be seen as abnormal. The apostle Paul dealt with trials and was in jeopardy throughout his entire ministry, even to the point of being incarcerated for his faith. Even so, he knew that the greatest danger to the Christian life comes from within us. Namely, the insatiable and unchecked desires of the flesh, of which he also referred to as the “old man.” Paul understood that the flesh must be dealt with before believers can ever come to maturity in Christ, therefore this was a matter he addressed within most of his epistles. In totality, Paul teaches that we must be crucified with Christ so that we can live by the Spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh. This is because he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that sows in the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life (Galatians 6:8). How can this be our reality? In this latest book, The Prize of the High Calling of God, author Russell M. Stendal examines the entirety of the epistles Paul wrote while imprisoned in Rome. As always, with Russell’s gift for seeing both the finer details and the larger picture, he helps the reader to see that they can individually take hold of what God has for them, in Christ, and by the Holy Spirit. Russell M. Stendal, is the editor and translator of the Jubilee Bible (JUB) and Biblia del Jubileo (JBS) translations that are published in English and in Spanish. Well over a million copies of the Biblia del Jubileo have been donated and distributed into the most impoverished areas of Colombia and Venezuela. Russell Stendal was born in Minneapolis and raised on the mission field in Colombia, South America. He became a missionary jungle pilot at age nineteen. Almost ten years later he…