Philippians - Faith Alone
In today’s passage, Paul turns his attention toward people who were sharing the good news about Jesus, but insisted that if a person wanted to become a follower of Jesus, placing their faith in Jesus was NOT enough.
They were teaching that:
if a person wanted to receive forgiveness for their sins
if a person wanted to be born again and get a second chance at life through the forgiveness of sins
If a person wanted to experience a life-changing relationship with Jesus –
faith was NOT enough.
As you follow along in your Bible, I will be reading from the New Living Translation.
Let’s read together:
Philippians 3:1-11 (NLT2)
1 Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith. 2 Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. 3 For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, 4 though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! 5 I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. 6 I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. 7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!
You might notice that Paul used some rather harsh words here. Paul called these people who were telling other people about Jesus “Dogs and mutilators” because they were leading people to Jesus – then they were instructing them to get circumcised.
In the Old Testament, circumcision was proof that a man was an Israelite – God’s chosen people. Why God decided that circumcision was going to be the identifying mark for Israelite men – I have no idea. Can you imagine what went through the Israelite’s mind?
“You want me to cut what with that knife?”
The first thing I want to point out is that Paul reminds the Philippian believers that…
LIFE CHANGE DOES NOT HAPPEN BY BEING GOOD
Yet – that is what was happening now for some people:
after they trusted by faith that Jesus had died on the cross to pay the penalty for their sin.
After by faith, they believed that Jesus rose from the dead.
After by faith, they surrendered their lives to Jesus –
Now, essentially, these men were telling these New Believers that if they were really committed followers of Jesus, they needed to prove it through circumcision. Since the earliest days of Christianity, people have been trying to corrupt the gift of salvation that comes through trusting in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins…and teaching that FAITH in God’s Grace is not enough.
But, maybe you grew up in a church that taught forgiveness of sins needed to be earned.
Maybe you were taught to attend church because you will go to hell if you don’t.
Maybe you were taught to give 10% of your income because you will go to hell if you don’t.
Maybe you were told to read your bible every day to make God happy.
Maybe you were told to pray to God every day to keep God happy…
Maybe you were taught that you were made right with GOD by doing GOOD things.
Paul wrote that he was the best at “being good,” and it was worthless. He writes:
Philippians 3:4-6 (NLT2)
4 though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! 5 I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. 6 I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.
Paul told the Philippians that nobody was more passionate about OBEYING the OT LAW and doing good works than him—and now it was all meaningless and pointless because he had surrendered his life to Jesus. When it comes to being born-again and made new – it is by FAITH alone in Jesus. If it is “Jesus and anything else…” that is not pure faith.
It is not Jesus and church attendance.
It is not Jesus and tithing.
It is not Jesus and reading your bible.
It is not Jesus and praying the right things.
We are not saved by Jesus AND anything else. Not baptism. Not serving. Nothing.
That’s why Paul sounds so angry in that passage.
He calls these people DOGS. These men angered Paul because they were actually preventing people from experiencing a life-changing relationship with Jesus. Can you imagine an evangelist showing up at your door, telling you about Jesus, then handing you a knife and saying, “Get ‘er done?”
NO THANK YOU!
Then, after Paul lists his accomplishments that amounted to nothing but garbage, he says in verse 8
Philippians 3:8 (NLT2)
8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ
If you can, I want you to underline or circle two words in verse 8: KNOWING and at the very end, GAIN. Paul GAINED Christ. Paul considered all the good stuff garbage because he had already received the ultimate prize: gaining a relationship with God through Jesus.
When I surrendered my life to Jesus in 1991, I gained Christ. Because I have gained Christ, I do not fear that I must do more good than bad in order to get into heaven. Paul GAINED Jesus after the Road to Damascus. I GAINED Jesus in 1991.
Let me ask you a question:
WHEN DID YOU GAIN CHRIST?
Maybe you were a child, and you gained Jesus.
Maybe you walked an aisle and surrendered your life to Jesus and gained Christ.
Maybe you were watching a televangelist on TV and gained Christ.
Maybe you were listening to a podcast and gained Christ.
Maybe you were driving down the road listening to a radio DJ and gained Christ.
Maybe you were at a conference, you raised your hand, and you gained Christ.
Maybe you were sitting in worship service last weekend, and you gained Christ.
Answer the question: When did I GAIN Christ? Not my spouse, not my kids, not my parents. And if your answer is, “I haven’t, but I want to,” I have some great news for you! You can today!
Then, you will experience the same sentiment that Paul had when he said, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” It had been years since Jesus ascended into Heaven, but Paul described his relationship with Jesus as PRESENT TENSE.
Paul, in the PRESENT TENSE, knew Jesus. While he was in house arrest – he talked to the Roman Guards, and he talked to Jesus.
Jesus was his friend in the present.
Jesus was his Savior in the present.
Jesus was his helper in the present.
Jesus was his strength in the present.
Jesus was his GUIDE in the present.
When it comes to Knowing Jesus, we need to remember that…
KNOWING IS GROWING
When Paul used the word KNOWING and to KNOW in verses 8-10, the word he used came from the root word, which meant to KNOW intimately as a husband and wife know one another. When you exchange vows with your spouse and become husband and wife, that is just the beginning of getting to know one another.
You GAINED a SPOUSE…but did you really KNOW your spouse? Kristy and I will be married for 25 years this December. If you had asked me then if “I knew Kristy,” I would have said yes. Yet, we still learn something about one another almost every single day. Imagine if, 25 years ago, I made a commitment to my wife – and then stopped trying to grow in my relationship with her.
Imagine if I stopped praying for her. If I stopped being kind and courteous. If I stopped listening and conversing with her…We may still be married, but our relationship would be distant and lonely.
The commitment you made when you surrendered your life to Jesus is a life-long commitment that requires you to grow in your relationship with Him. The commitment you made yesterday is not enough to follow Jesus today. We must continue to grow, to learn, to trust, to follow Jesus.
Let me encourage you to sign up for Grow class on September 15. We want to help you have the tools to GROW in your friendship with Jesus so that you can say like the Apostle Paul said – NOTHING else matters but knowing Christ. Finally, as we grow in our friendship with Jesus, God brings us to a point where we get comfortable with the fact that…
WE WILL DIE AND RISE!
Philippians 3:10-11 (NLT2)
10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!
Paul must have been thinking that the end of his life could be near as he sat under house arrest, in chains, day after day, with Roman Guards watching over him. But Paul held out hope in Jesus that even if he should die, he would rise and be with Jesus.
If you are like me, talking and thinking about our own DEATH or the DEATH of somebody we love is uncomfortable. But one of the changes that happen to us as we GROW in our relationship with Jesus, is that we become more comfortable talking about death. The Bible teaches us repeatedly – that followers of Jesus who have been forgiven for their sin – will one day RISE and live forever with God in Heaven.
1 Corinthians 15:52 (NLT2)
52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever.
I am grateful that all those who have placed their faith in Jesus to forgive them for their sins – will experience Eternal Life in Heaven with the king of Kings and Lord of Lords. I do not know what Heaven will be like – but I do know that there will be no more sorrow, no more pain, and no more tears.
What a wonderful place that will be!