August Passage: Philippians 3:1-11
Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble for me and is safe for you.
Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also.
If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of know Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I might gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the Law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith
—that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share in His sufferings, becoming like Him in death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection of the dead. (ESV)
Throughout each month, we will post short articles to give some depth of understanding regarding our text. Today we will discuss...
Throw Away Your Resumé
In the last article, we saw Paul’s warning about those who would lead you to think that you need Jesus AND good works, or Jesus AND ceremonial rituals and rites, in order to truly be saved. Look out and be on guard for those dogs.
But before Paul goes any further, he makes it clear that IF he wanted to live up to the requirements of the Judaizers, it would have been no problem for him to do so. Before Jesus rescued Paul, he had been a lot like the Judaizers in his heart. He loved keeping rules and trying to force others to do the same. He wasn’t arguing against the extra rules of the Judaizers because he couldn’t reach their standards. He wasn’t trying to lower the bar of “good works” to a point that he could finally get over it.
No! Paul had been an incredible rule keeper. If keeping a bunch of rules were enough, Paul would surely been able to secure a spot in Heaven.
But Paul is arguing against the Judaizers’ “Jesus AND good works” plan because, before He was saved, Paul had done everything he thought he was supposed to do, and still found himself lacking the one thing he needed.
When Paul (Saul) was confronted on the road to Damascus, and later when he was converted, he realized that Jesus ALONE could give him the security and satisfaction that the Law could not ever give. AND when he saw Jesus and the fullness of God in Christ, Paul was given humility to replace the PRIDE that had grown because of his good rule keeping of the past.
A pastor named Darrin Patrick teaches that, without Jesus we are all trying to build up a “spiritual resumé” or a list of things we do, and a list of things we don’t do, and a list of things we know, etc., so that we can point to those things as evidence that we are ok.
Paul’s Spiritual Resumé
Brought up “Right” in a “Good” family
— Circumcised on the 8th day (according to Leviticus 12:3)
— A Hebrew of Hebrews (Not only Jewish, but out of all the tribes of Israel, he was from the elite tribe of Benjamin) John Gill helps us understand this comment better:
“Of the tribe of Benjamin; who was a genuine and legitimate son of Jacob, whom (Jacob) had by his lawful and beloved wife Rachel. Of which tribe was the first king of Israel, whose name was Saul, and which was the apostle's first and Jewish name, and which perhaps was common in that tribe on that account. In this tribe stood the city of Jerusalem, and the temple of the Lord; this tribe retained the true worship of God with Judah, when the ten tribes revolted and worshipped the calves at Dan and Bethel, and returned with Judah from captivity, when the others did not. And the apostle was not only able to make himself appear to be of the stock Israel, but could name the tribe to which he belonged, which many of the Jews, that were of one, or rather of the ten tribes, were not able to do…” ~ John Gill Exposition of the Entire Bible
— A Hebrew of Hebrews (both parents were full blooded Hebrews)
Not only was he brought up right in a good family, Paul’s resumé states that he also did well on his own after he was raised:
— As to the Law a Pharisee (He understood the Scriptures better than most Jews and He was diligent in following the Law and even followed more rules on top of the Law).
— As to zeal, a persecutor of the church (before he was converted, Paul let His zeal spill over past personal obedience and into persecution of people who he saw as missing the mark).
— As to righteousness under the law, blameless (Before Jesus showed him how hypocritical and blind and unloving Paul had been under the law, Paul had thought of himself as blameless)
Your Spiritual Resumé
Do you do the same thing Paul did? Do you try to prove to God, to others or to yourself that you are a “good person” or even a “Good Christian” because of a list of things you do, and a list of things you don’t do, and a list of things you know?
Not-yet-believers point to a lot of things, including how they interact with the needy; how they vote; how they treat the environment; how they spend their money; what they watch or read or listen to; where they shop or don’t shop; etc…
But, we Christians fall into the same trap (sometimes with the same list as the not-yet-believers, but also how faithful our relatives are or were; what we eat and drink (or don’t eat and drink); mission trips we’ve gone on; number of people we’ve given a tract to; how we dress for a Sunday gathering; prayer meeting attendance; amount of time we study the Bible; which Bible translation we read; how much money we give to the local church and to people in need; how long we’ve gone without cussing, etc…
If you are like me, we all can recognize some area where we want to pat ourselves on the back and take some credit for the reason God SHOULD love us. Paul fell into it at a time in his life. So did the Judaizers. We are all prone to do it.
But it’s time to throw away your Spiritual Resumé and completely depend on Jesus.
You may have worldly reasons to put confidence in the flesh, but remember, “we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh”
So, join Paul today and let us agree together today to say with him, “…whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.”
We will talk about WHY we count it all as loss in the next article. Until then, practice NOT boasting in yourself and turn all praise toward Jesus.
