Righteousness

Our sermon series this month is on the basic beliefs of the Christian faith - we read the Nicene Creed and those are statements about our faith, they are strong powerful statements that are bold in declaring Jesus right? In this series we are going to go deeper into the basics of our faith - looking at what we believe and how it shapes our lives. Do you know what you believe? Are you able to describe it to others? Last week Alex had you think about how you would describe God to someone - you had words you thought of and those descriptions are part of your belief system - who God is to you…I think as we get to know more of who God is, our vocabulary or descriptions grow larger in how we describe God - and that growth continues as we mature in our faith. I grew up in Austin and was raised in the church. I went to camp, VBS, Sunday school, did children’s choir, then youth and mission trips - I definitely believed in God and was involved in my church. Through all that time I could easily say I was a believer. I didn’t open my bible at home, I probably prayed at dinner occasionally and maybe before a test in school, but that belief in God did not transform me. I believed, but God still seemed far from my day to day life. I could do good things for God - such as mission trips, but then I would return back to my life - having thought helping others is amazing - but jump right back into my self-centered lifestyle. I was a believer - I knew God was real, but really didn’t think about God except at church. My everyday life was very separate from God.

I continued on in this lifestyle until I was 29. By this time I had two children, was coming here to Bulverde regularly - and still was a believer. Still probably didn’t open my bible unless at church and prayed, but not daily and not with intention. That lifestyle could only be sustained for so long. When my mom was suddenly diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer my world changed. I was able to go to Austin to be with her and Darrell drove back and forth as we navigated a new reality with cancer in it. Those 5 weeks were a whirlwind of doctor visits, ambulance rides, struggle with terminal illness, exhaustion, and watching my mom pass and go to heaven to be with Jesus - whom she knew intimately. During those 5 weeks, I had to dive into my faith as never before. Being a member of this church was a lifeline - they poured into me and Darrell with prayers, childcare, cards, love and support. There were so many God moments along the way and during that trial I became one who relied on Christ, not just a believer. The difference between these two words - believing and relying have been a world of change for me. I could believe easily and it didn’t impact my life. But to rely on Jesus - that’s another story. To take time to read the Bible, to pray, to seek to know God intimately, to truly hunger to know more - this has led me on the path of transformation. I am a believer, but more than that I can truly say that my identity is found in Christ - I am a new creation in Christ and I thank God for that transformation.

Last week Alex gave us such good background information on Paul - he is in jail as he is writing this letter to the Philippians - Paul has been transformed by an encounter with Jesus as he was on the path to Damascus. He was a Pharisee among Pharisees, a follower of the law, was zealous to the law - he was so focused on following rules and regulations of the Pharisees that he had promoted quickly - he even says he was faultless in his righteousness for the law. We will pick up in chapter 3 where Paul is talking about his transformation from a Pharisee to a follower of Jesus.

Philippians 3:7–14 (NRSVue)

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal, but I press on to lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have laid hold of it, but one thing I have laid hold of: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul was a very successful Pharisee but once he encountered Jesus, everything changed. Is this true for us as well? When we truly encounter Jesus - an encounter that touches the heart and demands true transformation - we are changed as well. Can you look at your life, your testimony, and see if that transformation has begun? Are you a believer like I was, or do you rely on Christ for your all?

Paul speaks about pressing on, regarding past things as garbage, about him wanting to know Christ! He had such accolades before - but now he regards them all as garbage - rubbish - no meaning, because knowing Christ is worth more than any accolade he could have ever achieved. He states that he is forgetting what is behind and focusing on the goal of Christ. Paul is pursuing Jesus - wants to live for him and him only! He wants to have the deepest possible union with Christ - “It is knowledge in the sense of a personal relationship. This is the only place in all his writings where Paul uses the personal pronoun to refer to Jesus: “Christ Jesus my Lord.” It is for this intimate, personal knowledge that he has not only lost all things, but has lost them willingly and gladly, considering them rubbish, that I may gain Christ (3:8). This is a strong statement, given that he has just spoken of such a prized possession as his heritage as a Hebrew.”11 Earle L. Wilson, Alex R. G. Deasley, and Barry L. Callen, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians: A Commentary for Bible Students (Indianapolis, IN: Wesleyan Publishing House, 2007), 213–214.

Our life is to be a life that is all about Jesus - we must live for him, have him seen in us, and press on til we do meet him face to face- we must KNOW HIM! Look at your life, can you say this about your faith? That you live for Christ? That others can see Jesus when they see you? That you pursue Christ and a relationship with him? We are to be found in Christ - like whoever looks at me sees Jesus.

Galatians 2:20 (NRSVue)

and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Is this statement true for you today?

Paul speaks of a righteousness from faith - not by law. Remember his early years - he was a law follower - but he tosses that aside to have righteousness by faith. The word Righteousness means being in the right with God. Righteousness from God depends on faith. We cannot have righteousness on our own - we can't earn it or do it yourself. If we are conforming to the laws, doing what we are “supposed to do” that gets you a certificate of good behavior. With the righteousness of law, you can try to maintain a perfect record - but it cannot be done or sustained. Righteousness of law is like earning a bonus at work, it’s all about self - performance. This self righteousness is based on our weighing our own merits and performance. We have examined them to be right, we are a good person - do good things, but yet the reality is we are flawed! This certificate of good behavior is prejudiced by ourselves - it cannot hold up to God's scrutiny.

This righteousness from God is offered on condition of faith, ‘the righteousness from God that depends on faith’. Here is the simplicity and freeness of salvation. Gone are the exertions of law-keeping, gone the disciplines and rule keepings of legalism, gone is the anxiety that having done everything and thinking we might not have done enough. “Faith means that we abandon works and efforts, and God pledges his promised righteousness to those who will stop trying to save themselves.”11 J. A. Motyer, The Message of Philippians, The Bible Speaks Today (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1984), 166.

We can't earn righteousness by works or checklists. It is not by living a perfect life or doing good things - the reality is that as a Christian we will have trials in life - we can't be surprised by this - if we are to model our lives after Christ realize that he had trials too! Paul speaks of this in verse 10 and 11, to “know Christ- yes to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and also, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.” Our Nicene creed we read earlier speaks to these truths as well - the suffering of Jesus, the resurrection of the dead, We are still seeking to know Jesus today. We must have personal relationship. Knowing Him will be all we need.

1 Jn 2:3–6 tells us

3 Now by this we know that we have come to know him, if we obey his commandments. 4 Whoever says, “I have come to know him,” but does not obey his commandments is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; 5 but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we know that we are in him: 6 whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk in the same way as he walked.

By having a personal relationship with Jesus, where we seek to know Him and and be found in Him, we will have righteousness by faith. We will be a new creation, transformed, redeemed...the only way to be in right relationship with Jesus is through faith and pressing on to KNOW Jesus. We press on because we have the Holy Spirit working in us. This Spirit whom Jesus gave us after he sacrificed his life on the cross and died for our sins!

So what? examine your heart - where are you in knowing Christ - relying on Him rather than believing in Him… Today, seek Him, ask for revelation - ask to have that relationship and truly enter in to a life with Jesus -

John 17:3 (NRSVue)

And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.