Joy in Focus

Paul begins with the bold statement that rejoicing in the Lord is a safeguard to his readers - Philippians 3:1-3

Philippians 3:1–3 NIV

Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—

How would rejoicing in the Lord protect us from false teachers?

In the following passage Paul talks about the things he valued before coming to Christ. Philippians 3:4-6

Philippians 3:4–6 NIV

though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If someone else thinks they have reasons to put 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; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

What did Paul value?

What did you value before Christ?

How did his values change when he encountered Christ in Philippians 3:7-8

Philippians 3:7–8 NIV

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ

In Philippians 3:9 Paul explains the change in his life by comparing two kinds of righteousness. How does this explanation explain the change in Paul?

Philippians 3:9 NIV

and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.

Paul’s focus in Philippians 3:10 is to experience the power of the resurrection and to identify with Christ’s suffering.

Philippians 3:10-11 (NIV)

Philippians 3:10–11 NIV

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

How does Paul’s observation in Ephesians 1:18-20 help us understand this transformation in Paul?

Ephesians 1:18–20

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,” (NIV)

Paul concludes by describing his singular focus as a result of his commitment to Christ in Philippians 3:11-14

Philippians 3:12–14 (NIV)

Philippians 3:12–14 NIV

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.