The Salvation of the Philippians

Philippians 3:1-21

Memory Verse

“And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ”.

Philippians 1:6

Real-life Problems

All of us have a tendency to want to work for our own salvation. When we sin, we think, “I’ll make this right by praying more, reading the Bible, and going to church as often as possible.” For example, after we hurt someone, we often try to be as nice to them as possible. We try to make up for what we have done.

Sometimes, we try to do the same thing with God.

The Good News

When we sin, or do something God tells us not to do, we can't just be nice to Him, or pray more, or do good things to make things right. But God can! When Jesus died and was raised for us, He took our punishment on Himself and made things right between us and God!

I. Introduction

OPENING QUESTIONS

Idea #1: Name one thing about yourself that you are proud of—your grades? An athletic accomplishment? Your kindness? An award you received?

Idea #2: Who are some of your favorite "good guys" from movies or TV shows? What makes them "good guys" as opposed to "bad guys"?

Idea #3: Do you remember a time when you wanted to be just like someone else? Who was it and what did you do to imitate that person?

PRAY

Open your time together in prayer.

REHEARSING THE GOSPEL

What does gospel mean? Good news

What’s the good news? Jesus died for my sins

Why did He die for your sins?

So that I can have abundant life in relationship with Him now and forever

What is grace?

God’s love for undeserving sinners

REVIEW

Who wrote the book of Philippians?

Paul of Tarsus, the persecutor of the church who was converted on the Damascus road

Who was the original audience of this book? The church in Philippi, which Paul planted

Why was the book of Philippians written?

To help us understand that “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of

Christ Jesus” (1:6)

What’s going on?

REMIND

For the bulk of chapter 2, Paul makes much of Jesus Christ, who is the Savior of His people. Now, Paul moves on to describe exactly what type of salvation that Savior achieved for His people. He talks about the Philippians', and our, justification (when God sees us as if we've done everything we should've done, and nothing we shouldn't have done) and sanctification (the growth in our knowledge of and love for God), both of which we receive through the work of Christ.

TODAY WE’LL LEARN

We must seek a righteousness from Christ in order to be saved.

As a result of receiving that righteousness, we press on in gratitude.

Though we will never be without sin in our lives, we look forward to a day at the end of time in which that will be so.

Read

Read Philippians 3:1-21 aloud in your group.

II. Questions for Discussion

A. WHAT?

How does Paul describe himself and the Philippians in 3:3?

He says that they are the "circumcision"—the ones who worship in the Spirit, glory in Christ, and put no confidence in the flesh.

What does Paul mean when he says “put no confidence in the flesh” (3:4)?

When he says “flesh,” Paul means the remnants of our sinful nature which we got from Adam. This nature is unable to fulfill God’s law and, as a result, is unable to earn for us salvation. Thus, when Paul says this, he means that we must have no confidence that the flesh can earn anything for us before God—no good works, no gaining of merit earn us anything in regards to our salvation.

What does Paul say about himself when he recounts his life experiences for us in 3:4-6?

Paul was circumcised on the eighth day, he is from the tribe of Benjamin, he was a pharisee, and he persecuted the church. Paul is establishing here that he, by Jewish society's standards, he has done the things he needed to do to be considered righteous by his own work.

Where does Paul look to find his righteousness (3:8-10)?

Paul explicitly says that he is looking outside of himself for righteousness. Indeed, he finds his righteousness in Christ which he is given by faith. Faith, a gift from God (Eph. 2:8-9), is the thing which unites Paul to Christ.

The Claw

Show the students a clip of “The Claw” from Toy Story (youtube.com/watch?v=N-Esh4W3dfI) and ask them the following questions.

What exactly does the claw do?

It reaches down and grasps the aliens, pulling them out of the cage.

Does the claw have to be super strong to get the aliens out?

Not really, the aliens are really light. All that matters is that the claw is there.

The claw can be compared to our faith. Faith is simply the instrument that joins us to Christ and gives us His benefits, like justification and sanctification. Like the claw, it doesn’t really matter how strong our faith is. Really what matters is that our faith exists.

Why does Paul continue to strive in verse 12 if he already has a righteousness from Jesus?

Paul says “I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own.” Paul is working for Christ, not out of a legalistic spirit that makes him feel like he has to earn his salvation. Rather, he is working out of gratitude. Christ has saved Paul and given him the best gift ever (Himself), so Paul responds in love and gratitude to Christ. The growth in this love, gratitude, holiness, and our experience of God is called sanctification.

B. SO WHAT?

Why does Paul consider his personal attributes and accomplishments to be as insignificant as garbage (3:5-7)?

Paul knows that no matter how righteous he is, he is not perfect. He has committed sins. Additionally, Paul has failed to do all that the law requires of him. Paul needs to be perfect to gain salvation on his own, and he has no claim to it. He needs Christ’s righteousness in order to be justified.

What does knowing Christ do for Paul (3:7-8)?

Knowing Jesus is the ultimate experience for Paul. That becomes the baseline for determining the worth of anything else in his life. All of these things he earned, all of the things he did to make himself righteous as a Jew—none of these mean anything when compared to knowing Christ. Paul would, and, in fact, has, given up all of these things just to know Christ better.

Paul claims that he is not already perfect (3:12), which is surprising given all of his accomplishments.

Why is this significant?

After all of Paul’s accomplishments, it might be easy to think of him as some sort of super-Christian. However, that is not the case. He says, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect…” Paul won’t be perfect in this life. There will always be the stain of sin upon him, but he responds to God’s work in gratitude and love and continues to try to know God better.

What do you think Paul means when he talks about “straining toward the goal (3:14)? What is the goal? What might that "straining" look like in Paul’s daily life?

Paul seems to be working with hope toward the ultimate goal of living with God at the end of things. In Paul's daily life, that might look like reading God's Word, spending time with God in prayer, or worshiping God with other Christians.

In verses 20-21, Paul talks about heavenly citizenship again. What does this heavenly citizenship mean for us?

Paul encourages the believer to look to heaven, the place where their citizenship is, because that is also the place from which our Savior, Jesus Christ, will come to transform our bodies to be like His. Paul is telling us that this world, the things that surround us, matters. Jesus is coming back to make all the bad things untrue and to get rid of sickness and death. He’s coming to remake this world, not take us to a heavenly cloud world forever.

C. NOW WHAT?

When Christ justifies you by faith alone, He doesn’t only forgive you of your sins—He also makes you fully righteous! Does this change the way you see your day-to-day life?

In what ways are you, like Paul, tempted to count your own qualities and accomplishments as more valuable than your salvation through Jesus?

When Paul uses language like “striving” and “pressing on,” what kind of feelings does that evoke?

It’s normal if this makes you feel like you’re under a little bit of pressure. However, Paul is not using that language as if to say that we must strive to a certain point or press on to a fixed finish line or else we won’t be saved. What he is saying is that the Christian, as a result of Christ’s love for them, will naturally want to press on toward God and strive for Him. This striving is the fruit, not the root, of our salvation.

What do you think it looks like to imitate Paul or other Christian role models?

Paul isn't asking that we model our lives after him in the specifics, such as the way we dress or what job we do. Instead, when he encourages us to imitate him, he is encouraging us to glean from his faithfulness. We can look to Paul and other Christian role models and ask them to guide us and teach us what it means to follow Jesus every day of the week.

Main takeaway

Christ has justified us, will sanctify us, and will bring us to new life at the last day, and none of this is contingent upon our works.

III. Closing

REMEMBERING THE GOOD NEWS

Jesus, through His life, death, and resurrection, has already made us right with God. In addition, Jesus also sanctifies us, making us holy like He is. The good news is that the Christian life is all Jesus—Christ is causing us to grow, not asking us to furrow our brows and gain merit for ourselves to get into heaven.

Jesus Christ did not just come to forgive your sins, to give you a blank slate. He came to live a perfectly righteous life and to give you the merits of that life so you would be counted not just sinless, but perfectly righteous before God.

CLOSE IN PRAYER

Lord, You have loved us with a great love. You lived and died to forgive us and make us righteous. Give us a deeper knowledge and affection for Your work in our lives. Help us to love You more, to know You better, and to desire to spend time with You. Amen.

Supporting Resources

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

What are one-to-two specific ways that God might be calling you to "press on toward" Him in your day-to-day life (3:12)?

In what ways are you, like Paul, tempted to count your own qualities and accomplishments as more valuable than your salvation through Jesus (3:7-10)?

Do you have a mentor or role model to imitate, like Paul was for the Philippians? If so, who is it? Why do you think he/she is a good person to imitate? If not, ask God to help you find someone from whom you can learn.

QUESTIONS FOR PARENTS

What does it mean to you that you're righteous before God apart from your works? How does that make you feel?

What does it look like for you to press on toward God?

Who are some people who you would like to imitate?