Philippians #14 The Pursuit of Christlikeness

INTRODUCTION Philippians 3:12-21.

Read Philippians 3:12-21, and take note of how many times Paul refers to Christlikeness. (Sanctification)

At least 8 times the Apostle refers to Christlikness.

This passage of scripture is formed around one plain thought, Christlikeness.

This world is not our home, our true home is in heaven where our Savior is.

The life of the Christian should be characterized by one primary thought, preparing for our life with Christ in eternity.

Striving here and now, to be what we will be throughout all eternity, like Christ.

This is where the apostle Paul is taking us this evening.

We see four key thoughts in our text.

Forging ahead to be like Christ.

Forgetting what lies behind.

Focused on the hope of glory.

The Firmness of heavenly realities.

FORGING AHEAD TO BE LIKE CHRIST

In verses 12 through 15 there is a paradox, can you identify it?

First Paul says he is not perfect. vs 12

Second, Paul says he is perfect. vs 15.

This presents what appears to be a contradiction.

The truth is, it is a paradox and not a contradiction.

A paradox appears to be a contradiction but when rightly understood is not.

When the apostle Paul say I have not obtained perfection, vs 12, he is speaking of his daily practice.

This is true of us all, we do not live perfectly righteous lives, and neither did the apostle Paul.

This is Paul’s way of saying that he still struggled with sin, as do we all.

This is an important reality that we must all wrestle with.

We sin, even though we don’t want to, yet we do.

As Jesus said, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

Read Romans 7, what was Paul’s great struggle?

It is this struggle with sin that Paul had in mind when he penned Romans 7.

Our text in Philippians 3 must be understood in light of Romans 7. Why?

Once the believer recognizes their sin, then they also know there is work to do.

This is why Paul says he presses on.

Twice Paul uses this Greek phrase to describe his own effort toward sanctification.

Dioko is the Greek word and it means to pursue something with haste and intensity.

Great effort is put forth in order to catch up with that which is desired.

It is interesting the form of writing Paul chose here.

He does not initially directly identify that which he pursues.

Indirectly it is identified as that which Christ laid hold of him for.

In order to understand this, we must first identify what Christ laid hold of us for?

What is the primary reason Christ saved us according to Romans 8:28-29?

Romans 8:28–29 LSB

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers;

First, we were called to salvation according to His purpose, vs 28.

Second, His purpose was so that we could be conformed to the image of His Son.

Third, so that Jesus would be the firstborn of many brothers.

So, it comes down to this, we were saved to be like Christ, so that we could honor Christ.

In short, we were saved, so that we could be made to be like Christ.

That is what Christ laid hold of us for.

Jesus did not die simply to get people into heaven.

He died so that heaven would be filled with righteous, God honoring God glorifying people.

2 Cor 5:21 speaks to this as well.

2 Corinthians 5:21 LSB

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Here we see that Christ took our sin, so that we could become the righteousness of God.

This is just another way of saying, Christ like.

Christ laid hold of us so that we could be conformed to His image, this is what Paul is pursuing.

The apostle Paul pursues Christlikeness with haste and intensity.

There is another phrase that bears looking into, ”laid hold.”

Laid hold comes from a Greek word katalambano.

This is a compound word that means to overcome obstacles in order acquire for oneself.

Christ laid hold of us for Himself.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 LSB

Or do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

We are not our own, we were purchased by Christ, for Christ.

In the same way, Paul’s desire is to pursue righteousness and lay hold of it for himself.

Again, katalambano speaks of overcoming obstacles in order to obtain.

This reminds us that sin is something in the life of the believer that must be overcome if we are to grow in Christlikeness.

Paul uses another phrase to describe our pursuit of Christlikeness, reaching forward.

This is another Greek word that is intense.

This Greek word means to seek strongly, or try hard.

It is sometimes used to speak of spending great energy in order to reach a goal.

Paul rightly understood two things,

First he was not yet perfect in practice.

Second, it required great effort to pursue that goal.

But then in verse 15 Paul says as many as are perfect have this attitude.

He has already said we and he are not perfect.

So what does he now mean?

There is only one possibility, Paul is here talking about our position in Christ.

In Christ we have been declared righteous, holy and blameless.

In practice we don’t always measure up.

So it really comes down to this, those who have been declared righteous, need to pursue a practical righteousness with great effort.

FORGETTING WHAT LIES BEHIND

In verse 13 we see one key idea that will help us pursue righteousness, what is it?

Forgetting the past.

Living in the past only weakens the resolve of the believer.

Those who dwell on past sin end up with tremendous guilt, shame, and sometimes depression.

I learned this lesson as a high caliber golfer from Jack Nicklaus.

One time in an interview Jack was asked how he got past a three putt green.

In golf, once on the green, the goal is always to hole the ball in two shots or less.

But in many cases, it takes golfers three or four putts to get the ball in the hole.

But when Jack was asked about three putting his response was telling.

He said, I don’t know, I have never three putted.

Now every golfer has three putted at some point, even Jack Nicklaus.

When pressed about the issue, Jack admitted, he had probably three putted in the past, but that his teacher had instilled in him forgetfulness on the course.

Jack could hit a bad shot, miss a putt, and simply forget about it.

This was one reason he was the greatest of all time, he never dwelled on a bad shot or putt.

Other golfers have been known to unravel on the golf course after one bad shot because they could not forget it and put it behind them.

The same is true in the Christian life.

As believers, we will sin.

But one key to the pursuit of righteousness is to confess it, repent of it, forget it and move on.

Dwelling on past sin is of no value.

Now I am not saying we should ignore our sin.

Sin must be confessed and repented of.

That is a necessity.

But once that is done, move on and put it behind you.

I believe this is the Lord’s attitude toward our sin as well, and here is why.

All believers sin, right?

Sure we do.

But have you ever noticed, that nowhere in scripture does YHWH refer to believers as sinners?

He doesn’t.

Think about this, the Corinthian church was a mess.

There were divisions, there was heresy, there was adultery, the church was a mess.

Yet, when the Holy Spirit addresses this church listen to how it reads….. 1 Cor 1:2

1 Corinthians 1:2 LSB

To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called as saints, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

Notice the keys descriptions, church, sanctified in Christ, called as Saints.

Those are all positive reinforcements.

If ever a church should have been address as you bunch of sinners, it was this church.

But even they were not called sinners.

The point is this, sinner is what you were, not who you are now.

Now you are a Saint.

Saint comes from the Greek word hagios, and is sometimes translated holy.

The primary idea behind this word is set apart, sanctified.

This is how God sees you in Christ.

When i realized this, i quit using some very typical phrases you are all familiar with.

For example, we have all heard someone say “I am just a sinner saved by grace.”

The truth is, you were a sinner, you were saved by grace, and now you are a Saint who sometimes sins.

But not even God refers to you as a sinner anymore.

The only time this kind of language is used of a believer is when Paul says I am chief of all sinners.

But when the context is examined, it is clear Paul is describing his pre salvation life.

1 Timothy 1:15–16 LSB

It is a trustworthy saying and deserving full acceptance: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost. Yet for this reason I was shown mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Christ Jesus might demonstrate all His patience as an example for those who are going to believe upon Him for eternal life.

Notice in verse 16, I was shown mercy so that.

Clearly, the focus is on the past sinful life of Paul and the grace and mercy he found in Christ.

The NT just does not call us believers sinners.

When I realized this, if quit at well.

I thought a lot about this at one point in time and reached this conclusion, negativism is debilitating.

Friends, God is an optimist when it comes to this.

His focus is on who we are and how we can best live up to that.

Psychologists have long understood the power of words over the formation of a life.

Tell a kid often enough he is stupid and guess what, he will soon think he is stupid.

Tell a Christian often enough he is a sinner, and that is how he will think of himself.

This was driven home to me by a little pamphlet I picked up from an old pastor’s library after he had died.

I preached his funeral and his children had me come over and take any of his library I wanted for myself.

This little homemade pamphlet caught my eye and I thumbed through the pages.

It told a story of a baby eagle that fell out of the nest onto the ground before it could fly.

Along came a flock of turkeys who found and adopted the young eagle as one of their own.

For months the eagle learned the life of the turkey.

But something deep down inside the eagle felt wrong.

Something kept telling him to rise up and fly.

But the flock kept telling him no, we turkeys walk everywhere, only flying on extreme occasions.

So the young eagle grew and he walked.

But his walk was clumsy and he was slow and he struggled to keep up with the flock.

One day the young eagle saw an eagle flying high over head and he longed to join him, but he was now a turkey, and turkeys just didn’t do that.

Are you getting the picture?

As long as he thought himself a turkey, he would never reach his potential.

Then one day an eagle spotted him and flew down and asked, why he walked everywhere and didn’t fly?

He explained, my family says we don’t fly, we walk.

The visiting eagle then explained, you are not a turkey, you are an eagle, and eagles were meant to fly.

And together they rose up in flight, and he never walked again.

How you think of yourself has a great impact on how you will live.

If you think yourself nothing but a sinner, then you will live your life as a sinner.

God knows this, and He never refers to us in that manner, not anymore.

We were sinners.

But now we are Saints.

And rather than look in the rear view mirror at that old life, we should focus on being all that we can be in the new one.

Think of it this way, YHWH chooses to remember your sins no more, so shouldn’t we?

Hebrews 8:12 LSB

“For I will be merciful to their iniquities, And I will remember their sins no more.”

This is a quote from Jeremiah 31:33

Jeremiah 31:33–35 LSB

“But this is the covenant which I will cut with the house of Israel after those days,” declares Yahweh: “I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “And they will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know Yahweh,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares Yahweh, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Thus says Yahweh, Who gives the sun for light by day And the statutes for the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; Yahweh of hosts is His name:

You see when YHWH saves, He forgives, and he will never again hold that sin against us.

We are forgiven, totalling and completely.

So when Paul says forgetting what lies behind, he is speaking of the guilt and shame associated with sin.

Let it go, and live, live for Christ, knowing that Jesus died to set you free from the guilt, shame, and condemnation of sin.

We should never forget that we were sinners, that much is clear from Ephesians 2:1

Ephesians 2:1 LSB

And you were dead in your transgressions and sins,

Paul begins that chapter with a vivid reminder of who and what we once were.

But that is the point, we were that person, but we are not now that person.

So let it all go.

Letting go of the past sinful life is key to being able to live righteously in the present.

Paul is here saying, keep your eyes on the prize.

When I think of this it reminds me of a sprinter.

When I was a young athlete I was very talented as a quarterback, but was just not very fast.

I could remember all the plays, and my competition could not.

I could throw the ball farther and with better accuracy than my competition.

I executed the plays better than he did.

But he was two steps faster than I was.

My coach brought in a friend who was a track coach to work with me.

The first thing he taught me, keep your eyes down field, look at the goal, the finish line.

To run fast you can’t be looking from side to side or especially backwards.

Well, it didn’t work, I did get a little faster, but not fast enough.

But this is exactly what the Bible teaches.

Think on good things.

Set your mind on things above.

Focus on being all that you can be, not what you were.

So what is the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus? vs 14

It is Christlikeness.

Focus on being like Christ, forgetting what a wretched sinner you once were.

FOCUSED ON THE HOPE OF GLORY

Our great hope is being set free from this body of death.

In Romans 7 the apostle Paul describes his great personal struggle with sin. What is the significance of Romans 8:1 in light of chapter 7?

It is a struggle that is common to all believers.

But even that struggle is followed by chapter 8 which begins with these words.

Romans 8:1 LSB

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Now stop and think about that.

For almost the whole of chapter 7 Paul describes his battle to overcome sin, admits he fails often, but then says, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.

But how do you get from the struggle with sin in Romans 7 to the realization of no condemnation? in chapter 8? (The answer is in chapter 7)

The answer is in verses 24 and 25.

Romans 7:24 LSB

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ will deliver us from this body of death.

There are some who believe Paul has a particular concept in mind here.

In that day, some governments had a particularly cruel form or punishment for a murderer.

They would take the corpse of the victim, and tie is firmly toe to toe, hand to hand, chest to chest, face to face to the one who committed the crime.

They could not be free from this corpse.

In time, the disease associated with the corpse infected the murderer and killed him too.

You see our problem is that we have new spiritual life in Christ, but that new life is bound to the old unredeemed flesh.

Like the murderer we drag corpse with us everywhere we go.

But one day, this body shall die.

And for those who are in Christ, there awaits a glorious resurrection.

In that resurrection, we get a new body.

Not a corrupted one, but a glorified body.

A body that is not tainted by sin, and has no desire for sin.

And in that day we shall be in practice, what we are in position, like Jesus Christ.

I am not minimizing sin, we all do it, we shouldn’t do it, but it is a reality.

But the key to success as a Christian is to focus on moving forward.

Keep your eyes on the prize, pursue that which Christ desires for you.

We must take note that this is a higher calling.

The call of God is an upward call.

We are called upon, commanded even to rise above the rest of the world.

Like that young eagle, we were created anew to fly, not waddle around in the mud.

Again, in verse 15, those who are perfect in position, should be striving to attain to that perfection in practice.

There is an interesting phrase stuffed into the middle of that verse and thought.

If in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you, what forms our attitudes?

The point here is that God will not allow you to continue in wrong thinking.

Attitude here speaks of the thought process, how we approach life.

The Spirit of God is here trying to change how we think about ourselves, and we have this assurance.

If we are struggling in this regard, God will intervene on your behalf.

Thoughts are key.

We touched on this already.

We all know that as a man thinks, so he is.

The point here is that our God is in the business of transformation, not condemnation when it comes to His children.

His plan from the beginning was to conform us to the image of His Son.

You don’t get there by thinking like a sinner.

Remember the prodigal?

He was in the pig pen eating pig slop.

What was the key to his getting out of the pig pen?

He had a thought, a right thought, his father’s servant ate better than this.

He remembered something of great importance.

God did not leave the boy in the pig pen.

Nor will he leave His children today there either.

Our great and glorious God is at work right now, and every moment of every day in us to will and to do for His good pleasure. Phil 2:13.

And we also know Phil 1:6

Philippians 1:6 LSB

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

That good work is Christlikeness.

God began the work, and God will complete the work.

But along the way we have work to do as well.

And that begins with right thinking, so that we can pursue right things.

Verse 16 is the summary statement here, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.

What is the standard we have attained? vs 16

First of all standard isn’t in the original Greek text.

The translator added this word to help us make sense of the verse.

It should read let us keep living by the same to which we have attained.

So what have we attained?

Second, we have attained perfection in position, we have been declared righteous.

That now and has always been the standard.

This is one of the great flaws in the theology of human achievement.

Those who claim you can lose your salvation believe that it is up to themselves to keep it through their good works.

The problem with that kind of thinking is that it does damage to the standard of God.

God’s standard is righteous perfection.

If you are going to earn any part of your salvation you have to be perfect, and that is an impossibility.

We have been declared righteous, that is the standard of God, and the word often used to describe that standard is telios.

Telios is translated perfect, complete, finished, blameless.

The word speaks of reaching a stated goal.

In our position, we have arrived, we are righteous.

In verse 16 the apostle is reminding us that we must strive to bring our practice in line with our position.

We have been declared righteous, now live like it.

Live the life Christ lived is the goal.

I remember one time an older lady in the church balked at this topic as I taught.

She excused her sin because as she said, we will never be perfect so why try so hard.

I get that, I know that we will never be perfect in this world.

But the upward call of God is to forget the sin that lies behind, and pursue with great passion and effort Christlikeness.

We are not to make excuses, but reach for the prize.

The Christian life is a life that is being restored.

We were created in Adam to be the image of God, to reflect the goodness of God in the world.

But because of sin that image was tainted.

But in Christ we are being restored to that original factory image.

So that, throughout all eternity we can reflect the goodness of God.

But nowhere in scripture are we told to just sit back and wait for glory.

We are to pursue that perfection now, right now, right here as we live our lives out.

No excuses, but rather working out our salvation, striving for the perfection that is in Christ Jesus.

And I get it, the temptation is strong to say I will never make it so why try.

But that is not the attitude of God.

For God has said that we have everything we need for life and godliness in Christ. 2 Peter 1:3.

Furthermore God has also said Eph 1:3

Ephesians 1:3 LSB

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

God has given us the tools, we need to put them to good use.

In verse 17 Paul makes one of those statements that on the surface seems arrogant or prideful. But remember, Paul has already admitted he fails and is not perfect. So when he says follow my example, what does he mean?

In order to understand this we must first explain some terms.

First, “walk” is used to describe how we live.

Walk is a synonym for living.

Ephesians 4:1 LSB

Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, exhort you to walk worthy of the calling with which you have been called,

In this verse Paul is simply saying live a life that is worthy of who you are.

Same ideas that are being taught here in Philippians 3.

Second, “pattern” is the example that is seen in others.

This is a key thought because it speaks of the general direction of a person’s life.

Follow my pattern, the general direction.

Paul is careful here in how he says it, because he knows he fails from time to time.

So in choosing this word pattern he is not saying live exactly as I live.

Rather, follow the general pattern of my life, the direction I am headed.

You see the Christian life could be characterized by two steps forward and one step back from time to time.

But hopefully, the pattern, the general direction is getting better and better.

What is the example Paul speaks of in verse 17?

Pursuing Christlikeness.

That is Paul’s example.

Paul pursued sanctification with a great passion, and we should follow his example.

Sadly, the Spirit of God reminds us that not all are on this great journey.

Some have chosen to pursue only that which the world has to offer.

Their minds are set on the lusts of the world, and their end is destruction.

This just reminds us that there is much work to do.

We are surrounded by these kinds of people, who need the gospel, who need Christ.

Last we have the ……

FIRMNESS OF HEAVENLY REALITIES

As this chapter comes to its conclusion we are reminded yet again of who we are. Who are we and why does that matter?

We are citizens of heaven.

And how should a citizen live?

Rightly in accordance with the kingdom of which he lives.

Americans should live according to America’s standards.

Christians should live according to the standards of heaven.

Notice those words from which also we eagerly await.

The antecedent is kingdom of heaven.

We are already part of that kingdom is the idea, and from within the kingdom, we eagerly await the king.

This is the last key thought of pursuing Christlikeness.

This reminds us of the parables Jesus told about being prepared for the coming of the kingdom and the king.

We should live our lives in the continual expectation of His coming.

Last, we have the firm assurance that Christ will bring it all to pass.

Jesus will complete our sanctification.

He will transform our humble sinful body into conformity with His.

One day, we shall get a glorified sinless body.

One that is not tainted by the fall.

A redeemed and glorified body that is fit for heaven and the presence of God.

We are assured here that Christ has the power to achieve this great work, and that is our hope.

Not a wishy washy hope.

Hope in the Biblical sense speaks of our assurance of a given outcome.

We can be sure of our ultimate glorification because of the One who promised it.

CONCLUSION

I love how this chapter ends, Jesus is sovereign.

All things are subject to Him.

Even our sinful bodies.

When the time comes, Jesus will transform us and the work will be complete.

But in the meantime, until that day comes, we strive to keep the flesh in check, and to live righteously for the glory of Jesus Christ.