Jesus + Nothing = Everything
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Intro
Intro
As we continue our study in Philippians this morning, we are going to pick up in Chapter 3:1-11.
We took a break last week as Jim Snyder who serves as director of mission for the Chilhoweh Baptist Association preached on the church and the marks of a healthy church. I am thankful for him and thankful he came to be with us.
Jesus + Nothing = Everything.
As we read the New Testament, we read quite often of a tension between law and grace. Much of Jesus’ teaching and much of the apostles teaching was addressing the issue that as Christians, we are saved and justified by Christ and nothing else.
I personally am a task driven person. I love being able to mark things off my to-do list and feel like I have accomplished something.
I have this amazing app on my phone that allows me to type in all of my to-do list for the week and it gives me such a thrill to swipe that action off the to-do list.
If we aren’t careful, we can treat our walk with Christ like that.
I went to church this week… check
I didn’t do anything bad today… check
I spent 10 minutes in Bible study… check
You fill in the blank.
The aim of Paul in this passage is to point the believers that made of the church of Philippi to the hope that is only found in Jesus and that new life only comes from Christ and nothing else.
Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to 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 knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count 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 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 his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Paul is coming off discussing Timothy and Epaphraditus. He begins this section with “Finally.” Reading this does not necessarily mean he is using this as a closing remark to the letter but is making a transition to his next idea and more specifically picking up the theme of “rejoicing.”
We can translate the first sentence of chapter 3 as “So then rejoice in the Lord.”
He says’ in writing the same things to them is not trouble for him and is safe to the church is referring to the teaching he had done while he was originally with them and he didn’t mind repeating the same concepts and ideas he had taught them before.
What follows in the next few verses talk specifically about staying away from legalism and the false teaching that a person can be converted by believing in a system of rules or regulations as their justification.
This is such a dangerous teaching because legalism in essence is self atonement. It’s self salvation that only leads to pride. It’s pretty obvious that the church was dealing with this teaching and Paul gets pretty intense with them on the subject.
I love the words we read in these verses because they are simple to understand and it’s important that we read and study this passage in light of three basic ideas. what a Christian is, what is Christian isn’t, and how to truly know Christ.
Before Paul gives a description for what a Christian is, he calls out the false teachers and calls them dogs, evildoers, and those who mutilate the flesh.
It’s evident that false teachers were poaching on these believers and causing them to stumble and fall away from the teaching they had received from Paul.
We read V. 3 and we see Paul’s tone and seriousness of this warning. To call these false teachers “dogs” was a demeaning and harsh way to put it but also a warning that the false teachers needed to be looked at as only wanting to destory and tear the church apart.
Dogs were not looked at as cute pets in this culture. I’m sure many of you have a dog for a pet and I do also, I have an English Setter at home that is wild as a buck but I love him.
Dogs were not pets in this culture but they were nasty, unclean, and dangerous. They would get into things they weren’t supposed to and looked at as more as a nuisance.
Much like dogs, the false teachers were seeking to come into the church and cause problems and were becoming a nuisance.
Their teaching included telling the Gentiles that they had to become like the Jews before they became Christians, which is contrary to what the Gospel teaches.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life for eveyrone who belives in his name.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Maybe you have heard the statemet: “Jesus + Nothing = Everything” Paul wants to get this across to the church not to hold to the belief that you must follow some law or rule to bring about regeneration, but regeneration comes from God through Christ.
Look at V. 3 with me
For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—
Christians worship by the spirit and boast in Jesus Christ.
Paul answers the question: “What a Christian is” in this statement.
First a Christian worships by the spirit. When we talk about worshipping by the spirit we are not just talking about coming to church to worship the Lord on Sundays.
This has the implication that a believer relies on the spirit that dwells within them as they live and serve the Lord.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
A Christian life is a spirit-filled life. The only way we can truly worship and serve the Lord is by walking in the Spirit.
Secondly, a Christian boasts in Jesus Christ.
But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
A Christians confidence and hope comes from Jesus Christ and nothing else.
I told you earlier that I love checklists, I love being able to accomplish a task and it makes me feel good.
The Christian life is not what we do or what we accomplish but what Christ has accomplished for us. Our boasting is in him.
Living a self-righteous life will lead to pride and will lead to a fruitless life.
Boasting in Christ involves dying to ourself and dying to putting our hope and trust in our achievements, etc.
so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
When I was in college, I started really growing in my walk with Christ and as I was growing and developed a deep passion to know God and spend time with him in His word, I started to think I was pretty good.
I would look at students in my class and even my friends and look down on them because of activities they were participating in. It gave me a sense of pride and achievement and I thought God was happy with me because I was staying away from things other college students were participating in.
Then one day, God put me on my face and made me realize that my boasting doesn’t come through my works or even my knowledge or growth in the Lord and the Gospel puts me in the same boat as everyone else.
I am a sinner in need of grace and mercy. My only hope comes through Jesus. It doesn’t come from Matt Doane.
I pray that I will not only reflect Christ in my actions and my boast in Christ and proclaim that my hope and my strength comes from Christ and nothing else.
So a believer worships by the spirit and boasts in Christ, now let’s read on and see what Paul says’ a Christian isn’t.
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.
Philippians 3:
2. Christians put no confidence in the flesh.
Paul moves on to discussing his own life and the fact that he had to battle placing his trust in his own achievements and his heritage.
We see seven things that Paul says’ not to put confidence in and each of them appeal to the flesh.
1. Ritual: Paul says he was circumcised on the eighth day. Although Paul went through this famous Jewish ritual, his confidence did not come through that ritual.
Ethnicity: He says he was “of the nation of Israel”, This means he is from the race of Israel and was a physical descendant of Abraham. Instead of finding hope in that, Paul realized that Jesus is for all people that would call on His name to be saved and he had no special privilege because of his Jewish heritage.
2. Ethnicity: He says he was “of the nation of Israel”, This means he is from the race of Israel and was a physical descendant of Abraham. Instead of finding hope in that, Paul realized that Jesus is for all people that would call on His name to be saved and he had no special privilege because of his Jewish heritage.
3. Rank: Paul also makes note that he belonged to “the tribe of Benjamin” which was a distinguished tribe. When the promised land was divided among the 12 tribes, Jerusalem (the holy city) was Benjamin’s territory. Not only that but when the kingdom split, Benjamin remained loyal to the Davidic dynasty. So there was all the reason for Paul to find his hope and assurance in that, but he did not.
4. Tradition: Paul described himself as a “Hebrew of Hebrews,” Although he was fluent in Greek, he did not give up his Hebrew culture. The point of Paul sharing this is that it didn’t matter his family tradition of salvation was, his salvation was in Christ alone.
5. Rule Keeping: Regarding the law, Paul was a Pharisee. He was a part of a morally superior Jewish group who were morally upright by the way they followed rules, in fact they even added to the commands of the OT which made it hard to know what the actual Biblical commands were. Paul didn’t care about any of that, salvation doesn’t come from rule keeping.
I don’t care how kind a person is or how well someone can follow rules, You can follow rules and still spend eternity separated from God if your confidence is not in Christ.
6. Zeal: Before Paul was converted by God, his name was Saul and he was so passionate and zealous for his law keeping, he persecuted the church.
For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
1 Corinthians
Paul was converted and became zealous for the glory of the Lord. But he is saying before his life with Christ that he was not justfied by his zeal.
I heard someone make the statement one time that “it doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you are sincere and really believe it.”
There are many people who are sincere in believing in something other than salvation through Christ alone who are heading toward a path of destruction.
7. Obedience to the law: Paul is saying that his life was exemplary in following Old Testament Law and if he was justified through that, he would be doing pretty good.
All seven of those things that Paul lists all appeal to the flesh and is seeking to find salvation through things other than Jesus.
As we finish up these last five verses we see Paul describing his life before Christ and his life after Christ.
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 knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count 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 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 his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians
3. Christians count everything as loss compared to knowing Christ.
Paul makes it pretty clear in these last verses of his life before Christ and his life after Christ.
The things that he held onto for justification were considered “rubbish” also meaning garbage or dung.
The law-keeping, the family heritage, the works that Paul did were absolute garbage in God’s eyes because at the end of the day Paul is saved by knowing Christ as Lord.
Paul is teaching that his satisfaction came from knowing Christ and Christ fulfilled what his garbage pile could not accomplish.
Imagine Paul having a piece of paper with one column that has his listed credits and one column with listed debits. All of his credits would be moved to the debit column and Jesus would be written in the credit column.
If we sat down and made a list this morning of the reasons why we are saved. We would be wrong by putting things like: I’ve been attending FBA for 50 years, or I’ve gone on 3 mission trips, or I serve in this area of ministry every week. There would be one word written down and that is Jesus.
Don’t miss that this morning. We are saved by the grace of the Lord through faith. It is so tempting to look to justification through other things but it is so freeing and satisfying to know that Jesus alone saves us by his grace and mercy.
As believers, we count EVERYTHING because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ as Lord.
Jesus + Nothing = EVERYTHING
V. 9-11 ends the section and Paul goes into details about the Christian life and discuses the concept of Justification, Sanctification, and glorification.
We see Justification in verse 9.
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—
Only righteous people are going to heaven, yet God’s word says that no one is righteous so we have a problem.
The problem is solved through the Death and Resurrection of Jesus and our righteousness comes from God through faith in Christ.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians
We know that righteousness is a gift from God through Christ and we receive that gift by placing our faith in Christ.
Then we see the idea of Sanctification.
that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
One of the most beautiful truths of the Christian life is that we grow to look more and be like Christ as we submit our lives’ to him.
When we become a believer, we are like a lump of clay and God is molding that clay into what He wants us to look like and He’s molding us to be like his son Jesus.
No one has arrived. All of us are constantly growing and learning more of who Christ is and as we bow our lives’ to walk in a way manner of glorifying the Lord we are sanctified and we look more like Christ.
This paints a picture of the situation that Paul is in because as we have looked at before, Paul is suffering but Paul is still growing through his suffering.
Every situation that God puts us in as believers is causing us to grow and look more like his son. There are things in my life I still don’t understand but I know that God is in control and he wants me to learn and grow as I experience the mountains and the valleys of life.
Look at the final concept that Paul discusses in 3:11.
that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Glorification is the concept that Paul is touching on in this last verse and this is a very encouraging truth for all believers.
Philippians
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
We have a taste of the glory of God right now but one day when we leave this world and go home we will experience the FULL glory of the Lord.
Paul had to find his comfort in knowing that God would bring his salvation to completion and that he would get to experience genuine fellowship with God when he went home.
Think about all of Paul’s accomplishments and achievements. He could have easily considered those as justification for his sin and thought he was doing pretty good but there was a better way and all of those things were absolute garbage to knowing Christ.
What are you holding onto this morning as your justification?
I plead with you this morning to throw all of your good works, your heritage, your resume, your law keeping to the side and take hold of salvation through the wonderful savior Jesus Christ.
Pride will cause you to think that you don’t need Jesus. Pride will cause you not to come forward this morning because you feel and think you have it all together.
Before we can grasp the grace of God, we have to recognize that we are a sinner in need of a Savior.
The death and resurrection of Jesus is enough to save you, All you have to do is repent of your sins and put your faith in Jesus. But you’ve got to take that step.
Life is too short to be miserable all the time because you feel as though you have to be good enough, and righteous enough, and all put together.
That’s the beauty of FBA. We are a family of rescued sinners. None of us have it together, none of us are righteous on our own, and none of us are put together.
We come from broken families and broken situations but we all have one thing in common.
Law it at the feet of Jesus. This morning, you may have been deceived for years thinking your salvation was complete in something other than Christ.
The truth that Jesus sustains us makes us whole. Our salvation is in him and him alone.
Jesus + Nothing = Everything.