Sunday PM, August 11

Rejoice

Philippians 3:1 NKJV

1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe.

Rejoice!

It is not suspicious that I would write this...it is a safeguard for you.

No matter how bad it gets, God is still working in you to accomplish His purposes.

No matter how bad it gets, there is an end to suffering.

No matter how bad it gets, Christ died on the cross to give you life, and He rose from the grave to prove that He has the power to keep His promises.

Beware of the Dogs

phil 3 2-

Philippians 3:2–6 NKJV

2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, 4 though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

Beware of the dogs:

Psalm 22:16–20 NKJV

16 For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; 17 I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. 18 They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots. 19 But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me; O My Strength, hasten to help Me! 20 Deliver Me from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog.

We are the circumcision

We worship God in Spirit

We rejoice in Jesus Christ

We have no confidence in the flesh.

Circumcised

Hebrew of the tribe of Benjamin.

A Pharisee concerning the law

Persecuted the church concerning zeal

Concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

Gain Christ and the righteousness which is from God by faith

phil 3 7-

Philippians 3:7–10 NKJV

7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,

What did Paul lose?

v7 Paul went from being a Pharisee with authority to a prisoner because of Christ. He went from being the Jew who persecuted Christians to a Christian being persecuted by the Jews.

v8 The value of knowing Christ Jesus the Lord is unsurpassable.

v9 righteousness through faith in Christ vs righteousness from the law.

I want to make sure you completely understand what is happening here. Sometimes it seams like Paul is throwing away the Law…almost saying the Law is useless. As a result of Bible Illiteracy many preachers and celebrity teachers have led many in the church to just throw the Old testament away.

This is not what Paul is saying and it is not what God wants.

Matthew 5:17–20 CSB

17 “Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all things are accomplished. 19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.

17-

luke 24 44-

Luke 24:44–45 CSB

44 He told them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

So, What is Paul saying about the Law?

phil 3

Philippians 3:9 CSB

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

is Paul saying that the only righteousness that comes from the law is a righteousness that is his own doing? It is only a righteousness of works? No. One proof:

Luke 1:5–6 CSB

5 In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest of Abijah’s division named Zechariah. His wife was from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 Both were righteous in God’s sight, living without blame according to all the commands and requirements of the Lord.

Luke 1:6 CSB

6 Both were righteous in God’s sight, living without blame according to all the commands and requirements of the Lord.

Here is the clue. If I hadn’t read through the Bible so many times and studied another language to speak it…I might not have caught it.

Philippians 3:6 CSB

6 regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless.

Was Paul blameless concerning the law? nope…by his own admition:

1 Timothy 1:12–13 CSB

12 I give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord who has strengthened me, because he considered me faithful, appointing me to the ministry— 13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an arrogant man. But I received mercy because I acted out of ignorance in unbelief,

1 tim 1 12-

Here, Paul admits that he sinned while performing the law AS THE PHARISEES HAD BEGUN TO INTERPRET IT.

Paul says in v13 that he was living out the law in ignorance and unbelief.

Before Christ, righteousness came through the law by faith.

Moses gave:

Ceremonial Laws

Religious Laws

Civic Laws

Because we are all sinners, and people would break the covenant (They broke the covenant before Moses even got off the mountain.), God set apart the Levites to offer daily burnt sacrifices as intercessory prayer for the people.

The people were required to appear before the Lord 3 times a year to observe 7 feasts. One of these feasts was the Day of Atonement in the 7th month of the year. The high priest would enter the holy of holies one time a year to sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the altar. This would provide atonement for sin for one more year.

But all of the burnt sacrifices and specifically the Passover Feast was to remind the people that God had promised to send the Messiah to die on behalf of the guilty.

Moses had reaffirmed the promise in the Law itself:

Deuteronomy 18:15–19 CSB

15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. 16 This is what you requested from the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let us not continue to hear the voice of the Lord our God or see this great fire any longer, so that we will not die!’ 17 Then the Lord said to me, ‘They have spoken well. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. 19 I will hold accountable whoever does not listen to my words that he speaks in my name.

deut

By the time you get to Zechariah and Elizabeth in the New Testament, it was possible to be righteous in God’s sight through the law, because they believed God’s promise to send the Messiah.

When Paul says in :

Philippians 3:9 CSB

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

he is speaking about how he and other Jews continued to perform the law after Jesus died and was resurrected.

What happened to the Jews is not that the Law was insufficient to gain righteousness…it is just that the law was meant to hold people of faith until Jesus came. The law declared the coming of the Innocent One who would die for the guilty. They rejected the Messiah that God sent, therefore after Jesus died and rose from the grave the fact that they continued to perform the works of the law means that they changed God’s meaning and intention concerning the Law…they did this because they were not adhering to the Law by faith…they were seeking a righteousness of works.

Romans 10:1–3 CSB

1 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God concerning them is for their salvation. 2 I can testify about them that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 Since they are ignorant of the righteousness of God and attempted to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness.

rom 10 1-

In Ahaz’ day, God promised a sign (explain) that would be a stumbling block:

Isaiah 8:14–15 CSB

14 He will be a sanctuary; but for the two houses of Israel, he will be a stone to stumble over and a rock to trip over, and a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 Many will stumble over these; they will fall and be broken; they will be snared and captured.

So the Jews stumbled, but Paul was a Jew and among the remnant that was saved…throughout Paul’s ministry he would first go the the Jews of a city and many Jews (remnant) were saved. In the Philippian church…Lydia was a Jew and a part of the remnant.

So Now we conclude what Paul is saying to the Philippians

Philippians 3:9–11 CSB

9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, 11 assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.

Philippians 3:9–10 NKJV

9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,

Faith through the Law was faith that God would send the Messiah. Faith in Christ is believing that Jesus was the Messiah.

After Christ, it is impossible to gain righteousness through the Law…because righteousness can only be gained through faith in Christ…He was the fulfillment of the Law.

Faith is believing rightly about God and ordering your life accordingly. (I don’t have time right now to get into this…but one day I will have the opportunity.)

V10 Paul turned from the Jews current rejection of Jesus as Messiah to know Jesus as Messiah.

power of His resurrection. The resurrection is absolutely vital. Without the resurrection we would have no proof that God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for the eternal atonement for sin.

Paul, like Christ is suffering at the hands of the Jews, and could possibly like Christ die by the hands of the Jews. He believes Scripture: because he is righteous in God’s sight (through faith in Jesus not the works of the law) he will like Christ resurrect from the dead.

Our resurrection will also be proof that God has accepted Jesus’ sacrifice....this is why Jesus is called the first fruits…He died on the Passover…He rose on the waving of the sheaf (faith that the harvest would come.)

1 cor 15 22

1 Corinthians 15:22–23 CSB

22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at his coming, those who belong to Christ.