Stress Free Salvation
Notes
Transcript
We all know that salvation is a gift of God through Christ Jesus to any man that will repent of sin and believe by faith.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Yet it is often the case in the believer’s life, either by our own making or by the influence of others, that we get stressed about salvation because we feel we are not doing enough work, study or worship to maintain salvation in Christ. Instead of rejoicing in the Lord we get lost in religious legalism.
Text: Phil. 3:1-7
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.
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.
7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
1. Repetitious in Rejoicing; 1
1. Repetitious in Rejoicing; 1
Rejoice in the Lord- Greek [chairo/siro] Closely related to gladness and happiness, although joy is more a state of being than an emotion; a result of choice. One of the fruits of the spirit (Gal 5:22–23). Having joy is part of the experience of being a Christian.
Heyink, B. (2016). Joy. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Repetition- repeating, restating, retelling, rehearsing
Paul is reminding the believers in Philippi of whom their faith in salvation is in and by whom it comes. This is a safe thing to do! It should be habit forming.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In the movie “The Help (2011)”, A black nanny whispers “You is Kind, You is Smart, You is Important” to a white child sitting on her lap, holding her small hand. Nanny Aibileen Clack wants the baby, Mae Mobley, to keep in mind that she is kind, she is smart, she is important.
We need to remind ourselves daily that “We is Loved, We is Forgiven, We is Important to Christ, We is Rejoicing!”
2. Beware of Dogs; 2-3
2. Beware of Dogs; 2-3
Paul tells them that one of the reasons people get stressed over salvation is that they begin to let “dogs” [Judaizers, false teachers] begin to influence their thoughts.
Dogs- these are not cute puppies but wild dogs, mongrels/dingos that travel in packs and attack people. They were dirty, disease-carrying, vicious animals who would attack people, especially children. In the Bible, dogs stand for the lowest thing people can think of.
18 You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog to the house of the Lord your God for any vowed offering, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God.
15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.
11 As a dog returns to his own vomit, So a fool repeats his folly.
Judaizers attacked new converts with their false, legalistic teaching. They were men who professed to be Christians, but still considered it necessary to be bound to the Mosaic Law, especially circumcision.
There are two Greek words which are very similar.
Peritemnein—This word means “to circumcise.”
Katatemnein—This word means “to mutilate,” and is the one that is used here. Paul says, “You Jews think that you are circumcised; in point of fact, you are only mutilated.” What is the point of all this? According to Jewish belief, circumcision was ordained upon Israel as a sign and symbol that they were the people with whom God had entered into a special relationship [Gen. 17:10-11]. There were Jews that professed to believe in Christ, but insisted that circumcision was essential to salvation. Paul says, “If you have nothing to show but the circumcision of the flesh, you are not really circumcised, you are only mutilated. Real circumcision is the devotion of the heart, mind, and life to the Lord. That is what a Christian truly does. Treasures from Philippians (II. Resist the Enemy (3:2))
29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.
30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
We might not have the issue with circumcision in our churches today but we do have issues that some want to add to the Gospel.
What are some things churches add to the gospel for men to be saved? Baptism, speaking in tongues, church membership, KJV only translation.
3. Crucify Our Credentials; 4-7
3. Crucify Our Credentials; 4-7
One of the things the dogs/Judaizers/false teachers did is taught that their traditions, rituals and religious credentials is what would get them to heaven. But if that were the case, Paul would have gotten to heaven before any of them based on his Jewish credentials.
Ritual- Paul was circumcised the 8th day according to the law of the Jews
Relatives- Paul was from the stock of Benjamin, the most prominent tribe in Israel besides Judah. Mordecai was from the tribe of Benjamin.
Religion- Paul was a Pharisee, the most zealous observers of the Law
Right living- Paul was blameless when it came to observing the Law of God. No one could lay fault at his feet for not keeping any part of the Law.
We are not saved by rituals, relatives, religion, or right living. We are saved by a Redeemer.
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Close;
When it comes to salvation, grace says “done!” Legalism says “do!” We are not saved because of what we do but by what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.
Paul reminds us to rejoice in Christ and take no confidence in the flesh!