Do I Know Jesus?

Introduction

What are many people tempted to place their confidence in?

Good Works

Money

Popularity

Other things?

For so many of us, we’re tempted to place our confidence in ourselves. In our actions, in our successes, in our achievements, in our past. While it’s not a bad thing by any stretch to be successful or to have done some awesome things in the past, we all know that success comes and it goes.

Our circumstances in life change and they change often. One minute you can be on the top of the world and the next you can hit rock bottom, kind of like a roller coaster, you go up and then you go down. You have people praising you one minute and then you have people protesting you the next.

Humans change. Attitudes change. And even happiness changes. Think for a moment this afternoon on a moment in your life recently when you were genuinely happy. What was going on in the moment? What were you feeling? What had led you to that point? For many of us, the moments in which we are happy are times where our circumstances are good. Times where things are going our way. Times where we can look back on our hard work or something we’ve done and relax just a little bit. What happens whenever our circumstances change a little bit, though? You’re relaxing with your family at a baseball game and you’re happy, and then a storm pops up and cancels the game. Further, you get a flat tire on the drive back home and when you finally get home you realize that you left the windows open and a skunk has sprayed all of its juicy goodness inside your home. Are you still happy? Absolutely not because your circumstances have changed!

For so many of us we have this inner battle, this inner struggle, and it stems from wanting to satisfy ourselves with things. We try to satisfy ourselves with things that make us happy. We try to satisfy ourselves with money or popularity or any of these other things and they never work! In fact, they leave us feeling even more empty than before.

Paul knew all about this. Paul did all the right things. He knew the right people. He said the right words. Yet, he wasn’t satisfied. We read in the book of Philippians, though, that something changed in Paul’s life. He went from having no joy to being full of joy even while in prison. He went from persecuting the church to planting the church. He went from hating Christ to following Christ. What changed in Paul’s life? What has to change in our lives today?

As you break out into small groups, spend some time this afternoon reading the text and discuss things that stand out to you.

What changed in Paul’s life?

What does it mean to know Jesus?

What is the difference between happiness and joy?

What is the only thing that saves?

Philippians 3:1–6 ESV

1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you. 2 Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— 4 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: 5 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; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Paul was focused on the wrong thing during his pre-Christ years. It wasn’t that he was doing a lot of bad things or that he didn’t know anything about the Scriptures… We read the exact opposite. This is true for many people in the United States and within churches today as well. People seem to know Bible stories and they know the Hobby Lobby Bible verses - you know what those are, don’t you? The Philippians 4:13’s and John 3:16’s of the world. Not that there’s anything wrong with those verses - they’re great truths to hold on to! Yet, if we’re not careful, we can think that everyone who knows a Bible verse is a Christian or that everyone who grew up going to church is a Christian, or worse yet, that if we know the right “church” answers, that we’re a Christian. We too can be tempted to focus on the wrong things - just like Paul.

False Knowledge (1-6)

Paul begins in Philippians 3 by talking about the temptation to place confidence in our flesh. What Paul is truly addressing is the problem of legalism and the temptation to think that our works earn our righteousness before God. Paul talks so much in this letter about joy and the joy that comes from belonging to Jesus Christ. Joy, he shares can be a safeguard of sorts as it gets the focus off of ourselves and onto Christ. Joy is our greatest threat against the cancer of legalism.

Have you ever heard someone use the word legalism? That word gets thrown out an awful lot these days but it is a legitimate danger. In Jesus’ day the Pharisees were very legalistic as they tempted to prove their rightness and justification based on their religious works. We think that we can save ourselves. We think that salvation is based on Jesus + my awesome works. Jesus + anything = nothing, according to the Bible.

Paul begins to call out these “dogs” known as the Judaizers who accepted Jesus as the Messiah but they held on to their religious works as proof of their righteousness. We find their existence back in Acts 15:1

Acts 15:1 ESV

1 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

They argued that in order to become a Christian, you first had to become a Jew and become circumcised and follow the Mosaic law. There were rules and regulations that you had to do before you could become a Christian. You had to do the right things and if you did that then you might be good enough for Jesus to actually save you. The idea was on gaining confidence in the flesh.

Why do you think there’s a temptation to add things to Jesus?

In studying my own heart and talking with others, it comes down to our sinful nature, doesn’t it? We desperately crave credit for our salvation. If my salvation is Jesus + me then I can play a part and claim credit. This demonstrates that I don’t truly know Jesus, though. This demonstrates that my focus is more on legalism than denying myself and following Jesus

Notice what Paul says about his resume/track record: He has the most confidence in the flesh of anyone! Circumcised on the 8th day, an Israelite, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews - look at his past. In 2022 people would say that Paul was privileged because he was born to a home with parents who took seriously their responsibility as Jewish parents. He had all of this stuff going for him and he had reason to be confident and the reasons continue on: he was a Pharisee who was educated by one of the greatest teachers in all of Judaism, Gamileal. He was zealous for the law and proved this by persecuting the church. He kept all of the laws and was blameless before them. This isn’t saying that he was perfect - but think of the religious check list. When the doors of the church were open, Saul was there. When there was a Bible contest, Saul won. Whenever the law was looked at, Saul stood out. He did what he was supposed to do.

Now, at this point do you see how Paul could have confidence in his works and actions? He did all the right stuff and came from the right place. Yet, his works and knowledge weren’t good enough. Think about this for a moment. What if you were raised by someone who taught you that 2 + 2 = 5. You’re insulated in a bubble of sorts and for years this is all that you’ve known before one day you run into someone who says that they have $2 and need to find $3 in order to pay for something that is $5 total. You’d be a little confused because you were taught that 2 + 2 = 5, so how much money does this stranger really need? Not $3 but $2. You go and give the person $2 so that they’d have all that they need to pay for their item but they give you the craziest look you’ve ever seen and you can’t figure it out. What have you done? You’ve helped, sure, but they’re still $1 short because 2 + 2 = 4, not 5. Even though you have this mental knowledge of something it doesn’t mean that what you were taught was right. It doesn’t mean that what you think is correct.

For years people have placed their confidence in their own actions simply because it’s what they were taught to do. Maybe you today are tempted to trust in your own works and abilities because you think that if you do enough good things, you’ll be rewarded by God because you think “God helps those who help themselves.” Friends, don’t buy into that Satanic lie - study Scripture instead. Let’s read what Paul discovered and what we all need to discover!

Philippians 3:7–11 ESV

7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 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 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— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

True Knowledge (7-11)

Several years ago my parents moved houses from the south side of Ozark to the north side of Ozark. We had moved to this house whenever I was in 3rd grade and we had made lots of great memories in this house with friends and family. Part of moving to a new house involved getting rid of some stuff. I was off in college whenever my parents were packing a lot of boxes and getting stuff out of storage in our attic and things like that and one weekend whenever I came home my parents had a box of childhood trophies and medals that I had won that they had stored away for years and years. We began to go through and relive those moments in basketball, baseball, track, and band. Those were wonderful memories that some of you find yourself in today. You find yourself playing in band, or playing a sport, or enjoying a hobby and there is such a temptation for us as humans to place our identity in the thing that we enjoy or the thing that we do. There’s a temptation to place our identity in our trophies that we collect and the things that we’ve achieved… What are the things that you have on your trophy wall?

Your report card?

Your batting average from 6th grade?

Your all conference trophy?

Your honor choir invitation?

All of these things are good, but they can easily boost up our ego to the point where we’re tempted to flip the script and instead of rejoicing and giving thanks to God like Paul does in Philippians 3:1, we flip the screen to ourselves and we say, “Hey look at me!” This is what Paul did before Christ - he had the right resume and the right trophies. He knew the right stuff. Yet, he now considers those trophies as loss look at the image on the screen, they’re worthless… They’re nothing more than dust collectors. Does that mean that he regrets his past or that he refuses to use his skills and achievements? No, instead, Paul leverages his past for the Gospel. Paul has found his identity in Christ - not in things - so instead of doing things to find himself, Paul, who has found himself in Christ, does things to point others to Christ.

Paul came to understand that what mattered most was not his list of accomplishments and his personal righteousness, instead what mattered most was belonging to Jesus and having Jesus’ righteousness imputed to Him through faith. If anyone had reason to boast in their own works and righteousness it would’ve been Paul, look at his resume! Yet, he says we can’t do this. How many of you have heard someone say something along these lines: Why do bad things happen to good people? This is the problem of evil, as some atheists have called it.

If God is sovereign and in control, if God is good, and if God has all power then bad things shouldn’t happen to good people and because bad things do happen to good people it proves therefore that God is either not all good, or not all powerful, or that He doesn’t even exist.

Think about this argument for a moment. Does the Bible share that God is all powerful? Yes. Does the Bible share that God is good? Yes. Does the Bible share that God is just? Yes. So, why do bad things happen? Because we are sinners. God is perfectly just - He doesn’t give us something worse than what we deserve. Romans 3:10

Romans 3:10 CSB

10 as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one.

Romans 3:23 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6:23 ESV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We are all unrighteous sinners and we deserve death and separation from God in hell based on who we are and what we’ve done. So the answer to the question, why do bad things happen to good people is simple: That’s only happened one time and that was the cross and Jesus went there willingly. We have to ask who gets to define “good” - because if it’s our society that gets to define what good is then we’re in trouble. To some in our world you’re a good person just because you haven’t murdered someone else or if you’ve been kind to others. To others you’re only good if you give them exactly what they want when they want it. The standard for good changes based on the person defining good. We have to let God’s Word define what good is and whenever we do this we quickly realize that we fall short of the mark. This is what Paul is getting at in Philippians 3:7-11 as he shares that he thought that he had it all figured out and that he was good enough on his own but then he came to find that all the things that he used to consider as gain he now sees as a loss.

His previous works couldn’t be the basis of his righteousness or salvation because they weren’t good enough. He had the wrong knowledge. He had a mental knowledge but he didn’t have saving faith. Think about the difference between these two things. How many of you know some kind of obscure fact or stat?

Any Cardinal fans here? This might be before your time but the Cardinals just signed Albert Pujols and he was the best player on their team from 2001-2011. I can tell you just about anything you want to know about Albert Pujols. He led the NL in batting average in 2003 and he hit .359. He hit a career high 49 home runs in 2006. He won 3 MVPs and 2 World series titles. I know these things because Albert Pujols was my guy growing up. I loved watching him hit and he was the reason I wore #5 when I played baseball. I knew his stats and I still know some of them… But do I really know Albert Pujols? No. I know some random numbers and pieces of information but that doesn’t mean that I genuinely know the guy himself. Likewise, so many people in our world know some things about Jesus. They know the Christmas version of Jesus or the Easter story… They know that Jesus was a real guy and a wise teacher. They know that He died on a cross and maybe they even know that He performed miracles and healed people. But there’s a temptation to just know the stats about Jesus instead of actually knowing Jesus.

Whenever you stand before God one day, He’s not going to ask you how many home runs Albert Pujols hit and He’s also not going to ask you how many people Jesus fed and healed during His earthly ministry. Those stats are good to know, but they won’t save you. Paul shares that the only thing that can save - the only knowledge that truly matters - is knowing Jesus Christ “my” Lord! The only thing that truly matters isn’t my accomplishments or trophies… It’s faith in Jesus Christ. It’s His righteousness changing my life.

Think for a moment about the Gospel. For some of you you’re thinking that this is elementary and for others of you this might be a foreign concept. Literally the Gospel means the good news - so what is the good news in Scripture? 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 is a brief summary of the Gospel as Paul writes

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 ESV

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

Christ died for our sins, was buried, and raised from the dead! That’s the Gospel - that’s great news! But the great news of the Gospel must lead us to ask a simple question: Why did Jesus have to come in the first place? He had to come because we aren’t good enough on our own. He had to come because we had all gone astray and turned to our own way as Isaiah 52-53 shares with us. He had to come because left to ourselves, we were completely without hope. He had to come because we have no righteousness to boast of in and of ourselves… Our accomplishments, actions, and achievements cannot save ourselves from the punishment of our sins. The only thing that can do that is faith in Jesus Christ. Before you get to the good news of the Gospel, we all have to be brutally honest with ourselves about why we all need Jesus so badly. If we were just a little bit sick, we’d just need a doctor. If we were just a little confused, we’d just need a counselor. If we were just a little bit lost, we’d need a guide. But we find in Scripture that before Christ we were dead in our sins… So God sent a Savior to conquer our enemy and die in our place on the cross.

The great news of the Gospel is that we are saved from God’s punishment, by God’s Son, for God’s glory - not because of our own goodness but because of His graciousness! He credits His children with Christ’s perfect righteousness so that today you are adopted into His family and so that one day in the future you will be welcomed into glory with open arms because you are declared innocent because of the blood of Jesus. This is the best news of all!

At this point we have to reflect and ask ourselves if we have genuine faith in Jesus?

Has Jesus saved me from my sin? Is His righteousness my righteousness? Am I still trying to save myself with my own works?

Here’s some hope to hold onto today:

If you’ve been justified by Christ - if you’ve repented of your sins and believed in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead - you’re declared justified and that legal declaration cannot be taken away. You are secured in Christ immediately! (v. 9 is justification)

If you’ve been justified, you are being sanctified. As Philippians 1:6 reminded us, He started this work in you and He’ll complete it too! Paul talks about knowing Christ more and being conformed to Christ through suffering and death. Know that this is a process.

If you’ve been justified and if you’re being sanctified, one day you will be glorified as Paul hits on in verse 11. You have this resurrection hope that one day you too will raise from the dead and spend eternity in glory with your Savior.

Do you know Jesus Christ - not just His stats, but do you know Him as Lord and Savior? Maybe a better question to consider, does Jesus know me? Have I repented of my sin and trusted in Him?