Counting the Cost

Mother’s Count the Cost

Philippians 3:1–11 CSB

In addition, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write to you again about this is no trouble for me and is a safeguard for you. Watch out for the dogs, watch out for the evil workers, watch out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and do not put confidence in the flesh— although I have reasons for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised the eighth day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, a Pharisee; regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless. But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ 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. My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.

The Issue at Hand: Self-Righteous Legalism

The first call: Watch out! this indicates that the people are there, and you will not always see or expect them.

The deceptive nature of false perspectives.

When we consider the way that they work in this way, we must be vigilant in order not to be deceived.

Who are we to watch out for? The dogs, the evil workers, those who mutilate the flesh.

What does this mean?

In Genesis 17:1-8 we see God’s covenant with Abram

Genesis 17:1–8 CSB

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, “I am God Almighty. Live in my presence and be blameless. I will set up my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you greatly.” Then Abram fell facedown and God spoke with him: “As for me, here is my covenant with you: You will become the father of many nations. Your name will no longer be Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations. I will make you extremely fruitful and will make nations and kings come from you. I will confirm my covenant that is between me and you and your future offspring throughout their generations. It is a permanent covenant to be your God and the God of your offspring after you. And to you and your future offspring I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as a permanent possession, and I will be their God.”

God goes on to then tell Abraham that their sign of adherence to this covenant was that every male would be circumcised on the eighth day.

Any male convert or outsider brought in would be as well.

The issue at hand was that there were those who were teaching that Gentiles who believed in Christ must be circumcised to be saved.

This issue had already been settled in Acts 15:7-11

Acts 15:7–11 CSB

After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you are aware that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the gospel message and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he also did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Now then, why are you testing God by putting a yoke on the disciples’ necks that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same way they are.”

The point that Peter makes here is that it is clear that they have been saved, by evidence of the Holy Spirit, and that it makes no sense to put a standard on them that none have been able to uphold.

This ties in perfectly with what Paul says in Romans 3:20-22

Romans 3:20–22 CSB

For no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law. But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets. The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction.

Salvation is justification by Christ, not justification by the law.

There is no distinction, just like Peter said. There is no special status of the Jew versus the Gentile.

However, there were still some that were trying to impose the burden of circumcision and the law onto the Gentile believers. This is not in line with what is evidenced in their faith, and what the Apostles had concluded.

What does this mean for us today?

The real issue that these people had, was that they held this status they previously held as valuable, and sought to impose it upon the gentiles.

They were self-righteous because of their claim to the Old Covenant, and Legalistic by seeking to impose it on those who are not like them.

This is what we need to watch out for today.

We need to look out for those are self-righteous and legalistic.

Almost all those who are legalistic, are self-righteous. Almost all who are self-righteous are legalistic. They like to point to what they are doing and tell others to do the same.

We also need to be sure that we are not those people.

What does it look like to be self-righteous and legalistic.

To celebrate ourselves for and impose non-biblical statutes onto others.

This could also be the elevation of a biblical truth to a point where it is not biblical.

Following Christ Costs Everything

Following Christ means that we must lay down our pride.

We tend to be people of pride.

Pride is what keeps us from asking for directions when we are lost.

Pride is what keeps us from asking for help when we need it.

It is the idea that we have it all figured out and we don’t need outside help.

To lay down pride, is to realize that we can’t do it all on our own.

Following Christ is an act of Surrender.

“Throw in the towel”

This earliest citation that I have found of this is in the American newspaper The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, January 1913:

Murphy went after him, landing right and left undefended face. The crowd importuned referee Griffin to stop the fight and a towel was thrown from Burns' corner as a token of defeat.

It is saying that everything that I have worked for and everything that I have tried to do is not able to make me righteous.

No matter how I may have tried to be a good person, no matter how I may have worked. It is not enough.

When we follow Christ, we must lay all of that down, and take the righteousness he freely gives, rather than claiming any righteousness of our own.

This is what it means to “boast in Christ.”

We don’t claim to be the source of the blessing and favor we have. We boast in what Christ has done, not what we have done.

We don’t want to boast in ourselves when we aren’t the ones worth boasting about.

We have all seen or at least seen depictions of a guy who has fancy cars, goes to extravagant places, and seems to have the perfect life. They paint a facade as though they are extremely successful, when really they have accomplished nothing and are living off of their parents money.

As Christians, we too live off of the grace of our Father. Through Christ.

This is what it means to come to surrender and lay down pride.

We lay aside all of the hard work that we have done and accept the gift of Christ.

We also don’t try and take any credit for what he has done, rather we point to him as the one who has accomplished this work.

Paul gives us an example to follow in this passage. He explains that if anyone had reason to trust their own righteousness it was him.

circumcised the eighth day

nation of israel

tribe of Benjamin

Purebred Hebrew

He was a religious leader, a Pharisee.

He was zealous about his beliefs, persecuting the Church.

He followed the law as good as anyone could.

But Paul says that whatever was gain, he counts as loss because of Christ.

He lays those things down. He surrenders them.

We see this example of every person in Scripture who followed Christ. They left their nets, they left their career, they left their life of sin and followed Christ.

Not just that, Paul considers everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

Let’s focus in on that last part. “The Surpassing Value of Knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

We make value based decisions every single day.

You may have heard or been a part of an exchange like this, “I don’t have time to (fill in the blank)” and the response, “If it mattered, you would make time.”

We make time for all sorts of things in our lives, and we determine what we are willing to sacrifice.

The restaurant is or is not worth the 45 minute wait.

The new purchase is or is not worth the money it costs.

That extra slice of cake is or is not worth the higher number on the scale.

We all know the phrase, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

There are a handful of events that fall into this category. Your children’s birth being one of the highest priorities for most people.

What Paul is saying here is, “Everything I did, everything I have, everything I could do or have, nothing, not one thing is worth more than knowing Jesus.

He goes on to say that he considers them as dung.

Not only does he say that Christ is better than everything, but in comparison to knowing Christ, the best thing is dung.

It isn’t a close comparison.

One of the songs the Choir preformed recently was “Is He worthy?”

Paul’s answer to this, and ours should be as well, is a resounding yes. Christ is worthy of any and all things, including the entirety of our lives.

Not only is he worthy of it, but in him we find something that we cannot attain on our own. The debt we couldn’t pay, we find erased because...

Following Christ Means the Cost is Already Paid

Following Christ may mean the loss of all earthly things, but we will also be able to realize the gain of something that we could never have attained on our own.

Paul goes on to say that he counts these things as loss, so that he may gain Christ, Philippians 3:9

Philippians 3:9 CSB

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.

This is the beauty of following Christ. It is the perfect culmination of salvation.

Not only is he worthy of all things and far greater than anything else we can possibly imagine.

He gives us the greatest thing that we cannot attain on our own.

Not only that, but this salvation is for all who believe. Jew, Gentile, “righteous,” sinner. Any person who comes to Christ has equal access to salvation and forgiveness.

We lay down in surrender. We lay down our pride and we believe in Christ, we rely on him instead of ourselves. Then what he delivers is far better than anything else we could possibly hope to produce on our own.

Philippians 3:10–11 CSB

My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.

We know and can be confident that we will secure the salvation that we hope for.

We can know that what lies at the end of this life is worth everything that we will endure.

This cost being paid not only leads to our eternal reward, but freedom in this life.

Romans 5-7 gives a great picture of this. Particularly in chapter 6. It discusses the idea that we are dead to sin. We are freed from sin.

We were once slaves to sin, but we are now free.

Romans 6:10-14 says it this way.

Romans 6:10–14 CSB

For the death he died, he died to sin once for all time; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires. And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness. For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under the law but under grace.

Everything that we might have worked for, the overcoming of sin in our life to be a “good person” is found in the righteousness of Christ.

The commandment is not to sin, not because we have to earn something, but because it has already been given freedom in sin.

We are not to use our bodies as weapons for unrighteousness but for righteousness.

This is because we are not under the law, but under grace. We aren’t trapped in the cycle of trying to be good enough, we have already been given the righteousness of Christ.

We no longer have to overcome sin, Christ said it is finished. We simply have to follow him and allow the spirit to work in us.

Do you have that confidence this morning?

Have you surrendered to Christ as your Lord and Savior? Have you understood your sin, and that you cannot earn your salvation, but my believe in Jesus? Today is the day.

If you have trusted him, have you bought into the lies of legalism from your own mind or from others? Lay all pride aside and only trust in Him.

Have you reflected recently on just how wonderful it is to know Christ?