“Pouring Out From Abundance: Flushing down the glories of the flesh
Sermon Title: Pouring Out From Abundance: Flushing down the glories of the flesh
Scripture: Philippians 3:1-11 ESV
Introduction
We often find ourselves drifting away from our original goals as we are distracted by many things – money, ideas, opportunities, and whatnot – although we began with a clear purpose and focus. The well-known marriage vows reflect that clear purpose of commitment to each other, but it may not be so clear in daily life. The same can be said with professions where you began with passion and aspirations of making a difference, but now you may be questioning why you’re even there. For the church, a lack of purpose and focus can have devastating consequences to its mission and the teachings of the church. We are to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ by making disciples of Jesus Christ, but we drift from passion to apathy, from sacrifice to comfort, from service to selfishness. And so, Paul warns us against losing clarity of what it means to be a true Christian whose righteousness comes only through faith in Christ.
The Message
“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.” (vv.1-2)
- Paul begins by addressing unpleasant issues, but he reassures the Philippians that they are to rejoice because what he has to say is for their benefit and there is nothing to be afraid. However, we find Paul upset and using harsh language against people he describes as “dogs… evildoers… those who mutilate the flesh.” One modern interpretation describes it as “barking dogs… religious busybodies… knife-happy circumcisers (The Message).”
- Christianity’s roots being in Judaism, many Jewish Christians believed the requirement to be a Christian was to be Jewish. However, when the Holy Spirit began to dwell with Gentiles, a big debate occurred among the believers in the council in the Jerusalem church (Acts 15); some believed that Gentiles must convert to Judaism and observe the Law (including practices such as circumcision) to become Christian. The issue was settled as it was clear that God had grafted the Gentiles into the covenant through Jesus Christ (Cf. Acts 15:7-9; Rom. 11:17-24). Even after 11 years, some still tried to convince Gentiles to convert to Judaism and observe Jewish practices, in other words, human works and human requirements. These people began to infiltrate the church of Philippi which was mostly Gentiles – and Paul is upset and turns to aggressive language.
“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.” (vv.3-4a)
- Paul knew that human works (such as circumcision) was not a requirement to follow Christ. Paul knew that the requirements to follow Christ are: (1) To worship by the Spirit of God, not by some human tradition; (2) to glory in Jesus Christ and what he’s done for us; (2) and to refuse to depend on human effort or accomplishments to please God.
- The same kind of thing is happening today where people say that you have to be become a follower of Jesus Christ and as a Christian you are required to do something else – you have to talk, dress, live, worship, or pray in a certain way, or support certain political views. Some Christians may even say that you need tithe, while others may say you need to receive the gift of tongues.
- To be clear, these human measures, in and of themselves can be markers of a person’s maturity of faith (Cf. James 2:14-26 – the impossibility of true faith to be without good works that flow from the heart, not legalism). It becomes a problem when human measures/works become legalistic requirements. Paul warns the church to be vigilant against legalistic false believers who boast in the glory of their own flesh, their own human works, rites and traditions, and pedigree, rather than in the glory of Jesus Christ.
“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.” (vv.4b-6)
- Paul lists his impressive pedigree that was above all others and had more reasons to boast than others – his pedigree and credentials as a Jew were spotless. Yet, Paul confesses that all of these things got in his way, and the result was that he persecuted the Church and opposed God.
- When we come to Christ, he begins to change us. We know that there’s nothing that we did or could do to earn salvation. Our characters begin to change, but we may begin to confuse our changed characters with the entry requirements of faith. We begin to think that you have to act or look a certain way and clean up your act. We confuse the cultural markers of what it means to be a good person with what it means to be a Christian. The markers we use – what Christians should do and should not do – become as important as faith itself. We even begin to isolate ourselves from those who aren’t like us.
- In Paul’s day, was there anything wrong with circumcision in itself? Not at all. The issue isn’t the markers but our attitude toward them. We think God will be impressed by them and we press others to do the same. We lose clarity of what’s really important and our human effort can never earn God’s acceptance.
“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.” (vv.7-8)
- Paul shows us the alternative: confidence in knowing Jesus Christ! Paul considers everything credited to him as “rubbish.” The original Greek word is “skubalon” which means “dung.” Paul counted all things credited to his flesh as dung. There is nothing wrong with the markers themselves, but when we make them an issue of who’s in and who’s out, they’re worse than dung. We must get rid of them.
- The alternative is “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord (v.8).” It’s about knowing and understanding who Christ is and what he has done. It is much more than knowing Christ as it says, “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” This emphasizes our relationship with Jesus. It’s about acknowledging his Lordship over me and obeying him.
“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” (v.9). Paul outlines two things that result from this relationship with Jesus:
1. We gain Christ’s righteousness: when we stand before God on Judgement Day, we can cling to the righteousness that comes from faith in Christ, rather than our own actions and credentials. God declares us righteous when we place our trust in Christ, thus we are “found in him.”
This means that on the Day of Judgment when we stand before the judgement throne of God, we can cling to the righteousness that comes from our faith in Christ, rather than our own actions and credentials. We must depend fully upon the grace of God and cling to Christ who is our only means of righteousness. We count everything as loss, so that we can gain Christ’s righteousness.
2. We attain Christ’s resurrection power: “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 (vv.10-11).” The surpassing worth of Christ is that when we gain Christ, we gain the power of resurrection. We join and experience Christ in his resurrection, and we await the day we will be perfected like Jesus was – Paul desired this by any means even unto suffering. This means we can endure suffering and hardship in life because through Christ we will experience resurrection in our daily sufferings, in our hopelessness, in our dead relationships, dead courage in our workplaces, dead passions in our ministries, and every area of our lives that has been choked by the power of death. Through Christ, we are free!
Conclusion
There are markers you may think is essential to following Jesus Christ – gift of tongue, women leadership, infant baptism, differing eschatological views, Communion practices, and how Christians should look and behave – but we’ve made it that way. The Lord, through Paul, shows us how these things are worthless when compared to knowing, understanding, and having a relationship with Jesus.
Paul confidently declares, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” May this be the new model for our thinking and may this be the lens by which we approach our lives.
Reflection and Response
We are called to be a church that advances the gospel as we pour out to those around us, and this requires a clear understanding of what it means to be in the gospel first. The gospel tells us that as we place our faith in Him, the righteousness of Christ and his resurrection power is imputed to us for our salvation. If we boast about anything, let us boast about one thing and one thing only – that “I know Jesus and he is my Lord.”
· What are some of the achievements and credentials that you might have relied upon (and still do) for your glory and righteousness? (ex. Number of years as a Christian; serve in leadership such as praise team; grew up in Christian family; gone on mission trips; attend every revival event; you don’t smoke or drink, etc.)
· Of those things, what is the Lord challenging you to flush out of your life today?
· Have you considered that your markers (what Paul calls “dung) may have become a stumbling block for other believers?
· Have you unintentionally added your important things to the gospel? (ex. If you don’t do or believe this, you’re not a real Christian)
· Have you ever isolated yourself from others or others from yourself because of these things?