Monday, August 24 –
Welcome to Monday. I hope you had a great weekend, and time for
worshiping with others. We are continuing
our reading thru the New Testament in a Year, and today our text is in
Philippians 2:19 – 3:21. When you have
finished reading the Scripture, please return here for some more
reflections.
The letter to the Philippians is a
“feel-good” letter. Paul is effusive in
his praise for the Philippians believers.
Paul uses the word “joy” repeatedly – both to describe his own feelings,
but also to give praise to God for what he is doing in the church. Joy is a spiritual grace that fills up our
sense of God’s favor and goodness to us.
Paul is filled with Joy because this church not only believed the Gospel
but shaped their lives around living the Gospel together. Amid his praise to God and praise to their
faith, he does not skip the difficulties of suffering – both his own (he is in
a Roman Prison) and their sufferings also.
It was not easy to be a Christian in the first century. He spoke to them to stay humble and unified,
using the model of Jesus’ own character (2:6-8), to remind them that God is
pleased with submissive obedience, despite persecution. Paul assures them, God is fully aware of all that
is happening – “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for
his good pleasure” (2:13).
At the end of chapter 2, Paul
speaks of his two comrades – Timothy and Epaphroditus. Timothy is Paul’s young disciple, who after several
years of accompanying Paul, is often left behind by Paul to help a church get
established with discipled leaders – “But you know Timothy’s proven worth,
how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel” (2:22). Epaphroditus was a Gentile, and Paul had given
him the task of ministering to the Philippians – “ I have thought it
necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow
soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, for he has been
longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill”
(2:25-26). Epaphroditus came to Paul
with a gift from the church, but the trip almost cost him his life (2:27), and
now Paul was sending him back with this letter.
With half the letter written, Paul
launches into a defense of the Gospel he had received from God – “Finally,
my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble
to me and is safe for you. Look out for the dogs, look out for the
evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the
circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and
put no confidence in the flesh” (3:1-3). It might seem odd to read such a
positive, upbeat word in verse 1, followed by some rather strong severe
language in verses 2, 3. If I understand
this correctly, Paul reminds them that Jesus is the focus of faith, as he has
already stated, and now will further state.
The first verse is a bridge between what he had taught and what he is
going to explain in what follows. “Rejoice
in the Lord,” it is an imperative verb, which means it’s not a suggestion, but
a strong emphasis, even a command. Why?
Paul’s entire ministry was harassed
by Judaizers – Jewish believers in Jesus as the Messiah, but also believe that Gentiles
needed to become Jews first before they could be Christians. They were legalists, who hounded Gentile
believers with lists of dos and don’ts.
Paul is clear – “watch out, look for their message, and don’t believe it
for a moment” – they are “dogs,” evildoers.”
The primary issue for the Judaizers was Circumcision, but the Judaizers
were false in their teaching. Paul reminds
them that the true Circumcision isn’t of the flesh but of the Spirit, which
leads to the worship of God in Jesus Christ.
One of the things these Judaizers
did was travel to cities Paul had already evangelized and speak against Paul’s
teaching – especially to the Jewish Christians.
They spoke in derogatory language about his past and his teaching –
which they say abandons his Jewish roots.
Paul answers them in seven specific ways about the excellency of his
background and training in Judaism – “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: 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; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to
righteousness under the law, blameless” (3:4-6). The list is impressive, and Paul stands
out as a man with a lot of Jewish trophies! They could not “out-Jewish” Paul.
What changed it all for Paul was
his journey to Damascus and the revelation of Jesus to him. That, and not his Jewish credentials, was all
that mattered – “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of
Christ. 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 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” (3:7-9).
The testimony Paul shares must have been startling to a Jewish listener. While he was a rising star in Judaism, he left
it all behind. He said, “I count them as
rubbish,” literally, “dung,” “excrement.”
All of his stardom, his learning, his rising in the Jewish echelon was
nothing but dung compared to knowing Christ. Much more, in Christ, he received the
righteousness of God that could not be possible for anyone to attain by their
religious works. This righteousness is
by grace through faith. For the person who
works for their salvation, the burden is unbearable, and even if they deceive themselves
into thinking they are doing pretty good, there is a spiritual bankruptcy that
awaits them.
None of what Paul has received in
Christ was without cost. He soon
discovered that as he proclaimed the Gospel first in Damascus and then in
Jerusalem. In each place, he was
opposed, rejected, and some even attempted to kill him. Paul knew that following Jesus was not an invitation
to a cushy life, but a real Kingdom of God warfare that led to suffering – “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” (2:10-11).
God does not give us an escape plan from life’s pain. He gives us grace to live our lives with his
promises – “we need to keep our heads up, our eyes forward, and our hearts
heavenward. The Christian life is a marathon—not through the level, paved
streets of a clean and friendly city, but across rocky, toilsome, dangerous
terrain filled with pitfalls and predators.”[1]
Now we gain the insight and wisdom
of Paul about how to live for Christ.
First, we live with a sense of progress, not perfection – “Not that I
have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my
own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own” (3:12). Paul knew that God had called him to faith in
Jesus Christ, supplied him with God’s righteousness for forgiveness, and filled
him with the Holy Spirit. He had also
called him to share the Gospel and yet Paul knew that all of this was a work in
progress – we call that Sanctification, or as Paul had previously said to them –
“God is at work in you to do of his will and good pleasure” (2:13). He knew that living for Christ was merely
trusting that Jesus was at work in him day by day. There was no need to strive for perfection
when you have that assurance.
Second, he knew the future was in God’s hand, and the past was behind him, so
leave it behind – “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.
But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what
lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God
in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in
anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let
us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me,
and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us” (3:13-17).
“Forget what lies behind,” the Greek literally means, “put it out of your mind.” We can’t drive a car very far looking at a rear-view mirror, and you can’t
undo the mistakes of the past. You can confess your sin, receive forgiveness,
and go on. Paul said, “Press on” … keep
your focus on Christ Jesus.
In the final paragraph of 3:17-21,
Paul reminds them that there are plenty of pitfalls ahead – i.e., be sober even
as you have the assurance that Christ is leading – “For many, of whom I have
often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross
of Christ” (3:18). Every Pastor has
stories they could tell of those who gave up, stopped believing, abandoned
faith for one reason or another. The end
of that is not a pretty thing to think about (3:19), especially if the word “destruction”
is personalized. I’ve asked the question,
“where are you going” to plenty of people.
The answers have varied and yet all of them, no matter how noble, or kind,
fall short of what God reminds us in Paul’s ending – “But our citizenship is
in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will
transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that
enables him even to subject all things to himself” (3:20-21).
Standing firm in our faith does
not mean we are standing still. It means
the confidence we have is not in our own self – the flesh – but in Christ Jesus,
who has promised life to all who put their faith and trust in Him. The Cheshire cat in “Alice in Wonderland” was
profoundly correct. When Alice arrived
at the fork in the road, she did not know what to do. Up in the tree sat the cat. Alice asked the Cheshire Cat, who was sitting
in a tree, “What road do I take?” The cat asked, “Where do you want to go?” “I
don’t know,” Alice answered. “Then,” said the Cat, “it really doesn’t matter,
does it?” [2]
As Christians, we have a citizenship in heaven, and life here is a sojourn, a temporary
stop-over on our way to our eternal destiny.
We await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will change us, and
everything else that can only be described as glorious.
Peace
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