Righteousness
Notes
Transcript
text: Philippians 3:1-4:1
1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.
2 Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh!
3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—
4 though I myself could have such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has grounds 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, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless.
7 But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ.
8 More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith.
10 I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death,
11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.
15 All of us who are mature should embrace this point of view. And if you think differently about some issue, God will reveal this to you as well.
16 Nevertheless, we must live up to what we have already attained.
17 Join one another in following my example, brothers, and carefully observe those who walk according to the pattern we set for you.
18 For as I have often told you before, and now say again even with tears: Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.
19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21 who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
1 Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you must stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.
PRAY
Introduction
What do you need in order to get to heaven?
What do you need in order to get to heaven?
In a recent interview with Fox News, presidential candidate Donald Trump was asked about his beliefs:
“‘Religion’ gives people ‘some hope,’ Trump said, adding that he believes in heaven. ‘If I’m good, I’m going to heaven,’ he said. ‘And if I’m bad, I’m going to someplace else, like over there. Right?’”
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Unfortunately, many Americans who claim the name of Christ have similar beliefs. “If I’m just good enough - if I do more good things than bad things, I’ll make it to heaven.” Perhaps even some of you have thought this way.
But that’s not what the Bible tells us.
What do we need in order to enter heaven - to live forever in the presence of God? We need…
Righteousness
Righteousness
Righteousness is what you need in order to live eternally in God’s presence.
Righteousness is a right standing before God based on perfect obedience to God’s law.
It means that you have a right relationship with God. Everything you desire, think, say, and do perfectly aligns with God’s own desires, thoughts, words, and actions as expressed in His Word.
One problem we have is that when we judge ourselves, we do so based on our own standard of righteousness - what we think is good and right, rather than judging ourselves by God’s standard. We think that because we’re not as bad as the next person, we must be doing fine.
I’m no Adolf Hitler. I haven’t killed anyone, I haven’t stolen millions of dollars, I haven’t slept around with dozens of people, I don’t get drunk… and a lot of people out there do those things, so at least I’m better than they are.
And I go to church, I sometimes give something in the offering, I help out my neighbors, I help old ladies cross the street…
So many think this way; but what’s the problem? Even if you meet your own standard of righteousness, you haven’t met God’s standard.
God judges not only by the outward actions that we perform, but by our heart’s motivation. And apart from God’s grace in Christ, none of our actions are done with the proper motives, no matter how good they appear to be.
God says that the best things that we have to offer Him are like filthy rags.
6 Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
That’s our best deeds - not to mention the bad things we do. Do you think God’s really impressed with the pile of dirty rags you set in front of Him?
As the Scripture tells us, there is none righteous, no not one. Unlike what so many people think, no one is good enough to make it to heaven.
God requires perfection. And like we often say or hear, nobody’s perfect. But that excuse won’t work in heaven. Without perfect righteousness, no one can spend eternity with God.
So what hope do we have?
There is no hope in ourselves. Until we stop trying to work our way to God, we have no hope. On our own, we are lost. Our only hope is Jesus Christ. He is the only person to ever live a perfectly righteous life. Every desire, thought, word, and action of Jesus throughout His entire life perfectly conformed to the law of God. Never once did He do anything wrong, say anything wrong, think anything wrong, or even desire anything contrary to God’s law. He always did what was right.
Because of His perfect obedience, He is the only one qualified to stand in the place of sinners. Through God’s amazing grace in the Gospel, not only does Jesus give us His perfect righteousness, He also takes away all of our unrighteousness.
So for those of us who trust in Jesus, when God looks at us, He sees His perfect Son. He treats us as if we were righteous, and He treated Jesus as if He were unrighteous.
This is the Gospel. Jesus took away our sins by His death and resurrection, and He gives us His perfect righteousness, and because of these two things, we can live forever in the presence of God. We receive this gift by faith in Jesus Christ - resting in Him alone for our salvation.
In this passage, Paul wants the Philippians and us to have a proper perspective on righteousness.
As he presents this teaching on righteousness, there are two extremes that Paul warns against: legalism and libertinism.
Warning against Legalism
Warning against Legalism
In v. 2, he warns against the legalism of the Judaizers. These were people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision and keeping the law in addition to trusting Jesus Christ.
phil 3:2
2 Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh!
Paul has some pretty harsh words for these legalistic false teachers. When you try to add something to the Gospel, you end up taking away from the Gospel, and that was their problem. They were saying in essence that Jesus isn’t enough - you need something more. They were changing the Gospel to fit their commitment to Judaism.
Paul warns the Philippians to watch out for such people and their teaching. Don’t add to the Gospel.
Warning against Libertinism
Warning against Libertinism
He also warns them against the opposite error - libertinism. That is the idea that because you have God’s grace, you can live however you want.
Paul says in v. 18-19,
18 For as I have often told you before, and now say again even with tears: Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.
19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.
This appears to be a different group of people than Paul described at the beginning of the chapter. These people seem to be falling for the opposite error - using God’s grace to justify their sinful lifestyle. Paul warns us against this error in Romans 6, and Jude also warns us against those who use God’s grace as a license for sin.
The same grace that saved us also sanctifies us and makes us more like Christ on our way to glory. A Christian who is not becoming more like Jesus is a contradiction in terms.
So Paul warns us against both of these extremes.
Don’t take away from the Gospel by adding something to it, and don’t take away from the Gospel by robbing it of its transforming power.
So these two extremes are not the proper view of righteousness; what then is the Kind of Righteousness We Need?
The Kind of Righteousness We Need
The Kind of Righteousness We Need
Not Based on Our Works of Righteousness
In v. 4-7 Paul presents his credentials - he was one of the most righteous men of his time - according to his own standard - but not according to God’s. Paul had to learn to abandon his trust in himself and his own good works.
4 though I myself could have such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has grounds 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, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless.
7 But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ.
He tells us in Galatians 1:14,
14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
From the human viewpoint of external actions, Paul was extremely righteous and zealous, and he was depending on his own righteousness, assuming that meant he was right with God.
But when he met Christ, he realized that all his righteousness was actually a loss - and he says that compared to knowing Christ, all of his good deeds were garbage.
8 More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith.
The Kind of Righteousness We Need is the Righteousness of Christ, which we receive by faith in Him.
9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith.
We cannot stand before God on the basis of our own works, the good things we’ve done. Our righteousness is not good enough; but the righteousness of Jesus is - and when we trust Him, He freely gives us His righteousness and takes away our sin.
So we must abandon our own attempts to work our way to God, and instead receive the perfect righteousness of Christ by faith.
Trust that Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience and that He died on the cross to take away your sins - trust Him, and receive the free gift of salvation - forgiveness, a right relationship with God, and the hope of eternity in His presence.
But the Christian life doesn’t end the moment we trust in Christ - in fact, that’s just the beginning. By faith we receive His righteousness, and then by faith He works His righteousness into us, making us more like Christ as we actively pursue Christlikeness.
Living in Righteousness
Living in Righteousness
The fact that Christ’s righteousness is a free gift does not mean that we are free from the responsibility to pursue righteousness - rather, when we receive this free gift, God begins the work of making us actually righteous, like Christ. It’s a work that will not be complete in this life, but it is a work in progress. Paul describes this pursuit in v. 12-14:
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.
Twice he uses the phrase “press on”; he talks about straining toward the prize. He is talking about his pursuit of Christ, of becoming more like Christ. Pursuing holiness or righteousness is lifelong battle, and there will be ups and downs in the race.
But those who have received the righteousness of Christ are on this path, and they will pursue holiness. If you are not growing in righteousness and seeking to be more like Christ, it may be because you have not yet received His righteousness.
Those who truly know Christ by faith will seek to grow to be more like Him.
The Hope of Perfect Righteousness
The Hope of Perfect Righteousness
Though we will not attain perfect likeness to Christ in this life, there is good news. Someday we will get there. When He returns, or if He calls us home before then, we will be like Him. Paul speaks of our eager anticipation of that day in v. 20-21:
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21 who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
John tells us in 1 John 3:2
2 Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.
For those who have received the righteousness of Christ and are now seeking to live in His righteousness, our hope is that one day God’s work in us will be complete. One day we will be righteous. Not only will God count us as righteous because of Christ, but we will actually be righteous because of God’s work in us.
Conclusion: Stand Firm
Conclusion: Stand Firm
With this hope in mind, Paul concludes this section in 4:1:
1 Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you must stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.
The People of God
The People of God
In essence, Paul is telling us in this section what it means to be part of the people of God.
There are some who claim to be God’s people, but they’re not - and Paul wants us to know who the true people of God are.
What does it mean to be part of the people of God?
It is not a matter of physical descent
It is not a matter of physical descent
(not all Israel is Israel - Romans 9:6-8; 2:25-29)
Many if not most of the Jews of Jesus’s day and Paul’s assumed that simply because of their physical descent from Abraham and their observance of the Jewish laws that they belonged to God. But Jesus tells them in John 8 that they are not in fact children of Abraham, they are children of the devil, because they reject Jesus as their Messiah. Jesus tells the Jewish leaders that they do not belong to God - they are not God’s people - because they reject Jesus Christ. Their physical relation to Abraham and Israel means nothing because they reject the Messiah.
In Phil 3:2 Paul is talking about Jewish people who are trying to influence Christians away from Jesus. These people consider circumcision to be the defining mark of the people of God - but Paul uses a play on words in Greek to say, you claim to be the circumcisers, but you’re actually the mutilators. You think you’re righteous, but you’re actually workers of evil.
2 Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh!
So being part of God’s people isn’t really a matter of physical descent or of practicing circumcision or any other law or custom. In fact, Paul uses this language in Romans 2:28
28 A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical.
True Jewishness (that is, being part of God’s people) is not a matter of circumcision or national identity. Who are the true Jews then? Who are the people of God?
It is a matter of faith
It is a matter of faith
(“in the Lord” - Phil 3:1; 4:1; Rom 2:29; 4:13, 16; Gal 3:6-9)
The true Jews, the true Israel, the true people of God, are those who trust in Jesus as the Messiah.
29 No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God.
It is a matter of the heart - of the Spirit’s work of regeneration and the human response of faith in Jesus Christ.
The true people of God are those who are in Christ - united to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith.
Only those who trust in Christ, whether Jew or Gentile by birth, inherit the promises of God.
Paul says in Phil 3:3
3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—
When we see the phrase “the circumcision” - that is a way of referring to Jews. This phrase comes up a lot in Paul’s letters. He is saying, we are the true Jews, the true people of God.
And in this chapter he lays out a portrait of what the true people of God look like.
The true people of God…
Do not depend on personal works of righteousness (Phil 3:2-7)
Love and worship Jesus Christ (Phil 3:3, 7-10)
Trust in & receive the righteousness of Christ (Phil 3:9)
Share in Christ’s death and resurrection (Phil 3:10-11)
Actively pursue Christlikeness (Phil 3:12-16)
Reject the extremes of legalism and libertinism (Phil 3:2; 3:17-19)
Eagerly await the return of Christ and the consummation of salvation (Phil 3:20-21)
That’s kind of a big picture view of what Paul is presenting in these 22 verses. He is giving us a proper perspective of righteousness and what it means to be part of God’s people - a genuine believer in Jesus Christ.
Application:
Do you have what you need in order to get to heaven?
Do you have what you need in order to get to heaven?
Have you trusted in Jesus Christ and received His righteousness? Or are you depending on your own ability? If you haven’t already, please come to Christ today. Trust His perfect obedience and His death in your place, and receive the free gift of His forgiveness and right standing with God. Come to Christ today. Don’t delay.
If you have received His righteousness, how are you doing in your pursuit of Christ? Are you seeking to become more like Him?
Look forward to His return and the hope of being like Christ and spending eternity with Him.
