“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—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. 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—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.”
(Philippians 3:1-11 ESV)
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I have been studying this passage this week. It has been a joy!! I just wanted to share a couple things that the Lord has illuminated in my heart this week through this passage:
- Worship comes solely from the Lord. Anything we do comes from the strength of the Lord. (verse 3)
- In order to gain Christ, we must lose all things. (verse 7-8)
- Righteousness of God is born of faith and faith only. It is even dependent on it. (verse 9)
- Though Paul had a lot of success in life, or as he calls it “gain”, he considers it loss for the sake of Christ. (verse 4-8)
- Paul realized that that “gain” in life was righteousness from the ‘law’ and in order to have the righteousness of God that is dependent on faith, he had to lose and even be willing to give up the things of the world. (verse 8-11)
- Our goal as believers is to worship the King, glory in Him, and place absolutely no confidence in the flesh. (verse 3-4)
- Gain in this world, even religiously, is righteousness of my own that comes from the Law. (verse 4-5)
- We count all things as rubbish so that we may know him, the power of the resurrection, and that we may share in his suffering. (verse 10-11)
More on Philippians 3 later as I study this passage and the remainder of the chapter next week. Obviously this isn’t any deep theology, but just observations.
Any body else read through these passages and found observations that they would like to contribute?
To Be Continued… =)
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