CHRIST CHURCH

Sunday 21 March, 2010, 10am

Philippians 3:4b-14

The passage we had this morning from Philippians chapter three, was written in the context of threat to the young church of Gentile converts in Philippi. There were Jews, Judaizers in their midst, who wished to see these Christians circumcized. Otherwise they couldn't recognise the genuineness of their conversion.

In this passage, Paul takes these would-be Judaizers head-on. He spares no punches. He had in verse in verse two called them evil dogs, and 'mutilators of the flesh'. What concerned Paul most of all was that they were putting their confidence in 'the flesh'. We (he has been saying) 'worship by the Spirit of God', and put no confidence in the flesh; that is in their human nature, which was inherently fallen.

Paul is going on the elaborate on what was the essential of being a Christian- its 'sine qua non'. He begins his case by showing that if anyone had a case for being confident in the flesh, then it was he, Paul.

His sub-text here was that being a Jew counted for nothing; there was no cause there for pride. And he makes his case- a case for showing what a good Jew he had been. He lists his Jewish credentials, and they must have made pretty impressive reading!

For starters he had been circumcized on the eighth day, just as the Law had required. He was no fly-by-night proselyte. He was 'of the tribe of Benjamin'. This would have been significant, for that tribe held a particular place of honour with the Jews, for Benjamin, of all Jacob's sons, had been born in the Promised Land. Chosen of the chosen, if you like.

He was a 'Hebrew of Hebrews': both his parents were Hebrews; he was an Hebrew by the father and mother's side both; he was a genuine Hebrew.

Then Paul goes on the deal with his earlier zeal as a Pharisee:he mentions that in regard to the Law he was faultless, and above all that he had persecuted God's church.

But Paul is about to do a volte-face. If he had appeared to be boasting, then nothing was further from the case. He had been giving testimony for the 'prosecution'. Yes: in face of a God of law-keeping; a book-keeping God, then Paul would be sure to be in his good books. But, that counted for nothing is what Paul is now about to say.

Paul may indeed be doing some 'account-keeping', but not as the Pharisees would do. As a keeper of God's Law, then in fact his account was hopelessly in the red. He still owed God far, far more than ever he could hope or expect to pay. Paul view of things had, of course, been stood completely on its head. That had happened on the road to Damascus. There we read the account of that encounter with the risen Jesus:

He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do. (Acts 9:4-6)

All of that in which Paul had taken such pride, of that we see in v7, Paul now says "Whatever was to my profit, I now consider everyhting a loss compared to the surpassing greatness Christ Jesus, my Lord" Nothing else was now of any consequential value! Knowing Jesus was all-surpassing.

We are reminded of the words of a well-known and loved hymn.

my richest gain I count but loss

and pour contempt on all my pride.

Such indeed was the turn-around Paul is describing to us- that turning upside-down of all values we experience on becoming Christian. All these things which had for so long been Paul's pride he has now 'lost': he considers them 'rubbish'. That's actually being very polite about it. I think we will recapture Paul's strength of feeling- and here I may shock some- if we say that Paul considered them as 'shit'. That conveys the meaning of the Greek word used by Paul. He counts all rubbish and loss in order that he might "[gain] Christ and be found in him" (vv 8-9)

This says Paul brings righteousness: not one from obedient to God's Law, but rather that comes from God, by faith in Christ.

There are two theological terms there that I want to just look into and see what we really mean by them: they can easily cause misunderstanding:

(a) Righteousness. By rigteousness we tend I suspect to think of moral perfection. But that can easily turn into 'navel gazing', and it doesn't mean, as some have misunderstood it to mean that they are now 'perfect'- in fact in verse 12 Paul will be saying that, no- "I have not obtained all this" God is righteous; everywhere the Bible tells us this: he is perfection, moral perfection, but much more. His righteousness is really his desire to make all those things 'right' which are fallen ane imperfect. God's plan to achieve all this began when he made covenant with Abraham, and includes all his covenant people, including us who are his new covenant people 'in Christ'. So, that brings us to:

(b) 'In Christ'. What does it mean to be 'in Christ' It can be considered as some do as a 'mystical incorporation into Christ' Just a few weeks ago I heard a more readily understood parallel. It is centred round Noah and how God spared him from the judgment of the Flood. In Genesis 6 we read God's instruction to Noah to build an ark, and how to build it. In Genesis 6:16 we have this: "So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.". The pitch was there to keep the ark waterproof. The word for 'pitch' (the Hebrew 'kofer') Everywhere else where 'kofer' is used in the Old Testament it means 'ransom, ransom-money or satisfaction' And then secondly we read in Genesis 7 that when Noah, his family and all the animals were inside that (v16) then the LORD shut him in"

When it comes to God's judgment: he has shut us into a safe place, which is safe from any judgment. We are 'right with him', for our judgment has been borne.

All this so much so that Paul wishes to be like Christ in his sufferngs and death and to attain to his resurrection. Knowing Christ was the ultimate thing is his life. And it all leads to a chaange of emphasis in verses 12 to 14. Paul now speaks like the athlete. The 'press on' in verse 12 is an athlete's term. Paul's desire is to strive to attain everything for which Christ took hold of him for. And finally to win the prize: the heavenward call.

For Paul, for us, to be a Christian is to know Jesus. It is in Jesus that we have all fulness of life- He was the one who came that we might have "life in all its fulness" (John 10:10). He is our security. He has taken hold of us. We, then are called to strive forward, and toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (v14)

Then in verse 13, Paul says that he forgets what is behind and strains forward. The past not only may be, but must be put away-in the past. We must forget or (forgiven) sins, but also what we would count as our credit; all our good points!

One last thought:

Paul rejected his past as a Pharisee with all its achievements. There's a double lesson here:

a) For all his zeal for God, Paul's main focus was his keeping of God's Law, and really going through the motions. It is possible to 'go through the motions of being a Christian, of 'doing church'

b) Paul was proud that he had been a 'good Pharisee' If we aim to be 'a good Christian'- is that it. I'm sure Paul would say that the greatest thing was knowing Jesus' The thing which counted for Paul and should for us; that for which he counted all else rubbish, was to know Jesus and to be found in him.