Philippians 3 New
International Version - UK (NIVUK)
No confidence in the
flesh
3
Further, my brothers and sisters, 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 evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. 3 For it is
we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in
Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh – 4 though I myself have
reasons for such confidence.
If
someone else thinks they have reasons to put 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; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal,
persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
7
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8
What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider
them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a
righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through
faith in[a] Christ – the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of
faith. 10 I want to know Christ – yes, to know the power of his resurrection
and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so,
somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have
already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on
to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and
sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I
do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, 14 I press
on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in
Christ Jesus.
Following Paul’s example
15
All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on
some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only
let us live up to what we have already attained.
17
Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you
have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I
have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as
enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is
their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly
things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour
from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to
bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that
they will be like his glorious body.
CHRIST is everything!
From Elim Missions
Philippians 3
Everything
is a loss compared to knowing CHRIST, v8.
Because Christ is everything!
Gain
has become an important part of the Church's ministry ethos and strategy. If
only this was in the Western Church alone. But I see this on every continent.
A church struggling to attract numbers does everything it can to bring people through its doors. Getting people into the building becomes a great achievement. The danger is that the church gives up the gospel for games in order to gain people. Some of the best Christian entertainment businesses are the churches, catering from babies to the elderly.
“If
you come to this church you’ll get …”
We
pamper to the needs of the masses – we supply what they need. We christen, wed,
bury them and along the way sell them church.
After
they attend for a while, they are dumbfounded to hear the church talk about
sacrificial giving and serious commitment.
We
hope they may say, “I came here for the music and what the church could offer
my children, but because I’ve met God, I will now give up my rights and wants,
I will deny myself”
Sadly,
so many say “That’s not what I came here for – I’m going somewhere else, the church
across the road better suits my needs.” Or “I’ve done church now, bye”
Churches are not car showrooms enticing people to buy
their products. People still need to come the way of the old rugged cross.
In
1738, evangelist George Whitefield preached a sermon titled ‘The Almost
Christian’. He contrasted ‘almost Christians’ with ‘altogether Christians’.
"Tell them of the necessity of mortification, fasting and self-denial and
it is as difficult for them to hear as if you were to bid them cut off a right
hand or pluck out a right eye.”
In
every century the church has faced this struggle with the element that want to
gain from Christ and not lose all things for Him.
Christ
is everything and to have Him is to lose everything.
NIV Application Commentary
Philippians 3:12-14
[Paul]
also speaks positively in verses 12–14 of what he is doing in light of the
incompleteness of his spiritual journey. His language comes from the world of
war and athletics and emphasizes the strenuous nature of his efforts to fulfill
his vocation. In verse 12 he says that he presses on to take hold of the goals
listed in verses 8–11, choosing a pair of words that could, in military
contexts, refer to the pursuit of one army by another. Together the two terms
connote a single-minded attempt to reach a particular goal.
According
to the niv, Paul’s goal is to reach “that for which Christ Jesus took hold of
me.” But the Greek phrase behind “that for which” (eph’ ho) usually expresses
cause in Paul’s letters, and it probably carries a causal force here. So the
goal Paul pursues probably remains all that he has described in verses 8–11,
and the second part of verse 12 should be rendered, “because Christ Jesus took
hold of me.” That is to say, Paul vigorously pursues the knowledge of Christ,
his sufferings, his resurrection power, and union with him at the final day
because on the road to Damascus, Christ took hold of him (Acts 9:1–19; 22:3–16;
26:9–18). Had that event not taken place, Paul might still be busy “persecuting
(dioko) the church” (Phil. 3:6) instead of pressing on (dioko) toward these
goals (vv. 12, 14).
Even
more expressive of the difficulty of Paul’s exertion to reach these goals is
the athletic imagery in verses 12–14. Like a runner who knows that a backward
glance at ground already covered will only slow his progress toward the finish,
Paul says that he forgets what is behind and stretches out toward what is ahead,
so that he might complete the race and win the prize. Some interpreters have
taken Paul’s claim that he forgets what is behind as a reference to his
pre-Christian past (cf. vv. 5–6), but two considerations point away from this
interpretation. (1) The point under discussion here is Paul’s progress as a
believer, not his progress beyond his days of persecuting the church. (2) When
Paul uses athletic imagery elsewhere, the subject is his apostolic labors (cf.
2:16; 1 Cor. 9:24–26). These labors are his focus here too. Paul’s point, then,
is that he refuses to rest on his past successes but presses on toward that day
when he will present the Philippians and his other congregations blameless to
Christ (1:10; 2:14–18; 1 Cor. 1:8; 1 Thess. 3:13; 5:23).
What
is this prize? The term “call” in Paul’s letters, both as a noun and as a verb,
possesses a rich theological significance. Just as God called Israel to be his
people in the Old Testament (Isa. 48:12; 51:2), so, in Paul’s letters, God
calls people from many ethnic and social backgrounds (1 Cor. 1:26; Eph. 3:1;
4:1) into fellowship with Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1:9) and into his kingdom (1
Thess. 2:12), and he does this by his grace (Gal. 1:6). This call is not,
moreover, to something that will be fully realized in the present but to the
future for which the believer now hopes (Eph. 1:18; 4:4). Thus, the heavenly
call toward which Paul stretches with all his might is God’s call to be part of
the people, made up of both Jews and Gentiles, who will stand justified before him
on the final day because of their identification with Christ (vv. 8–11).
1 Corinthians 9:24-27New International Version - UK
(NIVUK)
The need for self-discipline
24
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the
prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the
games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last;
but we do it to get a crown that will last for ever. 26 Therefore I do not run
like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27
No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have
preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
The IVP New Testament Commentary Series
Pursuing the Prize: Knowing Christ at the End
(3:12-14)
1.
Pursuing him who took hold of Paul (3:12). The not that which begins this
sentence is an idiom that qualifies something previously said so that readers
will not draw the wrong inference. Along with the repeated adverb "[not]
already" Paul thus offers a twin disclaimer—what not to infer about the
already present future. The disclaimers emphasize that despite present
realization of the power of his resurrection and sharing in his sufferings,
Paul has not yet reached the final goal. He has not already obtained
("taken/received") it, nor has he already arrived at the goal (NIV
been made perfect). He will proceed to play on both of these verbs, the first
immediately, the second in verse 15.
In
light of what he says in verse 13 about "disregarding what is past,"
the implied object of obtained might be "all things"; more likely it
refers to what has more immediately preceded. It must be remembered that Paul
is not writing a new "paragraph"; that is our invention. This
sentence follows hard on the heels of the preceding clause (v. 11). What he has
obviously not obtained is that which he is pressing on to take hold of, which
verse 14 makes clear is the final goal. Thus he adds, or have already
"arrived at my goal." There is a sense, of course, in which
perfection does happen at the end; but the root (telos) of this verb (teleioo)
has the primary sense of "goal" or "aim," before it takes
on secondary senses of "perfect, complete, fulfill, mature." Nothing
in context implies that perfection is an issue. Since that English word
conjures up all kinds of wrong connotations here, and since everything in these
final sentences indicates that the eschatological prize is what Paul is
pursuing with such vigor, the verb here almost certainly carries its primary
sense of "reach the goal."
Since
Paul has not yet "arrived," he does what he wants the Philippians to
do, press on to take hold of ("seize") that for which Christ Jesus
took hold of me. With this wonderful wordplay he moves from not already
"taking" to yet "taking hold of" the very thing/one who
"took hold of" him. He will go on in the next sentence to elaborate
what his own "taking hold of" means. In context the next phrase, that
for which Christ Jesus took hold of me, points back at least to verses 8-9
(being found in Christ and thus having a righteousness that comes from God);
but in terms of his own story, and especially the use of this strong verb, he
probably intends them to hear echoes of the Damascus Road as well. A good dose
of memory about one's beginnings in Christ can serve as the proper shot of
adrenaline for the continuing race.
The Bible Panorama
Philippians 3
V 1–2: REJOICE In this ‘letter of rejoicing’, rejoicing and joy feature strongly.
Here, that is so even though Paul has to address the false teaching that
salvation is not possible without circumcision.
V 3–8: RUBBISH Real Christians worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ, and
put no confidence in themselves, in anything else or in anyone else for
salvation. Paul even counts his immaculate Pharisee’s pedigree and religious
zeal as rubbish, now, compared with the joy of knowing Jesus Christ.
V 9: RIGHTEOUS Paul rejoices that his acceptance by God is because, having
trusted Jesus Christ, his account is credited with the righteousness of his
Saviour. He is now counted righteous through Jesus.
V 10–11: RESURRECTION Paul is determined to know Jesus Christ closer, and even the
fellowship of His sufferings and dying to self. This can only be because he is
also determined to know the power of the resurrection of Jesus in his daily
life.
V 12–14: REACHING Paul honestly admits he has a long way to go, but has learned to
leave the past with God, press on with the present, and reach on into the
future. He wants to lay hold of that which God has for him, and for which
Christ has laid hold of him. His concern is to answer the ‘upward call of God
in Christ Jesus’. Only when the past is dealt with, and Christ is known in the
present, can Paul have confidence and determination like this.
V 15–16: REVEALED With this mindset, Paul tells the Philippians to build on what they
have already learned in the knowledge that God will reveal to them other
lessons which they need to learn.
V 17–21: REALITY Contrasting the walk of the Christians with lost people who despise the
cross and live sinfully for this passing world, Paul reveals the reality of a
Christian’s invisible and spiritual home in heaven. He looks forward to the
future reality of the second coming of Christ and to the transformed
resurrection body which will be given to each person who trusts Him.
Dictionary of Bible Themes
5904 maturity, spiritual
The
development of Christlike character and behaviour in the Christian through a
renewed mind and tested faith.
Christlikeness
as the goal and model for spiritual maturity
Eph
4:13-15 See also Col 2:6-7; Heb 12:2
Marks
of spiritual maturity
Spiritual
understanding Col 2:2 See also Ro 15:14; 1Co 2:6; 1Co 14:20; Eph 1:17-18; Heb
5:12-6:1
Discernment
of God’s will and changed behaviour Col 1:9-10 See also Ro 12:2; 1Co 3:1-3; Gal
5:22-23; Eph 4:22-23; Php 1:9-11; 2Th 1:3
Stability
Col 4:12 See also Eph 4:14; 2Pe 3:17-18
Care
for the weaker brother Ro 15:1 See also Gal 6:1-2
Maturity
is to be the aim of the Christian
Php
3:13-15 See also Lk 8:14 a reason for spiritual immaturity; 2Co 7:1; 2Co 13:11;
1Ti 6:11
The
process of maturity
God
causes spiritual growth Php 1:6 See also Gal 3:3; Heb 10:14
Possessing
gifts of ministry Eph 4:11-13 See also Ro 1:11
Being
equipped by the word of God 2Ti 3:16-17 See also Ro 15:4; 1Pe 2:2; 1Jn 2:5
Persevering
through trials Ro 5:3-5 See also Heb 2:10; Jas 1:3-4; 1Pe 5:10
The
concern of the pastor is to help others to maturity
Col
1:28-29 See also 2Co 13:9-10; Gal 4:19
“Christian maturity requires a radical reordering of one’s
priorities, changing over from pleasing self to pleasing God and learning to
obey God. The key to maturity is consistency, perseverance in doing those
things we know will bring us closer to God. These practices are referred to as
the spiritual disciplines, and include things such as Bible reading/study,
prayer, fellowship, service, and stewardship. No matter how hard we might work
on those things, however, none of this is possible without the enabling of the
Holy Spirit within us. Galatians 5:16 tell us that we’re to “walk by the
Spirit.” The Greek word used here for “walk” actually means to “walk with a
purpose in view.” Further down in the same chapter, Paul tells us again that
we’re to “walk by the Spirit.” Here, the word translated “walk” means “step by
step, one step at a time.” It is learning to walk under the instruction of
another—the Holy Spirit. Since believers are filled with the Spirit, we should
also walk under His control. As we submit more and more to the Spirit’s
control, we will also see an increase in the fruit of the Spirit in our lives
(Galatians 5:22-23). This is characteristic of spiritual maturity.” Gotquestions.org
Some keys for Christian Maturity
1.
Spiritual Maturity
Colossians 2:6-7 New International
Version - UK (NIVUK)
Spiritual fullness in Christ
6 So then, just as you received
Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up
in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with
thankfulness.
2. Spiritual Understanding
Colossians 2:1- 5 New International
Version - UK (NIVUK)
2 I want you to know how hard I am
contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me
personally. 2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in
love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order
that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I tell you this so that no one may
deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. 5 For though I am absent from you in
body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you
are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
3. Maturity is to be the aim of the
Christian
2 Corinthians 13:11
New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
Colossians 3:15-16 New International
Version - UK (NIVUK)
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let
the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one
another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit,
singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
4. God causes spiritual growth
Philippians 1:6-11 New
International Version - UK (NIVUK)
6 being confident of this, that he
who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of
Christ Jesus.7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I
have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming
the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I
long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.9 And this is my prayer:
that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10
so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless
for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes
through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.
5.
Being equipped by the word of God
2 Timothy 3:14-17New International
Version - UK (NIVUK)
14 But as for you, continue in
what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from
whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy
Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ
Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking,
correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a] may
be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
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