Thoughts From Philippians 3 - Part 1

 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. Phil. 3:1-6

        My good friend Dennis once gave a devotion on 1Timothy 1:16,17. In those verses Paul describes himself as the chief of sinners and when you look at what he did to the church of Jesus Christ when he was Saul, he has to be high on the list. Dennis gave the example of, if you find yourself in prison and you want to be considered tough so you'll be left alone or maybe run the prison, you find the toughest guy and take him out. He said in his devotion that removes the excuse, "I'm too bad, God can't save me" because God already "took out" the toughest guy.

       Here in Philippians, Paul takes a different strategy, he says he was the best guy and God took him out. Was he contradicting himself? No, he was just evaluating his life through two grids - works and grace. As far as works go, he was the best. As far as by faith receiving the grace Jesus offered, he was the worst and this illustrates the two things we need to get saved from - our goodness and our badness.

      A "good" person is probably more resistant to the gospel than a "bad" person because when they compare themselves to everyone around them, they seem pretty righteous. They might say as I've heard before, "If I'm going to hell then it's going to be pretty crowded." Paul was that guy and it made him hate the teachings of Jesus that good deeds don't count for anything. Of course, there was a guy named Cornelius whose deeds did count for something - they counted for a visit from Peter who told him his good deeds don't count for anything and being humbler than Paul accepted the gospel with gratitude and didn't need blinding and a rebuke from Jesus to accept. All our good deeds are like filthy rags, the Bible says. It's like stepping on the gas to get there quicker when you are headed in the wrong direction.

    A "bad" person realizes they are a sinner and is more open to the gospel. That's why prison ministries are so successful. That's why AA introduces people to a higher power with success. That's why people at their lowest points in life, like the Philippian jailor about to kill himself says, "What must I do to be saved?" When Paul realized all his "goodness" was driving him away from God at 100MPH, he sat alone in the dark for several days lamenting and rethinking his whole world view. The conclusion was our deeds can't save us; we are all sinners separated from God. His deeds save us. Receive in humility by faith His free gift of salvation and let His Holy Spirit in you produce the works that God desires for His glory.