The Right Perspective (Philippians Part 5)

A talk about living in the right ‘tense’ as believers

In Philippians 3 Paul outlines his past, present and future and how he has changed under the grace of God.

1-11: Paul’s Past - the calculator

12-16: Paul’s Present - the competitor 

17-21: Paul’s future - the citizen

1. Paul’s Past - the calculator

3-6: 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.

Here Paul is recounting his past before he met Jesus. Why is he doing this? 

He's doing this because there is a group that is trying to affect the Philippi church. They are called Judaizers. 

They believed that you could not get to heaven and partake in the goodness of God, unless you obeyed aspects of the law. 

This group of religious people had risen up, probably Jewish Christians, who then began to teach that these Gentile Christians could not be properly saved unless they were, among other things, circumcised. 

Paul, when he hears this, begins to re-iterate the message of God’s grace through Jesus Christ. And whilst these people claimed some spiritual superiority, Paul pulls out what we might call his trump card. 

He begins to outline his past. 

• He tells them that he had a life of privilege. He tells them that he was circumcised on the eighth day, which is what the law required. 
• He reminds them that he is from the people of Israel, that he has not been grafted in from another people group. 
• He reminds them that he is of the tribe of Benjamin, which would command respect. 
• He tells them he is a Hebrew of Hebrews, meaning that he had reached the pinnacle of his religion. 
• He tells them that he was a Pharisee, which would have meant that he had kept the law as far as possible, and is also opened up business opportunities for him. 
• He tells them there was no one more enthusiastic than him, that he had led the persecution of the fledgling church.
• He reminds them that as for righteousness based on the law that he was faultless - meaning he had kept every command so he could do to be seen as righteous before God.

He calculates his works, his abilities, his past, against Jesus, and the standards that He brought as the perfect lamb of God, and he says, and now I consider what ever gain is made, I consider it loss for the sake of Christ (v7).

He understands that whatever we do, we cannot save ourselves. His calculator shows a minus figure when he added up his life when standing before Jesus.

What Judaizers were trying to do was to squeeze people into legalistic view of what a Christian should be.

• They were trying to appeal to the past. 
• They were trying to drag people back into religion. 
• They were trying to say on the basis of their own lives, that the people should model themselves after them. 

There was no grace in that. There was no hope in that. There is no future in that way of thinking. 

One of the hardest things we face when we become a Christian is to forgive ourselves of our own past. The grace of God when we meet Jesus covers all sins. 

He removes our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). 

He throws sins into the deepest ocean in place as a sign over it saying no fishing (Micah 7:19). 

When we become a Christian, we realise that our past is forgiven, amen! 

We might meet people, those who knew us in the past, or those who appear to be more spiritual or religious than we are, and they begin to tell us that we are not good enough. They begin to say that the grace we have is not sufficient for salvation. They begin to criticise us when we struggle in our walk, saying that we have not attained the level of spirituality.

My friends we are all going to have struggles. Some of our struggles are visible to others. Some of our struggles are invisible to others (for some of you men, if I were to be able to look at your Internet history, you would be ashamed). 

See some struggles are invisible to everyone around us. But what Paul says is this, I put no confidence in the flesh (3:3c). 

We cannot put confidence in our own ability to save ourselves. 

If we are struggling with sin, we should confess that sin to God, and he is faithful and just to forgive us our Sins (1 John 1:9). 

And the wonderful thing, it does not matter how many times we go back and confess the same thing, because if we are struggling and we know we are struggling, he is faithful to lift us up (Proverbs 24:16). 

Every single one of us has to throw ourselves on Jesus Christ.

We can only follow people as they follow Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1).

2. Paul’s Present - the competitor

12-16: 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 toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

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.

Paul switches tack now, and begins to use the language of an athlete, of a competitor in a race. He begins to talk about his present in Christ.

The verb “straining toward” in Philippians 3:13 literally means “stretching as in a race.”

Paul was not telling us how to be saved. If he were, it would be a picture of salvation by works or self-effort, and this would contradict what he wrote in the first eleven verses of Philippians 3. In order to participate in the Greek games, the athlete had to be a citizen. He did not run the race to gain his citizenship.

Because we are already the children of God through faith in Christ, we have the responsibility of “running the race” and achieving the goals God has set for us. 

Each believer is on the track; each has a special lane in which to run; and each has a goal to achieve. If we reach the goal the way God has planned, then we receive a reward. If we fail, we lose the reward, but we do not lose our citizenship. (Read 1 Cor. 3:11–15 for the same idea, only using architecture as the symbol.)

What are the essentials for winning the race and one day receiving the reward that is promised?

• Dissatisfaction:

12-13a: Not that I have already obtained all this… I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.

It is really important that we do not rely on our past spiritual progress. 

Whilst the blessings that we count are good, and whilst there is room in our life to be able to see how far we have come in the grace of God, we must protect against the idea that we have reached some kind of status in the kingdom of God when we are perfect. 

We must all recognise that we are still works in progress.

There were many people in Paul’s day, many good Christians, who had experienced everything, and possibly more than Paul himself had experienced. He is not saying he is better than other Christians, he is saying, “I recognise where I have been, I recognise where I am, and I am pressing forward to what God has for me next.” (See blog bonus)

Self-evaluation can be a dangerous thing, because we can err in two directions: 

1. making ourselves better than we are, or 
2. making ourselves worse than we really are. 

Paul had no illusions about himself; he still had to keep “press on” in order to “to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” of him. 

• Dedication

13b: But one thing I do…

Too many Christians are too involved in “many things,” when the secret of progress is focus on one thing.

The believer must devote himself to “running the Christian race.” No athlete succeeds by doing every- thing; he succeeds by specialising.

Paul seemed to do many things:

• Three missionary journeys.
• It is estimated he travelled over 10,000 miles on foot.
• The missionary journeys covered a ten year period (inc a three year hiatus in Ephesus), (1 year, Acts 13-14; 3 years, Acts 15:36-18:22; 5 or 6 years, including a 3 year hiatus in Ephesus, Acts 18:23-21:16).
• Paul wrote 13 books of the New Testament, 14 if you include Hebrews.
• Paul planted at least 14 churches.

 

It seems like Paul did many things! We need to understand that the many things are the fruit of one thing!

Paul devoted himself to his calling in God.

• Direction

13c: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead… 

We are accustomed to saying “past, present, future,” but we should view time as flowing from the future into the present and then into the past. 

The believer should be future-oriented, “forgetting those things which are behind.” Please keep in mind that in Bible terminology, “to forget” does not mean “to fail to remember.”

It simply means that we break the power of the past by living for the future.

We are a product of where we are going to, not where we have come from!

• Determination 

14a: I press on…

There are two extremes to avoid here: 

1. “I must do it all” and,
2. “God must do it all!” 

The first describes the activist, the second the quietist, and both are heading for failure. 

We need to recognise that God works in us and through us. That some things in life we cannot change and other things are in sphere of influence .

But we keep going forward.

I am reminded of the seven words of a dying church and the seven words of a living church.

A dying church says, “We have always done it this way”. 

A living church says, “Where do we go to from here?”

• Discipline

15-16: 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.

It is not enough to run hard and win the race; the runner must also obey the rules. In the Greek games, the judges were very strict about this. Any infringement of the rules disqualified the athlete. The athlete did not lose their citizenship (though they disgraced it), but they did lose his privilege to participate and win a prize. 

In Philippians 3:15–16, Paul emphasised the importance of the Christian remembering the “spiritual rules” laid down in the Word.

2 Timothy 2:5: Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules.

This is not legalism, like the Judaizers, but knowing that there are boundaries for Christians around ethical living.

3. Paul’s Future: the Citizen

17-21: 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.

• Our names are on Heaven’s Database!

The citizens of Philippi were privileged to be Roman citizens away from Rome. When a baby was born in Philippi, it was important that its name be registered on the legal records. 

When the lost sinner trusts Christ and becomes a citizen of heaven, their name is written in “the book of life” (Philippians. 4:3).

Citizenship is important. When you travel to another country, it is essential that you have a passport that proves your citizenship.

• We Speak Heaven’s Language 

19c: Their mind is on earthly things

Those against the cross of Jesus focus on earthly matters. But we have a different mindset, and speak of s[ritual things together.

But speaking heaven’s language not only involves what we say, but also the way we say it. The Christian doesn’t go around quoting Bible verses all day! 

But they are careful to speak in a manner that glorifies God.

Colossians 4:6: Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone

• We Obey Heaven’s Laws

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.

The citizens of Philippi were governed by Roman law, not Greek law, even though they were located hundreds of miles away from Rome. In fact, it was this policy that put Paul into jail when he first visited Philippi (Acts 16:16–24). Paul himself used his Roman citizenship to guarantee his protection under Roman law (Acts 16:35–40; 21:33–40; 22:24–30).

Paul is reminding them that we are a colony of heaven!

• We are Loyal to Heaven’s Cause 

The cross of Jesus Christ is the theme of the Bible, the heart of the gospel, and the chief source of praise in heaven (Rev. 5:8–10). The cross is the proof of God’s love for sinners (Rom. 5:8) and God’s hatred for sin. The cross condemns what the world values.

We keep the meaning cross central to our lives. We love Jesus who died and rose again. We do not exchange the cross of Jesus for some sappy, do-it-yourself gospel.

Wrapping this up:

As Christians we live our lives backwards. We are not products of where we come from only, we are prodcuts of where we are going.

So we live our lives confidently in the present, because our future is secure and our pasts are forgiven!

Blog Bonus

In the Bible we are warned against a false estimates of our spiritual condition. 

• The church at Sardis had “you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” (Revelation 3:1). They had reputation without reality. 
• The church at Laodicea boasted that it was rich, when in God’s sight they did “not realise that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” (Rev. 3:17). 
• The believers at Smyrna thought they were poor when they were really rich! (Revelation 2:9). 
• Samson thought he still had his old power, but in reality it had departed from him (Judges 16:20).

Once again, I am grateful for the work of Warren Wiesrbe and his commentary on Philippians for some of the insights contained herein.