LESSON 21

Classroom Goals of this time together:
* here to see and meet and learn of Jesus; 
* to grow TOGETHER in our own personal lives/relationships with Jesus
* to grow in our daily day-to-day JOY IN Him
* to grow in our vision /understanding of Jesus as our SAVIOR and REDEEMER everyday in the midst of our lives in a pagan world

ROE: 
* all questions are encouraged all the time
* TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER THROUGHOUT OUR TIME TOGETHER, WHETHER WE AGREE OR NOT ON ISSUES OF VARIOUS THEOLOGICAL THOUGHT, WE MOST CERTAINLY MUST AGREE ON THIS: THAT WE HAVE BEEN BOUGHT BY THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF A MOST LOVING SAVIOR AND BECAUSE OF THAT WE MUST LOVE EACH OTHER

SUMMARY:
1:1-11  Greetings and Gratitude
1:12-26  "Pauls Personal Circumstances: the Preaching of Christ"
1:27-2:30  "The Pattern of the Christian Life: The Humility of Christ"
1:27-2:4  The Exhortation to Humility
2:5-11  The Epitome of Humility 
2:12-18 The Exercise of Humility 
2:19-30  The Examples of Humility  Timothy and Epaphroditis
3:1-21  "The Hope of the Christian Life: The Knowledge of Christ"

We have been examining how this chapter has in it a series of contrasts ALL dealing with conflicting HOPES; Paul has been contrasting in three parts what the HOPE of the Christian really is AS OPPOSED TO the false hopes that the world proposes; 
Everyone wants to find SOMETHING that will give meaning and purpose and satisfaction to their life. This desire to have SOMETHING in which to place our HOPE is a legitimate one, AND a fundamental one as proved the world over by all the various religions, philosophies, beliefs and what ever other names you can give to such deep and abiding activities of humanity; 
HOWEVER, they are ALL characterized by ONE overriding principle: they are ALL the product of HUMAN EFFORT; ultimately, they ALL are BASED ON VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF PERSONAL WORKS; Just such ideas dominated the world of the Phillipian Church. Once again we see how little has changed between our brothers and sisters in Phillipi then and ourselves now.
Here in this chapter, Paul is presenting to the Philippians and to us a DIFFERENT IDEA: he presented one of the fundamental distinctions that makes real Christianity TOTALLY OPPOSITE and ABSOLUTELY DISTINCT FROM EVERTHING ELSE PROPOSED IN THIS WORLD; Paul showed that there are 2 and only 2 options for "getting" whatever it is people are so eager to find:
-SELF EFFORT EARNING IT
-GOD'S EFFORT GIVING IT

IN EACH of the previous 3 parts that were read, Paul presented a FALSE HOPE always based on THE FLESH, on SOME KIND OR FORM OF PERSONAL EFFORTS; THEN he ALWAYS presented to the Philippian Christians ONLY JESUS AS THE SOLE WORTHY SOURCE OF HOPE FOR THEM (and US); 

In vs1-3 Paul contrasted the so-called Judaizers with their Psuedo-Christianity of Circumcision with the precious Life we have in Christ; Here Paul presents what commentators have called "the Judaizers", men claiming to be Christians, and maybe even WERE, but who were claiming to be presenting a TRUE Gospel of salvation WHILE INSISTING that in order to be saved, you FIRST had to become a "Jewish" convert and get circumsized; otherwise, you could NEVER REALLY be able to FULLY please God; It was as a mark of your placing yourself under the LAW, promising to obey all it's requirements, as an ESSENTIAL part of that salvation; Jesus was ONLY the Saviour of Israel and so His kingdom could be entered ONLY thru the gate of Judaism; 
We then came to the "contrast"; here Paul tells them what they REALLY have IN CHRIST; "Circumcision" was ultimately a metaphor for "PURITY", it was GOD'S method for SETTING APART TO HIMSELF A SPECIAL GROUP; Having been saved ONLY through the death and resurrection of JESUS, Paul is showing that for US, OUR salvation and hope of acceptance before a just and righteous God is ONLY THROUGH ACCEPTING WHAT JESUS DID; And for US, THAT MAKES US PURE and acceptable, hence "circumcized"; 

3:4-14  Here we come to the second big contrast of this chapter: a hope based on GENUINE and PURE form of Judaism vs a hope based SOLELY in Jesus Christ.
Paul starts in vs 4-6 with an autobiography of his Jewish "roots"; he had just finished slamming men claiming to be Jewish Christians, and lest ANYONE try to accuse him of being unfamiliar with or unsympathetic or just plain not understanding of the "real" issues he says basically:
OK, you guys wanna make some sort of issue about living and acting Jewish before/in order to achieve REAL salvation; HA!! If ANYONE was gonna do that  IT'D BE ME!! NO ONE can claim to be MORE "JEWISH" than I was; NO ONE is able to claim greater advantage form Judaism than ME!
Then he goes on to prove his point in vs5-6 that we covered last time with his 4 advantages that are his by way of natural inheritance - his proofs he was born INTO followed by the 3 advantages that are his by was of PERSONAL EFFORT and CONVICTION; 

3:8-14  And then he enters the 2nd half of this contrast of hopes; he says " compared to and because of who and what JESUS is in my life EVERYTHING ELSE IS A WASTE, not just a lesser priority" NOT just neutral, BUT a LOSS;
His choice of verb tense (KJV) "I counted..." implies NOT ONLY did he count it loss back then, BUT HE STILL DOES SO NOW; 
The word "loss" is in the singular, implyingthe WHOLE LOT of past priviledges is just ONE BIG WASTE; 
WHY??
vs 8 in KJV "Yea doubtless" is better trans "even more"; as if to say "In case I left ANYTHING out - ALL THINGS - ANYTHING that might concievably be reckoned as meritorious and claimed to be acceptable to God by men "I count" -NOW it's in the present tense- he's telling them that even now as a Christian (and a pretty high powered one at that) NOTHING MATTERS APART FROM "KNOWING" JESUS; 
[read the AMP as it really trans what that word "knowing" really meant to them]
This "knowing" is called in the KJV as "excellent" [READ THE 1ST PART OF VS 8 IN THE AMP]; This word is used in an ABSOLUTE sense; Knowing Jesus so far exceeded ANY advantages of "religion" that it MUST be considered in a class APART 
AND it's a personal knowledge "Christ MY Lord"; it's NOT enough to have heard ABOUT Him, it's NOT enough to have heard OF Him; there is NO real "Excellence" in a life APART from Him; and what a marvelous promise that holds - for EVERYTHING in our lives CAN be lost!!! The "loss" Paul wrote of was a "casting away", a "giving up"; 
BUT there is ALSO that which is TAKEN away from us; there is NO guarentee that ANY of the "THINGS" we've worked so hard to gain will EVER remain; 
Is there anything in your lives that you've clinging to, expecting and hoping is "IT" for excellence in your life? IT IS TOO FRAGILE a support for you; and HOW terrible it is to lose! How horrible it is to have taken from you; 
What is it that YOU are counting on??  Is it sublime physical beauty? Is it prodigious physical prowess? Is it promethean mental agility? Time is your most bitter enemy; though you try to flee it, you will always carry within you your own destruction. And for many, that time was more terribly soon than they could ever have imagined; If you don't think so you should join me in the world of medicine and see always that sad look of surprise in the faces of those you can not save; 
Is it Wealth?? Look at so many of the wealthiest people of our age; their money could not protect them from ANY of the ravages of life that prey upon us all: the death of loved ones, the tragic onslought of disease, the loss of that wealth they had so hoped would insulate them from the fate of others; 
Is it other people?? We cannot even save ourselves, how can we POSSIBLY even THINK we caould save someone else, or be saved BY someone else who is JUST LIKE US. 
I know, I konw...you're thinking LIGHTEN UP REED!!! WHAT'S THE POINT OF ALL THE BLEAK DOOM AND GLOOM JAZZ?? It's to make you, if even for just a moment, realize that JESUS ISN'T JUST ANOTHER CHOICE ON THE MENU OF LIFE'S LITTLE CURIOSITIES!! He IS NOT like those other false hopes that look so substantial but ultimately prove so inadequate.
BUT JESUS!! HE you CANNOT lose! HE you cannot have taken from you! He has declared for ALL CREATION to witness that NOTHING can separate us from His love; NOTHING can pluck us from the palm of his His hand. that HIS love is ETERNAL; that He is FAITHFUL and CANNOT forget us any more than He could forget His own name; His death was and still IS a NEVERENDING PAYMENT for our sin-separated lives; Time and Death have ALL fallen defeated before Him, and His battle cry will forever be IT IS FINISHED!! meaning there's NOTHING MORE to be done, and there's NOTHING THAT CAN UNDO IT; 
NO WONDER Paul realized everything ELSE is a waste of time; 
To Paul, who had ALL those things: personal power and great mental prowess and a compelling physical drive to achieve, they ALL PALED in comparison to WHO he had found JESUS to be!

KJV "dung" - this word can be trans either as "human waste" or more pleasantly "the stuff you throw out after the meal" ie garbage!
WHY?? He realized what it REALLY meant to "WIN Christ" as put in the KJV; Other trans put it as "GAIN"; What did he mean by "Gaining" Christ? Again he is referring to his PERSONAL appropriation of salvation THROUGH HIS PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS, THIS is what it means to HAVE JESUS!! To "win" Him is to "gain" HIS all-prevailing merit before a righteous God; as one man put it: to know Him in the intimacy of personal trust and surrender is to know His saving benefits; 

In vs9 he he goes even further to described what this means in the future; he calls it as being "found in Him..."; the words used implying being "discovered" or "proved" to be "in Him"; it's NOT for Pauls own reassurance, then, that this proving is made; then WHO?? Paul knows that ultimately he will stand before the throne of an infinitly righteous God having NOTHING of his own with which to gain acquittal of his sins, NOTHING of his own that can save him from the JUST penalty of his sins; on his own and by himself he is lost; BUT IN CHRIST, COVERED BY HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, HE IS SAVED; 
The possession of this righteousness is the KEY essential one MUST have when we stand before Him; and Paul makes three declarations in this verse that describe and define what it means and how it will be to "be found in Christ";
FIRST: he hammers away again at that hated and insidious notion that by HIS DOING the Law HE can CREATE his OWN merit, that he could EARN his OWN righteousness with which to face God; 
THEN, second, he goes on to declare unconditionally that to be "found in Christ" means that true righteousness DOES come ONLY AS A GIFT and ONLY FROM GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST; (KJV)...the righteousness which is of God"; As one commentator put it: "[Jesus] is the sole author of the saving righteousness imparted to sinful men." 
THIRD: The WAY that this gift is gained is FAITH; in this verse Paul says it is "through faith IN Christ" and then again that this righteousness from God is "on the basis of faith" or "BY" faith; 
One commentator summed it up well when he wrote: "The initiative is with God in His provision of a svaing righteousness in Christ, and human faith is the grateful acknowledging of this provision and acceptance of it." 
Vs10: the contrast rolls on for Paul; He who knew the Law more intimately and more thoroughly than most any other man of his age declares flat out (NIV) "I WANT TO KNOW HIM"; 

vs14: to Paul, heaven is only a continuation of His life in Jesus NOW OCCURING; so he wants as MUCH NOW as he can get, knowing that to die is only to continue on the same course in which he is now going; he doesn't want to wait for ANYTHING, knowing that he can gain as much HERE as he can inleu of what heaven holds for him later;