Paul's main concern in these few verses is to warn against those who still insist upon circumcision. His language is remarkably strong as he warns against those who insist on salvation being confirmed by an act of outward religiosity. His reasons are made clear when he goes on to state very positively how the real Christians live.

First, he says that Christianity is all about WORSHIP, that is Spirit led and inspired, and the implication is that it is not about formal, ritualistic worship.

Second, he says is that Christians are those who are WORSHIPPERS of Christ, those who are fully taken up by the wonder of what the Son of God has achieved.

Third, he says Christians are aware of WEAKNESS, weakness of self; they realise that nothing they can do can achieve their salvation and they are therefore, entirely reliant on the Lord's provision of salvation. Paul's warning therefore, is against religion that relies upon external religious acts with no heart change. The true Christian has had his heart changed, not some outward part of him; it is an inward change, not an outward one, that brings the change of life we call "becoming a Christian".

D. Application?

1. The temptation is to performs religious acts to try to confirm our

salvation. Resist it. Jesus has done everything necessary.

2. Real life comes by the Spirit of God within who releases worship at the

realisation of the wonder of our salvation.

Chapter: Phil 3

Passage: Phil 3:4-6

A. Find Out:

1. In what did Paul have grounds for confidence? v.4a

2. In fact how much did he have? v.4b

3. What was his prime sign of Jewishness? v.5a

4. What was his family "pedigree"? v.5b

5. What was his sign of being a law-keeper? v.5c

6. What was his sign of being zealous? v.6

B. Think :

1. What had Paul previously said about Christians?

2. What point was he now making? (also v.7)

3. How do people today parade their confidence in the flesh?

C. Comment :

Paul has just said that one of the three characteristics of a real Christian is that they don't put their trust or confidence in the things of the flesh or the things of self. He is now going on to show that if that would have been any help he would have been head of the queue for righteousness.

First, he is Jewish through and through; he is one of God's chosen people, the chosen race. That ought to be worth something. He is a circumcised pedigree Jew!

Second, he has been someone who has been all out to obey God's laws, a Pharisee. That must make him really good.

Third, he has proved his zealousness for God by persecuting the church, positively standing against what he had seen as wrong religion. Without doubt he had been all out for God, so that ought to win him a place in heaven!

Today people do this by going to church once a week, by "being nice", by being a pillar of society, by doing "good works", but as with Paul we have to say that all such things are a complete waste of time, if you are trying to impress God, because salvation cannot be earned, it is a free gift that comes by the grace and mercy of God, and nothing we do can impress Him!

D. Application?

1. Under the robes of respectability is always an imperfect heart.

2. Because we always fail to achieve perfection, God's salvation must be a

gift of grace!

Chapter: Phil 3

Passage: Phil 3:7-11

A. Find Out:

1. What does he consider all the previous list? v.7

2. Against what does he compare that? v.8a

3. What does he now consider those things? v.8b

4. What is the first benefit of knowing Christ? v.9

5. What other two things did he want to know? v.10

6. What finally did he hope for? v.11

B. Think :

1. What was it that Paul now viewed as pure rubbish?

2. What was he setting all that against so that he saw it as it really was?

3. How would you summarise Paul's message?

C. Comment :

Paul has just listed all his human qualifications for being considered good but, he says, they are all rubbish for the scrap heap when you compare them against what is possible. All those things are debris in comparison to knowing Christ. Hold onto all those things and you just know yourself. Lose them and you come to know Christ when you surrender all to him.

Note the phrases "in him" and "in Christ" (v.9) which occur many times in the New Testament. That is the POSITION we have when we come to him, and with it, it carries many PRIVILEGES.

The first privilege is to be declared righteous by God, to receive His righteousness, a real righteousness, not just an outward one.

Second, we receive power, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead (see also Romans 8:11 )

Third, we share in the experiences of Jesus, the experience of being rejected by men.

Fourth, we have the hope of resurrection after death to reign with him for eternity IF we persevere to the end (note Paul's uncertainty "somehow"). All the means are ours to ensure that eternity. What a balance of things! Righteousness, power, rejection and resurrection to eternal life!

D. Application?

1. My righteousness, if it comes from my own endeavours is worthless. If it

comes from him, from knowing him, it is everything.

2. Being in him, guarantees a power and a position and a future

Chapter: Phil 3

Passage: Phil 3:12-14

A. Find Out:

1. What 2 things hadn't happened? v.12a

2. But what was Paul doing? v.12b

3. Again what negative does Paul reiterate? v.13a

4. What 2 positives is he employing? v.13b

5. What does he reiterate he is doing? v.14a

6. What is the end result? v.14b

B. Think :

1. How does Paul convey a sense of incompleteness in his life?

2. What response does that create in him?

3. What assurances does he have of getting it?

C. Comment :

There is here, in these few verses, a strange mixture of the sense of incompleteness in Paul mixed with a great sense of purpose to obtain that completeness. The one follows on from the other.

First Paul's sense of incompleteness. In the previous verses he spoke about the power of the resurrection, sharing in Christ's sufferings and attaining the resurrection from the dead. Now he makes great emphasis on his failure to have obtained all these things yet, his imperfect state still. He is quite aware of his imperfect state.

But then see the force of the response that this creates in him. Twice he says he presses on, and that has force and energy behind it, an active straining to achieve it. His goal is the ultimate call of Christ to Paul, to join Him in heaven for eternity. That, says Paul, is the all important thing to go for; everything in the present contributes towards achieving that.

The strange thing, that doesn't often come over with Paul, is the clear implication that it IS possible for a person who is a Christian now NOT to obtain all this, and perseverance is needed to ensure there is no falling away and losing the promised inheritance.

D. Application?

1. The promise of eternity with Christ in heaven is ours, but it needs

perseverance to take it.

2. A sense of incompleteness or imperfection is common in Christians, it

gives a goal to continue on to.

SPECIAL NOTE : The Need for Perseverance

Because there is often confusion about the so-called perseverance of the saints and the possibility of a Christian falling away, as this subject has come up in Paul's writings in this letter, we deal with it more fully here.

The Scriptures seem to be quite clear and specific on two points:

1. Christians can fall away, and

2. They can lose their inheritance of eternity with Christ.

However, to hold a correct balance we need to also hold onto two other things quite clearly:

1. God has provided ALL we need to help us persevere through this life;

His whole emphasis is on getting us through to be with Him

2. Occasional failure is not the cause of losing this inheritance, only a real

heart turning away and falling away from God is.

Look up the following verses and note the implied inference on the "falling away" of heart that causes the promised eternity to be lost:

1 Corinthians 6:6-10 provides a list of those who will not enter the kingdom, therefore believers who fall into and CONTINUE in them must have a strong question mark over their future.

Hebrews 6:4-6 clearly shows the possibility as does 2 Peter 2:20,21 and Hebrews 10:26-29

Further verses that indicate the same sort of things in different ways are:

Ezekiel 18:24 / Matthew 5:13 / Matthew 5:30 / Galatians 5:2,4 / Hebrews 2:1,3 / Romans 11:22 / Colossians 1:22,23 / Hebrews 6:11 / John 15:5,6 / 1 Timothy 4:16 / 2 Timothy 2:11,12 / Hebrews 10:35,36

For certain words of encouragement in Scripture, note:

Romans 8:38,39 - WE are not included in the list

John 10:27,28 - the context is of sheep who listen and keep on listening and keep on following, and we can ourselves jump out of his hand. Let's not!

Chapter: Phil 3

Passage: Phil 3:15,16

A. Find Out:

1. To whom does he speak? v.15a

2. What does he say they should do? v.15b

3. But what may happen? v.15c

4. But what will God do? v.15d

5. What does he exhort them to do? v.16

B. Think :

1. What has Paul previously just been referring to?

2. What is he now saying?

3. How is his exhortation tinged with graciousness?

C. Comment :

In these two brief verses there is so much to consider. We can sometimes rush over large passages but instead let's meditate on these two verses. Initially let's consider Paul's main point: that a mature Christian will think in the way he has been saying.

What has he been saying?

First, that we need to count all things as lost in coming to and knowing Christ.
Second, righteousness comes from God alone.
Third, although having been declared righteous by God, our part is to push on to claim the inheritance that is ours which concludes with us receiving a place in heaven for eternity.

Now, says Paul, if you are mature as a Christian, I'm sure you will think like this, BUT if you haven't seen all this yet, if you haven't had this clarity of revelation in your Christian life, I'm sure God will make it clear to you sometime ahead. That is a gracious way of saying, these are basics of being a Christian and if you haven't grown up enough to understand them yet, God still loves you and will get through to you on these things. There's a gentleness in that.

His final plea is for each of us to hold the ground that we've been given and not let it slip away or be taken from us by the enemy. There IS something to live up to, this glorious wonder called the Gospel, that should motivate us to greater and higher things!

D. Application?

1. Maturity involves understanding the wonder of what we've been given

and working to receive more of it.

2. Salvation is a gift to be received more and more.

Chapter: Phil 3

Passage: Phil 3:17-19

A. Find Out:

1. What does he ask them to do first? v.17

2. About who does he now feel saddened? v.18

3. Where is their destiny? v.19a

4. What is their god? v.19b

5. What is their glory? v.19c

6. On what is their mind? v.19d

B. Think :

1. How is Paul's life more than just words?

2. How is Paul seen to be moved by compassion?

3. Yet how is his mind seen to be sharp and clear?

C. Comment :

Paul has been speaking about a life of living in the Spirit, glorifying Jesus and having no confidence in self activity (3:3 and following). He now makes a simple plea for his readers to follow in the same way, and as he does so he mentions in anguished tones those who are against Christ.

For a moment we catch the gentleness, humility and grace of this powerful apostle who weeps for the lost. Here is a man who is not just words, but one who sets an example of the highest kind and who is moved to weep for those who are lost. What an example indeed! We need to have noted that first, before we come to his description of the lost, otherwise his words might seem hard. He is quite clear, these people are bent on self destruction, they live for personal pleasure and they almost seem to revel in their shame and their minds are filled with earthly, material, transient things.

Yes, they have focused on false values, things that will only lead them into a godless eternity. When we see the non-Christian in this light and see the foolishness and hopelessness of their lives, it is no wonder that Paul speaks of them with tears in his eyes and anguish in his heart. May we feel the same.

D. Application?

1. We are called to stand out (see also Matthew 5:13 ,14,16). Do we?

2. When we consider the lost is it with harsh judgementalism or yearning

compassion?

Chapter: Phil 3

Passage: Phil 3:20 - 4:1

A. Find Out:

1. Who are we now? v.20a

2. For whom are we waiting? v.20b

3. What will he do? v.21b

4. How will he do it? v.21a

5. How does Paul describe these Philippians? v.1a

6. To what end has he been speaking? v.1b

B. Think :

1. These verses contrast with what?

2. How does Paul say our outlook on our future should affect who we are

today?

3. How does Paul show his feelings for these Christians in Philippi ?

C. Comment :

Paul had recently said (v.15) that mature Christians should see themselves as counting all earthly things as loss for the sake of knowing Jesus Christ and his power in us. He then contrasted the foolish of the world who are against Christ, who concentrate on satisfying their physical appetites and who think only of transient material things. So it is in stark contrast to all this that Paul now says that we are to remember we are citizens of heaven; heaven is our home, our destiny, and that thought is to influence and govern how we live today.

Yes, says Paul, one of these days Jesus will come for you (either at death or when he returns to the earth) and he will then transform you into someone who has an immortal body, just like his own. With that new body you will live in eternity, never to see death again, living in the glorious presence of God for ever. For most of us today, we are locked into the material world in which we live, and most of our waking life is filled with thoughts of material things, but Paul encourages us to think on our heavenly destiny, to remind ourselves that life here on earth is not the end, and in that way be strengthened for today.

D. Application?

1. We are people of eternity!

2. In eternity, our time on earth is a mere drop in the ocean. Can we see

life in that perspective?

RECAP: "Going for a Goal" Phil 3

SUMMARY :

In this third group of 7 studies we have seen Paul:

- warn against reliance on circumcision

- rejecting his own confidence in his past

- declaring that knowing Jesus is the ALL important thing

- declaring the goal of knowing Christ through death &

resurrection

- exhorting us to stand firm and go for that same goal

COMMENT :

Our tendency so often, is to resort to personal action-centred reassurance in the Christian faith. When we “do well” we feel secure that we are Christians, but that is relying upon our own activities and our own feelings, and they both fluctuate considerably.

Paul shows us that we can have confidence in nothing of our own, only in the righteousness that the Lord gives us. That is to spur us on to know him more fully.

LESSONS?

1. My external actions do not save me, just the work of Christ

2. Knowing Jesus is more important than anything else

3. My righteousness is a gift from God

4. There is much to be received from God as my inheritance

5. I am to press on to receive that

6. I am a citizen of heaven; that is my destiny

PRAY :

Thank the Lord that you are His, not because of your good works, but because of His! Thank Him that your destiny is secure. Ask Him to help you know Him more fully as every day passes.

PART 4 : "Fellowship & Provision"

In this last Chapter we will see some very personal glimpses (even more than before) of Paul's relationships and his feelings for those at Philippi . Within the chapter are some wonderful nuggets of truth, especially about the provision of God which brings so much assurance to this apostle, and hopefully to us. Watch for them.