7/21 - Philippians 3

To those reading this who have confessed & believed in Christ and are now saved, reflect on this fact this morning: we have been chosen by God. Take a just a few moments. There's so much in that simple statement. So much to rejoice about, so much to stand in awe of.

"For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh," (v.3).

We believe in Christ as our only means of sufficiency, truly as our Lord - our leader & guide without whom we'd be lost. The more I read this chapter the more I realize that growing in faith is relying less and less on yourself and more and more on God. It's a rigorous process since everything around us tells us to be self-sufficient. Make sure you have an IRA, invest in your future, save enough emergency money for 6 months, always look out for yourself first, if you don't look out for yourself no one else will, etc. Hey, these statements may have some merit but I'm trying to establish that this manner of thinking is ingrained in most of us. Maybe this is why I trust in my own ability to handle my finances rather than give God full control. That might be a topic for another day but I just imagine that a check book under God's complete authority will look a little different than that of a half-surrendered, half-invested believer. Yea...topic for another day.

The verse says we should have no confidence in the flesh. Paul goes on to list why he could be confident in the flesh: "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; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless" (v. 5-6). Today that might sound like "I was raised in the church, I'm there every Sunday, my daddy was a deacon, uncle was a minister, mother was a trustee, a faithful tither, I read my Bible everyday and serve on 5 church committees." Again, nothing wrong with any of that. But the point in this chapter is that our sufficiency comes from true faith in Christ and all of our "stuff", no matter how good it is, is still inadequate for salvation. Our abilities and achievements apart from God are a wash. Verse 7, "But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ."

So we should continue on in our well doing, and even do more (as God has called us) but our confidence should remain in Him - "that [we] may gain Christ, and be found in Him, not having [our] own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith" (v. 8-9, emphasis added)