Sunday, January 29, 2017, 1:36 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Zeal for Your House.” Speak, Lord, your
words to my heart. I read Philippians
3:1-4:1 (Select vv. NASB).
A Safeguard
(3:1-4a)
Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write
the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.
If one thing the scriptures are,
they are repetitive. The same message is preached throughout the Old and the New
Testaments. And, the reason they keep preaching the same message over and over
again is that we need to be reminded periodically of why we are here, and what
faith in God (in Jesus Christ) is really all about. And, this is for our
protection and as a preventative measure to keep us from losing sight of God’s
purpose for our lives, so that we don’t fall away from grace and begin to slip
back into giving lordship to our flesh once more.
So, if I had to pick just one
Bible verse to sum up that same central message that keeps being repeated, I
would choose 1 Peter 2:24 (ESV):
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that
we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been
healed.
Beware Evil Workers (3:2-4a)
Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware
of the false circumcision; for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the
Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,
although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh.
Following the flesh is
directly opposed to (opposite of) following the Spirit, so we can’t do both at
the same time. Either we are slaves to sin and the flesh or we are slaves to
righteousness (See: Ro. 6:1-23). This is not saying we will never sin again
(See: 1 Jn. 2:1), but it is saying that, once we believe in Jesus Christ, that
our flesh and sin should no longer have mastery over our lives. And, as far as
our flesh is concerned, that includes all things opposed to God and to his
express will for our lives, which includes human-based religion, fleshly works,
and doing what is harmful to our neighbors, i.e. such as gossip, slander, murder,
hatred, adultery, lying and cheating, et al.
At the time this was written,
Paul was concerned with evil workers who were trying to convince believers in
Jesus Christ that they had to follow Jewish customs, ceremonies, celebrations
and and/or traditions, and/or that they had to follow some of which was
required under the Old Covenant God had with his people. So, they were adding
to God’s grace that which God did not require or intend. And, today this is
called legalism, which is basically focused on what is external, and on
man-made rules being added on to God’s grace, and as required for right
standing with God. Yet, God rejects all such human effort to try to gain his
divine approval.
Yet, today, I think the
biggest concern is not over legalism, although I do believe it still exists,
but rather it is about a different type of man-made religion, which is a false
grace gospel. Rather than adding to God’s grace, it takes away from his grace,
and gives people the sense that they can continue living sinful lifestyles and
yet have the hope of heaven because they prayed some prayer after someone else
to “receive Christ.”
This false grace gospel teaches
that God does not require repentance, obedience or submission to the cross of
Christ as part of genuine believing faith, yet the New Testament scriptures
teach over and over again that believing in Jesus Christ means, with regard to our
former way of life, to put off our old self, which is being corrupted by its
deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of our minds; and to put on
the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Eph.
4:22-24; cf. Ro. 6:1-23). It teaches that if we walk according to the flesh, we
will die in our sins, but if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of
the flesh, we will have eternal life with God (See: Lu. 9:23-25; Ro. 8:1-14; 1
Jn. 1:6).
Counted as Loss
(3:7-11)
But whatever things were gain to me, those things I
have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things
to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for
whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that
I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my
own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the
righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him
and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being
conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the
dead.
We may do lots of “good
things” in the flesh, which we may be able to credit to ourselves, but they are
not what God requires or desires of us. He sees our self-righteous acts as
filthy rags in his sight. What he requires is that we give our lives to him as
living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him, which is our reasonable or
acceptable worship of him. We are to no longer be conformed to the pattern of
this sinful world, but we are to be transformed in the renewing of our minds,
so that by our lives we prove what is the good, pleasing and perfect will of
God (See: Ro. 12:1-2). When we say Jesus is our Lord, it should mean that he is
owner-master of our lives, and that we are his bond-servants. All that we might
have gained for ourselves in our own flesh should be as nothing to us now that
we belong to Christ.
I Press On (3:12-16)
Not that I have already obtained it or have already
become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I
was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having
laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and
reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize
of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are
perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude,
God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by that same
standard to which we have attained.
When we believe in Jesus
Christ, although we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are
resurrected with Christ to newness of life, to be lived to his righteousness,
we don’t become instantly perfect. The Christian life is a process of dying
daily to sin and self and putting on Christ and his righteousness. It is a
process of sanctification, whereby our God is maturing us in Christ, making us
holy, and conforming us into the likeness of Christ. This does not mean,
however, that we can use “I’m not perfect” as an excuse for continued and
willful sin against God. The Bible says that if we say we have fellowship with
God, but we walk (in lifestyle) in darkness (sin, wickedness), we are liars,
and we do not live by the truth (1 Jn. 1:6).
Enemies of the Cross (3:17-4:1)
Brethren, join in following my example, and observe
those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom
I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the
cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and
whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. For our
citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into
conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has
even to subject all things to Himself.
Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my
joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.
Who are these enemies of the
cross of Christ? They are all those who oppose the gospel as taught by Jesus,
and by his NT apostles. They are the ones who dilute the gospel message in
order to make it more appealing and acceptable to the people of this sinful world.
They do so because they know the true gospel offends, and they don’t want to
offend their customer base, so they do all kinds of worldly things in order to
draw in large crowds of people into their “churches,” i.e. into their places of
business. Their “worship” services are often not more than large stage
productions intended to entertain the people of the world so they will want to
come back. And, their “Bible” studies are often studies of books written by contemporary
authors who may or may not be teaching accurately the Word of Truth.
They are those, basically,
who follow a flesh-driven human-based form of Christianity which does not teach
death to sin and living to righteousness, but which comforts and consoles
people in their sins by getting them to just claim who they are in Christ,
while teaching them that God is pleased with them no matter what they do. So, they
remove both consciousness of sin and divine discipline and correction from
their teaching and leave their adherents believing they can live however they
want and still go to heaven when they die. They lie to them, and they give them
a false hope of salvation, but truly they are sending people straight to hell.
Jesus didn’t die just so we
could be forgiven of our sin, escape hell and go to heaven when we die. He died
to radically transform our lives away from sin to living to him and to his
righteousness. And, this is the standard of living that we are to keep living,
that we no longer walk according to the flesh, but that we walk according to
(in the power of and in agreement with) the Spirit.
Zeal for Your House
An Original Work / August 1,
2016
Based off Jn. 2:17; Ps. 69:9
Zeal for Your house, it
consumes me.
Lord, I love my times with
You.
I love to worship You and
sing Your praises.
Time in Your Word brings me
closer to You,
List’ning to You speaking to
me,
Gently guiding me in truth.
Lord, You are my life’s
example,
Showing me how I should live.
I love to walk with You
where’er You lead me.
No greater joy have I when
serving You.
Loving, giving, resting in
Your strength,
I’m yielding to Your will.
Zeal for Your house, it
consumes me.
See the church turned upside
down:
Marketing ventures taking
place of worship,
Men of the gospel turning
into clowns.
Gospel message made
appealing,
So the world will feel at
home.
Lord, we need a great
revival.
Turn their hearts, Lord, back
to You.
Open the blind eyes, turn
them all from darkness,
Lord, to the light. May they
return to You,
Turn from their sin, forsake
idols,
Be restored to God again.
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