Philippians: Part 3 - Ch. 3

The Heart of The Gospel

Moving on towards the center of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we come across chapter 3, where Paul seems to hit on a major conclusion. I know we still have one more chapter left to dissect in this letter, but this chapter starts off with Paul stating, ‘Finally, my brothers…’. This would lead us to believe that the last two chapters of this book are essentially about the same topic and build off one another. What exactly does Paul take two chapters to discuss in such a short book? You guessed it, the gospel. Depending on your translation, your title for this chapter in your bible is something along the lines of ‘Righteousness through faith in Christ’. Paul is concluding this encouraging letter by hitting on the heart of the gospel, as he concludes this letter, and he is doing so by humbly reminding the Philippians that we are only counted as righteous because of our faith in Christ, not because of any work we have accomplished. Whether this letter was written to correct the church or to encourage the church, we could all be reminded of this fact time and time again. I fully agree with John Piper on this statement when he says, “Justification by faith, getting right with God, being acquitted in his court, being forgiven for our sins, being declared righteous and having the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and our sins imputed to him, and all this by faith alone, for the apostle Paul, this is the heart of the gospel message.” The heart of the gospel is something we see Paul touch on again and again throughout his letters, and we will see it again here in this chapter. And if you’re someone who thinks that this message is getting a little repetitive, might I encourage you by saying you can never understand or be reminded enough about the gospel. With this in mind, let’s see what God has in store for us today. 

Beware…

To start, just as we stated earlier, this chapter will build off of the last chapter of this letter and will be Paul’s concluding point to the Philippians. Knowing that Paul is discussing righteousness through faith in Christ in this chapter may lead you to think that these first few verses in this chapter are out of place. However, when we look at them in context, we will see they fit right in. Philippians 3:1-2 says, “Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble for me, and it is a safeguard for you. Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision;” If Paul is teaching us about the righteousness we have in Christ, then why are his first words in this chapter a warning about false teachers and people who would lead us astray? The reason for this is that there are teachers who claim to be pastors who will lead you to believe that you have some sort of contribution to your salvation and that your righteousness isn’t fully a work of Christ. Paul is refuting this right off the bat by stating that we should stay away from such teachings. Anyone who claims that you are not fully dependent on Christ and that you have some say or add some work to your salvation is taking away from the glory of Christ and simply getting the gospel all wrong. 

Paul is making it absolutely clear that no matter what you have done in this life (good or bad), our only hope for salvation comes from the gracious gift that Christ has died to give us. Paul clears up this idea and ties everything together in the following verses in Philippians 3:8-9, which states, “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 mere 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,” Notice what Paul says at the end of this passage. He states that he may be found in Christ, not by having a righteousness through the Law (which would be self-earned), but by having a righteousness through faith in Christ (which is totally dependent on Christ). Paul is making it absolutely clear that no matter what someone may come and teach you in the name of God, our righteousness is secure only because of the work that Christ has accomplished on the cross and for no other reason. 

Press On

Lastly, Paul encourages the Philippians to press on toward the goal of becoming more and more like Christ until we are with Him for eternity. He states this beautifully in Philippians 3:12-14 “Not that I have already grasped it all or have already become perfect, but I press on if I may also take hold of that for which I was even taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken 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.” Paul encourages us to follow his example of reaching forward to what lies ahead in our walk with the Lord and striving to become more and more holy and less and less like ourselves. The goal of sanctification is something that God’s Spirit works in us over time, and it is something that we strive for every day. This is why it is important to not just follow Paul’s words when he says to not just reach forward for what lies ahead, but also to forget what lies behind. Despite whatever sins we may have committed in our past, if we have repented and believed in Christ for our salvation, we must forget our old lives and press on to what God has willed for us. I hope and pray that as you read this chapter of Philippians, you wouldn’t grow bored of hearing about the gospel, but rather you would understand how deep, how wide, and how vast the beauty of the gospel of Christ truly is. May we join Paul by being on the lookout for evil workers and by pressing on toward the goal of becoming like Christ because of all that He has done for us. 

---

Sources

[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/

[2] Piper, John. “God Credits Faith as Righteousness.” Desiring God, 1 Aug. 1999, www.desiringgod.org/messages/god-credits-faith-as-righteousness.