Today, I'd like to consider together some precious things from the Word of God in Philippians chapter 3. The more I study this passage, the more I'm struck by its depth, its riches, its power. And as I was sharing with Helen, my wife, last night, the more I study the writings of Paul, the more I'm impressed with his spiritual insight. The depth of his spiritual understanding. Now there is no way we can exhaust the riches in Philippians chapter 3 today. But we need to touch on certain important points because they are vital to us and for our spiritual life. And although I share this particularly with those who are going to be baptized today, these principles apply to us all.
Now, I have said before and I say it again: the Apostle Paul says nothing original whatsoever. But the importance of the spiritual teaching lies not in its originality, but in its insight into the meaning of God's Word. That is to say, Paul has a profound, a deep insight into what the Lord Jesus said and taught. He uses his own words. Yet everything he says is a deep exposition of what the Lord Jesus taught. I pray that by the grace of God, He will grant to me evermore this kind of insight into the teaching of the Lord Jesus. I don't strive to be in the slightest bit original. For to be original would be to depart from the Word of God. No, rather what we must aim to do is to penetrate evermore deeply into the spiritual riches, that life-giving depth of the words of the Lord Jesus.
Now, Philippians 3 is very interesting, because when I was in Liverpool lately, what passage would they be preaching on? Philippians 3. I arrived at precisely that moment. But when the preaching came to Philippians 3, my heart ached within me in the sense that I felt, oh dear, the riches that was left out. Because I asked not to preach on that first Sunday. I just wanted to listen. I just wanted to listen. But I could not contain myself to the next Sunday. So when I was asked to speak forth the Word of God, I returned to Philippians 3. What is the riches in this passage? Now, when you want to study the Word of God, I hope that you come with a spiritually active mind to God's Word. When I consider Paul's exposition of God's Word, the depth and the power of it contrasts painfully with the kind of superficiality that one is so accustomed to hearing in these days. Mouthing and repeating platitudes that one has heard tens of times over again. Until these well-worn phrases mean almost nothing to us at all. I hope that when we come to the Word of God, as I say, we come with spiritually active minds, asking questions, penetrating into the depth of it.
Here are some of the questions we could ask. And I wonder whether you would know any of the answers, or at least some of the answers to these questions. These are the kind of questions I would want to ask when I come to a passage like Philippians 3. Let us never be afraid to ask questions, because only through asking questions do we come into the depth of God's Word. Nothing frightens me so much as people who think they know all the answers. Because they don't know even half the answers. As Paul says, we know nothing as we ought to know. When you read a passage of Scripture, don't say to yourself, "Oh, I have read this before." I'm sure you have read it before, but what do you understand of it? You have read Philippians 3 before, certainly. Let us read some of it, and I'm sure you will say, "Oh, I know this." Do we know it? Let's read it, and then let us ask some questions.
In Philippians chapter 3, verse 2, we read this. Paul says to the Philippians, "Look out for dogs. Look out for the evil workers. Look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the true circumcision, who worship God in spirit and glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh. Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also; if any other man thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ."
Notice these words, "that I may gain Christ," because we shall return to this. "And be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained, or am already perfect." I deliberately drop the word "this," because the word "this" is not in the original. "But I press on to make my own." I deliberately drop the word "it," because the word is not in the original either. "I press on to make my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own." The reason I drop the word "it" is because we can equally read, "I press on to make Him my own." Isn't that what Paul says? "I want to gain Christ." It's not an "it" that he is looking for; it is Him, Christ, that He wants. I wish the translators would leave the interpreting to the preachers. Because too often, when you don't know the original, you think that since he is speaking of an "it," he is referring to a thing. Paul wants to gain Christ. He is not interested in an "it."
Verse 13: "Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward"—notice the words, "straining forward"—"to what lies ahead." He doesn't just press on; he strains forward, with every nerve intention. "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus." RSV has "upward call," correctly so, but "heavenly call" is equally correct, and probably better in this context. "Let those of us who are mature be thus minded." This verse means that he is applying this not just to himself, but to every Christian. "Let those of us who are mature be thus minded. And if in anything you are otherwise minded"—if you don't think in this way—"God will reveal that also to you." He will point out that you lack what you ought to have. You do not think as you ought to think as a Christian. "Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brethren, join in imitating me, and mark those who so live as you have an example in us."
Now here is a passage I am sure that if you have been a Christian for any length of time, you will have read quite a few times. What kind of questions do we want to ask? Well, here are some of the kind of questions I would like to ask. What motivates Paul to gain Christ? Why do some people strain every nerve to gain Christ, while others don't? Why do some people see the value of Christ, but others don't?
We need to ask also fundamental questions like: can we be saved without gaining Christ? Can we? If we can't be saved without gaining Christ, why should we gain Christ? That question means: can we have salvation at all without gaining Christ? But if we must first gain Christ in order to be saved, how is it that Paul is still speaking of gaining Christ, not as though he has already obtained? Then the further question: can we gain Christ without losing everything? If we can gain Christ without losing everything, why does Paul go and lose everything in order to gain Christ? I mean, suppose you and I can gain Christ without losing anything, or very little at that, then what is wrong with Paul? Since we can gain Christ without losing everything, why does he want to go on to lose everything? Paul is no fool—that is an understatement of all time, of course—but he knows that you don't gain Christ without losing all. But if then we must lose all to gain Christ, what is that "all"? And how is it that when we become Christians, nobody tells us that we have to lose anything? It's all just "believe in Jesus and you will be saved." Who said a word about losing anything? Who said anything about counting everything as refuse in order to gain Christ? That part doesn't need to be mentioned, because it turns people off. Make salvation cheap, and then you will have more people wanting it. Make it expensive, and people don't want it, or so they think.
But then what is Paul saying? Can we be saved without gaining Christ? If so, then why should we gain Christ? But if Christ can be had without losing anything, why should we lose anything? And this leaves us with a further question. Do we have Christ now, or do we not have Christ? Does Paul have Christ, or does he not have Christ? If Paul has Christ, then why does he still want to gain Him? Do you have Christ, or do you not have Christ? If we feel that we already have Christ, then what need is there to be gaining Him? But if we do not have Christ, then are we Christians at all? We seem to be left in a checkmate situation, in which either way we turn, the answer is going to be wrong. Or maybe the answer is going to be both right. Which is it? When we read the Scriptures, do we really know what we read? Do we say, "Oh, I have read this before," and then we don't understand anything that is being said there? Or else we come up with superficial answers to profound questions that are a disgrace even to the question.
What are we saying in this passage? Do we have Christ, or do we not? If we have Christ, then why do we need to gain Him? If we don't have Christ, how can we be Christians? I would like to put this question to so many Christians at a Bible study. Especially I like to put this question to pastors, to see what will be the answer coming out. Try it sometimes. Put this question to them. Does Paul have Christ, or does he not have Christ? If he has Christ, why does he want to gain Christ? If he doesn't have Christ, how can he be a Christian, never mind an apostle? Ah, got him.
Then we have further questions. If we receive Christ as a present, as a gift, how is it that we need to gain Him? How is it that we need to strain every nerve to press forward to gaining Him, to gain the prize that Paul speaks about in verse 14? "I press on toward the goal for the prize of God's heavenly call." Well, what is the prize that Paul wants? He wants a crown on his head? Of course not. He wants Christ. He just said so. That's what he wants to gain. He wants Christ. But if Christ is a present, what do you mean by gaining Christ?
This is further made—let's look at the word "gain" for a moment, so that we understand the word "gain." The word "gain" implies effort. It implies effort. Not only implies, it means effort. It specifically states so. All you need to do is take a concordance and look at the word "gain," the Greek word that is, and see how it's used. Here are some examples of how it's used. The word "gain" means to earn. Earn by trading. Matthew chapter 25, where it's used three times—Matthew 25:17, 20, and 22. The same Greek word is used there. To make profit. To earn profit. To increase your capital. To gain means to engage in business, in trading, in order to make a profit. The word "gain." Or else the Lord Jesus uses this word also to "gain the world." Again, He speaks in terms of a business context, as you can see from the same verse where the word—Matthew 16:26, for example—"What shall it profit a man, if he gained the whole world?" If by your efforts you gained the whole world, and you lost your own soul, what profit have you got? You see the word "profit"? It's a business term. "What does it profit a man, if he gained the world?" Is it really profit? Is it really a good deal? Is it a bargain? And in fact, He uses this word "barter." "What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" Exchange—another business term.
You see, many times business people barter one thing against another. Barter means, well, you give me so much corn, or grain, and I will give you some other product in exchange for this. The one that you don't need, you give to me, your surplus, and I give to you what you need. Right? This is bartering. That's barter. So, for example, Canada will export grain to certain countries, and exchange, get the things, the raw materials that Canada needs. It has lots of grain, but it needs other raw materials maybe. And so it barters, exchanges the goods. "What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" Because "what shall it profit a man?" All this is business language. Jews are good at business. They understand business language. And Chinese are also good at business. We also understand business language. The one place the Jews can't get rich in is in China, of course. They met their own type, you see. We all understand business. And this business word, Paul is not afraid to use. That's the staggering thing. He speaks of gaining Christ. Now, you don't get gain when you use this word without giving something in exchange. So what happened to Paul's doctrine of grace? Isn't Christ the gift of God to us? Didn't we read in John, "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever receives Him"? What happened to the doctrine of grace? Gaining Christ? Paul, how can he use such language? Gaining Christ? Earning Christ? Very serious.
Well, by now I wonder how many questions do you know the answer to? Maybe we should try some kind of Bible quiz here. Except that we are dealing with very serious questions. But we haven't even finished all our questions yet. You say, "Well, we haven't got the answers to those, and you want to go on with more questions?" No wonder the Gospel cannot appeal to a thinking non-Christian, because Christians don't come up with any answers. They make dogmatic statements, but where are the answers to the questions? Let's press on with more questions.
Supposing then, I lose all in the past to gain Christ. Notice, you lose, you give up something, to gain something else. Supposing then we lose all in the past to gain Christ. Is the past loss sufficient to gain Christ? Or do we need to keep on losing until the time that we actually gain Him? In other words, supposing now, look at myself. I say I gave up a certain amount of things of the world. I gave up my career, I gave up my prospects in the world, and therefore I, Eric Chang, shall be alright from henceforth. Right? Now I can sit back and congratulate myself, because look, I gave up everything to gain Christ. I have already given it up. So I am okay now, right? As for you people who haven't given up very much, well, I am sorry for you all, but as for me, my seat is reserved for me in heaven. So if you cannot be complacent, then I can be complacent. I have grounds to congratulate myself, and maybe a few other people here—maybe Pastor William can congratulate himself too. He says, "Oh yes, this teaching does me fine, because I gave up everything. Look at me, I am also serving the Lord now." And maybe a few others of you can say the same thing, and as for all the other poor people, well, too bad for them. Oh, is that correct? Is that what Paul means?
Well, evidently that is not what Paul means, isn't it? Because he goes on to say, "I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish," and now I am sitting back and relaxing to wait for the gift of God to me. Did he say that? No. He says, "I am still pressing forward, straining every nerve." Hey, you have already given up everything, what do you still have to press on for? Precisely because the giving up of everything, even that is not enough. Oh, now you realize this—even that is not enough. I cannot sit back and congratulate myself that I have already gained Christ. "Not as though I have already obtained." He has given up everything, and he still has not obtained. Think well on that. Profound, isn't it? Deep.
Well, you say, "Okay now, I know you like to ply us with questions, and now we are all full of questions and we've got no answers, how about let's get into some answers." But I like to do this because of a very important reason. Because nothing is so dangerous to the Christian life as complacency. "I've got it all. I'm okay, Joe. My seat is reserved for me." I would like to say to those who are being baptized today: understand this thing well. You are only at the beginning of the Christian life. The beginning of the Christian life. Not only you, but we all have a long way to go. Even those of us who have served the Lord for many years, we have a long way to go. So the last thing you must think is, "I have been baptized today. I got my diploma. I have graduated. I am saved now." Nothing is so deadly to the Christian life, and the church is full of people today who are there sitting back, complacent, and say, "No matter what the pastor says, I am okay. I am in heaven, or my seat is reserved." You haven't arrived. Don't be too sure. You haven't arrived yet. "Not as though I have already obtained," Paul says. "I, though an apostle, though I have suffered the loss of all things, though I have built many churches in my time, I have not yet obtained. I am pressing forward."
So let us consider three points. And many of the questions we will have to leave unanswered, since this is not a Bible study, and since I have only one session with you this time. Three points. And I base them all on this verse in verse 12. "Not that I have already obtained, or am already perfect, but I press on to make Him my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own."
Another question arises before we proceed to the answer. If Christ Jesus has made me His own, does it not automatically follow that He belongs to me? If Christ Jesus has made me His own, if He has gained possession of me, if He has bought me with His blood, so that I belong to Him—since I am His, does it not automatically follow that He is mine? The answer in Scripture is no. Very important to understand this principle. You know, nothing disturbs me so much as the lack of spiritual precision in thinking. Now, when I listen to many of the Bible study leaders and the conclusions that are drawn from various passages, I often have to say to you, the conclusion does not follow from the passage. It doesn't follow. Now, I don't say this to discourage you, but so that you will sharpen your spiritual thinking. Many times I have listened to the conclusions, either in word or on tape. And though I do not say anything to you directly at the time, because I don't think the error is that serious, the conclusion does not follow from the evidence.
We need today to have a much greater precision in thinking. And what surprises me is this: that although many people today are trained in the sciences, I would have expected their thinking to be a lot more precise. But it's astonishing how often wrong conclusions are drawn from the premises, or conclusions are drawn which are not warranted by the evidence. And I would have thought that all this training would have made people that much more precise in their thinking. Surprisingly, as I've said before, you may be very good in engineering, or whatever your subject might be, but when it comes to the Word of God, it's amazing how lacking in spiritual acuteness, in spiritual sharpness, that people are. And I have found that in fact, when it comes to the Word of God, whether you study science or not, you have not the slightest advantage over anyone else. And that was my observation over the years. For it is spiritual sharpness, not just intellectual sharpness, that we are talking about. Spiritual perception.
And the amazing thing is, you will notice that Paul, with his usual spiritual keenness, does not make this mistake at all. You see, his statement would not have been necessary if he had said that because Christ has gained me, I am automatically His. The second part of the statement wouldn't be necessary. But he doesn't follow in this way at all. "I have still to obtain Him, although He has obtained me." You say, "Wow, what an incredible statement." But you see, it takes—that's what I mean by Paul's profoundness, his depth, his spiritual insight. The fact that Christ has obtained me does not mean that I have obtained Him. Mark that well. Otherwise you don't even understand what he is saying. His statement would be completely unintelligible unless you grasp this point well.
What does this mean? Well, think well. How did Christ make us His own? Well, you say, because He died for us. Right. Correct answer. He died for us. And so, how? So He purchased me with His blood. Correct answer. 1 Corinthians 6:19 and 20: "You are not your own. You have been bought with a price." Namely, the blood of Christ. So we are His. Right. Why? Because He died for us. And because we are His, He is ours? No. Hey, before that—that is a non sequitur, in logical language. It doesn't follow. Because He has made us His own does not mean that we have made Him our own. Yet. Not yet. It is this kind of woolly thinking that has caused so many problems. And you hear it in hymns and everywhere.
You see, the point is this. Christ did not just die for you and for me. You say no, who else then? Well, for the whole world. The whole world. 1 John chapter 2, verse 2. What does the Apostle John say there? "He died not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world." Remember that well. Now seeing that He died for the sins of the whole world, does it not follow that the whole world belongs to Him? Since He died for the sins of the whole world, His blood was shed not for your sin and mine only, but for the sins of the whole world. Does it not follow that He bought with His blood the whole world? What must the answer to that question be? Yes or no? The answer has to be yes, isn't it? For if He died for the whole world, He bought the whole world. But does it mean that the whole world is automatically saved? The answer is no. Now you see, you could draw the wrong conclusion. Because Christ died for the whole world, therefore the whole world is saved. That error is also being made. In theology it's called the error of universalism. That means to say, because Christ died for everybody, everybody will automatically be saved. But it doesn't follow, you see. It doesn't follow, precisely because of this very truth.
We can draw this in many ways, in illustrations. The fact, for example, that the Communists took over the whole of China—they have obtained the whole of China, they obtained everybody in China. Only outwardly, of course. It doesn't follow, of course, that everybody follows after the Communists. That Christ bought the whole world means that He is entitled to have the whole world. And He therefore is the Judge of the whole world for this reason. Because we, even the non-Christian, belongs to God, on two counts. The first count is because God created everybody, not just the Christians. He also created the non-Christians. Too well to remember that. And secondly, He died to save not only the Christians but the whole world. It doesn't follow that they will all be saved. But He died to save them. That was His purpose, all the same. He bought the whole—therefore, God is God of the whole world, including the non-Christians, on two counts. The count of creation, and the count of redemption.
But though the whole world belongs to Him by right of creation and by right of redemption, the whole world does not therefore have God. Because to have Him is a matter of faith. And faith is a matter of commitment. I hope you can understand this, understand it well. The fact that you and I have been bought with the blood of Christ, as indeed the whole world has, doesn't make us automatically saved. We have yet to gain Christ. Christ has gained us. We haven't gained Him yet. Is that hard for you to follow? Have you the spiritual perception to see it? There is depth here.
So let me come to the first point. The first point of gaining Christ. And we have to move very quickly here. Do we have Christ, or do we not have Christ? How we seek refuge in easy answers. But have you got an easy answer to this one? Do we have Christ, or do we not have Christ? The answer has to be both yes and no. But at two different levels, of course. We cannot have yes and no in the same area, otherwise we have a logical contradiction. But you can have yes and no in different areas. What do we mean by all this?
The only way to understand this—supposing a preacher came along and said, "I am still wanting to know Christ." You say, "Well, how can you be a preacher? You don't even know Christ." He says, "I am pressing on to know Christ." You say, "Well Paul, don't you know Christ? Hasn't he gained Christ?" The answer is, of course, that he has Christ in a certain, very important sense. He knows Christ, but he does not know Him perfectly. He does not know Him fully. He has gained Christ, yes, but he has not gained Him fully, or perfectly.
To understand this, what's the difficulty? No great difficulty at all, because we know it from our own human relationships. And the only answer that is available—no one has ever yet come up with another answer to this question—is to understand it by the illustration that Paul himself gives. When we become baptized, when we become Christians, what happens to us? We are betrothed to Christ. We are engaged to Christ. Paul uses this very picture himself in 2nd Corinthians chapter 11, verses 1 and 2. We are engaged to Christ. Now, when you are engaged to a person, do you have that person, or do you not have that person? Yes or no? The answer is yes and no, isn't it? If you are engaged to a particular girl, you can say, "I have the girl. She is engaged to me now." But if you have her, why do you bother to get married? Well, because you haven't got her fully yet, right? You haven't got each other fully yet. So you have to go on to marriage.
Now, this is very important to understand. The Bible speaks always of the marriage of the Lamb as in the future. We are not married to Christ yet. But we are engaged to Him. We have Christ, but we have not yet entered into the fullest of relationships with Him. We are still waiting to gain Him. Just like the person who is engaged is looking forward eagerly to the marriage. So that this faith in Him is the first step. It is not the end of the matter. Your step in baptism is the first step towards something.
# The Picture of a True Christian (Part 2) — Philippians 3:2-17
Nothing that passes you on, that calls you to move on. No wonder we have a church of people with almost no motivation at all. How many people do you know in the church that has the motivation of Paul? "That I may gain Him. I strain every nerve." I would to God that the church would be motivated. Yet we are so taught today that we have Christ so completely that really there is nothing left to motivate us. We just have to sit back and wait for one day we get to heaven. And frankly there is not very much to look forward to in heaven, is there? As Pastor William was saying last week, if eternal life is simply an unending life, what is there to look forward to?
But that is why I am concerned to speak to those being baptized and to the church as a whole. I am concerned about your motivation. What moves you forward? We have a church that has lost all dynamics. It doesn't move. It is simply involved in religious platitudes, congratulating themselves. "We are saved. That's fine." And what else is there to say? So there is nothing left to do between now and heaven. And it is just to wait to get there. No more motivation. But Paul was dynamically motivated. "I do have Christ. Thanks be to God I have Him. But I want Him fully. I want Him in all His completeness. I haven't got Him fully." And unless you have Him fully, you will not have Him at all at the end. Very important to perceive this. If not, what does Paul worry about? "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling," he says in the second chapter there. "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you, to will and to do."
So the first point, and I deal with this very quickly then, is the motivation of the Christian. I have no time to deal with this in detail. So this is very important. Let us press on to the second point quickly. Since Christ must be the motivating fact of the Christian, and if He is not motivating you, as He does not motivate so many Christians, then what's going to motivate you in this life? The world. I mean, if Christ doesn't motivate me, what else is going to motivate me? The world. That is why worldliness comes into the church. Now you can see the point, why I am pressing on this point so hard. Why Paul pressed on this point so hard. Why he said that every mature Christian must think like this. Think like what? Think like gaining Christ, that this motivates me. I want to gain Him. He is most precious to me. But if we think we already have gained Him, then we must look for some other motivating factor, which must be something in the world. I mean, if it's not Christ, then what else do we have but the world? No wonder worldliness is so much in the church. No wonder that these dear brothers and sisters who go back to Hong Kong find the church is so worldly. Since they already have Christ, they can get on with winning the world, right? You already have Christ, so what else is there to gain but the world?
Now the second thing we need to look at is this pressing forward. In verses 12 and 14, you have the word that is translated in the RSV as "press on." "Press on" is rather flat, really. Because the Greek word is the word "to pursue." Dioko. To pursue. Pursue is a very strong word. It doesn't just mean "I just move on." Pursue means you are running after an objective. There is the target in front. There is the prize in front. And you run after it. You pursue it. Like an Olympic athlete. In fact, the language of the Olympics is constantly on Paul's lips. And you don't see an Olympic runner just sort of, well, "I'm pressing on." "What are you doing?" "I'm just pressing on. I just take my time. But I move on steadily." An Olympic athlete is racing with utmost concern. He is trying to reach before anyone else that objective.
But then we saw in verse 13, this word, "stretch out," "strain." The word that is translated "straining forward" is a very intense word. It is a word which means to stretch oneself out fully. Fully stretched. Like an arrow in full tension. Like a bow in full tension. Stretched out to the maximum. There is no easy-goingness about this at all. There is a sense of powerful spiritual tension involved here. Not like the casualness of the kind of Christianity we see today. This wishy-washy thing that goes by the name of Christianity. I feel so ashamed to associate myself with it. If they don't want to associate me with it, I don't mind in the slightest. Paul is full stretch under tremendous spiritual tension and stress. Not nervous tension. That's nothing to do with nervous tension. It is spiritual stress. He's straining forward with tremendous intensity. When was the last time you met a Christian with any degree of intensity? I meet a lot of relaxed Christians who are very, very nervous people. Strange, isn't it? It works the other way around. The Christian who is complacent is generally a Christian who ends up with a lot of nervous tension. But the Christian who is under tremendous spiritual tension is a very relaxed person, nervously speaking. But I won't develop this point further.
But here we immediately have a question that we must face. This question of righteousness, we come back to it again. If righteousness is a gift of God, then presumably all you have to do is sit back and open your hands as the preacher tells us. You know, just open your hands, stretch them out, and God's gift is put in your hands. What is this stretching forward all about? Just look at verse 9. What does Paul say in verse 9? "And be found in Christ, not having a righteousness of my own based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ." Not having a righteousness of my own, but a righteousness which is from God. Yeah, but if righteousness is a gift, then what is the straining for?
You see, we have got ourselves into another logical jam here. Because, as I have said before, we have drawn unwarranted conclusions from the evidence. You see, what we have done is this, which is so common in all the churches today, is this. We have works on one side and faith on the other side. Now, works is associated with activity, with striving, with pressing forward, with running, with tension. That's works. Right? So, if faith is the opposite of works, then we have drawn the conclusion that therefore faith is passive. Faith, as the preachers constantly remind us, is simply the outstretched hand. So, there's one fellow working away to save himself, and there's the other one who just sits back and stretches out his hand and is saved. That's the picture that the preachers constantly give us, right?
What's the error in this picture? Because with this picture, we are stuck. We cannot go on anymore with this. Because Paul is speaking about striving, he's speaking about activity, he's speaking about movement, he is dynamic, he is full of works. He's full of works. He doesn't even apologize for that. He tells us in that many words, "Good works were unto you ordained." He says, "You were ordained to good works. Get on with it." Hey, you say, "Hey Paul, wait a minute, you just said we are not saved by works. And now we are pressing forward to gain what?" Now, this you can see is a question. Paul thinks of faith as dynamic, as active, as virile. We think of faith as passive, or we have been taught to think of faith as passive. And therefore we are in a jam. We don't know what to do with it. We think of faith as simply passively receiving things from God. And anybody who is active and dynamic is trying to save himself by works. So, how do you get out of this? So, you see how our wrong thinking gets us into an impossible position.
I remember how many times I used to read Philippians 3 and I was so completely confused I didn't know what to do with it. I had lots of questions but no answers. I couldn't figure it out. Paul says, "I want a righteousness not of my own but from God." And how do I get it? "I press forward straining every nerve." Hey, Paul, wait a minute. I got lost. I don't follow you. And you know, Paul loves the language of the race as I said. He likes the Olympic language. He speaks constantly of the Christian life as a race. Running, straining forward to win the race. He just loves this language. In the previous chapter, in chapter 2, he speaks of it there already. He says, "That I may not run in vain." He says to the Philippians, "Holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain." Running. See, he is thinking of himself as that athlete who is running in this race. He speaks very specifically of this and he is running for the prize that is ahead. The crown. The prize. Well, what is the prize? Righteousness. What? Righteousness. Look at 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 8. He says, "I have finished the race. I have fought the fight. I have finished the race. And henceforth there awaits me what? The crown." What crown? "The crown of righteousness, that God shall give me." So righteousness is the crown at the end of the race that he is going to receive. Where does that leave you with your theology? What's happened to your theology?
You know, I have heard so many people when they try to expound the Bible they want to explain it away. Why? Because it doesn't somehow fit in with their theology. I asked a Christian once, a person involved in preaching and so forth, that very question: if Paul has already gained Christ, if he already has Him, why does he want to gain Him? And you know, this dear fellow went into a twisted, contorted attempt to explain the thing, at the end of which I'm not sure he knew what he was talking about. Certainly I didn't know what he was talking about. The attempt to make the Scripture fit into our doctrine rather than to make our doctrine fit into the Scripture. So what happens to our doctrine? If faith is passively receiving the grace of God and all activity is works, where does that leave us? We are in trouble.
But I'm not so much concerned with doctrine as the practical application of this matter. First, I'm concerned about what motivates us to gain Christ. And secondly, I'm concerned that these dear ones who are going to be baptized will be dynamic Christians. Christians who move forward dynamically, who don't just sit back and say, "Okay, let's have salvation. I've stretched out my hand, let's just let God put it in my hand—that's faith." That's not faith in the Bible. Paul wouldn't even recognize that as a description of faith. Truly it is the gift of God. But the gift of God does not mean that it's just dumped into your lap. Oh no. At the end of the race, the crown that is given to you—it's a gift. And yet you had to run for it. Interesting, isn't it? And here again, we would need to spend quite a bit of time to stress this point. But for Paul, there is no inconsistency whatsoever. That a thing can be a gift and yet you must run to obtain it. You must strain every nerve to obtain it. It is truly remarkable. For Paul, faith is a dynamic.
Then, how do you distinguish between our own righteousness and the righteousness that comes from God? How does Paul distinguish it? For him, the distinction is not a distinction between whether you work or you don't work, whether you have faith, whether faith is passive, that faith is a passive receiving of a gift. That is not Paul's distinction at all. What is Paul's distinction? Paul's distinction is very, very clear once you understand it. You see, for Paul, the distinction lies in the flesh or in the Spirit. Notice what he said right at the beginning. He puts no confidence in the flesh. Verse 3: "For we are the true circumcision, who worship God in spirit and glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh." And then he goes on to explain that he doesn't put confidence in the flesh. Do you know what he is saying?
He is saying this: to be saved is not a question of whether you are active or not active, or whether you receive a gift or not receive a gift. That is not the point. What is circumcision? He is talking about circumcision. These people wanted to be saved through circumcision. Is circumcision a work? Of course not. Circumcision is not works. You don't circumcise yourself. You are circumcised by somebody else. Circumcision is a gift. It is something done to you. But because it is a gift that you receive, does it mean that therefore you are saved because it is a gift because it didn't work? Circumcision has nothing to do with works. Circumcision, as you must understand very clearly, is simply a passive thing that is done to you. Being passive there is no virtue. Those who are in the flesh are also passive. That makes no difference.
But what then is the distinction? The distinction is this. For Paul, salvation is a matter of becoming a new person. That is why he says in Galatians chapter 6, "Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but becoming a new person—a new creation." What does this mean? This means that salvation has to do with transformation. If you are a Christian, you are a transformed person. You become a new person.
So what does it mean to establish your own righteousness? That means to say you don't want to become transformed by the power of God. You don't want to receive the Spirit of God. You try to earn your own righteousness in your own strength. In your own strength. That is what "in the flesh" means. In your own strength. You try to make yourself righteous by keeping the law, by having circumcision done to you, by doing this or by doing that, or by not doing this or by not doing that. That is to say, by not smoking, not drinking, not wearing fancy clothes, by not perming your hair, by not drinking coffee, by not this, by not that. There are lots of people trying to be saved by not doing anything. In fact, they think they are going to be saved simply by going into a monastery, locking the door, and sitting there for the rest of their lives because that is the sure way to do nothing. You can't commit any sin by looking at a wall all day long. Or can you? I wonder, maybe you can. Maybe by looking at the wall you are already committing the sin. But there are many people who think that by not doing this and by not doing that and by not drinking and not smoking—of course it's no good to drink and smoke and all this kind of thing—but that has nothing to do with salvation. So there are people who try to establish their own righteousness because they don't do this or because they do that. Nothing to do with this at all. Activity or inactivity has nothing to do with the question. It is all because it has to do with being in the flesh, with your own way of life, your own thing, doing your own thing.
Being a Christian then has nothing to do with any of this. Being a Christian, for Paul, means that you become a Christian in the sense that you have been transformed by His power to become a new person. Can you understand that? Now once you become a new person, what do you do? You sit back? No. You are active. You are full of the new life. You are dynamic. You are virile. That is Paul's picture of a Christian. An active, dynamic man. An athlete. A spiritual athlete who runs the race with determination. A spiritual soldier who fights the battle. A spiritual farmer who brings in the crops. There is none of this inactivity, this stretching out of the hand. No. You come to Christ. You put yourself in His hands and He transforms you. That is faith. Faith is a commitment to Him. Putting yourself totally into His hands. And He changes you. You see. And therefore you become active. Works is not a dirty word in the New Testament. That is why Paul said you must have good works. You are ordained to good works. You have a new life in you. Get on with it.
Paul is utterly dynamic. I love his words. In Colossians chapter 1, his last words. Typical of Paul. Where he says this: "For this I toil." He says, "I labor. I toil. Striving." Notice that he loves this word "striving." Dynamic energy. "Striving with all the energy which God mightily inspires within me." Oh, wonderful Christians. I would like to meet more Christians like that. Dynamic Christians. Toil, striving with all the energy that He inspires in me. Marvelous. Look at this picture of the Pauline Christian. What a contrast from our Christianity today. Look at the picture of this Christian. A Christian whose whole goal in life is to win Christ. To gain Christ. Whose whole goal is to make Christ his own. What a Christian. And secondly, he is full of dynamic and power, with all the energy that He inspires in me. He is not afraid of work. He strives forward to win Christ, straining every nerve. That is a Christian. Now that is Christianity in the New Testament sense. A new man. A transformed man. Dynamic man.
Now because all this striving—remember this—is because of God's transforming power in his life, then all the work that he does, is it his own work? His own righteousness? Of course not. Why? Because what is the dynamic that inspires him to this life? It is His power. God's power. Therefore the righteousness that comes out of it is God's righteousness. See? It's God's righteousness, not because it's dumped in your lap, but because it is His power that produces the righteousness in you. Isn't that wonderful? It's His righteousness because He produced it. That is why Galatians 2:20 says this: "I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, but not I. Christ lives in me." That's the dynamic of the new life. Now since He lives in me, He is the dynamic that produces this new life, then all the works that I do, all the righteousness that I accomplish, is whose righteousness? It's His righteousness because He did it. He did it in me. I have nothing to boast about.
Now you see the difference of Paul's understanding righteousness? Righteousness is not a gift that is dumped in your lap. Righteousness is a dynamic of a new life that produces Christ-likeness in you and in me. These are the words I need to share with you, and these are the riches that I would like to share with those in baptism today. I earnestly hope that they get this vision. Today you have Christ. You do have Christ. You truly have Christ. But you don't have Him fully. Remember this well. You need to press on to have Him fully and completely. You need to work out your salvation because it is God who works in you. Therefore the dynamic of that power is from Him. And therefore all the life that you live, the righteousness that comes forth from you, is His righteousness, not yours. But I hope and earnestly long that you will be dynamic Christians, powerful Christians, mighty Christians, like Paul, who is able to say, "I strive. I strive mightily because the power that comes mightily into me is from Him." That is truly wonderful. Let us be quiet before God in prayer.