notes

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This page was automatically converted from a module that was shared prior to the release of Published Pages. Additionally, the arc below was auto-converted from the arc created by the author (which used the old module), and so it is possible there are misplaced logical relationships.

notes 1452680587939 Disclaimer This page was automatically converted from a module that was shared prior to the release of Published Pages. Additionally, the arc below was auto-converted from the arc created by the author (which used the old module), and so it is possible there are misplaced logical relationships.

Notes

2012-02-12 11:17:27

2012-03-04 13:03:39

Central Idea: Our own deeds are nothing but detestable garbage in God's eyes, it is only because of His resurrection that we find Christ: by His grace our sinful religiousness is substituted for perfect and unending righteousness. Summary: "Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised in order to be saved". That's quite a stern warning from Paul, why is he being so harse? Because the theology of "the mutilators", the Judaizers, was poison to the church. It was the complete opposite of the message of grace. In life we hold up two columns, the column of good deeds and the column of bad deeds. The Judaizers claimed we work to increase our good column, and decrease our bad column, and these columns are what we present to God. If anyone had a good column in the eyes of the religious, it was Paul. But what he says is that at the end of the day, his good column is nothing but destable garbage to a Holy God. Our confidence in life is not in our good deeds, it's in the resurrection of Christ. For in that we find Christ, we become like Him, and our punishment is substituted and our righteouness given as a free gift of grace. Notes: A stern warning (v. 2): "Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh." Or in the NLT, "Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised in order to be saved" "dogs" was usually the term the Jews gave to the Gentiles, here Paul is using it to describe the Jews. It indicates the completely backwards thinking of the Judaizers. They thought they were the righteous ones by their strength, but in reality they were the ones who were lost. So why the stern warning? The Judaizers stated that in order to be saved, you had to be circumcized. They took Christ's message, and added something on. Their confidence was in what they did, "confidence in the flesh." This is completely backwards, and completely undermines the Christian message of grace. If we are fully justified by Christ's death and resurrection, we bring nothing to the table. Saying that we bring any merit to our justification is completely un-Biblical, and is just like every other religion in the world: you try to save yourself. "Many Judaizers were motivated by spiritual pride. Because they had invested so much time and effort in keeping laws, they couldn't accept the fact all their efforts couldn't bring them a step closer to salvation." Paul directly responds to the Judaizer's pride, and the inevitable questions of the Philippians church: "I'm not the most religious, but if you were, then that must save you and God must love you more." He shows that if anyone was religious, it was him: Circumcised when he was eight days old. The call to circumcision was given to Abraham as a mark of the covenant in Genesis 17: "Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants has this continual responsibility. This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised…on the eighth day after his birth". God required circumcision (1) as a sign of obedience to God in all things, (2) as an indication that you forever belonged to God's family of chosen people, and (3) as a symbol of cutting off your old life of rebellion against God, purifying your heart and one dedicated to God. Paul is showing here that from the beginning of his life, he was in the strictest conformance with the law. The circumcision ceremony on the eighth day was a milestone in a Jewish boy's life,and was a time of family celebration (Luke 1:59, 2:21). See also Leviticus 12:3. Pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin. He was born of two Jews, the chosen of chosens. And not only that, his parents were of the tribe of Benjamin. "Paul belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, a heritage greatly esteemed among the Jews. From this tribe had come Israel's first king, Saul (1 Sam 10:20–24). The tribes of Benjamin and Judah were the only two tribes to return to Israel after the Exile (Ezra 4:1)." Paul was also a Pharisee (Acts 23:6, 26:5), a member of the very devout sect of religious leaders that demanded the strictest level of obedience to the law. Paul was so jealous to the Jewish faith that he persecuted anything that dared to stand up to it: including Christ. Christ came and fulfilled the law, and the way of Christ was seen as a threat to Judaism. All these laws and regulations were now unneeded. Paul and the other Jewish leaders were threatened, and in their zeal for the Jewish law, they saw Christ as a false prophet, and vowed to eradicate Him and His followers. His obedience to the law was faultless. Jesus says that the Pharisees tithed even from their spice racks. By the law's standard, and by man's standard, they were perfect. Paul had no skeleton's in the closet, he was a perfect Jew. But even given these credentials, for which Paul thought were so important, in the comparison with Christ, it is nothing but damage and loss. Paul recognizes that he brings nothing to the table. The Judaizers were trying to throw up their good deeds as merit for salvation. Paul's warning is that is completely backwards. He proves this point by showing that his credentials and good deeds, which are better than any one else's, are nothing but dog crap in God's eyes. We have two columns in our life, the column of good deeds and the column of bad deeds. Most of us are just trying to make sure our good column outweigh's our bad column. But what we have to understand is that in God's eyes, even our good column is filthy dog crap. Even our most holy and noble deed is stained with sin. As soon as we recognize this, we see our need for a Savior. In Christ's death, not only is our bad column zeroed (v. 3:8), but our good column is perfected (v. 3:9). Through the lens of Jesus Christ, God sees us as perfectly holy. We should trade all of our good deeds and religious behavior (i.e. working for our salvation) for Christ's grace for two reasons: That we may "gain Christ": we are seen as perfect because of Christ's work, not ours. (vv. 3:8–9) That we may know Christ, and share in His life: His sufferings, His death, and the power of resurrection. (vv. 3:10) Ultimately, we put our hope in the resurrection. We throw away our religiousness because that will end only in death. The resurrection is where all of our hope is, and that's what Paul is completely banking on (1. Corinthians 15). Questions: v.1, what does he mean by "I do it to safeguard your faith?" Who are the modern day Judaizers, who say it's "Jesus + something" in order to be saved? What do you do to try to earn your salvation by merit? What good deeds and credentials are you trying to hold up to God as merit for your salvation?

10000000104853 104853 Notes 2012-02-12 11:17:27 2012-03-04 13:03:39 Central Idea: Our own deeds are nothing but detestable garbage in God's eyes, it is only because of His resurrection that we find Christ: by His grace our sinful religiousness is substituted for perfect and unending righteousness. Summary: "Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised in order to be saved". That's quite a stern warning from Paul, why is he being so harse? Because the theology of "the mutilators", the Judaizers, was poison to the church. It was the complete opposite of the message of grace. In life we hold up two columns, the column of good deeds and the column of bad deeds. The Judaizers claimed we work to increase our good column, and decrease our bad column, and these columns are what we present to God. If anyone had a good column in the eyes of the religious, it was Paul. But what he says is that at the end of the day, his good column is nothing but destable garbage to a Holy God. Our confidence in life is not in our good deeds, it's in the resurrection of Christ. For in that we find Christ, we become like Him, and our punishment is substituted and our righteouness given as a free gift of grace. Notes: A stern warning (v. 2): "Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh." Or in the NLT, "Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised in order to be saved" "dogs" was usually the term the Jews gave to the Gentiles, here Paul is using it to describe the Jews. It indicates the completely backwards thinking of the Judaizers. They thought they were the righteous ones by their strength, but in reality they were the ones who were lost. So why the stern warning? The Judaizers stated that in order to be saved, you had to be circumcized. They took Christ's message, and added something on. Their confidence was in what they did, "confidence in the flesh." This is completely backwards, and completely undermines the Christian message of grace. If we are fully justified by Christ's death and resurrection, we bring nothing to the table. Saying that we bring any merit to our justification is completely un-Biblical, and is just like every other religion in the world: you try to save yourself. "Many Judaizers were motivated by spiritual pride. Because they had invested so much time and effort in keeping laws, they couldn't accept the fact all their efforts couldn't bring them a step closer to salvation." Paul directly responds to the Judaizer's pride, and the inevitable questions of the Philippians church: "I'm not the most religious, but if you were, then that must save you and God must love you more." He shows that if anyone was religious, it was him: Circumcised when he was eight days old. The call to circumcision was given to Abraham as a mark of the covenant in Genesis 17: "Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants has this continual responsibility. This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised…on the eighth day after his birth". God required circumcision (1) as a sign of obedience to God in all things, (2) as an indication that you forever belonged to God's family of chosen people, and (3) as a symbol of cutting off your old life of rebellion against God, purifying your heart and one dedicated to God. Paul is showing here that from the beginning of his life, he was in the strictest conformance with the law. The circumcision ceremony on the eighth day was a milestone in a Jewish boy's life,and was a time of family celebration (Luke 1:59, 2:21). See also Leviticus 12:3. Pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin. He was born of two Jews, the chosen of chosens. And not only that, his parents were of the tribe of Benjamin. "Paul belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, a heritage greatly esteemed among the Jews. From this tribe had come Israel's first king, Saul (1 Sam 10:20–24). The tribes of Benjamin and Judah were the only two tribes to return to Israel after the Exile (Ezra 4:1)." Paul was also a Pharisee (Acts 23:6, 26:5), a member of the very devout sect of religious leaders that demanded the strictest level of obedience to the law. Paul was so jealous to the Jewish faith that he persecuted anything that dared to stand up to it: including Christ. Christ came and fulfilled the law, and the way of Christ was seen as a threat to Judaism. All these laws and regulations were now unneeded. Paul and the other Jewish leaders were threatened, and in their zeal for the Jewish law, they saw Christ as a false prophet, and vowed to eradicate Him and His followers. His obedience to the law was faultless. Jesus says that the Pharisees tithed even from their spice racks. By the law's standard, and by man's standard, they were perfect. Paul had no skeleton's in the closet, he was a perfect Jew. But even given these credentials, for which Paul thought were so important, in the comparison with Christ, it is nothing but damage and loss. Paul recognizes that he brings nothing to the table. The Judaizers were trying to throw up their good deeds as merit for salvation. Paul's warning is that is completely backwards. He proves this point by showing that his credentials and good deeds, which are better than any one else's, are nothing but dog crap in God's eyes. We have two columns in our life, the column of good deeds and the column of bad deeds. Most of us are just trying to make sure our good column outweigh's our bad column. But what we have to understand is that in God's eyes, even our good column is filthy dog crap. Even our most holy and noble deed is stained with sin. As soon as we recognize this, we see our need for a Savior. In Christ's death, not only is our bad column zeroed (v. 3:8), but our good column is perfected (v. 3:9). Through the lens of Jesus Christ, God sees us as perfectly holy. We should trade all of our good deeds and religious behavior (i.e. working for our salvation) for Christ's grace for two reasons: That we may "gain Christ": we are seen as perfect because of Christ's work, not ours. (vv. 3:8–9) That we may know Christ, and share in His life: His sufferings, His death, and the power of resurrection. (vv. 3:10) Ultimately, we put our hope in the resurrection. We throw away our religiousness because that will end only in death. The resurrection is where all of our hope is, and that's what Paul is completely banking on (1. Corinthians 15). Questions: v.1, what does he mean by "I do it to safeguard your faith?" Who are the modern day Judaizers, who say it's "Jesus + something" in order to be saved? What do you do to try to earn your salvation by merit? What good deeds and credentials are you trying to hold up to God as merit for your salvation? notes

Arc

2012-02-12 11:17:27

2012-03-04 13:03:39

editing

Philippians

Philippians 3:1-11

NT

esv

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord.

To write the same things to you is no trouble to me

and I do it to safeguard your faith.

series

Look out for the dogs,

look out for the evildoers,

look out for those who mutilate the flesh.

For we are the circumcision,

who worship by the Spirit of God

and glory in Christ Jesus

and put no confidence in the flesh--

ideaexplanation

though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also.

[I have more reason for confidence in the flesh than anyone else]

progression

circumcised on the eighth day,

of the people of Israel,

of the tribe of Benjamin,

a Hebrew of 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.

situationresponse

Indeed, I count everything as loss

because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

ground

For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things

and count them as rubbish,

in order that I may gain Christ

and be found in him,

not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law,

but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith--

negativepositive

that I may know him and the power of his resurrection,

and may share his sufferings,

becoming like him in his death,

actionmanner

that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

actionpurpose

discourse

10000000104853 104853 Arc 2012-02-12 11:17:27 2012-03-04 13:03:39 editing Philippians 3 1 3 11 Philippians 3:1-11 50 NT esv i621449 i621450 i621416 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. i621451 i621417 To write the same things to you is no trouble to me i621418 and I do it to safeguard your faith. series series i621452 i621453 i621419 Look out for the dogs, i621420 look out for the evildoers, i621421 look out for those who mutilate the flesh. series i621454 i621455 i621422 For we are the circumcision, i621456 i621423 who worship by the Spirit of God i621424 and glory in Christ Jesus i621425 and put no confidence in the flesh-- ideaexplanation 1 i621457 i621458 i621459 i621426 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. i621427 [I have more reason for confidence in the flesh than anyone else] progression i621460 i621428 circumcised on the eighth day, i621429 of the people of Israel, i621430 of the tribe of Benjamin, i621431 a Hebrew of Hebrews; i621432 as to the law, a Pharisee; i621433 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; i621434 as to righteousness under the law, blameless. ideaexplanation 1 i621461 i621462 i621435 But whatever gain I had, i621436 I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. situationresponse 2 i621463 i621464 i621437 Indeed, I count everything as loss i621438 because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. ground 1 i621465 i621466 i621439 For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things i621440 and count them as rubbish, progression i621467 i621468 i621469 i621441 in order that I may gain Christ i621442 and be found in him, progression i621470 i621443 not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, i621444 but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith-- negativepositive 2 ideaexplanation 1 i621471 i621472 i621473 i621445 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, i621446 and may share his sufferings, series i621447 becoming like him in his death, actionmanner 1 i621448 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. actionpurpose 2 series actionpurpose 2 ideaexplanation 1 situationresponse 2 ideaexplanation 1 ground 1 1 1 1 esv 25 a 50 discourse