I want to know Christ

Philippians 3:1-11

Key Verse 3:10

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death...

In this passage, Paul shepherds over the flock of God at the church of Philippi, so they would remain joyful in the Lord by not losing Jesus Christ, but [knowing as fully as one should and thereby actually] gaining Him. 

This teaching is not new. In fact whatever he teaches here in this passage had already been taught by Jesus on many different occasions during his ministry, like Jesus' teachings recorded in Mark 8:34-9:1. 

1. Read v. 1. What does the exhortation to "rejoice in the Lord" indicate about the life that is "in" the Lord (Psa 16:11; 118:15; Zep 3:17; Gal 5:22)? Why did Paul write the same things again? What can we learn from Paul as a shepherd for God's flock?

** It is filled with joy (despite and even in the midst of) hardships. 

The source of the joy is the Spirit of God, for the Lord God grants His Spirit to those who repent and put faith in Jesus. This joy is therefore totally independent of circumstances. 

Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."

** They lost Jesus, and instead focused on the circumstances (like people or events such as Paul being in “chains”). In this way they let the circumstances dictate. Paul also wrote them again for fear that they would be misled by the Judaizers who were still lurking around to rob the saints of the joy in the Lord. 

** He protected them by leading them to Christ, not by some other ways like teaching them job skills, etc. Human shepherds are under the duty to lead the flock to Jesus Christ. From Paul we also learn the wisdom on how to recover joy, that is, to repent of our sins (of unbelief, reliance on ourselves or chasing after things of this world), and straighten our relationship with Jesus Christ. 

2. Read v. 2. By "those dogs", "those men who do evil", "those mutilators of flesh" Paul means those who oppose the doctrine of "salvation by faith in Jesus Christ alone". What does the following expressions tell us about them: 1) "those dogs"; 2) "those men who do evil"; and "those mutilators of flesh"? Why does Paul say we need to "watch out" for them? 

** Those dogs: 1) they are good at "barking" false doctrines; and 2) they are good at chasing after you even as the word "doggedly" suggests. 

** Those who do evil: because their doctrine is wrong, their fruit is wrong, that is, doing evil and evil alone; nothing good can come out of their teachings. 

** Those mutilators of flesh: mutilation refers to physical circumcision. The word flesh suggests that they boast about and rely upon religious rituals like baptism, Lord’s Supper, etc. These things cannot save men from the power of sin and Satan.

** We need to watch out for them because they are very "sneaky" so that unless we are really careful, even without our knowledge they creep into our lives, and take away the joy of salvation in the Lord. 

The message we learn here then is the need for us to make constant efforts to keep the personal relationship with Jesus as a matter of first importance.  

3. Read v. 3. What does Paul mean by "It is we who are 'the circumcision'" (Rm 2:29; 4:11; Col 2:11; Jn 3:7; Acts 2:38)? What does "glory" in Christ mean? What does Paul mean by "the flesh" (Rm 7:5, 18, 25; Psa 51:5)? 

** Paul means those who put trust in Jesus (i.e., his power to save us from the grip of sin and death). As we repent and believe in Jesus, God baptizes us with the Holy Spirit. Then we are set free from our sinful nature, so we can live according to what the Holy Spirit desires. 

** Glory: boast, delight, exult, rejoice, or triumph (over the power of all enemies of life). So “glory in Christ Jesus” means two things: 1) We are “in” Jesus Christ, in the sense of a man who is “inside” of a specific environment (as a man who actually goes to the Disney Land, buys a ticket, and gets “inside” of the Disney Land.) 2) It is in Jesus that we find all the great features of life that are associated with salvation, just as a man who is inside of the Disney Land alone can enjoy all the good features the Disney Land offers, like all the funs in the Tune Town. 

** Old self with sinful nature. 

4. Read vs. 4-6. How many reasons are listed? Paul says that he had reasons to put confidence in the flesh, and yet he chose not to. Why (Acts 4:12)? 

** 7

** What is missing in all of them is his personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Because he did not know Jesus, despite all these fine conditions, his sinful nature still remained inside. 

5. Read vs. 7-11. This passage describes Paul's past, present, and future struggles to secure salvation in the Lord. What can we learn from Paul about the way of salvation (Mk 8:34-9:1)? 

** There are many, but two things stand out: 

1) Sense of value. 

The word "consider" means "count" (in KJV), indicating that Paul works like a CPA who prepares a profit and loss statement where the CPA puts on the left column debit and on the right credit. Then at the bottom row, you have a conclusion on either profit or loss. He realized that Jesus is the source of all wealth (credit, if you will), and as compared with the greatness of having Jesus, all other values are like rubbish. 

2) Gaining through losing. 

Anyone who does not know what is valuable is condemned to hold onto what is not valuable. By the same token anyone who knows what is truly rubbish will ever so joyfully and willingly throw away what is not worthy of retaining. 

** Jesus said the same truth when he taught his followers to deny oneself, take up his cross, and follow Jesus. He said that it is total stupidity to gain the whole world and yet lose one's own soul. 

The end. 

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