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Philippians 3
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Connected by scripture or shared themes.
Philippians 3
Continue exploring
Connected by scripture or shared themes.
Good morning, everyone. We're looking at Philippians chapter 3 today as part of our four-part series through the book of Philippians. If you haven't been reading along, I'd encourage you to take just 20 minutes this week to read through all four chapters slowly. Next week we'll be in chapter 4, so you can get ahead if you'd like.
This ancient book, co-authored by human writers under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, speaks to us today just as powerfully as it did to the churches back then. God's word is alive and active—sharper than a double-edged sword. It has the power to transform us from the inside out.
Rather than being conformed to the pattern of this world, Romans tells us to "be transformed by the renewing of your mind." The best way to do that is by reading Scripture and letting it shape how we think. When life happens, our first instinct should be to ask, "What does God's word say?" That's how we filter everything through a biblical lens, testing and approving God's good and perfect will for us.
We don't put God's word through the lens of popular culture. We do the opposite: we interpret our world and our times through the lens of Scripture.
Paul is writing to a church he planted and knows personally. In Acts 16, we read about his visits to Philippi. One encounter was with a businesswoman named Lydia—the gospel transformed her life and the purpose of her business. Then he met a young girl in slavery, oppressed by demonic forces, used to predict people's futures. When Paul preached the gospel, she was freed and became part of the church.
Paul was then imprisoned, and while he and his companions were worshiping God in jail, the prison gates burst open, chains fell off, and the guard asked, "What must I do to be saved?" He and his whole household were baptized. The church began through these radical, life-changing moments.
When Paul writes Philippians, he's writing to real people whose lives were transformed. He reminds them: "I remember when I think about you. I remember with joy your partnership with the gospel. In a moment, your life changed, and you positioned yourselves for God and what He was building."
Let me read Philippians 3:1–9:
Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If someone else thinks they have reasons to put 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 Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, 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 is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.
This is our message this morning: Knowing Christ has no comparison.
Paul begins by listing his credentials—everything that would have qualified him as spiritually elite in Jewish culture:
He's saying: "Every qualification you think makes you spiritually qualified, every box you think needs ticking for a relationship with God—I've done them all. You cannot outweigh my spiritual pursuit, my spiritual disciplines, my obedience to God's law."
And yet Paul says: "All of those things, I now consider loss compared to knowing Christ."
We must understand this profound truth: Put your hope, trust, and confidence not in your spiritual activities or religious pursuits, but in His works, not your works.
Ephesians 2:8–9 reminds us:
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast.
John 6:63 says:
The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.
John G. Paton was a great 19th-century missionary from Scotland. Inspired by the Great Commission, he went to the Pacific Islands—literally to the ends of the earth. While there, he struggled to find a local word to translate "faith." One day, a local person in great distress came to him and asked, "May I come and lean heavily upon you?"
In that moment, Paton realized: That's exactly what faith is. Faith is leaning heavily upon Christ.
Faith is not labor, but the cessation of labor. It's not doing, but ceasing to do. It's not striving, but simply leaning your whole weight, your full trust, your complete dependency on God and on the works of Christ.
We must be people who lean heavily upon Christ—not relying on our own goodness, our own qualifications, or our own pursuit of happiness, but placing all our weight on Him.
Proverbs 3:5–8 tells us:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.
If you're living in fear about the future, I want to break that off you right now in the name of Jesus. Don't carry the burden of trusting in your own works. Let God lift that heavy weight off you. Spirit of God, come and refresh us. As we place our whole confidence, our full leaning on Christ, may we know by faith that He will make our paths straight. He's got your future.
The second comparison Paul makes is in Philippians 3:10–16: Your life or His life.
Christ has already paid for something through His works. Now we get to access His life, not our life. This flows from the first comparison: if your hope, trust, and confidence is in your works, the fruit is a life you make for yourself. But if your trust is in His works, you experience the life He's paid for and won for you.
John 10:9–10 says:
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and to the full.
I love verse 16 of Philippians 3:
Only let us live up to that which we have already obtained.
Christ has already won this life. Jesus said, "I have come to give you life, and life to the fullest." Paul is saying: Come on. This is the life God has for you. Live up to the life He's invited you into—not based on your works, but based on His works.
When you place your trust in what Christ has done, you're released from the burden of your own works. Then you get to enjoy the freedom and liberty of God. You can say, "Thank you for doing what you've done. You've paid the price. I lean wholly on You. Now I get to experience the liberating freedom of life."
The good life offers hope of a better job, a better car, a new house, or a life partner. The God life promises something of eternal significance.
We're called to live the God life—the one Jesus promised and won for you. Don't live down to your own limitations. Don't live down to your own expectations. Don't live down to other people's expectations of you. Don't live down to what the culture of this age is telling you. Live up to the God life.
Ephesians 4:1 urges us to "live a life worthy of the calling you have received."
When we live according to the expectations the culture sets, when we live by our own timelines and limitations, we end up in survival mode. Let me illustrate this.
I recently got an electric car, and let me tell you—it's stressful. The battery percentage displays constantly and drops by the second. My boys had been training all day, sweating, exhausted, and I told them: "No air conditioning for you. Get those windows down manually. No electric windows. No music. We're driving 30 miles an hour on the motorway to conserve energy. Don't even think about electricity. Don't use the iPad. Nothing."
We were basically thinking ourselves home, relying on the grace of God to make it.
That's what happens when we rely on our own works and our own making of our lives. Every day feels like survival mode: Has the right door opened? Am I doing everything I need to do? You become so strained and stressed that you're squeezing life—and strangling it in the process.
But when we break free from our own works, when we experience, "Thank you, God, for your works. You've paid for the Jesus God-breathed life"—we're just free. We get to live not in survival but powered by a different source.
Acts 1:8 says:
You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.
None of us is called to live in survival. Every one of us is called to thrive, powered by the Holy Spirit.
Over this next week, you can live in full confidence, full trust in what God has paid for. You can live this life with freedom and liberty and step into the God-ordained doors of opportunity. That's the life God has for you.
Let's break off limitation, restriction, and the pressure we put on ourselves. Spirit of God, come and breathe into our lives in the powerful name of Jesus.
The final comparison is in Philippians 3:17–21: Your future or His future.
Paul writes about those who don't live for Christ:
Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.
They're just trying to survive, trying to make the best of this life and what this age offers.
But look at verses 19–20:
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul is writing to the church in Philippi—a prosperous, economically strong city with Roman influence. He's saying: "Don't put your trust in the economic power of Philippi. Don't base your identity on the Roman structure. Don't put all your hope and trust in just how things are happening and how your life has panned out."
Don't base your identity on success and accomplishment. Remember who you are: you're a citizen of heaven.
1 Chronicles 29:15 says:
We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, fleeting.
A hundred years from now, I'll be dead. I'm not worried about that because my hope and trust isn't in my future—it's that He's given me an incredible future. This is not it for you. Your future, as good as you can plan and work for it, is good. But His future for you is way better.
Revelation 21:1–5 reveals what's coming:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: "Now the dwelling of God is with mankind, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"
Isn't that amazing? We're going to walk physically with God in a new heaven and new earth. We're going to be the ultimate version of ourselves. (I believe I'm going to be the 25-year-old me from two years ago so I can finally beat my 12-year-old son—though he'll be 25 too, so don't quote me on that!)
God will dwell among them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain.
Then He said: "I am making all things new. Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
This is our hope. Lift your eyes and say, "Thank you, Jesus, for your works. You've released Your life—life to the full—and You've released a new hope. It's not based on anything that happens here and now. It's about my eternal future, my eternal hope—walking, living, breathing, and worshiping God forever in a new heaven and new earth.
That's the future God has for every person in this room. But you've got to respond to His initiative. You've got to respond to His love.
Jesus came to give us an opportunity and an invitation. When He lived this life, He said, "I'm going to live a life you could never do." That's His works, not your works. You can try, but you'll never accomplish what He accomplished.
Jesus walked the earth demonstrating a perfect life. He gave His life up, sacrificed Himself to the will of His Father—"Not My will, but Yours." He paid for His life on the cross, taking all of your old life, all of your sin, everything that has separated you from God until this point. None of that disqualifies you right now from a relationship with Jesus.
But you've got to come to Him. You've got to say: "I'm sorry, God. I'm sorry. I want to leave that life behind. I want to trust and follow You. I want to turn my life around."
The good news? On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead to give you a brand new life and a brand new start. And that can happen instantaneously right now through faith. You can access new life.
Good morning, everyone. We're looking at Philippians chapter 3 today as part of our four-part series through the book of Philippians. If you haven't been reading along, I'd encourage you to take just 20 minutes this week to read through all four chapters slowly. Next week we'll be in chapter 4, so you can get ahead if you'd like.
This ancient book, co-authored by human writers under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, speaks to us today just as powerfully as it did to the churches back then. God's word is alive and active—sharper than a double-edged sword. It has the power to transform us from the inside out.
Rather than being conformed to the pattern of this world, Romans tells us to "be transformed by the renewing of your mind." The best way to do that is by reading Scripture and letting it shape how we think. When life happens, our first instinct should be to ask, "What does God's word say?" That's how we filter everything through a biblical lens, testing and approving God's good and perfect will for us.
We don't put God's word through the lens of popular culture. We do the opposite: we interpret our world and our times through the lens of Scripture.
Paul is writing to a church he planted and knows personally. In Acts 16, we read about his visits to Philippi. One encounter was with a businesswoman named Lydia—the gospel transformed her life and the purpose of her business. Then he met a young girl in slavery, oppressed by demonic forces, used to predict people's futures. When Paul preached the gospel, she was freed and became part of the church.
Paul was then imprisoned, and while he and his companions were worshiping God in jail, the prison gates burst open, chains fell off, and the guard asked, "What must I do to be saved?" He and his whole household were baptized. The church began through these radical, life-changing moments.
When Paul writes Philippians, he's writing to real people whose lives were transformed. He reminds them: "I remember when I think about you. I remember with joy your partnership with the gospel. In a moment, your life changed, and you positioned yourselves for God and what He was building."
Let me read Philippians 3:1–9:
Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If someone else thinks they have reasons to put 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 Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, 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 is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.
This is our message this morning: Knowing Christ has no comparison.
Paul begins by listing his credentials—everything that would have qualified him as spiritually elite in Jewish culture:
He's saying: "Every qualification you think makes you spiritually qualified, every box you think needs ticking for a relationship with God—I've done them all. You cannot outweigh my spiritual pursuit, my spiritual disciplines, my obedience to God's law."
And yet Paul says: "All of those things, I now consider loss compared to knowing Christ."
We must understand this profound truth: Put your hope, trust, and confidence not in your spiritual activities or religious pursuits, but in His works, not your works.
Ephesians 2:8–9 reminds us:
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast.
John 6:63 says:
The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.
John G. Paton was a great 19th-century missionary from Scotland. Inspired by the Great Commission, he went to the Pacific Islands—literally to the ends of the earth. While there, he struggled to find a local word to translate "faith." One day, a local person in great distress came to him and asked, "May I come and lean heavily upon you?"
In that moment, Paton realized: That's exactly what faith is. Faith is leaning heavily upon Christ.
Faith is not labor, but the cessation of labor. It's not doing, but ceasing to do. It's not striving, but simply leaning your whole weight, your full trust, your complete dependency on God and on the works of Christ.
We must be people who lean heavily upon Christ—not relying on our own goodness, our own qualifications, or our own pursuit of happiness, but placing all our weight on Him.
Proverbs 3:5–8 tells us:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.
If you're living in fear about the future, I want to break that off you right now in the name of Jesus. Don't carry the burden of trusting in your own works. Let God lift that heavy weight off you. Spirit of God, come and refresh us. As we place our whole confidence, our full leaning on Christ, may we know by faith that He will make our paths straight. He's got your future.
The second comparison Paul makes is in Philippians 3:10–16: Your life or His life.
Christ has already paid for something through His works. Now we get to access His life, not our life. This flows from the first comparison: if your hope, trust, and confidence is in your works, the fruit is a life you make for yourself. But if your trust is in His works, you experience the life He's paid for and won for you.
John 10:9–10 says:
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and to the full.
I love verse 16 of Philippians 3:
Only let us live up to that which we have already obtained.
Christ has already won this life. Jesus said, "I have come to give you life, and life to the fullest." Paul is saying: Come on. This is the life God has for you. Live up to the life He's invited you into—not based on your works, but based on His works.
When you place your trust in what Christ has done, you're released from the burden of your own works. Then you get to enjoy the freedom and liberty of God. You can say, "Thank you for doing what you've done. You've paid the price. I lean wholly on You. Now I get to experience the liberating freedom of life."
The good life offers hope of a better job, a better car, a new house, or a life partner. The God life promises something of eternal significance.
We're called to live the God life—the one Jesus promised and won for you. Don't live down to your own limitations. Don't live down to your own expectations. Don't live down to other people's expectations of you. Don't live down to what the culture of this age is telling you. Live up to the God life.
Ephesians 4:1 urges us to "live a life worthy of the calling you have received."
When we live according to the expectations the culture sets, when we live by our own timelines and limitations, we end up in survival mode. Let me illustrate this.
I recently got an electric car, and let me tell you—it's stressful. The battery percentage displays constantly and drops by the second. My boys had been training all day, sweating, exhausted, and I told them: "No air conditioning for you. Get those windows down manually. No electric windows. No music. We're driving 30 miles an hour on the motorway to conserve energy. Don't even think about electricity. Don't use the iPad. Nothing."
We were basically thinking ourselves home, relying on the grace of God to make it.
That's what happens when we rely on our own works and our own making of our lives. Every day feels like survival mode: Has the right door opened? Am I doing everything I need to do? You become so strained and stressed that you're squeezing life—and strangling it in the process.
But when we break free from our own works, when we experience, "Thank you, God, for your works. You've paid for the Jesus God-breathed life"—we're just free. We get to live not in survival but powered by a different source.
Acts 1:8 says:
You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.
None of us is called to live in survival. Every one of us is called to thrive, powered by the Holy Spirit.
Over this next week, you can live in full confidence, full trust in what God has paid for. You can live this life with freedom and liberty and step into the God-ordained doors of opportunity. That's the life God has for you.
Let's break off limitation, restriction, and the pressure we put on ourselves. Spirit of God, come and breathe into our lives in the powerful name of Jesus.
The final comparison is in Philippians 3:17–21: Your future or His future.
Paul writes about those who don't live for Christ:
Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.
They're just trying to survive, trying to make the best of this life and what this age offers.
But look at verses 19–20:
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul is writing to the church in Philippi—a prosperous, economically strong city with Roman influence. He's saying: "Don't put your trust in the economic power of Philippi. Don't base your identity on the Roman structure. Don't put all your hope and trust in just how things are happening and how your life has panned out."
Don't base your identity on success and accomplishment. Remember who you are: you're a citizen of heaven.
1 Chronicles 29:15 says:
We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, fleeting.
A hundred years from now, I'll be dead. I'm not worried about that because my hope and trust isn't in my future—it's that He's given me an incredible future. This is not it for you. Your future, as good as you can plan and work for it, is good. But His future for you is way better.
Revelation 21:1–5 reveals what's coming:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: "Now the dwelling of God is with mankind, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"
Isn't that amazing? We're going to walk physically with God in a new heaven and new earth. We're going to be the ultimate version of ourselves. (I believe I'm going to be the 25-year-old me from two years ago so I can finally beat my 12-year-old son—though he'll be 25 too, so don't quote me on that!)
God will dwell among them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain.
Then He said: "I am making all things new. Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
This is our hope. Lift your eyes and say, "Thank you, Jesus, for your works. You've released Your life—life to the full—and You've released a new hope. It's not based on anything that happens here and now. It's about my eternal future, my eternal hope—walking, living, breathing, and worshiping God forever in a new heaven and new earth.
That's the future God has for every person in this room. But you've got to respond to His initiative. You've got to respond to His love.
Jesus came to give us an opportunity and an invitation. When He lived this life, He said, "I'm going to live a life you could never do." That's His works, not your works. You can try, but you'll never accomplish what He accomplished.
Jesus walked the earth demonstrating a perfect life. He gave His life up, sacrificed Himself to the will of His Father—"Not My will, but Yours." He paid for His life on the cross, taking all of your old life, all of your sin, everything that has separated you from God until this point. None of that disqualifies you right now from a relationship with Jesus.
But you've got to come to Him. You've got to say: "I'm sorry, God. I'm sorry. I want to leave that life behind. I want to trust and follow You. I want to turn my life around."
The good news? On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead to give you a brand new life and a brand new start. And that can happen instantaneously right now through faith. You can access new life.
