Philippians 3:12-14; How Does Righteousness Work?

PastorRodney’s Weblog

06/23 Philippians 3:12-14; How Does Righteousness Work? / The Secret to Spiritual Success; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20240623_philippians-3_12-14.mp3

In Philippians 3, Paul is pressing in to know Christ to the fullest extent possible. He is willing to count every gain he had as loss, as filth, rubbish compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. He wants to know Christ; he has experienced the power of his resurrection through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit in the new birth. He is entering in to the fellowship of his sufferings. He is being conformed to his self-sacrificial lay down your life for others death. He is enjoying communion with Christ now, but it is not yet what it one day will be. He eagerly anticipates the future bodily resurrection from the dead, when his faith will become sight, and he will know fully, even as he is fully known.

Not There Yet

But he wants us to know he’s not there yet. This is not all there is. We have not yet arrived, because the Apostle Paul made it very clear that he had not yet arrived. We know there were some in Corinth that were saying there is no resurrection (1Cor.15:12). Paul warns Timothy against some who were teaching that the resurrection had already happened (2Tim.2:18). The Thessalonian believers needed to be informed and encouraged about their loved ones who had died with the hope of the future resurrection (1Thes.4:13-18). Some were apparently believing and teaching that resurrection means nothing more than the spiritual work of God in our hearts that gives new spiritual life now. It is true, that is God’s resurrection power at work in us. That is a great treasure. But that is not all. That is massive beautiful truth, but there is even more to come. Paul points forward to the future physical bodily resurrection on the last day, when we will see Jesus face to face.

Arrival Mentality

There seems to be an arrival mentality among many believers. We admire people we perceive as ahead of us spiritually, and we might think they have arrived. Some write books or hold seminars on the secret to their success. We may see substantial growth in areas of our lives, and think that we can relax because we have arrived. Paul is clear:

Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul does not have any false delusions of having arrived. He is confident of his justification by grace through faith; he is counted righteous in Christ, but he is eagerly anticipating his future resurrection and glorification.

How does righteousness work?

Paul was given a righteousness not his own. He gladly traded in his own righteousness for a righteousness that belonged to God, that was given to him as a gift, received by depending on Jesus.

This is a righteousness that is earned by another, given to me as a gift, credited to my account. It is not my righteousness; it is God’s own righteous record, the record of Jesus’ perfect performance, a righteousness in which I am clothed.

The question I want to ask today, and see how Paul answers in Philippians 3:12-14, is how does this righteousness work?

Paul is balancing (but not contradicting) what he said at the beginning of this chapter about flushing his own righteous record of his own achievement in exchange for a righteousness not his own, a righteousness that comes from believing in the finished work of another. He is no longer pursuing righteousness; it is his present possession through faith. That is theologically how this righteousness works.

But now that he has received the gift of God’s righteousness, how does that righteousness work itself out in daily life? What does life clothed in the righteousness of Christ look like? My question has to do with my response to this gift of righteousness; if this righteousness is a gift I didn’t earn and can never pay back, a gift I receive through trust in Jesus, do I simply receive and relax and rest in this righteousness that is mine through faith in Christ? Do I put the car in neutral and coast?

A different illustration may help; lets say I set out to swim to Hawaii. I barely made it off the coast; I was being pummeled by the waves and didn’t even know which way was up. I didn’t have a compass to tell me which way I should be swimming. I was drowning; good as dead. Jesus came and resuscitated me, brought me into his boat, breathed his life in me. Now I am afloat in the unsinkable boat of his righteousness. The boat is equipped with a large sail of faith with which to catch the powerful wind of the Holy Spirit. It has the unerring compass of God’s word to point me in the right direction. Now that I’m on board, now that I am alive in the boat of his righteousness, what do I do? Do I sit back on the deck, put my feet up and sip a drink with a little umbrella in it, allow the waves to toss and carry me wherever they will? Or do I unfurl the sails, check the compass and hold the rudder fast with the strength that God supplies in the direction of the destination?

One thing this illustration attempts to make clear is that righteousness is not the goal, it is a gift. Paul makes it clear in Romans 9:30-32 that those who pursue righteousness through works fail to attain it, but those who pursue Jesus by faith receive his righteousness as a gift. But now that we are made alive and in the boat of God’s perfect righteousness, how does that righteousness work? Listen again to Philippians 3:12-14:

Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

One Thing (or Two?)

How does righteousness work? First there is an acknowledgment that we have not yet arrived. Our greatest desire is to fully take hold of Christ, because we have been fully taken hold of by Christ Jesus. But we have room to grow in grasping Christ.

Paul gives us the one thing. He gives us his secret to spiritual maturity. He says ‘one thing’ but he actually gives us two. Paul is in process on a journey. He is in a race. The race is divided by where he is at. There is what lies behind and what lies ahead. The one thing has to do with his attitude toward what is behind him and what is ahead of him.

In regards to what is in the rear view mirror, he lets the past be past. His relation to the past is defined by forgetting, putting it out of the mind, not paying it much attention. Can we learn from the past, past failures, past successes? Of course. But that is not to be our focus.

When I was a kid, our family had a station wagon with a rear facing seat in the back. We thought it was fun to sit back there, making faces at the drivers behind us, trying to get them to honk. But they don’t put the steering wheel or the gas pedal back there, for obvious reasons. The driver needs to keep his eyes on where he is going, not where he has been.

From Paul’s point in his race, the past included his days as a Pharisee, a persecutor of the church, having a blameless righteousness that comes from the law. He hasn’t completely forgotten those days; he can recount them, but his attitude toward them has changed. He counts any former gains he thought he had as losses compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. He doesn’t rehearse those days as the good old days. He is moving forward.

Also in the rear-view mirror for Paul is much of his work in advancing the gospel, proclaiming Jesus, suffering persecution for the sake of the name. Again, Paul hasn’t forgotten. He can rehearse his resume in the service of Christ in 2 Corinthians 11. But he is not resting on his former accomplishments. He claims to have worked harder than all the other apostles (1Cor.15:10), but ultimately he gives all glory to God. His past wins are not his focus. Jesus is his focus.

The one thing includes both his attitude toward what is past, and what is ahead of him. How does he view what lies before him? He is extending himself, stretching, leaning forward. I’m no runner, but I have heard that one of the best ways to run is to extend your body forward so that if your legs don’t keep up, you will fall on your face. Paul is not sitting back with a pair of binoculars, trying to get a glimpse of what might be coming. He is straining forward with every fiber of his being, hurtling himself toward the goal.

I Press On

Philippians 3:13 …But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

The one thing is pressing on. Pressing on means not paying too much attention to what is behind him. Pressing on means straining forward toward what is ahead. Pursue like a hunter his prey, like a soldier his objective. What is it that he has his eyes fixed on? ‘according to the goal to the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus.’

The Upward Call

What is the upward call of God in Christ Jesus? This is what he says in:

1 Corinthians 1:26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

God’s calling is God’s choosing, so that no one might boast, so that God alone gets all the glory. It is what he prays for in:

Ephesians 1:18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

God’s call brings hope, anticipation of the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. It is what he says in:

Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, … 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—

God’s choosing us for something, calling us to something, demands that we live consistent with that to which we are called. As he says in:

2 Thessalonians 1:11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Living consistent with our calling is ultimately by God’s grace, and for the glory of Jesus. He says in:

2 Timothy 1:8 …God 9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,

Our calling is a high and holy calling. It is not founded in our works but rooted in God’s own gracious purpose. The author of Hebrews says:

Hebrews 3:1 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,

It is a heavenly calling. Peter also connects our calling to God’s choice by grace:

2 Peter 1:10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

Peter urges us to diligence; he uses a different word to describe pursuing with speed and effort.

Paul says the one thing is to pursue the goal, the prize, the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. The upward call is a call upward, a call to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord.

How does righteousness work? It keeps our eyes fixed on Jesus, it diligently pursues deeper intimacy with Jesus. It doesn’t get sidetracked, it strains forward, running the race to win, seeking the prize of seeing Jesus face to face.

Set the sails. Stay the course. Put the gift of righteousness to work pursuing Jesus. Now is not the time to coast. How strong is your longing to see Jesus? Is knowing him the one thing of surpassing worth to you?

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

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Philippians 3:13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org