Year 8, Day 185: Philippians 3

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Paul tells his audience to be careful of certain people as we read through this passage.  Please note who it is that Paul warns others about.  Paul doesn’t caution them about hanging out with worldly folks.  After all, had Paul said that, to whom would we take the Gospel?  No, Paul warns his audience about people who say they are religious but have their mind focused on the wrong things.  Paul is concerned that people will start thinking that they have earned their salvation, not that their salvation is a gift.

This is why Paul lists all of the things in his past.  Reading through that list with an eye to what would impress a first-century Jew, Paul has it all.  He’s got a good biological heritage, he’s been readily trained in religion, and he’s followed the law his whole life.

However, Paul then says all of this is actually counted as a loss.  These things don’t make him better, they actually have the potential to be a hindrance!  Such things lead to pride and arrogance.  Such things often lead us away from appreciation and dependency upon God, not towards it.  Salvation comes through the righteousness of Christ and the grace of God, not through our ability to earn it.

Paul thus warns his audience to be wary of people who tell you that certain things have to be true in order to be saved.  Such people might be: people who claim you have to be baptized in a certain way, people who claim you have to say the right things, people who claim you have to part of a certain denomination, etc.  The reality is that we are saved because God loves us and in that love Jesus died for our sake.  We are saved because of Christ, not because of anything we do.

However, this doesn’t give us permission to live as we like.  While Paul makes it clear that none of us will be saved because of what we do, he also wants to be sure we know that we do need to imitate Christ.  In fact, he tells us to imitate other people who are imitating Christ!  What we do is important, but not because it helps to save us or make us more appealing to God.  What we do is important because it shows our love for God.  What we do because a part of our witness.  It because a part of our thought process.  What we do, shows who we are.  If our heart truly is God’s, then our actions should display that reality.

We aren’t saved because of what we do.  We should be careful of anyone who makes us think our actions do influence our salvation.  But while we aren’t saved by what we do, we should also realize that what we do should reflect our salvation.  That’s what Paul is getting at.

<><