The Wrong Way To Be Right - Philippians 3:1-10 Series

Philippians 3:1 Finally, my brothers, 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. 2 Watch out for those dogs, watch out for those men who do evil, watch out for the mutilation. 3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who have put (perf) no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 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; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. 7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 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 and is by faith. 10 I want to know Christ

Introduction

An Essential of Christianity

You could be wrong about most things in the Bible and still be a Christian. You could misinterpret Genesis 1 and be wrong about the age of the earth, you could be wrong about the rapture, or about predestination or about the gift of tongues. You can be wrong about almost everything in the whole Bible, and still be saved. But there are a few things that are essentials – things that are so fundamental to the faith, that if you are wrong on those things, you’re not a Christian. There aren’t very many of those. I think you can list them on one side of one sheet of paper. So there aren’t a lot of them, but one thing that is on the list is this: the right way to become a good person.

It’s Not What You Think

If you are like most people, you’re trying to be a good person. And not only are most people trying to be good, but most people have a sense that they are succeeding in that effort. When people come for counseling we have them fill out the form, and one of the questions asks, “What are you like? Describe yourself.” And almost everyone starts out by saying, “I’m a good person.”

So we are all trying to be good, but have you ever stopped to think about what your method is for trying to be good? How do you become good? If your answer to that question is wrong, that is catastrophic because that is not one of the things you can be wrong about and still be saved. The question of the right way to become good is definitely one of the essentials. And it’s not what most people think. Most people, if you ask them, “How do you become a good person?” would give an answer that Jesus would say is dead wrong. Jesus Christ made a major point about this in his teaching. In Luke chapter 18 Jesus told a story about two men who came to the temple to pray to God, and the first one was exactly the type of person you would think of when you think of a really, really good person. He followed all the rules. The second guy was exactly the type of person you’d think of when you think of a really bad person. He had done some horrible things. And at the end of that story Jesus says this:

Luke 18:14 I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God.

Justified before God means to be good in God’s sight. The morally filthy guy walked away good in God’s sight, and the squeaky clean religious rule-keeper guy walked away not good in God’s sight. And the reason Jesus made such a big deal about this is because whether or not you are good in God’s sight will determine whether or not you go to heaven or hell when you die.

Now, some of you are probably sitting there thinking, “I know what he’s getting at. The way to become good isn’t by following all the rules. The way to become good in God’s sight is to invite Jesus into your heart as your Lord and Savior.” But that’s not it either. Jesus taught that there will be a lot of people who have done that who will find out on Judgment Day that they are not saved.