Being Right With God

Good Morning Everyone!

What a joy it is to come together as a body of Christ to worship Him and to study His word!

We are studying the book of Philippians, and today we are in 3:7-11. Our topic this morning is Righteousness. How many of you know the meaning of righteousness? It is generally defined as"the quality of being morally right or justifiable.” In biblical terms, righteousness is defined as “being right with God.” Now the question is, how can we become righteous or be right with God? I would like to answer that question with a good news and a bad news.

Let us begin with the bad news: The bad news is that… it is not possible for us to ‘be right with God’ on our own. Why? Because the Bible says that all of us have sinned and fall short of God's standard of righteousness (Romans 3:23). Let me ask you…Have you ever stolen? Lied? Cheated? Taken God's name in vain? Thought bad thoughts? God is Holy and His standard is simply too high for us to achieve. But, the good news is…it is possible for us to ‘be right with God.’ How? Through faith in Jesus Christ! This morning, I would like to share with you three things that are essential in the process of ‘being right with God.’ First…

1. Knowing Christ (vs. 7-8)

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.

These are some intense statements by the Apostle Paul. He was probably screaming at the top of his lungs, “My heritage, reputation and religious accomplishments were gains to me before, but now I consider them loss.” In verses 5-6 we see the list of reasons he could consider himself great and worthy of praise:

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.

All those things that were gains to him before, now he calls them a loss. The things that were once his source of pride, now he considers them loss. Why did Paul say that? Because he realized that none of the items on his resume were sufficient to make him ‘right with God.’ Paul thought he had attained righteousness by keeping the Law. But when he saw Christ in His glory on the ‘Road to Damascus’, his whole perspective changed. In fact, his entire being changed.

Paul knew that all his self-righteousness, all his religion, all his good works, all his efforts to please God were trash. That’s why he says, “Whatever things were gains to me, now I consider them loss.” Paul declares that his past religious accomplishments were absolutely nothing. Then he goes on to say, “I consider everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

Paul realized that all his religious success is worthless. The reason he considers everything else worthless is because there is nothing more valuable than knowing Christ. Knowing Christ is the highest value. The greatest treasure you can have is, knowing Jesus. Paul’s contrast between ‘gain’ and ‘loss’ is very clear in this passage. His religious accomplishments, were a “loss” compared to the “gain” of knowing Christ.

Paul is not saying that our achievements are necessarily bad. In fact, they are good. What he is saying here is that, his Jewish heritage and his righteousness based on the law are worthless. That’s what he now considers loss. It was a complete reversal. Some would have thought Paul to be a fool. But Jim Elliot once said, “He is no fool to give up what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.” Paul knew that there was nothing in this world more valuable than knowing Christ.

Illustration:

What are some of the things that you consider valuable to you?

A house?

A car?

A wardrobe full of expensive clothes?

A business or company you have established?

A nice-sounding job title?

A certificate of doctoral degree?

A respected position in the society?

A wall in your office covered with awards?

Application:

Now, all of them are valuable things to have or to desire to have. But, the question is, are there things in our lives that we value more than God? Again, they might be good things, but they may have taken a position in our hearts that was originally made for Christ. Let us take some time to reflect and examine about those things or areas in our lives, we may have the tendency to prioritize above God. Let us make ‘knowing Christ’ as the most valuable thing in our life. The second essential aspect in the process of ‘being right with God’ is…