Life Of Loss Series

Bad theology can also lead to feelings of guilt if things are not going well, or conversely, cause us to ignore feelings of guilt, feelings that could lead us to repentance and life!

Paul is warning his friends in Philippi that they should be on guard against bad theology, the theology of dogs. At its core, “dog theology” says that you can impress God and others with your religious behavior.

Think about how you train a dog- it’s performance based isn’t it?

Don’t use the rug as your bathroom

Sit, speak, roll over. Do all that upon command and you get a treat.

Dog theology. Performance based.

But you and I aren’t dogs. We are created in the image of God.

So don’t you believe the gospel of satan. He wants to slap those performance chains around your mind and heart to deaden the power of the true Gospel of freedom through Christ Jesus.

The second point we find in Chapter 3 of Philippians is

2. In verses 4-7, Paul explains how “dog theology” had fooled him. He had been taught that he could impress God by keeping all of the Jewish laws and by “earning” his own salvation. But notice what Paul says about his past life:

“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.” (Philippians 3:4-7)

From Paul’s past perspective as a Pharisee, this is an impressive list of credentials. But no: these credentials mean nothing to him. Paul says that he considers the past to be loss.

But this doesn’t only apply to the Apostle Paul. As we begin our journey with Jesus, we are called to leave behind whatever investment we have in the old way of life.

Another way to say this is that- Jesus is for losers.

That’s right: we must lose our own way of thinking and we must lose whatever confidence we have in our past accomplishments.

It’s not just the people who are down-and-out who need the gospel. There are people who are “up-and-out” who also need the gospel—people who have climbed the ladder of success only to find they had placed the ladder on the wrong wall! Both groups need to know that, in Jesus, their past does not matter, whether that past is good or bad. The only thing that counts is the new creation in Christ.

3. This brings us to the third point as we look at this chapter. Listen as Paul continues the same line of thought in verses 8-9. I’m going to preface this by saying- these are some of my favorite verses in the bible.

It’s my life goal so to speak

10“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.”