Illuminate
Part 6- Conquering Conflict
Pastor Ryan Akers
Have you ever felt like no matter what you do you will never be good enough?
Job- no matter how hard you work, how many extra hours you put in, how much you give up to be the best you always seem to get passed over for promotions, or your boss never says good job or thank you. Or you can never quite do enough to get on your co-worker’s good side.
Relationships- People put these expectations out there and you do your best to meet those expectations although they are typically unrealistic. But no matter how hard you try that friend or boyfriend or spouse is never satisfied. They never think you’re doing enough. Some of you probably had parents who were never happy with you. They always had a yeah but for you. “I got an A- on my paper!” “Yeah but it could have been an A+.” “I got accepted to so and so college!” “Yeah but you could have gone here.” “I did my chores and got everything done on time.” “Yeah but you didn’t do this.” We like to put yeah buts on people. (Guilty of doing that to my wife- work all day to clean the house and take care of the kids, yeah but there is still some stuff laying on the table or yeah but dinner isn’t ready.)
This feeling of never being good enough seems to come up in some form or another in most everyone’s life. No matter what we do and no matter how hard we work there is just some people who it’s never good enough for. Unfortunately this feeling of not being good enough more often than not enters into our own spiritual lives.
More people than you would think have this tremendous fear that they are not good enough for God because they aren’t doing enough. It is a tremendous spiritual conflict that happens between spirit and flesh. My spirit says I am saved by faith in Jesus but by flesh says I am not good enough because I’m not following all the rules. And because they aren’t good enough and following all the rules then they are going to go to hell. We seem to get this mental image of God standing over the earth watching his creation waiting for us to mess up so that he can punish us. We picture God as that husband or the father who looks at us with contempt and disappointment and who is never satisfied and who’s given us the yeah buts’. When we think like this there then grows a motivation in us not out of love but out of fear to make sure we are doing enough so that God will love us.
We become driven by a works based faith, which is heavy into religion instead of a faith-based relationship. Our thinking becomes, “If I go to church God will love me.” “If I give money God will love me.” “If I’m a nice guy and work hard at my job then God will love me.” “If I just follow His commands then God will love me.” Our standing with God is now determined by us and our personal accomplishments rather than by God through repentance, grace, faith, forgiveness and sanctification. Even those who don’t have a relationship with God have this natural human instinct in them that convinces them that if they are a good enough person and help enough people and mind their own business that God will let them into heaven or they’ll be reincarnated into a good life or they will become enlightened.
Paul had to deal with those who gave the yeah buts’ a lot in his ministry. They were the religious. Jesus called them a brood of vipers, whitewashed tombs. Paul was one of them. Works based faith with a lot of yeah buts’, legalism, rituals, traditions. In Philippians 3 Paul gives his readers warning to watch out for those who think like this and instead grab hold of truth, which is found not in religion but in an authentic, grace filled, sanctified, life-transforming relationship with Jesus.
Philippians 3:1- Whether we live or die, fail or succeed, suffer or experience peace all believers should continue to rejoice. Keep your hope centered on Christ. For it is continual growing faith in Christ which produces peace in the midst of suffering and conflict. When we rejoice in Christ we will always be reminded of God’s grace to us. His forgiveness of our sins. His love for us. The proof of that love by Christ sacrificial and atoning death on the cross and the promises of God which say he will never leave us or forsake us. When your trust is fully in God then you will experience great joy and be able to rejoice in life because you have a full understanding that regardless of what is happening to you God is in complete control of your circumstances. He knows what’s going on and He will see you through your current valley of pain. Paul says, “I never get tired of telling you these things.” We are in the middle of this letter and Paul is basically giving us a review of what he has already said to us over the last 6 weeks and what he has written in previous letters to other churches. We should never get tired of hearing them. So often we forget God’s most basic promises of provision, forgiveness, love. That’s when the thoughts begin to enter our minds that God is punishing us or that we aren’t doing enough to please God, which is why we are experiencing what we are. We all need to be constantly reminded every week of God’s grace, love, forgiveness of sins. We need to be reminded everyday of Jesus and who Jesus is and what he did. It is that constant reminder of God’s love for us that keeps us moving forward both in life and in our relationship with the Father. It keeps us living for him and trusting in him.
The love of God needs too not only be in our heads and hearts but needs to be spoken which is why I preach. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2, “Preach the word of God. Patiently correct, rebuke and encourage your people with good teaching.” That is my God ordained primary job as pastor. Above visiting people in the hospital or putting budgets together or counseling or casting vision or starting new ministries or training volunteers I am first and foremost to patiently teach and preach God’s word to you. We do this because Paul says right before that passage in chapter 4:16, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” When we know it in our heads and hearts, hear it accurately and patiently taught by men and women of God and read it daily for ourselves that is how we battle the conflict of spirit vs. flesh or religion vs. relationship.
Now we go to verse 2. Here you are going to notice a change in Paul’s tone. Before this verse Paul has been filled with optimism. Faith, love, joy. Looking to God for hope and healing, freedom and grace. He has been highly encouraging to this church in his letter. But here in verse 2 we begin to see Paul get defensive. Verse 2. There are those who are working against Paul both in and out of the church. They are the religious elite. These are men who when Paul would preach in a city they would swoop in and preach a message counter to his. When Paul wrote a letter they wrote a letter to counter his. When Paul made an argument for faith in Christ they would argue for Jewish law and tradition. There was also a group of people who Paul spoke openly about in multiple letters called Judaizers. These were false teachers who perverted the Gospel by making the Gospel not just about faith in Jesus alone but instead they practiced and pushed a Jesus + model of salvation. They were Jewish leaders who believed that before you would be considered a fully converted Christian you had to believe in Jesus AND follow Jewish OT law.
Paul calls these men dogs. Their view of dogs was different than our view of dogs today. The Jews considered the wild dog to be the most despised, shameless and miserable of creatures. All non-Jewish people otherwise known as gentiles were considered dogs because they were uncircumcised. Circumcision in Jewish tradition was an outward symbol of the inward work God is doing to circumcise the heart to make man obedient to Him. It symbolized salvation. All Jewish men were circumcised on the 8th day after their birth or converts to Judaism were also circumcised as adults. The Judaizers believed that you must have Christ plus circumcision. (Yeah But) They did not preach Christ alone they preached Christ plus works. This is what happens when religion mixes with the Gospel. It perverts the message. This is why God hates religion. God is not a fan of religious people. Religious people who are dogmatic on rituals and symbols and add a lot of yeah buts’ are not traditionally loving people. Traditionally religious people are angry, judgmental, overly critical, self-righteous, self-absorbed, and proud. Religion is most often opposed to God’s intention because they are blinded by their extra biblical rules, rituals and laws. Christianity is the opposite of religion because Christianity is about faith in Jesus alone. Christianity is not about pride, laws, rules and rituals it is about living a life of humility, joy, peace, patience and grace, submission and love.
While Christ was on earth who was it Jesus scolded the most often? The religious. Jesus himself says about the OT law in Matthew 5:17, “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the Law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.” What was the purpose of the law? The purpose of the law was preparatory. It was to get God’s people ready for the coming of Jesus. Once Christ came and died the OT law was fulfilled. It is now faith alone, by grace alone in Christ alone. Nothing else. You no longer need circumcision for salvation. Christ is salvation. We no longer need priest as mediators because Christ is our high priest. We no longer need the temple to worship in because God’s presence now dwells in us not in the holy of holies in the temple. Priest no longer need to practice animal sacrifices as a symbol of atonement for our sins because Christ Jesus the perfect lamp sacrificed himself on the cross to fulfill the law and to forgive us of our sins. He was the final and true sacrifice. The OT is not bad but it has now been fulfilled. The OT is all about the anticipation of a coming Messiah. It is full of rituals and practices and rules that were practiced as preparation for what the Jewish people believed would be the coming Messiah. Once Jesus came and died the law was fulfilled and those rituals officially ended. But these dogs as Paul calls them still pushed for Christ plus the law. He wants to set them straight because Christ plus anything is always wrong. They didn’t understand that Christ fulfilled the law.
When anyone says you need Jesus + something else then they don’t fully understand what Christ did on the cross. Instead they believe that what Jesus did wasn’t enough; that he didn’t fully pay the price for your sins by his death on the cross and so you must also add works done by your own strength and abilities in order to make your salvation complete. This is in essence the definition of religion. Jesus + works. We do this same thing today. The spiritual form says that Jesus was a good person but you must also give money, recycle, live a moral life, feed the poor, try really hard. None of those are bad things but those things apart from Jesus and salvation in Jesus mean nothing. There is also a religious form of yeah buts’ in the Jesus + model that says you must believe in Jesus and not drink alcohol, believe in Jesus and speak in tongues, believe in Jesus and vote republican, believe in Jesus and sings certain kinds of worship music. Believe in Jesus and watch certain movies. Believe in Jesus and wear certain clothing. Join a certain church on and on it goes.
Religion puts a relationship with Christ second because we so desperately want to get there on our own merit. We want to guarantee our salvation by our works, not by our faith. And so we try to prove our worth of salvation by what we do and don’t do. The problem is a person can do all the right things and still go to hell. You can do all the right things, and go to all the right places, volunteer at all the right functions and in the end still go to hell because you never knew Christ. You never knew Christ through repentance and forgiveness of sins. You never believed Christ was enough to save. Paul lists the true marks of a believer in verse 3. It is the believer being circumcised by Jesus revealing our sins to us. The law exists today to awaken us to our sin and inability to save ourselves. We see the law and know we can’t measure up because we can’t obey it perfectly. That is where we look to Christ as the perfect sacrifice to take away our sins and put his righteousness on us. In verse 3, very quickly, Paul list 3 marks of a growing disciple of Jesus. He says 1. They worship by the Spirit of God. A believer is empowered by the spirit. They live and serve through the spirit. They recognize that if the spirit is not moving in their lives then they are only going through the motions they are not worshipping. The second mark is the believer relies on what Jesus Christ has done for us. We recognize that Christ death on the cross is the only grounds for salvation and that a person can not boast of their good works or find salvation through their works.
The works that we do are done to lift up the name of Jesus and to bring glory to him for what he has done in us by circumcising our hearts. (Angel Food, Volunteering in church, giving to Agape, Brandwein home) all done to show the grace and mercy of God. Not for our recognition or because someone earned it or even deserves it. We do it to glorify God. He saved us from hell, for that we serve him with our lives and share that unconditional love with others regardless of how we feel. The final mark in verse 3 is where Paul says we put no confidence in human efforts. This means we put no confidence in our own abilities or achievements. Sometimes we think we’re really somebody special because of what we’ve accomplished in life or because others look up to us as spiritual leaders but we need to constantly remind ourselves that we by our own efforts are nothing, only deserving the worst of punishments and it is because of Christ and Christ alone that we are able to accomplish anything. The religious person lifts himself up. The Christian lifts Christ up. The religious don’t believe Jesus is enough, they need to help him out, and the Christian humbles themselves before the cross and recognize they are not worthy to even tie the sandals on Jesus’ feet.
Paul says those who practice religion are dogs. They are the worst of the worst and going beyond this he literally calls religion garbage and worthless. Verse 4- He is saying if anyone has anything to boast of when it comes to religion and following the law and being worthy of heaven because of my obedience to the law it is Paul. Paul had so much going for him as a religious person no one, not even the Judaizers could hold a candle to him. In Verse 5-8 he lays out his resume. Circumcised on the 8th day, which was the exact day the word of God said to do it. Not only that but he is a pure blooded citizen of Israel. He wasn’t some half-breed like many Judaizers were and he wasn’t someone who converted to Judaism. He was born of the right chosen people of God. The he says he was of the tribe of Benjamin. Being of the tribe of Benjamin was like being born of the right family. The first King of Israel was from this tribe. And Jesus came from this tribe. He also says he was a Hebrew of Hebrews. Both his parents were Jewish. He practiced Jewish customs, spoke the language, wore the clothes, followed the rules. There were no strange mixed blood types in his family. He was as Hebrew as you could get. He was also a member of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were king when it came to practicing Jewish law. They were the elite. The high priest. The most educated of the educated. The holiest of holies. You get the picture. Then he says he was so zealous and passionate about what he believed in that he persecuted the early church in order to protect the word of God.
The first ever-Christian martyr, Steven, was stoned to death by the command of Paul. He believed whole-heartedly in the Jewish law and practices that he was willing to have those he thought were heretical murdered. Finally, he says as for righteousness I obeyed the law without fault. He was blameless in his obedience to the law. That is something, in all honesty to boast about because the Jewish law contained 600 rules, rites and rituals. Paul was considered blameless in following these rules. Blameless. He followed them perfectly. The man had done more works by himself in the name of God for his salvation than we probably ever have in the history of this 60-year-old church. If salvation and entrance into heaven was given by works there was absolutely no one more worthy than Paul. He had religion, race, descent, education, high moral values, and blameless outward righteousness.
Then, it all changed when Christ saved him. Look again at what he says about all that he has accomplished in verse 7-8. Everything he ever did. Everything he used to believe in. Everything he was so zealous for even to the point of murder was now garbage. It was worthless. Knowing Jesus, living for Jesus radically changed him. Any word we can think of to describe the change that happened in this man is not good enough. Supernatural, incredible change. All that he use to live for is now garbage. Different translations place a different word there in that text. This one says garbage another says refuse. Still another says rubbish, one says dung. Filth, dirt, trash. One translation even calls it a turd. I don’t say this to be crude but to get Paul’s point across to us of how he really felt about the works of his past life. Garbage. Paul recognizes that all those things would have sent him to hell if it weren’t for Jesus. Jesus is enough. There are no yeah buts’. There is no you need Jesus and this, there is just Jesus. He is enough. He is all we need. He alone is the only person worthy of worship. He is all that matters in this life everything else is garbage.
Some people like to talk about what they gave up to follow Christ. I gave up this job to follow Christ, I gave up my addictions to follow Christ, and I gave up my job to follow Christ. When we understand what Christ did for us in saving us from our sins then we will realize that nothing we give up even comes close to the value of what we gain. Anything we gave up to follow Christ was garbage, worthless compared to what we gain in Christ Jesus. This was not something that only happened at his conversion. Paul continued through the rest of his life to discard things that took precedence over Christ. If anything takes away from his walk with Christ he throws it in the garbage can. There is nothing more important than our continual growing relationship with Jesus. There are probably things in your life right now that need to be cut out because it is taking away from your relationship with Jesus. Might be a friendship. That friendship is hindering your relationship with Christ in some way. You may need to end it. When Paul became a believer many people who once held him in high esteem abandoned him. He was no longer the ideal role model. But he says all of that is garbage compared to his walk with Christ. You may need to end some friendships because that friendship is causing you to compromise your faith and put another human before your walk.
You may need to quit your job because that job is causing you to choose it over your relationship with God. You may need to cut out something you love doing in your life because that thing is causing you to put it first over Jesus. Anything we put before Jesus is garbage. I see this happen all the time. We make compromises for our own benefit. We choose to work one Sunday or we decide we’re just too tired to pray or read the word or go to bible study. One compromise always turns into 2 and eventually that fire that was burning in you will begin to fade. One by one people leave the church all because they have replaced Christ with garbage. Paul says nothing compares to Christ. Nothing is more important that Christ. Our lives must be absolutely consumed with Christ. He is all that matters. Even good things get in the way of our walk with Christ. You can spend time doing good things and even church things, ministries, fellowship and what not but if those things begin to rob us of spending time with Jesus and building our relationship with Jesus then those things are losses. That’s exactly why I believe in a simply church philosophy. Do a few ministries well instead of 50 ministries mediocre. We don’t have to be a busy church to be a successful church. Success is not in numbers. Success is found when those who are the church are putting Christ first. When the lost are being saved and disciples are being made, that is success. Everything else is loss. That is why we will turn down the opportunity to do many wonderful ministries because we must refuse to be a busy church that puts work before Christ.
Jesus didn’t call us to do things; he calls us to come to him so that we may be more like him. Paul’s attitude was that if he had to choose between having nothing and knowing Christ or having everything without Christ he would choose having nothing. Because life apart from Christ is garbage. Paul ends this scripture by speaking his heart’s desire. Verse 9-11. Where once he was about power, respect, works, law, rules, rituals, pride, and self-righteousness now his desire is to be one with Christ. To no longer trust in his own righteousness by the yeah buts and the works that he does because to trust and believe in our own righteousness and works only leads to spiritual death but to trust in Christ righteousness leads to life. Paul says I want all of Jesus. I want to know him, be like him, and suffer with him. I want to experience the power that raised him from the dead. I hope you see the radical change that has taken place in this man. God has radically and eternally changed this man. He has spent this section defending what he now believes whole-heartedly in and what he and all the apostles gave their lives for. Jesus is all that matters everything else is garbage.
If you do not know him this morning as your savior you can. It is so easy to trust in Christ for life. You can have this life and energy and zeal for Jesus like Paul if you would repent of your sins and believe in Jesus for salvation and the forgiveness of your sins. The spirit of God will enter you and help you, guide you, give you the zeal to live and love for Jesus. For others in here I want to ask you, what do you need to cut out of your life? What garbage is in your life that has been keeping you from fully following Jesus and placing Jesus as the most important part of your life? Is it your job? Quit. God will bless your faithfulness. Is it a friendship that causes you to compromise? End it. Is it an attitude? Repent and release it to Jesus. Is it a hobby? Stop doing it. Fast from it until it no longer takes precedence over your relationship with Jesus. Maybe it’s busyness. Quit doing so much. Maybe you have 10 different things going on, quit 6 of them. Don’t let meetings, sports, hobbies, or even church activities get in the way of what’s most important, Jesus. Simplify your life so that Christ is always number one. Be with him, spend time with him, listen to him, meditate on his word, sing songs that glorify his name, do good works to show others his love and to lift his name up not to show how holy you are or to gain recognition.
Maybe you struggle with religion. Maybe you get too caught up on the clothes we wear, songs we sing, things we put in our body or on our body. Repent of that. Cut those yeah buts out of your life and believe in Christ alone + nothing. Let the Holy Spirit do its job and you just love. Love them, show compassion to them, be patient with them. Don’t look down on them because they are different.
Many of us would say Jesus is number 1 in your life but if we did an honest evaluation I think we’d have to admit that he really is not most important in life. For many of us Jesus is just one part of one of the many things we do each week. Church and bible study, devotions and prayer all become just something marked on a calendar for us. This cannot be. Nothing else matters but Jesus. No matter how good we think we are nothing we do matters without Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, it’s all about Jesus. We are what we are because of Jesus. Before we judge another person for what they look like or how they live we need to remember that. We need to always remember how much we too deserved no mercy and grace. We too deserved the worst of punishments. Yet, Christ died for us and saved us. That is enough. As the old hymn says, My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
Nothing more, nothing less than Jesus blood and righteous. Jesus is all that matters, Jesus is the only one who saves. The rest is just garbage.
