We are in a study of Philippians. Our text today is found in Philippians 3:7-11. We will begin by reading that from the New International Version.
“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 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 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 on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.”i
In the verses prior to this Paul has launched a warning to the Philippian Christians about the Judaizers who would try to bring them back under the ceremonial rules and regulations of the Old Covenant. He focuses on circumcision because that is the most important ceremony of Judaism. If circumcision is not required under the New Covenant and it is the most significant ritual, then the lesser rules and regulations of concerning food, feasts, sabbaths, and other ceremonial provisions are not required either.ii In Philippians 3:2-4 he writes, “Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. 3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence.” He follows that with a list of his own Jewish credentials. Then he begins our text by discounting all that as worthless compared to knowing Christ.
Paul still has this warning in mind as he discusses his own attitude toward the Jewish rituals versus his relationship with Christ. After he gives his personal testimony, he reasserts the warning in Philippians 3:18-20: “For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven.” So that is the context of our passage today.
I find in our text three key indicators of a true conversion: signs that a person has indeed met Christ in a personal way and was genuinely born again.iii The problem of false conversions has plagued Christianity since it began. In many ways Judas looked like a true disciple of Jesus. He openly followed Jesus. He was trusted with the treasury. He was heavily involved in ministry, preaching the word, healing the sick, and working miracles in the name of Christ.iv On the surface, he looked like the other apostles. Only Jesus knew Judas for what he really was. In the upper room when Jesus told the disciples that one of them would betray Him, nobody said, “It is Judas, I knew it all along.” Instead each one said, “Lord, is it I.”v
In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus warned, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (NKJV). These people were involved in the externals, but they had no personal relationship with the Lord.
Look back over church history and you see vast numbers of false converts. Think about all the people who jumped on board in Constantine’s day. Many claimed Christianity for political advantage. They did not know the Lord. They simply knew they could enjoy an easier life if the professed Christianity.vi Think about the people who followed the rituals and superstitions of the Catholic church during the middle ages. God has always had a remnant who “know Him.” But most of those who professed Christianity during that time were relying on the rituals of the Catholic Church for salvation. They had no personal relationship with the Lord.
Think about the multitudes today who think they are saved and are not! About 80% of Americans consider themselves to be Christians.vii Only about 2% of Americans believe they will go to hell.viii Yet Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”ix In that gap there has to be many false converts. The is no reference to sin in a lot of altar calls today—no conviction of the Holy Spirit, no call to repentance. The call is essentially is come join the Jesus club and enjoy all the benefits. The responses are counted as conversions. I hope they are, but I doubt they are.
We need a biblical understanding of what it means to become a Christian. We need to know what evidence to look for in a person who professes to be a Christian. We need to know what transpires when a person is truly born again. What changes occur in the person’s heart, and how are those changes manifested in the person’s life.
An artificial plant these days can look very real. I remember a plant that was placed in my office when I was pastoring in Texas. It was a beautiful plant, so I didn’t want it to die. After watering it a couple of times I noticed the water spilling out of the pot. Upon closer inspection I realized the soil was colored Styrofoam. It needed no water because it was not a living plant. There are people sitting in church today who are like that. You water and water them with the word, and it just rolls off. They have not been genuinely converted so their receptivity to the word is very limited. First they need a true conversion experience. Then the desire for that word will flow out of the new nature. Then they can begin growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ.x
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Paul is presented in our text as an example of a true convert. In 3:17 Paul tells Christians to follow his example and use him as a model. Paul’s case is a near perfect example of a genuine conversion. From the moment he met the Lord on the road to Damascus he followed Lord wholeheartedly. I wish I could say that about myself. My conversion in my early teens was genuine. A radical change in came in my life as a result of that encounter with the Lord. But in my late teens and early adulthood I became worldly and did not follow the Lord. Those lost years mar my example. God did restore my walk with Him in my early twenties, and I have followed Him since that time. Our experience may not be as exemplary as Paul’s. But it should reflect the general patter that Paul shares in our text. Our conversion should produce these three changes.
Three indicators of true conversion are evident in the text:
(1) A Change in Values (verses 7-8)
(2) A Change in Righteousness (verse 9)
(3) A Change in Life Goals (verses 10-11)
I. A Change in VALUES occurs when a person is truly born again. Look at 3:7-8: “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 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.”
Things that Paul considered valuable prior to his conversion; he now considers to be worthless. He lists some of those things in verses 5-6. They include his ethnic heritage and his religious attainments as a Pharisee. These are the things the Judaizers offer. But Paul has found something better than religion. He has found Christ—or rather Christ has found him. His encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus was a true conversion. One way we know that was his response to the lordship of Christ. You cannot have Jesus as Savior without having Him as Lord as well. It is all wrapped up in one person. Paul surrendered to the lordship of Christ that day.xi He surrendered to Jesus’s authority over his life. And he was radically changed from the inside out.
He wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (NKJV). If a person is truly converted, some old things will pass away. There will be a turning away from a sinful lifestyle. It’s a radical change. It’s not just adding Jesus to the busy life we have chosen so He can help us be more success in our old pursuits. Paul was going one direction on that road to Damascus before he met Jesus and a totally different direction after he met the Lord. He was on his way to persecute Christians when he met Jesus. After that encounter he was following the Lord’s instruction. Like the old Gaither song says, “For all things were changed When He found me A new day broke through All around me For I met the Master The Master Now I belong to Him”xii
Have you met Him? One encounter with Him can change your life forever.
In verses 7-8 Paul uses accounting language to describe his change in values. Before his conversion he had placed all his Jewish attainments on the asset side of the balance sheet. That
was the most important thing in his life. But on the day he met Christ, he wrote all of that off as a loss—as worthless.xiii Now on the asset side he wrote one thing: “knowing Christ.”xiv On that day his net worth increased infinitely because he found the one pearl of great price.xv
This is what a true conversion does to a person. He gladly gives up the things he once loved to have that one pearl of great price, Christ. We see it when Jesus called the disciples. Matthew was busy collecting taxes. He was making good money. Then Jesus came to him and said, “Follow me.” Matthew walked away from the lucrative enterprise to follow Jesus.xvi Notice the word “immediately” in the account of Jesus calling Peter, Andrew, John, and James.
“And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
21 Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him” (Matt. 4:18-22).
Jesus called others who did not respond in that way. One wanted to first go bury his father. If there was ever a good excuse, that would have been it. But he lost the opportunity Jesus offered. Another wanted time to say goodbye to his friends.xvii His friends were more important to him than Christ. For Peter, Andrew, James, and John, Jesus was not the second most important thing; He was number one. Is He number one in your life?
The thing that Paul had valued so much and now counted as worthless was his Jewish attainments. But there are many things that people value. For one person it might be money. Remember the rich young ruler that Jesus encountered. He was a moral, upright person interested in Jesus. Jesus invited this young man to follow Him. He had a lot going for him. But when Jesus told him to give his possession to the poor, the Bible says, “he went away sorrowful.”xviii For some the thing they value is reputation. For others it might be career or to simply be liked by people. It might be a relationship or an inappropriate pleasure. It doesn’t matter what it is. If anything is more valuable to you that a relationship with the Lord, then it is an idol. It doesn’t have to be a bad thing. The first and greatest commandment is this: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”xix
One other comment before we move to the second indicator of a true conversion: Paul did not see the worthlessness of what he was valuing until he had Christ to compare it to. Verse 8: “What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Compared to knowing Christ, it was all garbage. His willingness to give it up was in order to pursue the Lord. His conversion meant a radical change in his value system.
II. A Change in RIGHTEOUSNESS is a second indicator of his conversion.
Paul had worked hard to establish his own righteousness as a Pharisee. He had excelled above all his peers. But with his conversion his faith shifted from self-righteousness to the righteousness of Christ received by faith. He states this explicitly in verse 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 on the basis of faith.” As a Pharisee Paul had relied on his own good works as a basis of righteousness (right standing with God). In his conversion he realized that was of no value, filthy rags in the eyes of the Lord (Isa. 64:6). By revelation he put his confidence in the perfect righteousness provided as a gift by Christ at the cross.
To be genuinely converted is to place the full weight of your faith on Christ’s work at the Calvary—not on your own efforts to be good. The Bible calls us to good works, but that is not the basis of our right standing before God. That is the fruit of the righteousness that Christ gives us. That is the fruit of the new nature we receive when we put our faith in Christ.
Salvation is of the Lord. The day we are born again we put our faith in His sacrifice for us at the cross. Every day thereafter we keep our faith firmly placed there. I will walk in the light today because He has made me acceptable before the Father by His death on the cross; He has given me a new nature—His righteous nature; and He strengthens me by His Spirit each day. “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”xx We studied this extensively in the first couple of chapters of Romans. And we talked about it extensively last week. So. I will leave it at that and move to the third indicator of a true conversion.
III. A Change in Life GOALS
We see that in verses 10 & 11: “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.”
Once his goal was to shine as a Pharisee of Pharisees. Now he has one overarching goal in life: “to know Christ.” Once it was all about personal attainments and doing good according to the law. Now it is all about a personal relationship with the Lord.
The knowing Paul is talking about is experiential.xxi His encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus was a personal experience. Knowing Christ includes knowing about Christ. But Paul is talking about something far more intimate than that. He is talking about knowing the person through personal communion and interaction. As the old hymn says, “I come to the garden alone, While the dew is still on the roses, And the voice I hear, falling on my ear The Son of God discloses. And He walks with me And He talks with me. And He tells me I am His own And the joy we share as we tarry there None other has ever known.”xxii
Notice in our text, this desire to know Christ comes from a man who has been saved. Paul writes this letter several years after his conversion in Acts 9. So, at one level he knows the Lord. But that knowing is what sparked desire for a deeper knowing. The more you know the Lord, the more you want to know Him. As revelation and personal intimacy increase, so does desire for more. Paul experienced the love of Christ, and that love constrained every activity in his life. His response to Christ’s love for him was to love Christ in return, to want to please Him and to know Him in ever-increasing communion.xxiii
For over 45 years I have been on a quest to know my wife, Jeanie. I am still on that quest. It began when I met here at Bible School in the early ‘70s. This quest is inspired by the love that began when we were young. At one level I knew her then. But I know her much better today. I know her through the life experiences we have shared. The knowing Paul is talking about comes out of living life in communion with one another.
Paul provides a two-fold description of what this process looks like when he writes in verse 10: “yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings.”xxiv That is two sides of the same coin. Knowing Christ is not one or the other. It comes out of the combination. The carnal response to that is to want the power without the sufferings. But that would only produce pride. If it were only the sufferings, we would lose heart. If it were only the power, we would become prideful.
We see this principle in 2 Corinthians 12. There Paul asked God to remove the suffering side. 2 Corinthians 12:8-9: “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” If he would have God’s power working through him, he must endure the buffeting that came as well.xxv Why would the Lord allow this painful buffeting in his faithful servant? Because that is far less damaging than falling into the snare of pride. The suffering is a reminder that the power is God’s, not my own—the sufficiency is in God, not myself. Without Him I can do nothing. In Christ, all things are possible.xxvi
In fact, this suffering is beneficial to the believer. After referencing the participation in Christ’s sufferings, Paul immediately adds: “becoming like him in his death.” Remember the description of Christ’s ministry that Paul gives in chapter 2: how Christ was obedient in His sufferings, even to the death of the cross. This humble path of obedience to the Father is a pattern for believers. Back in 1:29 of this epistle, Paul told the Philippian believers: “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him.” We’re talking about suffering for the sake of the gospel.
Peter says essentially the same thing in his first epistle: “For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. 20 For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. 21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.”xxvii God uses all our experiences, including the suffering, to shape us and mold us into the image of Christ. The end goal that He has in mind for you is to make you like Jesus. He works all things together for that end result (Rom. 8:28-29).xxviii
Some groups explain away the suffering side to make their message more palatable to the carnal mind. But it is only half a gospel. The full benefits of the cross are found not only in the power of the resurrection but in the crucified life. In Matthew 16:24-26 Jesus talked about this: “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?’” (NKJV).
In Paul’s case the life he had to lose was one of a highly respected Pharisee. To gain Christ it was necessary for him to lose that. In your life, what is it that must be willingly lost so you can pursue Christ? Is it the love of money? Is it reputation? Is it comfort? Is it some forbidden pleasure? Is it simply doing what you want to do, rather than submitting to the Lordship of Christ? To be a follower of Christ, there will be things that must be set aside.
But the benefits far outweigh the sacrifices. Knowing Christ surpasses everything the world has to offer. Living in the fellowship of Christ, the joy and strength of communion with Him far outweighs the beggarly elements of this world.
The power of Christ’s resurrection is both now and yet to come. We experience His power in dealing with daily life. We experience His power in overcoming temptation. We experience His power in ministry. He puts life in His word as we read it and preach it. He empowers us to heal the sick and operate in the supernatural gifts of the Spirit. All of that is available to us now through the Holy Spirit.xxix
The ultimate expression of Christ’s resurrection power is the resurrection of our physical bodies when He comes. Paul sees that as the climax of this great salvation. Our text concludes with Paul saying in verse 11, “and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.” There are two resurrections: the resurrection of the just and the resurrection of the unjust. The resurrection of the unjust is described in Revelation 20. The resurrection of the just or justified is described in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15. Paul wants to be in that resurrection of the just. And he is pursuing Christ with that desire.xxx
Our text reveals what motivates Paul’s intense longing for the day of his resurrection. He is not desiring the rapture/resurrection of the just as a means of escape from difficulties in this world. The rapture does save Christians from the wrath poured out during the Great Tribulation period. But that is not Paul’s primary motivation as he looks toward the day of the Lord’s coming. His motive is to “know Christ.” We have already seen that this knowing is an ever-increasing experiential revelation of the Lord. That culminates in the unveiling of Christ to the believer at the resurrection of the just. The Apostle John states this at the end of 1 John 3:2: “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” At the resurrection of the just we shall know Christ with a fullness not possible in this life. 1 Corinthians 13:12: “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” For Paul it’s all about knowing Christ. Compared to that all his former pursuits are worthless.
The desire and ability to lay the former pursuits aside comes out of experiencing Christ. In the early 1800’s Thomas Chalmers preached a sermon entitled, “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection.” His point in that message is that a higher, more desirable affection has the power to drive out the old affections.xxxi Paul loved and lived for his Pharisaical religion until he met Christ. Captured by the love of Christ, the Pharisaical religion lost its appeal. He gladly gave it up for a higher affection.
Jesus states the principle in Matthew 13:44 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (NKJV). Why does this man gladly sell everything to have this treasure? Jesus says he does it “for joy over it.” He values the treasure more than everything else. He counts all of that as garbage compared to “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ.”
The question our text confronts us with is this: Has your experience in Christ captured your heart in such a way that it has worked a change in what you value and what you pursue in life? I am not calling you to add Jesus to a self-centered life. I am not suggesting that you can use Jesus to get more of the carnal things you want. That leaves a person fundamentally unchanged. A biblical conversation changes our orientation to life and to everything around us. It calls us to a relationship with Jesus that turns all the former things to rubbish in comparison to the joy of knowing the Lord. Does your relationship with the Lord cause you to pursue Him more than anything else? If not, ask Him to change your heart.
For some of us, we have left that first love that once burned in our hearts. Our walk with God has become a duty rather than a passion. The cure for that is to go back to the Lord with the same humility in which you first came to Him. Ask Him to remove anything in your life that is hindering your relationship with Him. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8 NKJV).
For others, you are not sure that you know the Lord. Knowing Christ in the way Paul did sounds too good to be true. But if it is true, you want it. If it is true, you’re willing to turn from the old paths to a life with Christ. I say to you by the word of God, it is true and available to you if you will open your heart to the Lord and receive it. Jesus paid the penalty for your sin on the cross. Because of that He has the right to offer you forgiveness and salvation as a gift. Will you receive Him today as your Lord and Savior? If you want that, I invite you to pray with me right now.
ENDNOTES:
i All Scripture quotes, unless indicated otherwise, are from the New International Version.
ii “In the troubles of the Hel. and Roman periods circumcision appears above all as a confessional sign” (emphasis mine). The Jesus’s words in John 7:22-23 demonstrates the fact that the Jews considered circumcision even more important than the Sabbath. Hahn writes, “Jn. 7:22f. also assumes the Jewish custom and its position in the law of Moses, in order to throw doubt on the rabbinic concepts of how the Sabbath was to be hallowed. The contradiction lay in the fact that, when the eighth day fell on the Sabbath, circumcision so far from profaning it was actually commanded (cf. Shab. 132a).” Colin Brown, ed, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Vol. 1, 1967 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986) s. v. “Circumcision,” by H. C. Hahn, 309-310.
iii I am using the term conversion here as equivalent to being regenerated or born again. This supernatural work of the Holy Spirt must occur for a person to be a Christian according to the New Testament. In John 3:3 Jesus told Nicodemus, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (NKJV).
iv See Luke 9.
v Matt. 26:22 (KJV). See Matt. 26:21-23 and John 6:64-71.
vi “The new situation of the church after Constantine’s peace was not equally received by all. Over against those who, like Eusebius of Caesarea, saw the more recent events as the fulfillment of God’s purposes, there were those
who bewailed what they saw as the low level to which Christian life had descended. The narrow gate of which Jesus had spoken had become so wide that countless multitudes were hurrying past it—some seemingly after privilege and position, without caring to delve too deeply into the meanng of Christian baptism and life under the cross. Bishops cometed with each other after prestigious positions. The rich and powerful seemed to dominate the life of the church.” Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, Vol. 1 (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1984) 136.
vii George Barna and David Barton, U Turn (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2014) 137.
viii Barna and Barton, 37.
ix Matt. 7:13-14.
x 2 Peter 3:18.
xi In Acts 9 Paul refers to Jesus as Lord, and he follows Christ’s instructions rather than continuing in his former path.
xii Mosie Lister, “Then I Met the Master.” Accessed 8-22-20 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0LWLyOTtY0 and https://boothbrothers.com/song/then-i-met-the-master-2/. Although the Gaither version of this might be a little dated for the younger generation, playing the YouTube video could contribute to the effectiveness of the message in some settings.
xiii When an organization has an asset that is determined to be worthless (i.e. an accounts receivable from a business that has gone bankrupt), sound accounting practice is to write that asset off as worthless. Paul once thought his Pharisaical credentials were of great value. In the light of new revelation, he now knows they are worthless.
xiv B. B. Barton, M. Fackler, L. Taylor, and D. Veerman, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1995) 92.
xv Matt. 13:45-46.
xvi Matt. 9:9.
xvii Luke 9:57-62.
xviii Matt. 19:22 (KJV).
xix Matt. 22:37 (NKJV).
xx 1 Cor. 2:2 (NKJV).
xxi “As v. 10 will clarify, ‘knowing Christ’ does not mean to have head knowledge about him, but to ‘know him’ personally (BAGD) and relationally.” Gordon Fee, Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, The New International Commentary on the New Testament, N. B. Stonehouse, F. Bruce, G. Fee, and J. Green, eds. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995) 318.
xxii C. Austin Miles, “In the Garden.” Hymns of Glorious Praise (Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing, 1969) 304.
xxiii Rom. 5:5; 2 Cor. 5:9, 14; 1 John 4:19
xxiv “But more likely Paul intends the first kai [in verse 10] to be epexegetic, so that the phrses explain, or give content to, what ‘knowing Christ’ mean.” Fee, 328.
xxv Also see 2 Cor. 4:7-18.
xxvi John 15:5; Phil. 4:14.
xxvii 1 Pet. 2:19-21.
xxviii Job 23:10; Isa. 48:10; Zec. 13:9; Rom. 8:18; 2 Cor. 4:17; 1 Pet. 1:7.
xxix Eph. 1:18-20; 3:20.
xxx Paul is fully confident in God’s ability to complete his salvation (2 Tim. 1:12). But he is speaking with humility rather than presumption (Phil. 3:13-14; 1 Cor. 9:27). In the context he seems to be saying “by all means,” “by whatever means necessary,” “somehow.” The Greek preposition ek indicates out from (the dead). All Christians will be resurrected out from the dead, leaving the ungodly behind.
xxxi See also Richard W. Tow, Authentic Christianity: Studies in 1 John (Bloomington, IN: WestBow Press, 2019) 324-338.
