Series: Philippians
Sermon: “The Danger of Salvation Plus”
Philippians 3:1-11
A sermon for August 30, 2020
Pastor John Bright
Harmony & Swansonville UMC
Philippians 3 “1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe.
2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, 4 though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
A very famous Victorian-Era novel begins with this line – “It was a dark and stormy night.” (Sir Edward George Earle Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford, 1830) That would be a great way to start this sermon – “It was a dark and stormy time!” What do I mean? It was a turbulent time! Things were changing at a breakneck pace. There were changes in the areas of art, science, math, and government. You could reach more people with your ideas than ever before. What people had believed for centuries was being challenged… what a day to live in and what a day in which to make a difference.
Am I talking about now? Am I talking about the 1960’s? Friday was the anniversary of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s most famous “I HAVE A DREAM” speech on the mall in Washington DC. Actually, I am talking about the time when Dr. King’s name sake lived and made a difference. Martin Luther was an Augustinian monk and professor of theology in the turbulent time of Europe leaving the Middle Ages and moving into the time known as The Renaissance. It was the time of the printing press. It was the time of Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) and Galileo (1564-1642) It was the time of William Tyndale (1494–1536) and William Shakespeare (1564–1616). It was the time of Raphael (1483–1520) and Michelangelo (1475–1564).
About 75 years after Guttenberg invented the movable type printing press, in 1517, Martin Luther challenged the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church that good works contribute to salvation and eternal life. (That’s an over simplification, but I don’t have time today for a longer explanation.) It was actually the writings of Paul that moved Martin Luther to action. You see, Paul was dealing with the same belief in his time.
So I want to look at some questions today raised by these verses in Philippians –
Question #1 – When is the Gospel not the Gospel?
2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,”
WOW! That’s strong language! Paul wants to make sure that the Philippian believers DO NOT miss the point he is trying to make at this point in the letter. There is trouble in Philippi and in the other places that have young Christian communities. Let me give you a brief history of the Early Christian Church:
• In the beginning it was 100% Jewish converts to the Gospel of Christ.
• Then, folks converting to Judaism and Samaritans become Believers.
• Finally, the Gentiles of the Roman Empire hear the Gospel message and respond.
Some of those Jewish converts began to preach another gospel. They were telling the Gentile believers that to be “really saved” they had to keep the Jewish law and practice Jewish customs – especially that the men had to be circumcised. While we see it today as something that happens to babies at the hospital, for the Jews it was essential to their identity because God had commanded the newly renamed Abraham to be circumcised (Genesis 17).
Paul calls these men, known as “Judaizers”, dogs and workers of evil. King David did the same to those who were opposing God – Psalm 59:
“14 And at evening they return,
They growl like a dog,
And go all around the city.
15 They wander up and down for food,
And howl if they are not satisfied.”
The Judaizers came after Paul and did not tell folks they needed Jewish practices instead of Jesus. They preached the need for Jesus plus circumcision of the flesh. We call that Salvation Plus. That was the problem because trying to add anything to the Gospel of Salvation by Grace Through Faith is NO GOSPEL AT ALL! Paul knew this. Martin Luther knew this.
To make his argument, Paul compares the circumcision of the flesh with what the Old Testament called “Circumcision of the Heart”:
Deuteronomy 30:6 “And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.”
Jeremiah 4:4 “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,
And take away the foreskins of your hearts,
You men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Lest My fury come forth like fire,
And burn so that no one can quench it,
Because of the evil of your doings.”
It was this change of the heart in every Believer that allows them and us to “worship God in the Spirit, (and) rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,”
I want you to hear The True Gospel message – God saves sinners. Everyone has been judged by God as a sinner and we are unable to do ANYTHING to change that! God is the only one who can call us and draw us to Him. By the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus the way back to God is waiting for each and every woman and man. The choice is yours. Don’t wait another day to lay aside every good work with which you are planning on balancing the scale – there is no scale in Christianity!
Question #2 – Why only “ONE WAY”?
“4 though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.”
“7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith”
Jesus made some claims that are more “exclusive” rather than “inclusive.” This is a problem when we live in world of religious pluralism where everyone is seen to have an equal claim to what is true. What did the Son of God tell His disciples? John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Jesus did not say “I am A WAY.” Jesus did not say “I am ONE WAY AMONG MANY WAYS.” Jesus is the only way of Salvation. He is the only way to escape the flames and torment of Hell. The Way of Jesus is the way to peace and hope here on Earth and eternal life in Heaven.
Paul explained that he was the Most Excellent of Pharisees. He was a Jew’s Jew. He had kept the Law. All theses things mattered to him when his name was Saul and he was arresting Jewish Christians. Now, it meant nothing. Why? What mattered to Paul is still what matters today. To know Jesus as Lord and Savior matters. To be found in Jesus matters. To have salvation through faith in Christ to forgive every sin and be washed white as snow is what matters.
Question #3 – Should we be concerned about the Social Justice Gospel?
The Church has always been clear in an understanding that Good Works follow Salvation. James explained it like this: James 2 “15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
In the Old Testament, being circumcised in the flesh and giving doves and goats as offerings were not enough. God wanted to see their works.
Amos 5 “22 Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them,
Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.
23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs,
For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
24 But let justice run down like water,
And righteousness like a mighty stream.”
During the 20th century, a growing movement took over much of the Church – “The Social Gospel.” It emphasized social justice above all other work in the Church. This is how I explain what it did to the UMC: Our mission is “Making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” Our historic stance in Methodism is that we must first make disciples and they will help those in need and bring transformation to the culture in which we live. The majority in the UMC of today takes a different view. They believe that if the Church works through Social Justice to bring change to the world, then folks will want to come and be disciples. I believe those folks put the cart before the horse.
We live in world that is changing faster and faster. That Social Justice group in the UMC wants to make sure we look just like the world so that they will accept us. In this woke culture we keep sending up flares of virtue signaling the we are working on their side. Only one problem – the Social Justice Gospel of today is just one more form of Salvation Plus.
While the Judaizers of today wear the badge of “Social Justice Warrior”, the True Gospel has not changed from the time Paul wrote to the Philippian Believers. They were not debating if it’s allowed to wear Black Lives Matters or Blue Lives Matters face coverings at work. They were not faced with having two gay men or two lesbian women or a transgender person (that we have to call “zie” or “zim” or “zir” or “zis”) or, maybe even a “throuple” living in the parsonage. We can wring our hands about the end of the world due to Manmade Catastrophic Global Climate Change or we can start realizing the “signs of the times” that Jesus is coming back. God declared in 2 Peter 3:9 “9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
We live in turbulent times so let’s get busy sharing the True Gospel with folks… before it’s too late. Amen.
