Being the Church (19)

Philippians 3.1-11

The Hypocritically Dangerous

Some other ‘dogs’ you must look out for are those who claim to be Christians and yet live in a way that brings shame on Jesus. These are the evil-doers (v2). They have an appearance of Christianity and use the language of faith – but they permit themselves to do the very things that are hateful to Christ and for which he suffered and died. They are lightweight people who seem to breeze along without any guilty feelings, doing the very same things that the world does and yet keeping up a charade of Christian talk. These people are VERY dangerous to your spiritual health. They are VERY dangerous to the Church. They are stray and dangerous dogs who will rip young lives to pieces. They may be seen in church gatherings enthusiastically singing or supporting events, but they may also be seen intoxicated in a nightclub or in an intimate relationship with a person who has no interest in obeying Christ.

Be careful least you slide away to become a person who can speak Christian language but cannot live a Christ-like life.

How do you keep safe from attacks of religion and attacks of worldliness?

• Stay close to the church fellowship – don’t give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing.

• Keep feeding on the Bible – God’s Word – know the truth which can set you free – the truth as it is in Jesus.

• Keep in step with the Holy Spirit – pray about everything - make it your aim to please God in everything.

Finally, Paul shows us the safe way by explaining what his personal ambition is.

V8-11 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order 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 comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

He wants to personally know Christ. He wants to live by the same power that motivated Christ – he calls it ‘resurrection power’.

No religious routine will reproduce THAT power in us. It was Christ’s life that dissolved the chains of death and brought life back into his cold, dead body. It is that life – HIS LIFE – that produces death-defying and sin-shaming life in us. To get that life – his life – you need to KNOW HIM. This is personal – not religious.

The defence against attacks is to know Christ and the power of his resurrection. With that power you will be strong enough to share his sufferings, become like him in his death and attain the resurrection from the dead!