Knowing Christ
Yesterday was a glorious day as we witnessed scripture performed. I send a special thanks to Phillip Smith for his powerful presentation of Philippians.
In Philippians 3, Paul warns the people of Philippi to watch out for teachers and leaders who want recognition because of the good things they have done. Then to demonstrate the emptiness of vain, self-serving glory, he puts himself on the scales. Paul's list of accomplishments is impressive and outweighs even the most self-righteous leaders of his day. But then Paul declares that none of his achievements matter. He states that all of his accomplishments, all of the "good" he had done, did not earn grace from God because none of it comes close to the complete perfection of Jesus Christ. Matt Chandler puts it this way: "Playing the I'm good, I'm better game is like building a moralistic tower of Babel to reach the heavens of the righteousness of Christ. It won't work, and in the end, it leads only to disaster and confusion. It is a losing game."
My prayer for each of you is that you put aside your pursuit of your own righteousness as a means of salvation and look earnestly to Jesus and his incomparable grace. As David said in Psalm 63:1-8:
1 You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
6 On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.
7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.
8 I cling to you; your right hand upholds me.
Nothing we do or achieve or gain is life is anything compared to knowing Jesus. As Paul says in Philippians 3:8-10, "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. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead."
I pray that all of us will live our lives in pursuit of knowing Christ.
In Him,
Pastor Boyd
In Philippians 3, Paul warns the people of Philippi to watch out for teachers and leaders who want recognition because of the good things they have done. Then to demonstrate the emptiness of vain, self-serving glory, he puts himself on the scales. Paul's list of accomplishments is impressive and outweighs even the most self-righteous leaders of his day. But then Paul declares that none of his achievements matter. He states that all of his accomplishments, all of the "good" he had done, did not earn grace from God because none of it comes close to the complete perfection of Jesus Christ. Matt Chandler puts it this way: "Playing the I'm good, I'm better game is like building a moralistic tower of Babel to reach the heavens of the righteousness of Christ. It won't work, and in the end, it leads only to disaster and confusion. It is a losing game."
My prayer for each of you is that you put aside your pursuit of your own righteousness as a means of salvation and look earnestly to Jesus and his incomparable grace. As David said in Psalm 63:1-8:
1 You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
6 On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.
7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.
8 I cling to you; your right hand upholds me.
Nothing we do or achieve or gain is life is anything compared to knowing Jesus. As Paul says in Philippians 3:8-10, "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. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead."
I pray that all of us will live our lives in pursuit of knowing Christ.
In Him,
Pastor Boyd
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