Sunday March 19 2023
Part of March 2023 Notes

Increasingly Set Apart

Philippians 3:7-16

7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.
8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ
9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.
10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death,
11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!
12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.

ESV Translation of Philippians 3.12-13
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect,
but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.

  • Make “it” my own; or I have not (yet) achieved ‘it’ - what is the “it”?
  • 3.10 “I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead.”

Romans 6
5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was.
6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.
7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.
8 And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him.
9 We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him.
10 When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God.
11 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.

Romans 8
10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God.
11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

Philippians 3.13
No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

ESV:
13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

More from Romans 8
28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

Philippians 3.15
Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you.
16 But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.

  • V15 all who are spiritually mature agree AND (V16) hold on to the progress we’ve already made
  • There is peril to ‘not progressing’. Maturity and steadfastness are produced by God in our lives as we live and let the Holy Spirit guide our lives.
  • We may not ‘doubt’ less, but we will listen to the Holy Spirit, be changed in the way we think and learn to ‘let’ MORE.

Romans 12.2
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

  • Perfectionism vs Fatalism vs Sanctification

  • Perfectionism / legalism is deadly. We couldn’t follow 10 rules, that’s why Jesus came. More rules do not make more righteousness.

  • Fatalism and Grace ‘There but by the grace of God go I…” When we see failure we see it as inevitable and unavoidable. Paul tells us that is NOT the case;
  • Galatians 5:16:
    “Let the Holy Spirit guide your lives then you won’t be doing want your sinful nature demands.”

  • John Eldredge, “The Utter Relief of Holiness”:
    “God IS changing us inside and outside! We do get ‘better’. God makes a difference in how we live. We are not slaves to sin.”

  • God is taking the material of our lives as we live it and making it sacred.

  • This life I live I live by faith in Jesus Christ who loves me and gave himself for me. - I give him my regular old life, I give myself to him as a living sacrifice and HE makes it sacred.

  • That’s how Paul can say in 2 Timothy 4.6
  • For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near.
  • God is making the material of Paul’s life, your life, my life holy because HE IS IN IT. Because He has declared it.
  • My obedience is nothing but acknowledging his holiness through me by faith. Not from me, from him.
  • He takes my life and makes / is making it sacred.
  • God doesn’t require my expertise, my strength, only my surrender.

2 Peter 3
15 And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him— 16speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction.

17 You already know these things, dear friends. So be on guard; then you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing.
18 Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.

Hebrews 5.11-6.1
11 There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen.
12 You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others.
Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food.
13 For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right.
14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.

Hebrews 6
1 So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again.
Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding.

Philippians 3.10
I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death,
11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!
12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.

ESV:
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.

  • Today it is vital that you repent and believe and be saved by Jesus Christ.
    Without Christ, you will NOT make it on your own!