WEEK FOUR
Day Three
DAILY SCRIPTURE
Philippians 3:7
LEADER GUIDE QUESTIONS
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Know: Read Philippians 3:4-7
Note: Read slowly, carefully marking keywords.
Confidence in the flesh, law, Christ
Observation:
How is fruit produced?
What is confidence in the flesh?
What: Who are you obeying?
“though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.” Philippians 3:4-7
Paul's list of credentials is stunning. These would make any Jew proud; ‘creme de la creme’ giving him full confidence in his flesh. Paul was:
Born under the Abrahamic covenant
Was Circumcised
Highly Educated
Pharisee among Pharisees
Obeyed the law perfectly
Had a perfect bloodline
From the tribe of Benjamin (The tribes of Benjamin and Judah were superior as they were the ones that remained faithful - they formed the Kingdom of Judah)
He was a Jew and Roman citizen
Persecutor of Christians
In Romans, Paul takes some time to describe what he used to be like when he lived with this confidence, using the analogy of a marriage.
“Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? 2 For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. 3 So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. 4 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.” (Romans 7:1-4)
While a woman’s first husband is alive, according to Jewish law, she cannot marry another. He has to have died for her to be re-married. In this chapter, Paul does not randomly throw in a rule concerning marriage in his dissertation on law vs. grace. He is using the law to explain how the law works.
Let’s say a woman is married to a tyrant of a husband named Mr. Law. While she is married to him, he makes her life miserable. She must wake up early to serve him while he watches television in bed. She makes him coffee, but it is not hot enough; she cooks him breakfast, which he dislikes. She pulls out his clothes and irons them, but he still finds a crease. Her days are spent endlessly working to keep him happy and to appease him. One day, Mr. Law gets sick and dies. Enter, Mr. Grace. He sweeps her off her feet and marries her. Thier first day of marriage, he tells her to stay in bed while he serves her. He makes her coffee, serves her breakfast in bed, and prepares her clothing. The second day, he does the same, and she realizes this is genuine. He wants her to feel loved, and the peace and joy she never had with Mr. Law is replaced with undying affection for a new and better husband who loves her and would lay down his life for her.
Paul then continues in verse five:
“For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.” (Romans 7:5)
To be “in the flesh” is to be under the law. The law is the tyrant of a husband. The Law never lifted a finger to serve us; it only demanded self-effort. Never satisfied, there was no way this worn-out wife could ever measure up. She could have a list of credentials that would make any other woman jealous, but it meant nothing because the law was behind her, criticizing and driving her to get more. The law led to “works of the flesh.”
“Works of the flesh” are sexual immorality, drunkenness, hatred, jealousy, anger, and selfish ambition. The law aroused those passions because it put all the emphasis on the flesh. When someone is hyper-focuses on the flesh, it arouses its passions. Sin in the flesh is stronger than the law, however. It wants to dominate the demands of the law because it is a stronger tyrant! As disciplined as it may be, the flesh cannot overpower sin.
The combination of Sin, the slave driver, and Law, the flesh tyrant, is deadly.
The more we try to be good by self-effort, to be a better person, to stop sinning, etc., the more sinful passions are aroused. The more we try not to sin, the more we do it.
In Romans, Paul went to great lengths to explain this dilemma to help us understand what Christ has done and what he freed us from.
Jesus’ obedience gave us righteousness.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5:21)
Jesus’ death caused another’s death: Mr. Law and Sin. They lost their power because Jesus disarmed them. He became sin, then was buried with sin. While he was being nailed to the cross, Mr. Law and his requirements were nailed there, too. (“The requirements were nailed to the tree” Col 2:14). When Jesus rose to life, he did so victoriously. The power that Mr, Law and Sin had was stripped because they had died. Now, we are free to marry Him.
Being married (joined) to Jesus means we bear His fruit. We bear the offspring of that union: love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law. Being married to Jesus gives us everything we need for life. He supplies us with life and love. He tells us to stay rested, and He’ll get us what we need before we know we need it. We have been married to Mr. Grace.
So, who are we ‘obeying’?
We are no longer ‘in the flesh.’ However, we can still walk ‘according to the flesh' by living in the demands of self-effort and cravings of the flesh. We put ourselves ‘under the law’ by obeying (listening to) the voice of our old husband.
“But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.” (Romans 7:6)
Mr. Law brings fear of punishment, makes us aware of circumstances, confident in our flesh, and aware of others. Based on what Mr. Law drilled into us, we demand perfection from people and expect them to live up to our standards. He taught us to turn our attention onto ourselves and the behavior of others and live in fear—fear of unworthiness.
To obey Christ is to focus on what Christ has done. This is what Jesus meant when he told us to abide in Him.
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5
Trying to bear fruit is impossible. A fruit doesn’t think really hard, and suddenly, it is a fruit. An apple tree doesn’t produce oranges, either. A fruit is born from it’s connection to the vine. When we behold Jesus and ‘obey’ (listen to) to Him, we will produce His fruit. When we behold His love, love is produced unconsciously.
Being joined to the Lord means we are one Spirit with Him. The inward reality becomes an outward reality as we become aware that His righteousness is our righteousness.
This is what Paul meant when he said that all the confidence in his flesh means nothing for what Christ has done. All of that confidence counts for nothing because it cannot produce Christ. Christ produces Christ.
So, who are you obeying? (“The fruit of obedience” takes on a new meaning.)