The Priceless Value of Knowing Christ

Introduction:

Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT
⁸ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 

A warning against confidence in the flesh.

Philippians 3:1-9 NLT
The Priceless Value of Knowing Christ
^3:1 Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith.
² Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. ³ For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, ⁴ though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!
⁵ I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. ⁶ I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.
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.

Examine the Scriptures:

Philippians 3:1-9 NLT
The Priceless Value of Knowing Christ 

^3:1 Whatever happens,

Paul’s circumstances.

^2:23 I hope to send him to you just as soon as I find out what is going to happen to me here.  

• Paul was uncertain of his future. (As we all are.) 

my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord.

Philippians 4: NLT
⁴ Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NLT
¹⁶ Always be joyful. ¹⁷ Never stop praying. ¹⁸ Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 

James 1:2-4 NLT
² Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. ³ For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. ⁴ So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

• Always be joyful. 

I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith.

• Repetition of Biblical truths is a good thing.

We need reminders.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 NLT
⁶ And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. ⁷ Repeat them again and again to your children.  

² Watch out for those dogs,

Here Paul is describing Judaizers, not Gentiles.

those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. 

Warning.

Judaizers.

In the early church, those who taught a combination of God’s grace and human effort were called “Judaizers.” The word Judaizer comes from a Greek verb meaning “to live according to Jewish customs.”
A Judaizer taught that, in order for a Christian to truly be right with God, he must conform to the Mosaic Law. Circumcision, especially, was promoted as necessary for salvation. Gentiles had to become Jewish proselytes first, and then they could come to Christ. The doctrine of the Judaizers was a mixture of grace (through Christ) and works (through the keeping of the Law). (Got Questions)

Think about:

• • • Judaizers were teaching what they had been taught when they were growing up.

2 Peter 2:1 NLT
^2:1 But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them.

2 Timothy 4:3 NLT
³ For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.

• Beware of false teachers. 

³ For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised.

• True circumcision is an inner transformation, a cutting away of sin and selfishness from our hearts, allowing us to fully love and obey God.

Colossians 2:11 NLT<¹¹ When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature.

Not performed by human hands, but by the Holy Spirit.

not “outward and physical.”

Deuteronomy 10:15-16 NLT
¹⁵ Yet the Lord chose your ancestors as the objects of his love. And he chose you, their descendants, above all other nations, as is evident today. ¹⁶ Therefore, change your hearts and stop being stubborn.

Truly circumcised – a changed heart. 

We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort,

• Those who put their trust in Jesus Christ are the ones who are truly circumcised.

Romans 2:28-29 NLT
²⁸ For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. ²⁹ No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people. 

Warning against confidence in the flesh.

• Do not put your confidence in human effort. 

 ⁴ though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!

Paul had a strong Jewish background.

⁵ I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. ⁶ I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.

• Paul had practiced the strictest obedience to the Jewish law and was extremely zealous for the Jewish religion.

Galatians 1:14 NLT
¹⁴ I was far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors.

⁷ I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.

Salvation does not come through power, position, or performance.

 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 

• When it comes to salvation, power, position, and performance are worthless. 

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.

• God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.

John 6:28-29 NLT
²⁸ They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”
²⁹ Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”

John 3:16 NLT
¹⁶ “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT
⁸ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.  

Romans 10:9 NLT
⁹ If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Jesus tells us to abide in Him. 

John 15:4-5 NLT⁴ Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
⁵ “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.

1 John 5:11-13 NLT
¹¹ And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.
¹³ I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.

1 John 5:20 NLT
²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life. 

• Apart from Christ you can do nothing.

 

Note: 

After we are made right with God, we do have work to do. 

1 Corinthians 15:58 NLT
⁵⁸ So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.

Galatians 6:9 NLT
⁹ So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.