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The One and Only
Response
Philippians 3:2 -
11
OPEN
- As
we begin, let me ask everyone to share their name and their favorite
pet.
DIG
- As we read this
section out loud, how would you describe Paul's mood as he speaks?
What is Paul feeling?
- When
Paul said, "watch out for those
dogs" did he mean dog, as in "beloved household pet"?
What did he mean? What is the connotation of dog in Paul's day?
- Reading
between the lines, what controversy lay behind Paul's admonition in
this passage? What is Paul preaching against?
- What
does Paul mean when he says he, "Puts no
confidence in the flesh"?
- What
reasons did Paul have to put confidence in the flesh? Let's make a
list on the board.
- Paul
had a huge credit in the things we have just mentioned. He had a
number of things going for him. What did he do with this credit,
according to verse 7?
- Why
did Paul count all these things as marks against him, or
"loss"? How could these things hurt him?
- Paul
says he considers all these things "rubbish." This is a word
we don't use all that often. What would be an example of rubbish?
- Let's
put this in today's terms. What might a person in our generation say
that would parallel Paul's statements in verse 4 and following?
- Are
these things bad? Are they rubbish?
- Do
you think this attitude of considering all things loss was a one-time
decision for Paul, or an on going attitude?
- How
would this attitude affect him on a day to day basis?
- What
is meant by, "a righteousness that comes from God and is by
faith"?
- Why
doesn't being good get you to heaven?
- How
righteous is this righteousness? Does God make us pretty good old
boys, or does he make us absolutely righteous?
- Repeat
after me: I am righteous. How does that feel to you?
- Here
is one other verse that speaks to this. Someone look up and read for
us 2 Corinthians 5:21. Does this verse say God has turned us into good
old boys, or into righteous people?
- How
do we come to the point where we embrace a self-image of the
righteousness of Christ?
- If
we are so righteous, why do we sometimes behave like sinners? Or do
you ever behave like a sinner? Why?
- What
was Paul's life goal? See verse 10.
- Paul
wanted to know Christ. What do you want?
- Why
was knowing Christ so important to Paul? What
was in it for him?
- What
are the advantages, in day-to-day terms, of knowing God?
- On
a scale of one to ten, how well do you feel you know God? You don't
have to answer this one out loud; just think about it.
- How
do we come to know Christ better?
- How
do we continually cultivate an attitude that wants to know God better?
- Let's
close in prayer thanking God that he has provided righteousness for us
in Christ and asking him to stir within us a deep desire to want to
know him better.
2. Philip. 3:2-11
Watch out for those dogs, those wicked men and their evil
deeds, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. 3For
we who worship God in the Spirit are the only ones who are truly
circumcised. We put no confidence in human effort. Instead, we boast about
what Christ Jesus has done for us.
4Yet I could have confidence in myself if anyone could. If
others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! 5For
I was circumcised when I was eight days old, having been born into a
pure-blooded Jewish family that is a branch of the tribe of Benjamin. So I
am a real Jew if there ever was one! What's more, I was a member of the
Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. 6And
zealous? Yes, in fact, I harshly persecuted the church. And I obeyed the
Jewish law so carefully that I was never accused of any fault.
7I once thought all these things were so very important, but
now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8Yes,
everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it
all as garbage, so that I may have Christ 9and become one with
him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God's law,
but I trust Christ to save me. For God's way of making us right with
himself depends on faith. 10As a result, I can really know
Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I can
learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11so
that, somehow, I can experience the resurrection from the dead!
3. The questions relates loosely with
the text in that Paul says, "watch out for those dogs..."
4. He seems a bit angry to me. He is certainly feeling some
intensity as he speaks.
5. Here is a segment from the Holeman
Bible Dictionary, copied directly from Wordsearch:
DOG The dog was a scavenger animal that ran wild and was sometimes kept
as a house pet. The dog in Bible times was considered an unclean animal. No
specific breed has been identified. Dogs ran wild in village streets, often
in packs (Psalm 22:16-21;
Psalm 59:6). The term "dog" was a designation for the wicked
(Isaiah 56:10-11). Jews contemptuously called Gentiles, "dogs."
6. Some were saying that you had to be circumcised to be
saved.
7. You might give some explanation of each of these from your
reading and knowledgeable background.
8. An accounting term, this word means to move from the
positive side of the ledger to the negative side.
9. They could tempt him to believe that he was good enough
without Christ. A dangerous belief, indeed.
10. The chicken bones we through back
into the KFC barrel.
11. "I attended church from when I was very young. .
."
12. Only if they tempt us to trust them.
13. We all struggle with self esteem.
Everyone wants to feel good about themselves. We
either try to feel good about ourselves on the basis of our own stuff, or
on the basis of the fact of God's unconditional love for us. If we depend
on our own stuff, we will always want for confidence, because in the back
of our minds, we will realize we don't cut it. If we trust in the fact that
God loves sinners like us, we can have great confidence in that. As you
teach, pull the theology from the dusty text books into people's everyday
lives and into issues like how people feel about themselves.
14. It does get you to heaven. Everyone who is good gets to go
to heaven. The problem is, we are not good. No where close by God's standards.
15. People will never live above the level of their self concept. Until they see themselves as the
righteousness of Christ, they will behave like sinners. Faith comes first.
Behavior follows faith.
16. 2 Cor. 5:21 God
made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become
the righteousness of God.
17. Pause for a while
after you ask this question. Let it sink in. Let people get in touch with
the part of them that wants to know Christ as well.
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