The Theology of a Conversion

Transcript

GRM 821
12/01/2002
The Theology of a Conversion
Philippians 3:1-16
Gil Rugh

Turn in your Bibles to the book of Philippians, if you would. In Acts chapter 22 Paul is going to give his testimony. The testimony of the Apostle is recorded five times in the New Testament, three times in the book of Acts, chapters 9, 22 and 26--with the initial conversion of Saul of Tarsus, then the repeating of his testimony. There is a brief version of his testimony given in I Timothy chapter 1, and then Philippians chapter 3 Paul gives his testimony to the Philippians. I want to look at Philippians chapter 3 with you. This is the most theological of Paul’s testimonies. The testimonies in the book of Acts are basically historical recounting of how Paul came to know Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road, the bright light that appeared, the voice from heaven and so on.

In Philippians chapter 3 Paul does not develop the historical circumstances of his conversion. He doesn’t talk about the experience on the Damascus Road. What he does is give us the theology of his conversion, talking about what happened theologically in the transformation that has so radically affected his life. I thought it would be a good time for us to look at this theological explanation in his testimony, which will form the foundation for our considering it in Acts 22 and again in Acts chapter 26.

Philippians chapter 3 begins with the word finally, and that means he’s about halfway done. One old writer said preachers have followed that pattern ever since. He’s not done, we have the rest of chapter 3 and chapter 4. He is going to focus attention on some things that are important, and in one sense wrapping things up. He’s writing to believers; he wants to tell them to rejoice in the Lord. You remember Philippians is one of what we call the Prison Epistles. In Acts chapter 22 Paul gives his testimony following his arrest. That begins an imprisonment which will continue over the next several years, including two years in Caesarea, two years in Rome when the book of Acts ends. During that imprisonment in Rome, he writes to the Philippians. He writes to them about joy, one of the themes of the book of Philippians—joy. A man in prison, a man who has spent years without his freedom writes a letter to believers, and the subject of the letter is rejoicing in the Lord, the joy we have in the Lord.

To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard to you. I want to review some things and I want you to know it’s not just the damp prisons that are getting to me. I know I’m reviewing; I know I’ve told you this before, but I think it is a safeguard for you. The word safeguard means to keep from tripping up, will keep you from being tripped up, it will help protect you to be reminded of these things. Then he tells them three times in verse 2, beware, beware, beware. It is interesting. He starts by saying rejoice in the Lord, be filled with the joy of the Lord. It seems he turns to a very somber subject quickly to speak as harshly as he ever does about false teachers. Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of false circumcision. So, in all your joy, that doesn’t mean we only talk about positive, upbeat things. There are things you need to be on guard for, watching out for, alert to. He speaks in a very politically incorrect way because he calls his opponents, false religious teachers, dogs. And as you are aware dogs in Biblical times were not the cuddly, lovable family pets that we enjoy. They were the scavengers of the streets, nothing desirable, nothing likable about them. When Paul calls these false teachers dogs, and the false teachers he’s alluding to are Judaizers, Jews who were trying to use the Law and require it for salvation. Dogs were unclean animals to them and yet he says beware of the dogs. You get some sense of the seriousness of false teachers and false teaching.

In Isaiah chapter 56 verses 10 and 11 Isaiah under the inspiration of the Spirit refers to false prophets as dogs. In Matthew chapter 3 verse 7 John the Baptist referred to the religious leaders of his day as a brood of vipers. In Matthew chapter 7 verse 15 Jesus referred to false teachers as ravenous wolves. In Acts chapter 20 verse 29 Paul warned the Ephesian elders of savage wolves. In Matthew chapter 7 verse 6 Jesus said don’t cast your pearls before swine, before pigs. In II Peter chapter 2 Peter referred to false teachers as dogs who had returned to their own vomit. False teachers who had been exposed to the glorious gospel of Christ and yet have returned to their false system he says they are like dogs who return to their own vomit. Rather disgusting pictures that are used. At the end of II Peter chapter 2, Peter says these false teachers are like pigs wallowing in the mud. Jude verse 10 says these false teachers are like unreasoning animals.

One might think it unkind and unloving to refer to false teachers in such graphic and disgusting ways, the Bible does it repeatedly. At the same time, it tells us to love our enemies and do good to those who persecute us. It also refers to those who are promoting false teaching by these very unflattering, undesirable terms, so that we understand that this is a serious matter. That’s what Paul is warning the Philippians about. They are dogs, there’s nothing appealing about them, nothing likable about them. No matter how they seem to you they are disgusting. Beware of the evil workers. They are doing nothing good. Have you ever noticed that false teachers often present themselves as promoters of social benefits and so on. They want to advertise the good things they’re doing. There’s nothing new. But you understand they are evil workers.

Beware of false circumcision. Here again Paul gets very abrupt, very blunt, if you will. That word translated false circumcision is the word mutilation. Beware of the mutilation. For those who were saying circumcision was necessary for salvation, that’s just an act of mutilation. Understand how offensive this would be to Jews. It’s like if you speak to someone in our society who believes in the importance of baptism for salvation and you speak derogatorily of it, you’re just making life miserable for a baby, trying to drown him and refer to it in disgusting ways they’d be very offended. These Jews are willing to die over this issue of circumcision and now Paul says that’s just an act of mutilation. He’s even more blunt in Galatians chapter 6. Yet the true circumcision, we are the true circumcision, the ones who worship God in the spirit, who glory in Christ Jesus, who put absolutely no confidence in the flesh. Remember Jesus said that those who worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth in John 4. That’s what he’s talking about. The Jews have lost perspective. Physical circumcision, the keeping of the Law was just to be a reflection of the faith that they have in God, their desire to obey and honor Him. Even the Old Testament required the circumcision of the heart. Isaiah 1 God tells Israel, don’t bring your disgusting sacrifices to me any longer. It’s trampling my courts, it’s unacceptable. Because what God required, has always required, is a heart that is trusting in Him. These Judaizers were trusting the form, just like many people today—baptism, church membership. Things that may have a place have become the central thing.

Whether a baby or a person is baptized, that determines where they’ll spend eternity. Whether a person goes through this physical ritual or that is the key issue. Now many times they will add faith in Christ to this. The Judaizers did that. Acts 15 they said believing in Christ plus being circumcised and keeping the Law. Don’t be deluded just because they use terminology of believing in Christ and trusting in Him, when they have added the rest of this, they are dogs, they are evil workers. To the Jews it was mutilation in the practice of circumcision. For people today it’s on different things like baptism and church membership, sacraments, and so on.

Paul says no we who have believed in Christ glory in Christ Jesus. We don’t have any confidence in the flesh and in these physical things. We are the ones who have a relationship with God. This moves him to his testimony; this is the context. I want to share with you what God has done in my life, how I came as one of the most religious men of my day to understand I was lost, unrighteous, ungodly, and I had to abandon everything that I might have the righteousness that God provides. So that’s the foundation for his testimony, that’s the context.

He begins in verse 4 by saying, although I myself might have confidence in the flesh. He says we have no confidence in the flesh, but if it were possible to have confidence in the flesh, I could have confidence in the flesh. If anyone has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more. Let me tell you all my fleshly accomplishments, the physical things that I did that would make me acceptable to God. He’s talking about Jews, talking about Judaizers, those who want to emphasize the importance of being a Jew, of keeping the Law and so on. I was circumcised on the 8th day. So, while I say that those who teach circumcision as necessary for salvation, that’s an act of mutilation, I want you to understand I’m a circumcised person, I was circumcised the 8th day. I don’t say that because I’m an outsider, I write as an insider. That’s a way of saying he’s been a Jew from the beginning, he was born a Jew, his parents were Jews. They observed the Jewish law, had him circumcised the 8th day.

He was of the nation Israel and of the tribe of Benjamin, a tribe to be proud of. It had some good things about it. The first king of Israel came from the tribe of Benjamin. His name was Saul, and in honor of that the Apostle Paul’s parents named him Saul, remember he was Saul of Tarsus. He’s a Hebrew of the Hebrews. He was a Hebrew through and through, he knew not only Hebrew customs, but he also knew Hebrew language, he was everything a Jew ought to be. As to the Law a Pharisee. He was even in the conservative portion of Israel. There were two major divisions, the Pharisees and the Saducees. We’re going to come at this in our study of Acts. The Saducees were the liberals, the Pharisees were the conservatives. The Saducees had money and power, the high priest of Israel was a Saducee. Difference was the Saducees did not believe in the supernatural, the Pharisees did. The Saducees did not believe in the entire Old Testament, just the five books of the Law. They were the liberals in Judaism. They didn’t believe in life after death. Can you believe the high priest of Israel was such a man? Remember when the Saducees came and challenged Jesus about a woman who had married seven husbands, each one died. They said now whose wife will she be in the resurrection. They weren’t trying to solve a theological difficulty; they were trying to put Him on the spot because they didn’t believe in the resurrection. They were trying to box Him in and show how foolish His teaching was on the resurrection. You know what Jesus told them? You don’t know anything; you don’t understand the truth regarding resurrection.

The Saducees didn’t believe in any of these things, but the Pharisees saw themselves as the guardian of the Old Testament. They were the careful interpreters of the Law and Old Testament scriptures along with the scribes who worked with them. They had the broadest influence in the nation and Paul was a Pharisee. As to zeal a persecutor of the church. In all of this he even went beyond what you might expect of being a Pharisee. As to zeal a persecutor of the church. We’re well familiar with that, and he was one who was involved in the execution of Stephen, began a great persecution of the church which scattered believers from Jerusalem and so on.

Look over in I Timothy chapter 1, just over a few pages beyond Philippians, Colossians, through Thessalonians, and you’ll be in I Timothy, a very small book so it’s just a few pages over, really. In I Timothy Paul shares a brief version of his testimony. In verse 13 of chapter 1 of I Timothy he says that he was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. See that was his character before his conversion, yet he was shown mercy because he acted ignorantly in unbelief.

Come back to Philippians chapter 3. He was zealous, fanatic. Remember his testimony was he was rising above many of his contemporaries because he had a fanatical zeal in the promoting of the Law, promoting of Judaism. No tolerance for anybody who claimed to believe in Christ and so on. As to the righteousness which is in the Law found blameless. Now you put this in the context of Paul’s writing, because in a little bit, a few verses down, he’s going to tell us he’s not perfect. It doesn’t mean he perfectly kept the Law. But in the context remember he’s talking about those who would boast about what they did in the flesh. There’s nobody who could boast in their keeping the law any better than Paul did. But his testimony shortly is going to be he realized he couldn’t have righteousness by keeping the Law, couldn’t be righteous by keeping the Ten Commandments, which are simply a summary of the 613 commandments of the Law. I did as good a job as anybody could do, and you understand this, multitudes of people, if you ask them are you going to heaven? Yes. Why? I try to keep the Ten Commandments. You understand the man who did it better than anyone else by his own testimony, his testimony was he was on his way to hell, he was lost, he didn’t have righteousness. He was a fanatic, zealot, he did as good as anybody could possibly do in keeping the Law. In that sense he was blameless. Not that he was blameless before the Law, but he was as blameless as you could be as a human being in trying to keep the Law. And you know what? He was unrighteous before God. Isn’t it amazing there are people today who think they’re going to heaven because they try to keep the Ten Commandments. Sad. Well, that’s my past, summarize that. Let me tell you what happened. But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Even though the things in verses 5 and 6 aren’t necessarily bad in and of themselves, persecuting the church of course was a negative, but being a Jew and being so identified with Judaism, so zealous for the Law that God had given weren’t in and of themselves bad things. But whatever things were gain to me, those were the things that moved him along in this world, that helped him to rise in Judaism to be more influential, more powerful, wealthier, if you will. Whatever things were gain to me these things, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. You’ll note here, we’re talking about his religious experiences, all of those things that were so precious to him in Judaism. I count them as loss for the sake of Christ. It’s a perfect tense, this is something he has done in the past, the results continue in the present. That word I have counted denotes careful consideration and evaluation. What you’re going to find in Paul’s testimony is there is no going back, there is no looking back, there are no regrets. I have counted it all as loss for the sake of Christ.

You know the initial thing in salvation, what is required is that a person come to see their sinful, lost condition. That is perhaps the biggest barrier to a person turning from their sin to Christ as their Savior. Those things that Paul thought were going to make him acceptable to God, now he doesn’t say I view them as neutral, neither good nor bad. He says I count them as loss. Why? They stood in the way of his coming to Christ. He thought he was fine because he had these things, he had circumcision, he had his Jewish identity. They became a barrier to his coming to see his true lost condition and his need of Jesus Christ as Savior. Like most people today, their baptism, their church membership, their religious activity becomes a barrier to them coming to Christ. I listen to one of the religious channels and hear people explaining their beliefs. I think it’s much harder to reach them. We talk about it with cults. People get entangled in the teaching of the cults and it’s very difficult to reach them isn’t it. The things they are trusting in become a bigger barrier to their turning from their lost condition to Christ. Paul says now I look at these things, I count them as loss. More than that, verse 8, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Verse 8 begins, more than that. He wants to emphasize the passion and depth of his conviction. He’s going to repeat what he said in verse 7, but with added emphasis, I count; the same word he used in verse 7, I have counted. Verse 7 it was the perfect tense, something that happened in the past, and the results continue in the present. But in case you didn’t get it I want you to know when he uses the present tense, I am right now counting all things as loss. Not just the things out of Judaism in verses 5 and 6 but let me tell you I count it all loss, everything. Wow, that’s getting a little radical, a little extreme. Very Biblical. What did Jesus say? Count the cost. None of you can be my disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. Because when you become my disciple, you become mine, you have nothing of your own. You are not your own, you are bought at a price, remember. Remember Jesus said if you love father or mother, brother or sister more than me you cannot be my disciple. If you won’t take up your cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. Paul is just not a unique case here; in fact, he’s going to close his testimony out by saying everyone who would be saved must think like I do. You must let go of everything, there is no bartering, there is no bargaining on this. You cannot come and add Christ to the baggage of your life. How wonderful. I believe you need to be baptized to be saved and I’m also trusting Christ. That’s the Judaizers. I believe circumcision is necessary for salvation and I’m also trusting Christ. You understand you are lost, lost, lost.

That’s why Paul pronounces a curse on anyone who teaches that faith in Christ plus circumcision, plus anything. You’re leading people to condemnation. I have counted everything as loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ, entering into that true knowledge of Him. Stop and think about it. What would you compare with Jesus Christ and the value of knowing Him? Whom would you put on that level? Well, my family’s got to be right up there with that. It would be hard for me to lose my position or this or not have……… Well wait a minute. We get down to the closest things to our heart when Jesus says your own family. Isn’t it interesting Paul doesn’t talk about his family? Think about it. Here’s a man born into a strict Jewish family, his parents probably footed the bill for him to go and study at the feet of Gamaliel, one of the leading Jewish teachers. He becomes a Pharisee. Now he throws it all, as he’s going to say, on the rubbish heap, abandons it all. Wonder what kind of tension and pressure that brought to his house. What did his parents think? His brothers and sisters? We say oh I think his parents died right after he was born and he didn’t have any brothers or sisters, so he lived differently than the rest. Yet we’re going to meet his nephew in the book of Acts. I’m not really good with family trees, but I think if you have a nephew you have other relatives. What about them? You know Paul doesn’t go into all of that. You know we’d be talking about oh I just can’t get over what it has done to my family. I feel so bad about what it’s done.

You know to Paul it’s rubbish. You know we put our garbage in our neighborhood as you do. You know I sometimes watch the people putting down the garbage, I even sometimes watch the garbage man come. You know I have yet to see anybody in our development sitting out there with their garbage can weeping and crying, I just hate to see this garbage go, been a part of my life. You know those kinds of things; we’ve got storerooms full of those, don’t we? They could be in the garbage; we just can’t let them go. But the stuff in the garbage, we’re glad. We say oh I’m glad the garbage man comes, it’s good to get that out of here. I mean that’s what Paul is talking about. When I’m looking at my relationship with Christ everything is loss. When you compare it to the surpassing value of knowing Him, I just can’t compare anything to Christ.

That’s his testimony. And you know what? I can stand here and preach the sermon. You know the difference with Paul’s testimony? He had experienced it. For Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things. Yes, Lord I’d give up my family, yes Lord I’d give up my home, yes Lord I’d give up my job, any honor, respect, my health, my life. I’d do it Lord. Paul has given up everything but his life and he’s in prison. I have suffered the loss of all things. I think that may tell us how it impacted his family. The one who was so honored in Judaism and excelling beyond his contemporaries now is the one that all the Jews want to kill. He’s the one who had to go make tents and provide. I’ve suffered the loss of all things. I’m not only willing to do it, but I have also done it. That’s why when he’s on the way to Jerusalem, remember, and they tell him he’s going to be imprisoned he says stop trying to break my heart. I have a job to do. What’s my personal inconvenience got to do with it? What’s my being in prison got to do with it? I must finish the course God has set before me.

I’ve suffered the loss of all things and I have a lot of regrets. There are some things I don’t mind that I let go of. There are other things I wish I had given another thought to. You know what he says? I count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. You know sometimes we give a testimony as believers, and we get so caught up in trying to wow people with all that we gave up. You sometimes wonder if they’re sorry they did. Paul’s attitude is it’s rubbish, it’s garbage, even worse as some of you know. I mean this word makes clear these things are nothing to me, nothing. Doesn’t mean he didn’t love family members; he didn’t enjoy being comfortable and warm and well-fed. When I compare it to knowing Christ it’s garbage, it’s rubbish. There’s nothing to compare with Christ. No regrets.

I just love that about Paul. I let it all go, I counted it as loss then, I’m counting it as loss now, I’ve suffered the loss of everything. The only thing he has left at this point is his life and he’ll give that before it’s done. But I have no regrets. You don’t find Paul sitting in his cell wondering what it would have been like. If I continue to rise in Judaism wonder what kind of home I’d be in, wonder what my family and friends would be thinking of me. It’s all rubbish. How much time have you spent the last week thinking on the turkey carcass. Oh, that was a carcass, that really was. Remember the smell when we put it in the garbage bag? Hated to see it go. No. Paul says it’s all rubbish.

You know there’s a beauty about the simplicity of Paul’s life. I mean, well Paul let’s put all the things you think are as valuable as Christ and knowing Him. Paul cleans up his life, it’s just Christ. Doesn’t mean he didn’t treat other people and love them; he weeps over believers, and he’s concerned for the churches. He has that. But let me understand Christ is in His own category. That simplifies his life. That’s his testimony.

I count them as rubbish that I might gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. The gaining of Christ. This doesn’t mean he’s earning or working for Christ and because I give up everything. I give up everything to get Christ. So, if you give up everything you’ll be saved. He makes that clear twice in verse 9, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. That’s how I gained Christ. I trusted in Him. But you understand there are two sides to the same coin. When I take hold of Christ by faith, I must let go of everything else. Paul could not hold onto his circumcision and his position in Judaism and his self-righteousness from the Law. Also now reach out with one of his fingers and take hold of Christ by faith and now I’ve got it all. There is no salvation in that. That’s why the Judaizers were not saved. They wanted to hold onto their circumcision and take hold of Christ. Paul said they were anathema, they were under the curse, cursed to hell.

So that’s the picture. I wanted Christ, the righteousness that comes from faith in Christ, the righteousness from God through faith. That I may know Him, the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. I had to let go of everything and trust Him. It’s by grace through faith. But it is by grace alone through faith alone. Multitudes of people who are in Catholic and Protestant services today and if you would ask them do you believe in Christ, they’d say oh yes, I do. Some of them would be passionate about their faith in Christ. The problem is it’s not just faith in Christ, it’s faith in Christ plus their baptism, plus the sacraments, plus confirmation, plus church membership, or you fill it in. And so, it’s not faith in Christ at all in a saving way. They have a faith in Christ, but it’s not a saving faith in Christ. When the Spirit of God does His work He convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. Apart from that convicting work of the Spirit there is no salvation. A person who claims to have believed in Christ but does not let go of the other things he’s trusting in and depending on, has not truly trusted Christ in a saving way. That doesn’t mean I can be the judge in every situation, God is the judge. But He does tell us that’s the truth.

That’s what Paul is saying that I may know Him, in verse 10, the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death in order that I may attain to the resurrection of the dead. He says that I may know the power of His resurrection. Then he explains it, sharing in His suffering, being conformed to His death, attaining to the resurrection of the dead. This is developed in Romans chapter 6 for us. When we place our faith in Christ we are identified with Christ in His death, being conformed to His death, burial and His resurrection to newness of life. You receive righteousness from God, verse 9, through faith. The way that is accomplished is we receive resurrection power through being identified by the Spirit of God with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. The penalty for sin has been paid, I died. When did I die? I died with Christ. He Himself bore my sins in His body on the tree that I might die to sin and live to righteousness, Peter wrote. So that’s what Paul’s talking about here in giving his testimony. You see why I said this is the theological testimony of Paul. Doesn’t talk about the Damascus Road and some of the physical circumstances surrounding his conversion. Let me explain to you the theology of my conversion, let me tell you what happened to me. I believed in Jesus Christ, I received righteousness by faith, I was identified with Christ in His sufferings and death, and I was raised to new life with Christ, that I might attain to the resurrection of the dead.

He says in verse 12, not that I have already obtained it. Sounds like you’re saying, well Paul hasn’t quite got salvation yet. You’ve got some of it but now you have to keep working to get the rest of it. Not that I have already obtained it, but he explains it for us. What does he mean? Or have already become perfect. You know when I died with Christ, was buried with Christ, was raised to newness of life with Christ I now have a resurrected life. That brought me positional perfection in Christ. Now there is the process of God working out my new life in Christ as I grow and mature. I’m not yet perfect. That awaits the coming of a time, that awaits when I will receive my glorified body at the resurrection, and then sin will be totally removed. What Paul is saying, I have not already obtained, I’m not a perfect person. Don’t misunderstand. I received righteousness in Christ, I’ve received resurrected life in Christ. But don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying I’m the perfect man. I received the righteousness of God, but that does not mean I am perfect. There is growth. What we call our position in Christ is perfected, but we have the progressive aspect, we have the positional aspect of our sanctification, we have the progressive aspect where we are growing on that line that’s sometimes up more, sometimes down more. But it is on that process of moving up, becoming more and more like Jesus Christ. That process will be brought to completion when we receive our glorified bodies which are sinless.

I’ve not already arrived, I’m not a perfect man. Don’t misunderstand, I’m not claiming perfection now that I’ve believed in Christ. I’m claiming I now do have the righteousness that God gives to those who believe in Christ. I am in the process of becoming more like Him. Brethren, not that I’ve already attained or become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which I was laid hold of by Christ. You know Paul doesn’t view it as a completed process. He does not view salvation as just a fire escape from hell. He saved me in order that I might not go to hell. No, He laid His hand on me for a purpose, that I might be like Him, having become a partaker of the divine nature. Now I press on that I may lay hold of that for which I was laid hold of by Christ, which is the perfection of His character produced in me. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do. I haven’t yet, I’m not yet everything He intends me to be. But I tell you I do one thing. Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Very simple. Forgetting what lies behind, pressing on to what lies before me. You know I have my eyes fixed on the goal. You know Paul’s life, he’s not sitting in prison, he’s not there chained to a Roman soldier reflecting on the past, reliving regrets. I forget what lies behind, I press on. That means the religious things he’s mentioned, that means the fact he was the violent aggressor we talk about I Timothy 1, the sins. Some of the problems we have is we want to look back. You know it’s hard to press on with your eyes fixed on the goal when you’re looking back.

I was taking a driving course and they were explaining, you know, cars on the side of the road. I’ve shared this before. You know what you’ll see, they’ll sometimes have these on real TV kind of things where they have a camera, and a car comes down the road. There’s a car parked on the shoulder of the road, here’s a car driving on the road, it just drives over and hits that car. Then they explain why it happens. Do you know what happened? People are driving down the road, they see a car parked on the side, they start watching that car. You know what happens? They go where their eyes are. You need to watch where you’re going to go. Christians, somebody comes in and they want to tell me, you know I need to talk to you about my past. Why? Well, I don’t think I can go on with the Lord until I resolve the things of my past. Wait a minute. I won’t be able to go on if I sit and listen to rubbish from your past, and you won’t be able to go on so we’ll both be in trouble. So, the first thing I have to settle, have you trusted the Lord. Yes. Well then let’s be forgetting the things which are behind and press on to the things which are before. I don’t want to know what you were like in your previous life. You died with Christ; you were raised with Christ. Doesn’t mean Paul doesn’t give a testimony, but you never get the sense Paul is mired down there.

That’s keeping with going on. There are things in his past, if you had asked was, he glad that he partook in the murder of Stephen, no. He could have mired down there, oh my how will I ever be used of the Lord. I did things so terrible. The glorious thing is Christ didn’t just die so you could be free from the not-so-bad things of your life, but the vilest things. That’s why Paul says in his testimony in I Timothy 1 I was the chief of sinners. God saved me so there’s hope for any sinner. So, forgetting the things which are behind, pressing on. I’ve got a goal; I want to become more like Christ. I don’t reach that goal by looking back to see what I was, or what I could have been back there. I reach on because I’m going there. That’s what Paul says very simply. I want to arrive at the goal.

Look at verses 15 and 16 and we’re done. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect. He’s already said he’s not perfect in that sense of everything that he ought to be. But he is maturing. The word is often used in the context of maturing. As many as are perfect, as are maturing. Have this attitude. You ought to be thinking the same way I am, it’s the sign of a growing Christian. Let’s say something about the church that’s got all kinds of multitudes of counseling programs trying to deal with the past. Anybody who is maturing is forgetting the past and going on. We think we’re helping them because we’re going to spend hours talking about their past. There is a solution to the past, die with Christ. Now forget it, get on with it to the goal. Well, I’ve even sinned since I was a believer. So have I, and so did Paul. He’s already given his confession. I haven’t arrived yet, I’m not perfect. But you don’t find his testimony mired down in last week’s failure. Let’s make a list of Paul’s failures that he talks about. Hmm. He doesn’t talk about them. Maybe we ought to learn something, huh? Let’s get our eyes on the goal which is another way of saying keep our eyes on Christ. As many as are perfect have this attitude. You think Paul was just talking about himself? Anybody who is here maturing in Christ ought to have the same attitude. If anything, you have a different attitude God will reveal that to you also. What does he mean? However, let us keep living by the same standard which we have attained. We are at all levels of maturity, so you keep living the standard you’ve attained growing. Like your kids. You may have a ten-year-old in your family, you may have a four-year-old. You know sometimes it seems like the ten-year-old wants to revert and do what the four-year-old does. What do you tell him? You’re not four, you’re ten, act like a ten-year-old. That’s what Paul is saying. Live by the standard you’ve attained. If you’re somebody who has been a believer for ten years and somehow this four-year-old Christian down here, they’re back here sitting in the same puddle. What in the world? This four-year-old Christian ought to be able to look ahead and see that ten-year-old believer maturing and growing and going on. That helps set the standard. That’s what Paul is doing here, he set it out before us.

That’s the testimony, that’s the theological testimony of Paul. We’ll see it as he puts it in the context of historically what happened to him, the physical circumstances on the Damascus Road, in its very Jewish form of his testimony from a historical setting in Acts chapter 22. What’s your testimony? If it’s not a testimony very much like the Apostle Paul’s you have to ask yourself, do I have a saving testimony. I didn’t come out of Judaism, but you came out of something. Or did you? Some people are claiming to be believers in Christ who haven’t come out of anything. They’re living where they always lived, they’re living how they always lived. They just got some terminology that makes it confusing, trusting anything but Christ. Even here, oh I’ve attended this church for many years. Well, that could be good, and it could be bad. Good that you’ve heard the truth, bad that you’re trusting in attending this church to get you to heaven. I’ve done more than that, I was baptized here. Would you baptize me if I wasn’t saved? I’m sure I’ve baptized a number of people who weren’t saved. I couldn’t see their hearts, they said they were, I baptized them. If they weren’t saved when I put them under the water, they weren’t saved when I brought them back up. They were just in a worse condition because now they thought they were saved because I baptized them; and on it goes. Is your life different? Is there anything that compares to the surpassing value of Christ in your life? I would tell you Lord I have to admit I’m trusting something other than you. There is something just as precious to me as Christ in my life, there is something I would not let go of even for Christ. Not saying there wouldn’t be great pain in letting go of some things, losing a loved one, those things. You say would I give up my husband, my wife, my children for Christ. That would be terribly painful. The bottom-line answer, yes, I would Lord. Your grace would have to be sufficient, but I would. That’s Paul’s testimony. That is my testimony. That is your testimony. That is the testimony of anyone who is truly a believer in Jesus Christ. The glorious thing is this salvation is offered at free cost. You don’t give up things to get Christ in that sense like you could earn Christ. But you let go of everything to take hold of Christ by faith so you can have a righteousness not of your own, a righteousness from God. What a blessed joy it is to be able to forget what’s in the past and press on to the ultimate goal of the glory of His presence.

Let’s pray together. Thank you, Lord, for so wonderful a salvation, a salvation that changes us through and through, makes us new, sets us free. Now we travel a different road with a different goal. Lord may that be the testimony of each one, Lord may that be manifest in the pattern of the lives that we live. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.