“The Righteousness We Have And Want” Philippians 3:8-14
Intro.: Cheap grace
and self-righteousness – neither glorifies God yet both are common faults in
congregations like ours, and in people like us.
On the one hand are those who feel they don’t have to go to worship to
be a Christian, and on the other those who believe that the outward act of
going to church is what makes them a Christian.
One person says, “if I’m forgiven then it doesn’t matter what I do,” and
the other, “yes, Christ died to forgive me, but what’s more important is what I
do.” In his letter to the Philippians
St. Paul teaches us about Christian righteousness, that it is both something we
have and something for which we strive. The first thing that we must always remember,
and never forget is that…
I. We Already Have A Perfect Righteousness By
Faith.
Doing chapel for our preschool is always a
treat. Early on in the year the teachers
try to instruct their students to fold their hands and bow their heads when
they come into the sanctuary, since such pious posture is fitting for the house
of God. In the preschool of a sister
congregation, however, this created a problem when one young pietist ran into
the end of a pew and fell down, skinning his elbows. The teacher rushed him out to see if he
needed medical attention and asked him what happened. Between sniffles the boy answered, “I was so
busy being reverent, I forgot where I was headed.” In the same way we can at times get so caught
up in our own religious posturing that we lose sight of where we are headed and
why.
A. In our epistle
It
is so tempting to glory in our own righteousness, especially when compared to
so many other people who offer no evidence of religion in their lives. Paul was an expert at religious
posturing. He said of himself in the
verses preceding our epistle, If anyone
else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more… as to
righteousness, under the law [I was] blameless. (vv.4b, 6b)
In legalistic righteousness some of us may
likewise consider ourselves blameless.
We have read through the entire Bible once, twice, perhaps even three
times. We pray and keep the Sabbath
religiously. We are generous in offerings
and in providing for the needs of others.
We have programmed ourselves to frown appropriately at off-color jokes,
to express our disgust at what passes for entertainment on television these
days, and to scold the behavior of those who have not reached our level of
sanctification. We know the liturgy by
heart, willingly suffer the singing of the most difficult hymns since they are
obviously the ones with the best theology, and welcome the martyrdom of doing
the work of the Church that no one else seems willing to do. Smack!
There is that pew!
None of these things, nor anything else
that we want to pass off as a good work can make us truly righteous before God. It’s not our own religious posturing that
saves us or our own righteousness on the basis of the law that counts. It is the posture that Christ assumed for us
on that cross when he died a horrible death for our sins that saves us. And it is the righteousness of his holy life
and perfect obedience that is credited to us by faith that God accepts. This is why Paul wanted to “be found in [Jesus], not having a
righteousness of [his] own that comes from the law, but that which comes
through faith in Christ.” (v. 9)
Knowing that the righteousness God accepts
is not our own from the law we can look up with joy and see where we are
headed.
B. We have a righteousness that
comes from God.
Right here, right now, we are made
perfectly righteous in Christ. Our
righteousness is not negated on the basis of the sins we have committed, but
made certain on the basis of the sinless life of Jesus Christ in our
place. Our righteousness is not
forfeited because of the sacrifices we have failed to make, but secured through
the sacrifice God’s Son offered once for all upon the cross. Our righteousness has been established for us
by God’s actions through Christ. It is
as Paul says the righteousness we have that comes from God.
This righteousness is received by God’s
grace through faith. Here in the waters
of Holy Baptism we have been clothed with Christ and His robe of
righteousness. Here in the Gospel
something new is happening for us: God is
teaching us to forget the former things, to stop dwelling on the sins of our
past and to drink from the streams of the water of life which flow from His
Son. Here He prepares the meal of
forgiveness, life and salvation in the body and blood of Jesus. He gives us all of this to us so that by
grace we may come to faith in Christ and be made righteous in His sight. With Paul, knowing that we have the gift of
perfect righteousness already through faith….
We
want to know more of Christ and His righteousness.
II. We Also Want A Righteousness Of Life.
A churchman once said that many Christians
have a “sprinkling relationship” with the church. They are sprinkled with water at their
Baptism, sprinkled with rice at their wedding, and sprinkled with earth at
their funeral. This is not the life to
which and for which we have been called heavenward in Christ. After rejoicing in the perfect righteousness
he already had through faith,
A. All of us who have been made
righteous by faith in Christ recognize that we do not live up to our calling
and are imperfect in the way we live our lives.
With
Any of us who think that we have obtained
the status of super-Christian or even that the way we live sets us above other
Christians who are not as sanctified and sacrificial as us are only fooling
ourselves. Just like Paul there is still
the law of sin at work in our mortal bodies.
We are tempted like everyone else.
Many times the things we find ourselves doing is not the good we want to
do, but the evil we do not want to do. We
have not reached perfection in obedience and that is why we continue to go back
to the righteousness that comes from God, to be forgiven through Christ and
renewed by the Holy Spirit. That is why
we want to know more about Christ so that we may be comforted by the Gospel.
But there is a difference between being
comforted and being comfortable.
B. With Paul we are not content to
sit back in our cushioned pews and just go along for the ride until Christ
returns. We see the prize that awaits us
and the goal of our faith when we will be perfected in righteousness at the resurrection,
so we press on to reach what lies ahead for us in Christ.
Empowered by the Gospel and encouraged by
one another we strive to live the righteous lives to which we have been called. Not just religious posturing and banging our
heads into the pews, but with our eyes focused on where we are going, and wide
open to the opportunities the Lord gives us to serve Him by serving others, we
live the new lives to which we have been called. By the working of the Holy Spirit who was
given to us in our baptism we are being transformed every day to conform more
and more to the image of Christ. The
things we do are not for the praise of men or for favor from God, but the true
spiritual righteousness that seeks only the good of others and the glory of
God.
This righteousness of life cannot be
accomplished by going back to the law and depending on our own strength and
willpower. It can only happen as we continue
to look to Christ for our righteousness and salvation. With Paul it comes to us as come to know
Jesus better and the power of his resurrection.
It happens as we learn to share his sufferings and to die with Him to
sin and be raised again with Him each day to spiritual life. (Cf. vv.10-11)
The life we live is no longer for gadgets
or glory, possessions or popularity.
With
Concl.: Praise God for
the righteousness we have already through faith in Jesus Christ, and the
righteousness we want that God is working in us even now and will perfect in us
heaven. Amen.