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"A Life Worth Living" Sermon Series
Rev Philip Rowe
6. NEW CONFIDENCE
| Philippians 3:1-9 | 'Who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh' (v3) |
Sermon 6: New Attitude - Confidence
How can I be sure of a relationship?
How can I know they love me?
How can I know God loves me, accepts me?
Everyone has a basic choice of two alternatives: To trust what we can do for ourselves, or what
God can do for us.
Paul says there are three marks of being a Christian:
1. Who worship in the Spirit of God
Worship is service in two senses: praising God, and doing good for others.
This requires enabling from above, the power of God at work in us.
Note the order: the Holy Spirit in us (i.e. being a Christian) generates good works, not good works
makes us a Christian.
Our security is grounded on God is working in us, not that we work to bring him in.
2. Boast in Jesus Christ
Boasting can be good (generally regarded as bad).
This good boasting is a joyous satisfaction.
We have security because we rely on what Christ has done for us.
We trust his finished work on the cross to deal with our wrong doings that separate us from God.
Trust in him and praise him alone.
No ground for self-work and self-glory.
A Christian is not a 'self-made man'.
Then St Paul states the negative to accentuate this:
3. Have no confidence in the flesh
We do not trust in circumcision;
But other physical confidences to make and maintain our relationship with God.
He calls people who preach that we can know God through physical things 'dogs' (v2).
Extreme talk - but eternity is at stake.
Paul had good birth (tribe of Benjamin), good breeding (education) and good career (persecuted Church);
Counted this as loss, rubbish - useless, black box, not green box, stuff.
Paul says that he does not have 'a righteousness (goodness) of my own that comes from the law, but one that
comes through faith in Christ.
Christ takes our sin and we receive his righteousness.
Application
Is your security in your relationship with God depending on:
That God is working in you by the Holy Spirit;
Christ has removed your sin;
Christ's righteousness is yours?
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