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Verse by Verse Devotional on Philippians by Pastor Jack #150

October 23, 2014 | by: Jack Lash | 0 comments

Posted in: Philippians

Self-righteousness

3:6b as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.

Clearly Paul was without Christ in the days before his conversion, days which he refers to here in v.5-6. And Paul makes it clear that man without Christ is unable to obey God’s law ("The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God." - Rom.8:7-8). Now here he says he was blameless before the Law. How can we fit this together?

The blamelessness Paul refers to here is not a blamelessness before God. It is rather a human evaluation based on a certain understanding of God’s law. In other words, this was the assessment that Paul and his cohorts gave to those who lived like Paul: they were considered righteous and blameless.

But, of course, there was something wrong in the way they viewed God’s law. They thought of it as primarily outward and ceremonial. They "tithe their mint and dill and cumin but neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness" (Matt.23:23). They would "strain out a gnat and swallow a camel" (Matt.23:24). They thought that by cleaning the outside of the cup that they were fulfilling the law of God. But God actually wanted the inside clean. "You outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness" (Matt.23:28).

The Pharisee method was to prove one’s righteousness by comparing oneself to "impure" people instead of comparing oneself to the purity of God. "God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get." (Luke 18:11-12)

It was this shallow, outward sense of God’s law that led the rich young ruler to say about the commandments of God, "All these things I have kept from my youth" (Luke 18:21).

We learn from Jesus’ description of the law in the sermon on the mount that this is not what God had in mind. In Matt.5:20ff., Jesus tells us that God requires much more than the Pharisees standard. God demands righteousness of the heart. In fact, God demands a righteousness that man cannot attain.

The point is this: we love to think of ourselves as righteous. We want to be approved by God on the basis of our superior performance. This way we can obtain salvation without sacrificing pride. But this is not the way of God. God gives grace only to the humble, only to those who face up to their great failure and the corruption of their souls. There is only One who lived blamelessly, and it is only on the basis of His righteousness that the unrighteous can be counted as righteous.

"Although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach." (Col.1:21-22)

Forgive me, O Lord, for my pride. Forgive me for my lust to be seen as better than others. Forgive me for how I love to think of myself as pure and others as impure. Forgive me for the ways I tone down Your commands so that I come off looking better. Truly there is no adequacy in me. In myself I am all corruption and depravity. In my flesh there is no good thing. I am just like all the rest. All my acceptability is in Christ alone. He is the One who lived blamelessly. He is the One who was better than all the others. All glory belongs to Him. Help me give Him His due.

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