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Devotion: Philippians 3:20-21

Last Sunday we celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus. I advised the congregation to read together in families or with friends 1 Corinthians 15. I am surprised I have not received any questions regarding the 'baptism on behalf of the dead' found in 1 Corinthians 15:29:

"Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?" -1 Corinthians 15:29

Two schools of orthodox thought have emerged on Paul's mention of the practice, but both support the same conclusion. First, Paul may mention a practice of the Corinthian church of baptizing dead relatives by vicarious proxy. In this view the Apostle mentioned a practiced, but did not approve it to show the absurdity of denying the resurrection of the dead. In essence, with the first view, the Apostle is saying something like, "Look, if there is no resurrection of the dead, why bother doing this dubious practice?" Now, this first view is problematic on many levels, not the least of which being that the New Testament in general and the Apostle Paul in particular are exceedingly clear that salvation comes by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone (see Romans 10:9).
The second school of thought attempts to understand the term 'dead,' as not referring to people who have died, but rather the physical, earthly, lowly, fallen body as dead. The idea of being dead in sin has some pretty clear biblical backing (Ephesians 2:1) and seems to fit the wider context of the New Testament. In this view, the emphasis is on baptism, not the dead and the argument is something like, "If your body, dead already, is going to be disposed of at physical death, why bother baptizing the physical, spiritually-dead body at all?" Personally, I lean toward this second school of thought on the difficult passage as I think it is both charitable to the Apostle and fits better in the wider context of the passage regarding taking risks for the Gospel with the assurance of resurrection forming the basis of that risk-taking.
The Apostle Paul is clear that resurrection, that is the restoration and perfection of the physical body after death (or in the case of those who will witness the physical return of Christ, at the end of time) is the final and ultimate Christian hope. In our passage from Philippians this week he puts it like this:

"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself." -Philippians 3:20-21

When read in the wider context of his teaching, the hope of resurrection is why we seek to follow Christ. If Christ Jesus has been resurrected, then those who seek him in faith as Lord should have the same hope and the same end in mind. We are to be changed in faith: no longer citizens of a fallen earth, but citizens of heaven with all the rights, privileges and responsibilities that entails. Our hope is that when Christ returns, we will be changed to be like him physically in resurrection even as we are changed in faith now to be like him in the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. Put your hope in Christ and that kind of change that resurrection brings.

News for You:

• Sign ups for our next Small Group session begins this Sunday (April 23). We will be engaging 6-week study, convening at the end of April, on Hearing God's Word from the Gospel Project. Please plan to join a group! 
• Did you miss a sermon? You can always catch up at www.cpcomak.org.

Warning

Devotion: Philippians 3:18-19

In our devotion last week the Apostle Paul put himself forward as an example to be imitated (and others who followed in the faith he proclaimed). A positive example, one we may seek to imitate, is vital to the life of a maturing disciple of Jesus. On the other hand, we also need to heed the warning the Apostle gives of those who are enemies of Christ.

"For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things." -Philippians 3:18-19

The Apostle grieves the news he must report to the Philippians, but truth is truth. The truth is that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. To be an enemy of Christ's cross is to be an enemy of salvation itself. It is to arrogate life and purpose as one's own choice. The cross of Jesus Christ tells us two things at all times. First, sin is worthy of destruction. When Jesus became sin itself on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21) he took to himself the just wrath of God over sin. Sin is corrosive, self-centering and deplorable. The cross is what sin deserves and what I deserve as a sinner. Yet, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ tells us something else, namely and secondly, grace is more wonderful than we could dare to dream. The cross is the place where God reconciles man to himself (see, for example, Colossians 1:20) and makes peace. As sin meets the destruction it deserves in Christ Jesus, peace is made between the believer and God through the grace-filled blood of Christ Jesus. When the horror of sin is truly grasped, the wonder of grace is revealed. That sin is forgiven instead of punished should lead us to a life of thankful obedience to the one who saved us by his own blood.
To be an enemy of the cross of Christ, then, is to reject the atoning work of Christ and to remain at war (rebellion!) with God. Now this rebellion continues until we surrender in faith to Christ Jesus as our king (prompted and led by the Holy Spirit to do so). Yet, should rebellion persist, the Apostle assures the reader that it will end in destruction, as it must. Imagine for a moment that a man has decided to do battle with an entire army on his own. To be sure Hollywood or the video game industry could craft a story of victory, but in reality it would be a fiction that would perpetuate the very lie the Apostle warns of here. The man would lose the battle and that would be that. Now, expand the mental exercise to a man doing battle not with a large group of other men, but with the omnipotent Creator of all things. Not even Hollywood could craft a convincing story of victory for the man, at least not without weakening the Divine to be a pathetic version of the God revealed in Holy Scripture.
No, rebellion against the Triune God ends necessarily in destruction of the rebel. The only question is if that destruction will come in the final judgment and lead to damnation (eternal destruction) or if it will come in faith and a new man will arise in place of the old (see 2 Corinthians 5:17).
So how is the life of eternal destruction recognized? The Apostle gives three warning signs. First, the belly is god. When personal desires and appetites trump the Word of God, the life of destruction is being lived. All of life, all of one's purpose, all of one's desires are God's to create, form and direct. When the belly, the seat of appetite and passion (to be led by the passions is dangerous from a biblical perspective--here is a sample, but not an exhaustive list of New Testament warnings: Ephesians 2:3, Colossians 3:5, 2 Timothy 2:22; 3:6; 4:3, James 4:1-3, 1 Peter 1:14; 2:11; 4:2-3) is god, destruction will follow as constant consumption is needed. When what is desired drives the man, he will be focused on the self to the detriment of God and others. Such a man cannot and will not fulfill the command of God to love Him and to love the neighbor (Mark 12:29-31).
The second warning sign is to glory in shame. While the Gospel is a call to leave behind the idea of earthly honor and shame, it is also a call to find honorable what God calls honorable and to despise what God calls shameful. The life led by the passions will glory in having its desire, whatever that may be, met. Over and again, sexual immorality is listed as a warning when connected to the passions (as in Romans 1:27 or 1 Thessalonians 4:5) and one that would bring dishonor to the life supposedly dedicated in faith to Christ. To glory in shame is not merely falling to temptation and engaging in sin. No, this is a celebration of sin (sexual immorality or otherwise) and such celebrations are a sign of the rebellion.
The final warning is a mind set on earthly things. In contrast to this, the Apostle will call the Philippians to set their mind on higher things (Philippians 4:8, but also Colossians 3:2). When earthly matters occupy all of one's time and no time is given for justice, honor, purity and love (as defined by God, not man) then the life of destruction is at hand.
So what is to be done? If you are living the live of destruction, trust Jesus, surrender to him in faith and repent. Heed the warning of the Apostle and run to Jesus in faith.

News for You:

• Holy Week services are as follows:
• Maundy Thursday (4/13): A service of confession and communion at CPC 7 p.m.
• Good Friday (4/14): Community worship service at Cornerstone at 7 p.m.
• Resurrection Sunday (4/16): A service of celebration at CPC 10 a.m
• Our next Small Group session is coming soon. We will be engaging 6-week study, convening at the end of April, on Hearing God's Word from the Gospel Project. Please plan to join a group!

Imitation

Devotion: Philippians 3:17

The Apostle Paul makes the bold invitation to the Philippians to imitate him. The invitation to imitate him as he imitates Christ is a frequent idea in Paul's letter (1 Corinthians 4:16; 11:1, Ephesians 5:1, 1 Thessalonians 1:6; 2:12, 2 Thessalonians 3:7; 3:9, as well as the non-Pauline Hebrews 6:12; 13:7 and 3 John 11).

"Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us." -Philippians 3:17 (ESV)

The Apostle's call to the Philippians is not an invitation to mimic or play-act a life of faith. Rather, the Apostle is putting his own life (at the time, in prison for the Gospel of Jesus Christ) up as an example of faithful obedience. The invitation, then, is not to 'fake it,' but rather to express your faith in this particular way (namely, enduring suffering for the sake of the Gospel). The imitation of the Apostle must be proceeded by the call and confession of faith in Christ Jesus.
Even further, the Apostle lifts up any who continue in this unbroken chain of faithful obedience as those who should be watched, observed and imitated. The Apostle is not concerned with his own fame or glory, but rather with the faith of the Philippians being rightly expressed in their lives. The same is true of the Church today as we seek to disciple believers as they grow and mature in their faith in Christ
Are you looking to the example of other believers and are you being an example to others? The Apostle's invitation is not merely mimic him, but also to serve as an example to others.

News for You:

• Holy Week services are as follows:
• Maundy Thursday (4/13): A service of confession and communion at CPC 7 p.m.
• Good Friday (4/14): Community worship service at Cornerstone at 7 p.m.
• Resurrection Sunday (4/16): A service of celebration at CPC 10 a.m
• Our next Small Group session is coming soon. We will be engaging 6-week study, convening at the end of April, on Hearing God's Word from the Gospel Project. Please plan to join a group!

Hold True

Devotion: Philippians 3:15-16

The Apostle Paul resumes his thought from 3:3 where he stated, "For we are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh." The next paragraph (3:4-14) is a description of the Apostle setting aside his confidence in the flesh and describing the life of faith as one of humble reliance upon Christ Jesus in all things.
The Apostle describes the basic posture of the Christian life as humility--not a self-deprecating attitude, but one that puts the self in proper relationship to God, to creation and to other people. This posture, though one necessarily adopted in faith, is one that is developed over time. It is a bit like developing good posture in the literal sense (we sit up, we strengthen the back, and little-by-little, our posture improves). The Apostle here indicates that the life of faith characterized by humble reliance of Christ is both something we attain and something we are attaining.

"Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained." -Philippians 3:15-16

Maturity comes when we surrender to Christ day-by-day. This leads to a change of heart and mind that take hold immediately and continue to take hold each day. The Apostle is so sure of this view, that our confidence is only and ever in Christ and never in the self, that he claims everyone who is growing in faith, becoming mature, will come to this same conclusion.
So where do we find ourselves? We are somewhere between starting out and finishing up. The question is not if we are totally perfect, but rather are we being perfected? The Apostle suggests that we should receive and hold onto what we have been given by God in faith, but also be open to the Lord giving more and leading us to greater maturity in faith. In this we have comfort that God is still doing a work in us. So, let us hold true to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and see God perfect us.

News for You:

• CPC is having a Rummage Sale coming up Friday 3/31 and Saturday 4/1 from 9 am-4 pm each day. The sale will benefit Camp Chelan.
• Holy Week services are as follows:
• Maundy Thursday (4/13): A service of confession and communion at CPC 7 p.m.
• Good Friday (4/14): Community worship service at Cornerstone at 7 p.m.
• Resurrection Sunday (4/16): A service of celebration at CPC 10 a.m

Going and Arriving

Devotion: Philippians 3:13-14

The Apostle Paul placed resurrection (and the perfection it entailed) clearly as the goal or end of Christian life. After noting that Christ has claimed the Apostle as his own, he reiterates that he has not yet arrived at perfected resurrection life. Instead, he views his life as a form of pilgrimage, a religiously-motivated journey toward the goal.

"Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."-Philippians 3:13-14

The place of the Christian life is to make movement toward the goal--and that goal is Christ and his resurrection life. What can hang up on this journey is the emphasis on arrival rather than taking stock of movement. It's a bit like when a child asks, "When do we get there?" The child desires arrival and does not see the progress of the going. The Apostle encourages us all to lean forward and move toward Christ by breaking with past accomplishments and past sins. Only Christ matters in the end--his resurrection is the goal and his call is the prize itself.
Take a moment and thank God for the movement you are making toward the Savior. Ask the Spirit to realign your heart to the goal. Seek Christ and his upward call and find that the things of the past that held you back fade away.

News For You:

• A BIG shout out to our crew (Joe, Kurt, Jim, Butch, Randy, John and Bill) that helped change lights and put in the projection system in the Sanctuary. You WILL notice some changes this Sunday.
• We could use help to staff our Rummage Sale coming up Friday 3/31 and Saturday 4/1. The sale will benefit Camp Chelan.
• Holy Week services are as follows:
• Maundy Thursday (4/13): A service of confession and communion at CPC 7 p.m.
• Good Friday (4/14): Community worship service at Cornerstone at 7 p.m.
• Resurrection Sunday (4/16): A service of celebration at CPC 10 a.m

Christ Has Made Me His Own

Devotion: Philippians 3:12

In our passage this week the Apostle Paul takes a moment to make a distinction that many of us are not expecting in our current context. We have no suspicion or inclination that the resurrection of the dead has already taken place. How do you know? We can visit a cemetery and see first hand that people who have died are still dead. Yet in the Apostle's day, with the freshness of the faith and eschatological hopes running high, there was a real suspicion by some that the general resurrection (as opposed to the specific resurrection of Jesus) had already taken place. We catch hints of this in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 2 Timothy 2:14-19 How does the Christian think about death? In 1 Thessalonians, the Apostle is challenging the notion that those who die are somehow being judged unworthy of eternal life and that it is living who have been resurrected already and will live eternally. Instead, the Apostle keeps intact the Jewish notion of the general resurrection (of which Christ's resurrection was a foretaste, a future event brought into the present as a guarantee of sorts and source of hope) and dismisses the idea that those who die are somehow to be found outside of the Kingdom of God at the final judgment. Instead, death, as an enemy defeated by Christ, for the Christian, is a death to sin and death, but a welcome into glory. What's more, the general resurrection will mean the dead in Christ will live anew and eternally with him. To teach that the resurrection had already taken place (as the heretics named in 2 Timothy 2 taught) was to exclude those who had died in the Lord from eternal life and to privilege the living as the only true faithful. This is to fall into the trap that G.K. Chesterton identified as the "oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about."
The Apostle, in rejecting and refuting any claim he had to righteousness based upon his own works, put himself completely into the arms of Christ Jesus for salvation.

"Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own." -Philippians 3:12 ESV

Paul did not consider his present circumstance (suffering in prison) to be resurrected and glorified life. Instead, he saw his own resurrection and perfection in the future. To be sure the resurrection of the perfect God-man was a sign and seal that the Apostle would, through faith and the subsequent righteousness of Christ in that faith, obtain resurrection and perfection. It is the Christ who enables this pressing on toward resurrected perfection because through faith, Christ Jesus has made the Apostle his own.
And that is where we all must stand today. In faith, Christ Jesus claims us as his own. Through faith the atoning work of Jesus Christ upon the cross is applied to our lives consistently and constantly by the Holy Spirit. We have hope of resurrected perfection because we belong to Jesus. In the end, this is the only hope that can last and be assured. So, no matter the circumstance, it is our belonging to Christ that enables and empowers us to press on toward him.

News for You:

• We are in need of a few good workers March 20-25. We are changing lights in the sanctuary and fellowship hall and could use plenty of help to construct and move around some scaffolding. In addition, we are doing some work to update our system of projection in the sanctuary.
• A Rummage Sale to support Camp Chelan will take place March 31-April 1. We could use items to sell and help to sell them.
• Holy Week services are as follows:
• Maundy Thursday (4/13): A service of confession and communion at CPC 7 p.m.
• Good Friday (4/14): Community worship service at Cornerstone at 7 p.m.
• Resurrection Sunday (4/16): A service of celebration at CPC 10 a.m

Christ or Everything Else

Devotion: Philippians 3:8-11

After recounting the reason the Apostle Paul would have for confidence in his own merit, he quickly dismisses any of these as they are of no value when compared with knowing Christ:

"Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead." -Philippians 3:8-11 (ESV)

The Apostle basically has a choice. He can choose everything else or Christ. He can attempt to stand on his own adherence to the Law or faith in Christ Jesus. He can put forward his own righteousness or be found covered in the righteousness of Christ. The Apostle is clear that the first, standing on his own, will lead to eternal death and the latter, faith in Christ, will lead to eternal life. The cost of everything, then, is worth it to receive Christ.
Now, as the Apostle Paul was in prison and awaiting trial for his life because of the proclamation of the Gospel his mention of sharing in the suffering of Christ is more than academic. He really was suffering for Christ. To many suffering is a sign of God's disfavor, but to the Christian who understands that our salvation comes through the suffering of Christ, to suffer is to draw closer to Christ and appreciate all the more just how wonderful is our salvation.
There is indeed nothing that compares to the wonder of salvation through faith in Christ. Like the Apostle, may we all consider everything else that would shape and define who we are and what we do as rubbish.

News for You:

• Do not forget to spring forward one hour this week (3/11) for Daylight Saving Time or risk being late to church!
• The Green Potluck will be this Sunday, March 12. Please bring something green to share.
• Holy Week services are as follows:
• Maundy Thursday (4/13): A service of confession and communion at CPC 7 p.m.
• Good Friday (4/14): Community worship service at Cornerstone at 7 p.m.
• Resurrection Sunday (4/16): A service of celebration at CPC 10 a.m.