03 | Only Let Your Conduct Be Worthy Of The Gospel Of Christ
Only Let Your Conduct Be Worthy Of The Gospel Of Christ
Philippians 1:27-2:18
As taught Sunday 25 January 2015, Emmanuel Church, New Zealand
Paul did not preach salvation by works
When he said…
He was not teaching that lost men can do enough good works to be worthy of God’s grace
Anyone who believes he can earn the favour of God has no part in Christ and remains under His wrath
And you are such a person if you think to yourself…
“I’m not so bad—I go to work every day and provide for my home,
I keep to myself and don’t bother the neighbours,
I have never committed the crimes I see on the telly,
I even attend Church on occasion.”
“What more could God want from me?”
“Surely, my conduct is worthy of the gospel of Christ.”
Have you not read…
In Adam every man has sinned against the LORD, and the Judge of all the earth will do right!
The wages of your sin is death, and those wages will be paid
If you refuse to bow your knee to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, then YOU will pay for your sins…
With an eternal death—this will not be an unconscious sleep from which you never awake
Nor will it be an endless party with all your mates!
You will be acutely aware that you are under the wrath of God
If you leave this world without faith in Christ, then you will enter into death…
Without hope of pardon or relief for all eternity
But it doesn’t have to be that way…
Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners!
No amount a good works can ever purchase your pardon from sin—much more is required!
The Bible says, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin! Hebrews 9:22
But not just any will do—
The blood of bulls on a thousand hills cannot cleanse you from a single sin
The holiness of God can accept nothing less than the sinless blood of the LORD Jesus Christ…
As full payment for your sin!
The good news is this: Jesus Christ was…
Today the very righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ can be imputed to you…
Now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation, 2 Corinthians 6:2
Conclusion: Paul did not preach salvation by works, he preached salvation by grace through faith in the LORD Jesus Christ
Question: What, then, did he mean when he said…
It is important to note that he was not writing to the lost, but to…
Paul was writing to the Church
Now, the Church is equally capable of misunderstanding Paul every bit as much as the lost
Hence, two errors must be guarded against—this we will do with a right understanding of verse 27
1. You must guard your heart against legalism
The legalist has a “bootstrap theology”
When he hears Paul say, “Only let you conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ…”
He thanks the LORD for setting him on the right path,
Then looks to his own strength to stay the course until the day of Christ
The legalist believes he maintains his salvation by doing good works
The legalist believes he perfects his sanctification with his own hands
Often his legalism expresses itself in a wrong use of the Law and a judgmental spirit
To these Paul says…
It is God who began a good work in you, and it is God who will complete it until the day of Christ, Philippians 1:6
There is no room for “bootstrap theology” in Philippians 1:27
Guard yourself against legalism—but that’s not all, there is a second error equally dreadful…
2. You must guard your heart against lawlessness
Grace has been abused throughout the history of the Church—and it is still abused today!
Some brethren believe the right doctrine, but draw from it the wrong conclusion
They believe God has elected from eternity past those who will be saved, Ephesians 1:4
They believe that salvation is by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 2:1-10
They believe faith and repentance both are gifts from God, Eph 2:8; Acts 11:18; 13:48
They believe that no one can come unto Christ unless the Father draws him, John 6:37, 44, 64-65
They believe it is the Spirit of God who sanctifies us and makes us more like Christ, Philippians 2:13
To all of these I say “Yes” and “Amen”—But I do not agree with their conclusion…
They push justification by faith alone beyond its established boundaries and argue that no part of the OT Law…
Is binding upon Christians today, for everything is grace and there is no room for Law!
Yet Christians, they claim, will obey portions of the Law through inner compulsion…
Even though the Law itself has no binding authority over them
Paul did not teach this…
The “inner compulsion” of Christian children at Ephesus required Paul’s appeal to the 5th Commandment…
On the authority of Deuteronomy 25:4, Paul rebuked the Corinthian church for their covetousness…
Paul commands the church at Rome to love their enemies because such is required in Lev 19:18 and Deut 32:35
Then he quotes Proverbs 25:21-22 to tell us how they are to be loved, Romans 12:17-20
The list goes on and the passages have this in common…
Paul rebukes the Church for not living according to the principles of the Law
It follows that the OT speaks to and requires much from the Church today!
Guard yourself against lawlessness!
When rightly understood…
Philippians 1:27 does not teach salvation by works, it cannot encourage legalism, and it rebukes all lawlessness
Now that we have cleared the field, we can understand what Paul means when he said…
Citizens of a kingdom are required to obey the law of their king
Illustration: I am a citizen of the United States
It’s my lawful privilege to carry a concealed knife at all times
Before your imagination gets the best of you, let me say the US is not the Wild West!
We do have laws restricting the size and type of knife our citizens may lawfully carry
Our family lived in England for a few short years whilst I was a student at LTS
During school term I brought the same lunch every day…2 cold sandwiches, 1 bag of crisps, 1 piece of fruit
I don’t know how Judy did it, but every day she packed it in a different bread bag with its top tied in a knot
Naturally, to open the knotted bag I brandished my knife and with the flick of my wrist lunch was served!
I noticed my British colleagues quickly turning their heads being too embarrassed to acknowledge my knife
Being the brash American that I am, I looked one straight in the eye and said, “What? Don’t you carry a knife?”
I was amazed to discover carrying any knife is against British law—what did I do?
I said, “I’m a US citizen. It’s my right to carry this knife and I’ll do it regardless of your law!”
No, that’s not what I did…
I was living in Britain, not the US; I was under the authority of the Crown not the States; so I put my knife away
Now the earth belongs to the LORD; the world and all those who dwell therein are His, Psalm 24:1
Two types of people live in His domain….
There are those who disregard His Law and despise His lordship
These are rebels against God; not citizens of His kingdom
They belong to a dark kingdom that wars against the Almighty
Their days are numbered and they will not live long in His land
But there is another kind of person in Christ’s domain
Once these too were enemies of God; they were not nor could they be subject to His Law
But one day God graciously reached down with the saving strength of His right hand,
Tore them from the kingdom of darkness and made them citizens of the kingdom of light
They are no longer servants of the Devil under the law of sin and death
But they are servants of the risen Lord, citizens of His kingdom and subject to His Law
Are you a child of God; have you been saved by grace through faith in the risen Lord Jesus Christ?
Then you are a citizen of the kingdom of God; as such you cannot live any way you please
You have Christ as Lord AND Saviour, or you have no part in Christ at all!
You must live your life according to the Law of Christ’s kingdom…