EXPERIENCING JOY BY LOSING RELIGIONOne of the more popular songs of the early 90s was a song by REM entitled, “Losing My Religion.” The song has nothing to do with religion, but is about unreciprocated love and obsession and the title “LOSING MY RELIGION” is simply a southern phrase for “being at your wits end.”
Whether you take it literally or figuratively the phrase “losing religion” is not considered to be a good thing. What Paul shows us from Philippians 3:1-7, is that though it is often used in a negative sense, “losing religion” is necessary for one to experience joy in this life. And when I say religion, I am defining it as, “Man’s attempt to reach God through personal effort and devotion.”
In this text, Paul is going to challenge us to “lose religion and choose a relationship.”
HOW TO EXPERIENCING JOY BY LOSING RELIGION
I. REJOICE IN WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE
Paul says,
Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord.
Paul prepares the Christians at Philippi for the false teachers who are going to come by urging the them to “rejoice in the Lord.” This phrase shows a fundamental and foundational difference between Christianity and all other systems of belief.
With Religion—Meaning here man’s attempt to reach God through personal effort and devotion—there is often little if any rejoicing in the lord, but there is a whole lot of rejoicing in self-effort.
In this passage Paul is dealing with a religious group known as the Judaizers. They were a Jewish religious group who would often go places Paul had been and criticize his message of “Salvation by grace alone through faith in Christ alone” and would counter it by teaching that along with Christ there are also certain necessary works required for salvation. They taught that for one to be saved, they had to also abide by Jewish Law and most importantly be circumcised.
The Judaizers were also a proud people. There was very little boasting in the Lord and a whole lot of boasting in self-effort with them. So Paul to prepare the Christians at Philippi for their influence begins by saying, “(You) rejoice in the Lord…Glory in the Lord…Boast only in the Lord.”
The fundamental and foundational difference between Christianity and all other religions is that while religion is man’s attempt to reach God by personal effort and devotion, Christianity is God reaching down to man through the person and work of Christ. Religion is man made and works-based and Christianity is God made and grace-based.
In this verse, Paul is calling for the Christians at Philippi to fix their eyes on the work that God has done in saving them and in response is calling for them to direct all their praise to the Lord.
SO REJECT RELIGION AND REJOICE IN THE LORD
II. RESIST THE INFLUENCE OF FALSE TEACHERS
Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers,
The reason Paul calls them “dogs” is because he viewed the Judaizers as scavengers who followed him around from place to place and who preyed upon those who were weak minded and not theologically grounded.
Paul also called them evildoers because he believed them to be doing the exact opposite of what he and other faithful Christians were doing. While Paul and others were promoting and advancing the purposes of God, this group was polluting and perverting it.
The reason Paul speaks so harshly about them is because he wants his readers to realize that their message is toxic. He wants them to understand that this group is trying to get them to embrace a system of belief that does not save.
Paul says we have to be on guard against these things. Meaning that we have to be on the lookout for those messages and messengers who can lead us away from God and who pervert His purposes.
And the only way we can be on guard the way we need to be is by becoming students of the word of God. What you are going to find is that the more you devote yourself to God’s word and place yourself under teachers who teach from God’s word and attend classes on how to read and understand God’s word, the more you are going to be able to detect and guard against falsehood.
SO BECOME STUDENTS OF THE WORD OF GOD SO THAT YOU CAN EFFECTIVELY RESIST THE INFLUENCE OF FALSE TEACHERS.
III. REJECT FALSE VIEWS OF SALVATION
Paul says,
Look out for those who mutilate the flesh.
Like we said earlier, the Judaizer’s taught that keeping the Law of Moses was necessary for salvation and that circumcision was still the distinguishing mark of God's people. Therefore they believed that for one to be a Christian, they had to be circumcised.
To better understand the point Paul makes in these verses, it is imperative that we understand the purpose of circumcision in the Old Testament. This practice symbolized a need to be cleansed from sin because in the procreative act, the sin nature is passed from one generation to the next. So circumcision symbolized being cleansed from sin and was simply meant to be no more than an outward picture of what was to be an inward reality.
Sadly in Paul's day, however, circumcision had become an empty ritual that was thought to be a means to salvation. Notice Paul refuses to give what the Judaizers were doing a biblical name and instead calls them "mutilators of the flesh." He viewed their practice as simply a procedure with no spiritual value because what was done outwardly did not reflect what was true inwardly.
Paul goes on to say,
For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.
After criticizing their empty outward practice of circumcision, Paul comes back and says, "We are the circumcision." In other words, “We are the true people of God—What is true of you outwardly is true of us inwardly.”
People like to think that their works count for something when it comes to salvation. They like to think they have something offer. But Scripture clearly teaches that’s not the case. Salvation is by grace alone through faith in Christ alone plus nothing minus nothing. We do not play a part what so ever in our salvation and only through our faith in Christ are we are saved.
SO REJECT FALSE VIEWS OF SALVATION AND PLACE FAITH IN CHRIST ALONE.
IV. RID YOURSELF OF YOUR RELIGIOUS RESUME
Paul says…
Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
If anyone had a reason to boast it was Paul. Listen to these credentials again...
He was what was called "An Eighth-Day One." This means he was circumcised by the book in accordance with Jewish law, which was not true of every Judaizer because some were Gentile converts.
Paul was also of the nation of Israel. By birth he was a member of God's chosen people—a physical descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
He was of the tribe of Benjamin, which was one of the most prominent tribes of Israel. King Saul, who was chosen King because of His impressive credentials, was also from the prominent tribe of Benjamin.
Paul says he is a Hebrew of Hebrews, which meant that he remained close to his roots, was committed to the language, was orthodox in Jewish traditions, and kept to the customs of his ancestors.
As to the Law, Paul was a Pharisee. He pursued his Jewish heritage to the extreme. He was so zealous for the Law that he became a Pharisee. The Pharisees were a Jewish group who were at the highest level in devout, legalistic Judaism and were supremely devoted to the Law.
As to zeal, Paul was a persecutor of the church. In the first century, Jewish men measured their commitment to God by opposing foreign religion and rule. Paul makes mention here that he was much more zealous than any of them because he used physical force to attempt to rid the world of Christianity.
As to righteousness under the Law, Paul was blameless. According to the outward performance of Judaism, Paul says, “I had a perfect record.”
So in a nutshell, what Paul is saying is, “When it comes to being Jewish and zealous for the Jewish cause—I was the man.” His religious resume was as impressive as any, which is what makes what Paul says next so significant.
He goes on to say,
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
After showing that his credentials far surpassed that of the Judaizers, Paul says, “All of those gains that I once listed out separately and took pride in--I now consider to be loss.”
All of those successes no longer mattered to Paul after coming to Christ, because Paul knew that none of those accomplishments could give him what he needed most—a right relationship with God. Here in v. 7 he basically takes that impressive religious resume and puts it through the shredder.
Though the Judaizers had their rituals and rules, Paul had a relationship with the risen Lord that far surpassed any man-made achievement. God had given Paul, through the person and work of Christ, what truly mattered most and what Paul could not earn on His own.
CONCLUSION
Like we have said already, there are some obvious places that people look for joy and religion is one of those obvious places. And when I say religion, I am not just talking about formal religions like Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism and Islam. I am talking about any attempt to reach God or to find enjoyment and purpose in life apart from Christ.
There are many who are on that path. Many who think they are in good standing with God because they were born and raised in the church and have never left, or because of the church traditions they keep or because they are giving it their best. That’s religion and religion does not save.
During his earthly ministry, Christ challenged religion. There was a similar Jewish group at this time who taught that that through keeping what was taught in the Scriptures one could earn salvation. Jesus corrects them by saying, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, but they bear witness of ME” (John 5:39).
The Scriptures do not call for a need of religion, but for need of a savior. Jesus came to offer what religion could not--forgiveness of sins, a right standing God and a personal relationship with Him, acceptance into His kingdom and the guarantee of eternal life in His presence.
Scripture calls for us to lose religion and choose a relationship with Christ.
