Lesson Three • Grow
Sierra Combs
“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.” Philippians 3:9-10
Whenever anyone asks me who my favorite person in the Bible is, I always have three answers. It is impossible to pick one, so I categorize. The first is Jesus, obviously. The second is Joseph (my Old Testament pick) and the third is from the New Testament. I am a huge fan of the Apostle Paul. Not only is Paul’s testimony one of the most incredible and powerful testimonies in the history of the world, but he is both an amazing example to learn from and emulate, and also one to who I can relate in several areas. Like me (and like you if you have been born again) before Christ saved him, Paul was a completely different person. Regardless of what your life used to look like, we can rejoice that God has given us a new heart and will continue to sanctify and grow us until He brings us home.
One of the things I love about Paul is that he not only speaks with boldness and authority, but he uses his past to really drive the message home. In the book of Philippians, which Paul wrote to the church in Philippi, he gives a brief biography of his life prior to following Christ. In chapter 3:4-6, he says, “If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 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; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.” Before Paul (or Saul, as was his name prior to his conversion) was saved, he was one of the Jewish religious elite. He came from the right lineage, was a genius, and knew absolutely everything one could know about the Hebrew Scriptures. He was well-known, admired, and highly respected by the Jews. He knew everything about the Law and lived it out as perfectly as he could. When he sinned, he would have known the exact sacrifice that was required to atone for it. If anyone could boast in his own righteousness according to what the Jewish Law deemed righteous, very few could compete with Saul. In the worldly sense, he had everything, and yet after the Lord saved him, he realized that it was all rubbish. Nothing he could ever have would be worth more than knowing Christ. What about the “righteousness” he once boasted in? He knew it was useless garbage.
Like Saul, I have always been a rule follower. While I grew up in a wonderful Christian home and was correctly taught that salvation was given by God’s grace alone (with nothing I could do to earn it), I did not live as I believed it. As a kid, teen, and young adult, I often viewed people as a Pharisee would, judging them on how well they lived up to my own moralistic standards. In my eyes, I did all the right things. I went to church several times a week, did not swear or cheat, and wore the right clothing. The list could go on. It did not matter if a person was a Christian or not, if they did not live life by my perfect moral code I would turn up my nose at them. Praise God that He saved me and opened my eyes to the truth of the matter. Whatever “righteousness” I think I have will never be enough to make me right with God. No amount of effort, discipline, or rule-following can earn my salvation. It comes from Christ alone. Paul continues in verses 8-11 saying, “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.”
Thinking back to this time in my life makes me feel embarrassed and ashamed of how I treated others and disgusted with the way I viewed myself. Like me, Saul built his life on his own self-righteousness and moral superiority. However, moralism cannot save. We cannot earn a relationship with God. Salvation comes by His grace through faith alone. It is only through the righteousness of Christ that we can know God. I love reading about the life of Paul because it encourages me that God can do incredible work through anyone. He can take an arrogant, prideful, self-righteous Pharisee and change their heart. He did it with Paul and He did it with me. Whenever I am tempted to fall back into that self-righteous trap, He lovingly brings me right back to the truth.