My brother, blessings and greetings to you in the precious Name of Our Lord Jesus on this Thursday morning!Read Philippians 3:1 – 8.
Paul wrote his letter to the church at Philippi during his imprisonment in Rome. It was likely the last of the so-called prison epistles he would write. Unlike many of his other letters, what we call the Book of Philippians was not penned to address any specific doctrinal error or crisis within this young church; instead, Paul wrote to encourage, and to express his love and appreciation for the Believers at Philippi.
In today’s passage, Paul opens with what could be considered the essence of his entire letter – “rejoice in the Lord.”. As Believers, we have every reason to rejoice – because we have the eternal security that God has given us through Christ Jesus, we can rejoice through every situation, every trial, every challenge, every persecution, every heartbreak, every setback, every loss, every disease, and even every pandemic. Through our rejoicing in the face of adversity we testify to those around us about the goodness and power of our Savior. Paul’s exhortation to us to rejoice is repeated in Chapter 4, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” – always, and again!
Paul continues on in this passage by detailing both his birthright and his qualifications as a “Hebrew of the Hebrews”; and even his righteousness before the law. But though he possessed all of these religious credentials, Paul says he counts them all as “loss” and “rubbish” in relation to (vv 8) “the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord”. Paul’s accomplishments; all of his great works; his lineage; his obedience to the law; all were worthless in helping him to (vv 8) “gain Christ”.
This Spirit-breathed truth communicated to us by Paul in vv 8 is paralleled in Isaiah 64 “But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags” and Ephesians 2 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”.
Brother, we will receive more timely truths for us as Believers as we continue in Philippians 3 tomorrow – but for today, go forth and remember to rejoice – always, and again!
Psalm 68 – “But let the righteous be glad; Let them rejoice before God; Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly.”
Amen!
