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Saved from My Righteousness

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A Radical Conversion

If Jesus retold the Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector, who would be the characters today? The Pharisee could be a student at the classical Christian school or a successful business man or a very industrious housewife––the defining trait is someone who trusts in their own righteousness. The apostle Paul fit the description of parable’s Pharisee and he had quite a bit that he could put his trust in––his parents, his history, his education, his career success, his spiritual zeal. Paul summed up all of this as “my own righteousness” (Phil. 3:9).Then Paul had a radical conversion, but not the kind of conversion we often think of. Paul was saved from his own righteousness. In Philippians 3, Paul tells about the great discovery that he can and must abandon all his self-righteousness because he gained that which is so much more excellent and valuable in Christ Jesus––who saves him from his self-righteousness.

Beware of Confidence in the Flesh (Phil. 1:1-3)

Paul sets the context of the whole discussion in Philippians 3:1, “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe.” What will prevent Christians rejoicing in the Lord? The very real danger of your righteousness. And so in verse 2 Paul warns, “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation!” Paul is warning about Judaizers––Jewish Christians who accepted Jesus as the Christ but then required that the way to follow Christ was to obey the Jewish ceremonial law. Judaizers would say, “Alright Gentiles, if you want to be a Christian, then you must become a Jew and keep all the Jewish Law. And first up, circumcision.” They make salvation dependent on Christ plus some of your work. Christ pluscircumcision. Christ plusthe Law. Christ plusthis work of the flesh. But this is anti-gospel, a perversion of the gospel. Salvation is Christ plus nothing. (Gal. 2:16).

Confidence in the Flesh (vs. 4-6)

Paul knows all about having confidence in the flesh. Paul’s been there, done, that, and got the “confidence in the flesh” tee-shirt. And so he goes on a confidence in the flesh rant in verses 4-6, “We have no confidence in the flesh, thoughI also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so…” Paul had an armful of accomplishments and accolades and privileges he could hold up and show off. Paul is like the older brother in the Parable of the Prodigal Son or, alternatively titled, “The Parable of the Self-Righteous Son––who didn’t enjoy any of his dad’s gifts and his brothers celebration because his arms were so full of his own self-righteousness, and he had a bad attitude.”

Lose Everything to Gain Christ (vs. 7-11)

What does Paul do with all of this confidence in the flesh? Verse 7, “But what things were gain for me, these things I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (vs. 7-8). All the gain that he had––benefits of his birth, privileges from his parents, his promising career as a Pharisee––he counts them as loss. Why? Because he has found something so much more extremely valuable––the supremacy, the excellency of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. In comparison to Christ and his perfect righteousness, everything once prized and privileged seems a cheap imitation.  It like realizing you prized soccer trophy from the U-6 season is not real gold but spray painted plastic––worthless.

But for Paul, these old confidences are not merely shown be be worthless compared to Christ, they are now revoltingto him. He scoops up all his old confidence, walks outside and throws them in hedog-do garbage can. Paul came to understand that his self-righteousness has no profit and zero ability to actually make him righteous before God. So his aim is “That I may knowHim and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, if by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (vs. 10-11)

Joy of Losing All Self-Righteousness

What does this passage mean for us? How do we apply it? Consider who you are if Jesus told a parable. Are you the self-righteous Pharisee? Are you the tax collector who really was sinful? The sullen older brother? Or the rebellious younger brother? All of these have different stories but the same need––Christ and his righteousness.  Paul has discovered the great joy of losing all his attempts at self-righteousness because he has gained Christ. This is really good news. Your response should be what Paul told us to do at the beginning––Rejoice in the Lord. There’s really relief and joy in discovering you can lose and must lose all self-righteousness––because Jesus is your righteousness.

But what is the alternative? Rejoice in yourself. From my experience, there’s not much joy in self-righteousness. If anything, self-righteousness is a cruel master. Either you will be arrogant or you will despair. Arrogant like the Pharisee who prayed aloud “thank God that I’m so much better than all of these other sinners.” Or you despair under such a crushing burden of righteousness that you can never achieve.

So what should you do if you are the Pharisee or the older brother? Humble yourself like that tax collector and pray “God, have mercy on me a sinner.” Return to your Father like the young son. And rejoice that Jesus is your righteousness.

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Change and Spiritual Growth in Biblical Counseling

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“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.  (Lk 6:43-45)

Introduction

When we talk about counseling, we’re talking about change. Sometimes it involves change of mind, sometimes it involves change of behavior, and sometimes it involves both at the same time. But change is only good if you know what you are changing from and what you are changing to.

Created for Glory

The Bible is clear that God does what he does for his glory. It is all about him. If he were a person, this would be the most arrogant thing a person could say. But God is not a man, he is God. Everything that happens, creation, animals, plants, men, life, death, and anything else you can think of exists and continues to exist for God’s glory. The Bible tells us that even sin happens for God’s glory (Rom. 9:8-24). What this means is that we also were created for God’s glory.

What brings God glory? One definition I’ve heard that has always helped in my understanding is that glory means fame. When we make God famous he is glorified. We bring him glory by making him famous. We make him famous by living according to his word, talking about him, walking with him, becoming like him, and by pleasing him in all that we do, think, feel, and say. Everything brings God glory.

Our goal, therefore, is to get on board with God’s program and do everything in our power to bring him glory. To do this we need to constantly re-think every thought, action, emotion, and impulse we have ever had and bring it under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism says, we glorify God and enjoy him forever.

First Things First

With this in mind we need to take a moment to discuss what we mean by spiritual. Usually we contrast spiritual with worldly and what we mean by that is ethereal versus material. Sometimes we mean other world versus what we can see feel and smell around us. We separate God and the things of God from ourselves and the things related to humanity. This is a very vertical distinction. I would like to consider another way. Spiritualshould be contrasted with worldly or natural (1 Cor. 2:12-14), but what we should mean by this is that obedient as opposed to rebellious. In other words, the Bible says that we live and move and have our being in Jesus Christ (Acts 17:28). It also says that in him all things hold together (Col. 1:17). This means that the distinction between spiritual and worldly is a horizontal difference, not a vertical one. We are being spiritual if we are bringing honor and glory to God. We are being worldly if we are being rebellious against God and his son.

Spiritual Growth

Understanding spiritual in these terms changes whatever we thought spiritual growth was all about. If we thought it meant more spiritual, or more in touch with the other world, more ethereal or something sort of spacy and distant, we had it wrong. If we mean more in tune with the Spirit’s leading, in other words more obedient and in touch with the things of God and the ways of God and the thoughts of God and those ramifications for life and the kingdom, then we are on the right track.

Spiritual growth only happens as we act on our Biblical beliefs. If we submit ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus we grow in grace and the knowledge of the Son of God (2 Pet. 3:18). The Spirit of God works in us to change us into the likeness of Christ. If we are in rebellion against him, we are not growing spiritually at all. Spiritual growth means we are becoming more like Jesus. It does not mean we are more spiritual in the sense the pagans mean it.

As This Relates to Counseling

What this means for Biblical Counselors is that our goal, to make every man mature in Christ, is real spiritual work. We are coming along side others to help them learn to walk with God more consistently, more effectively, more like Jesus, and to bring others along with them. God gave ministers to the church to train the people to do the works of service (Eph. 4:10). He commanded all of us to make disciples of every nation (Mt. 28:19). A disciple is someone who follows Jesus and learns to be like him. Our goal as Biblical Counselors is to help others become disciples of Jesus and to help disciples be more like Jesus. In the process God will be working in them to change their hearts and minds to be more like Christ. And thus bring glory to God.

Two Directions at Once

Biblical change happens as we recognize those areas of our lives that are not being offered up to Jesus Christ as something that brings him glory. We want glory for ourselves and so we clutch and grab. We steal, envy, lust, grumble, complain, and are angry because we can’t have what God has not given us, or because we cannot capitalize on what God has given us. This is sin. But sin has a blinding effect on us. It causes us to not be able to see what it is we are doing. God has an answer, however. God sends the Holy Spirit to us to reveal our hearts to us and he sends fellow Christians to us to help us see our shortcomings, failures and rebellion. He points out our sin to us. This is the first task of the Biblical Counselor; to help the counselee see and understand his heart the way God sees and understands his heart.

Once a person realizes that the problems he is having in life are directly related to the fact that he has erected idols in his heart to distract him from submitting to God, and he realizes that he wants to get rid of those idols, he needs to confess his rebellion and let God forgive and cleanse him from his sin. Remember, we began this lecture with glory, but idols steal God’s glory. So, he hates them with a holy passion and so should we.

But wait, there’s more. In addition to confessing his sin, the counselee needs to endeavor to replace living the wrong way with living the right way. We call this change, repentance, a changing of the mind (of heart) from doing it wrong to doing it right.

This is the other half of Biblical counseling; to help people learn to live the right way with God and fellow men. Christians are constantly repenting; turning away from sin and to God. Christians turn from doing it our way, to doing it God’s way. We are going two directions at once, away and toward.

Progressive Sanctification

On one hand this talk has been all about glory and change. On the other hand, in a very sneaky way, what I’ve been talking about has been what theologians call progressive sanctification. Sanctification means to be made holy. The Bible tells us that in Christ, God has made us holy (Heb 10:10). We are holy because of what Jesus did for us on the Cross. Another way of saying holy is to say, “sanctified,” “set apart,” “elect,” “sacred,” or even “special.” In this sense, we have been made holy. We are already holy. But the Bible tells us that while we are already holy, we are also being made holy (Heb 10:14). We are living out our holiness. In a sense we are proving, by our lives, what God has already declared (Jn 14:15).

What this looks like is us doing things; obeying, loving, acting, etc. It might, at times look like we are trying to earn our holiness, but if we are trying to earn it, we’ve got it all wrong. Christians live out what God has declared because God declared it and it is true. But as we live out what God has given to us, God works in us to make us like Christ (Eph 4:11-16). And so, we have not only been declared to be holy, we are also becoming holy. We call this process progressive sanctification.

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Christmas with Both Feet on the Ground

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Introduction

One of our great temptations is to project doctrinal anachronisms back into the past. When Jesus was living among us, and teaching His disciples, it is pretty easy for us to take post-resurrection realities, or post-ascension realities, or even post-Nicene realities, and project them back into the minds of the disciples. Now these were realities at these earlier times, but they were not known or confessed realities. Yet.

The disciples had a dim and hazy understanding of who Jesus was, but it did not really come into focus for them until after the resurrection. And even the understanding that Jesusgrew up into, as He grew, was an understanding of His own identity and mission which increased.

The Text

“And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.” (Luke 2:40).

Summary of the Text

Speaking of the Lord Jesus as a child, Luke tells us some very interesting things. First, as a true child, He grew. His spirit grew stronger, which means that it grew stronger than it had been before. The child was filled with wisdom, and you could see that wisdom growing in Him. In all of this, it was clear that the grace of God, meaning the favor of God, was resting upon Him. There is an echo here of what was said centuries before of Samuel. “And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the Lord, and also with men” (1 Sam. 2:26).

Away in a Manger

The sum of what I am saying here is that the baby Jesus was not lying in the manger, thinking something like “well, thirty years to go.” That conception is far too much like “God in a man suit” to be orthodox—assuming infinitude inside and finitude outside. Remember that we are confessing that Jesus is fully God and fully man, and these natures are fully united together in one person, Jesus the son of Mary.

But to say that Jesus is fully God and fully man is to say that He was fully infinite andfully finite, which means that infinitude and finitude must somehow be added together, and not finitude somehow subtracted from infinitude. Jesus was fully omniscient andtruly limited in knowledge. Now what is the psychological import of all this? What was Jesus thinking and experiencing? Fortunately, the Bible tells us.

The Experience of Finitude

In His divine nature, Jesus was fully omniscient. But in the lived experience that Jesus had, this was a knowledge that He did not “tap into.” How do we know this? There are several instances in Scripture where Jesus confesses that He does not know something. Being omniscient and experiencing omniscience are not the same thing.

“And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?” (Mark 5:30).

“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father” (Mark 13:32).

And Yet . . .

At the same time, we know that Jesus had to have known of His divine vocation from early on. Luke almost certainly got his knowledge of the early events of the life of Jesus from Mary—he says he got his accounts from eyewitnesses (Luke 1:2). He says pointedly that Mary treasured all these things up in her heart (Luke 2:19). And there was that back closet at their house with three chests containing gold, frankincense, and myrrh. An angel had appeared to her. Mary knew that she had conceived Jesus when she was still a virgin. I mean, something was up.

We know that He had a strong awareness of who He was by the time He was twelve. “And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49). Jesus knew at this point that He had to be about His Father’s work. He did notknow why Joseph and Mary were frantic with worry. And yet, it says, He was submissive to them (Luke 2:51), and this is part of what Mary treasured up in her heart. And right after this is our text, saying that Jesus flourished under the grace and favor of God.

The Confirmation

Jesus presented Himself to John the Baptist for a reason, and that reason had to do with His understanding of the Scriptures. Jesus already knew when He came to the river. And yet, in a special and miraculous sense, what He knew was divinely communicated to Him.

“And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22).

And what was confirmed to Him at His baptism is the very point of the assault from the devil in the temptation immediately following (Luke 4:1). This was the point of the devil’s spear. “Ifyou are the Son of God, if you are the Son of God . . .” Thatwas the truth that Jesus was being tempted to test. That was what He was being challenged to doubt and independently confirm.

Anointed by the Spirit

Jesus did not do the great miracles that He did, and He did not know what He miraculously knew, because He was “God inside.” He did all that He did because the Holy Spirit empowered Him to do so. He did what He did throughout the course of His ministry as a Spirit-empowered man.

To be tempted is to be limited and finite. And Jesus knows what it is to be tempted. He has that experience, which is strong consolation for us. “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15). The word rendered here as “touched” means to “suffer together with.”

Apostle and High Priest

“Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus” (Heb. 3:1).

Jesus is fully God, and fully man. As God, He is the sent one from God, the apostle of God coming to us. As man, He is our high priest, coming to God on our behalf. He is the perfect bridge that crosses the chasm between a holy God and sinful man. And thatis the entire point of Christmas.

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Mary’s Christmas Courage

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Introduction

How would you answer this? “Christmas is a season of…” Gifts, joy, eggnog, perhaps. I’d suggest that Christmas is a season of courage. Because Jesus Christ has entered into his world, Christians should have courage. This courage is not primarily to wade boldly into opening presents Christmas morning, rather courage directed toward the world and God’s work in the world. Here in this story, we have the meeting of Mary and Elizabeth, rejoicing that the Christ has come. Because Christ has come, these women become courageous. What produces Christmas courage? These women know and believe God’s word about Christ’s incarnation. Both are humble. And in their belief and humility, these women become courageous because Jesus Christ has come.

Elizabeth’s Belief, Humility, Courage (vs. 39-45)

Our story begins when two very happy and unexpectedly pregnant women meet. A rapid series of events then happen when Mary greets Elizabeth––John gives a mighty leap, the Holy Spirit fills Elizabeth, she blesses Mary with a loud voice (41-42). This must have been a mighty leap to make it into Scripture. What is Baby John doing? He’s already fulfilling his mission––to lead people to the Christ. If he could have talked in utero, John may have said something like this, “Mom! That’s HIM! That’s the Christ.”

The Spirit has filled Elizabeth and Elizabeth believesthat Mary is pregnant with the Christ, the blessed fruit of Mary’s womb (vs. 42). With great humility, Elizabeth asks, “But why is this granted to me, that he mother of my Lordshould come to me?” Elizabeth lays aside her great news––this barren woman is having a baby, to celebrate Mary’s best news––this virgin woman is having the Christ. Elizabeth demonstrates what her son would soon do––I must decrease, the Christ must increase.

Elizabeth’s humility and her firm confidence of knowing her Lord has come produces a courage in her. Notice that when she blesses Mary she speakswith a loud voice. After she became pregnant, Elizabeth hid herself away for months. But now that Christ has come to her, she has fresh courage!

Mary’s Belief Magnifies the Lord (vs. 46-47)

Up to this point, Mary has only gotten out a greeting. She has received Elizabeth’s words of blessing and confirmation and joy, and believesthem. Mary believesthe words that Gabriel spoke to her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her, and she would conceive a child by the power of the Most High, and this child is the Christ, the Son of God (1:35-36). She believesand so magnifies the Lord and rejoices, “My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior!” Mary rejoices because she knows and believes that the baby growing inside her will not only be her son, but her Savior! That means that Mary knew she needed to be saved, saved from her sins. This verse battles the Roman Catholic lie of the “Immaculate Conception of Mary.”

He has Regarded the Lowly State (vs. 48-50)

Mary’s belief in Jesus as the Christ and her Savior rises from Mary’s humility. “For He has regarded the lowly state of his maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name” (vs. 48-49). You hear this and wonder if Mary is being kind of conceited, arrogant? Mary is actually demonstrating a deep humility that looks to God to receive her identity.

Humility looks to the Lord to receive your identity. Yes, Mary knows her low estate. But she calls herself blessed, because God called her blessed. She is exalted because of the great thing the Lord has done for her. Because she humbly looks to the Lord and believes, she is not ashamed, afraid, embarrassed of the “scandal,” but is courageous.

Put Down the Mighty and Exalted the Lowly (vs. 50-56)

Mary knows the Lord’s favor and mercy is not just for her but “from generation to generation” (vs. 50) And so she becomes a bold evangelist, “He has shown strength with his arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly” Mary’s song is about unexpected reversals, and of God setting things right. Unexpected reversals have already been happening in this chapter. Barren wombs are growing babies. A humble maidservant is the mother of the King of the universe. The humble are lifted up and exalted. The proud and mighty are and broken and brought low. Why? Because Jesus Christ has come. Christ comes and turns the world upside down in order to set all things right.

Notice that Mary puts all the Lord’s work in the past tense. He has already scatteredthe proud. He has put downthe mighty from their thrones and exaltedthe lowly. It’s like Mary believes the victory has already been secured, the conclusion of the war already achieved. But “reasonable” eyes could look around and see that Herod is king and he’s going to try to kill Jesus in the next chapter. There are complacent priests and proud pharisees. Caesar is still the ruling world. But Mary knows that she has already conceived the Messiah. Elizabeth is already six months pregnant with the one to prepare the way. And so, they have Christmas courage.

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Waiting for Christ’s Consolation

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Text: Luke 2:25-35

Advent Waiting

This Sunday begins the season of Advent. Advent is a season of waiting and anticipation for the arrival of Jesus at Christmas. Two traditions that have developed during Advent are writing wish lists and then waiting for those wishes. “What do you want for Christmas?” is often answered by writing a wishlist. But then follows the long wait for those hope for gifts. At Advent, we have an annual opportunity to want and wait. How do we do this? We need to learn how to want and to wait like Simeon. Simeon was a man waiting for the consolation of Israel and was led by the Spirit to Jesus Christ.

Waiting for the Consolation of Israel (2:25-28)

Luke introduces Simeon as a just and devout man, “waiting for the Consolation of Israel.” Consolation means comfort, sympathy, compassion. When Simeon is waiting for Israel’s consolation, we find that Simeon is waiting for a person––the Lord’s Christ. The Spirit has revealed to Simeon that he would not see death until he has seen the Lord’s Christ. Consolation is coming to Israel, because the Christ is coming to Israel. How is he waiting? He is waitingas a just and devout man. He is waitingwith the Holy Spirit upon him. That means that a believer can be filled with the Spirit and still not have all he wants.

Spirit-Filled Simeon

When Simeon waits in the Spirit, the Spirit leads Simeon to the Christ. Verse 27-28, “So Simeon came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God” (vs. 27-28). This may be an odd question, but what right did Simeon have to go to Jesus? What are his credentials to go up to a mother, scoop up a baby, and bless God and the family? Simeon’s credentials are the Holy Spirit! Luke makes it very clear that the Spirit leads Simeon to Jesus.

This is not limited to Simeon but to all believers. Simeon is a picture, a forerunner of the church––all Christians who have the Spirit are lead to the Christ. So, if you have the Spirit, what are you waiting for? The Consolation is here because Jesus the Christ has come.

My Eyes Have Seen Your Salvation (vs. 29-32)

Simeon gathers Jesus in his arms and blesses God, saying, “Lord, now You are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; For my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel” (vs. 29-32). Simeon sees Jesus and concludes this is the fulfillment of God’s promise. Jesus is Lord’s Christ. Jesus is God’s salvation.

Simeon says that he can now depart in peace. Having seen the Lord’s Messiah, Simeon can die a happy man, a satisfied man, a fulfilled man. We often use this phrase in jest, “I can die happy now…” The focus of this sentiment is not the desire to die, but the value of the desire fulfilled. Luke shows that Simeon’s desire to see his Savior was so valuable, so glorious that nothing else experienced is his whole life could match this sight.

Jesus is God’s salvation that he has prepared before the face of all peoples and for all people. What do all people need to be saved from? The answer is in Jesus’ name, “You shall come his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Mat. 1:21).

Blessings From a Piercing Sword (vs. 33-35)

Joseph and Mary rightfully marvel at what Simeon says about Jesus. And then Simeon blesses them with a specific word to Mary, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (vs. 34-35). These prophecies are fulfilled in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Remember that Simeon is saying all of this as a blessingto Mary and Joseph. But what he is saying does not seem like a blessing, a comfort, but a deep grief, a soul-piercing sorrow. So how was such a piercing to be a blessing to Mary—to see, as she was to live to see, her Son mocked, stripped naked, body flayed open and brutally crucified? Simeon is revealing how God will comfort his people, bless his people––through the cross. It is the crucifixion of the Christ that brings consolation for the world.

The Thoughts of Many Hearts Revealed (vs. 35)

Advent is a season that reveals the thoughts of many hearts. What did the advent of Jesus reveal in this story? A longing and ache for the consolation of Israel. The soul-piercing sorrow of a mother. The Advent season is not the absence of grief, fear, pain, dread. Rather it is the season of God entering into our grief, fear, pain, dread. That’s why our Advent preparation must not be all jolly and jingle bells. A pierced heart is present, a life-time of longing. Advent is a season of waiting for Christ’s Consolation. But wait like Simeon who was led by the Spirit to Jesus Christ.

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