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Not Having My Own Righteousness (
Philippians #11)

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INTRODUCTION

We come now to a particular gospel “turn” that is extremely troublesome to the carnal mind. The square peg of “alien righteousness” goes not go into the round hole of any “righteousness of my own.” Consequently, a great deal of ingenuity has been expended on trying to make it fit. We might even go so far as to say that this problem, this tension, is the driving engine of almost all new developments in theology. And that is not a good thing. The challenge always comes down to the unvarnished gospel versus the “cold clatter of morality.” 

THE TEXT

“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:7–12). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

In his previous life, prior to his conversion, Paul had been proud of his resume, proud of his heritage. All those things had been “gain” to him, but no more. He uses the same word that he used in Phil. 1:21 (kerdos), but showing a complete reversal of values. He counts all that a loss for the sake of Christ (v. 7). He goes on to extend the exchange to “all things,” considering the loss of everything to be insignificant when compared to the excellency of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord (v. 8). More than insignificant, he counts every possible honor as skubalon—rubbish, garbage, offal, dung, or refuse (v. 8). He does not just know Christ now, he also strains to win Christ at the last (v. 8). He rejects his own righteousness, that which is “by law,” and wants to be found in Christ by faith, not having his own righteousness, but rather the righteousness which is “of God by faith” (v. 9). He not only wants Christ now, and Christ at the last, but also Christ on the journey (v. 10). This refers to the koinonia of his suffering, lining up with His death, so that he might know the power of resurrection (v. 10). Experiencing the power of resurrection now means a promise of attaining to the resurrection of the dead at the last day (v. 11). Not that he has already made it, because he knows that he has not, but he pursues it nonetheless. He wants nothing more than to apprehend that for which he was apprehended. He wants to seize that for which he was seized (v. 12).  

ALL THE WAY IN

This is an area where we must pay close attention to the exhortation given by that great Puritan Richard Baxter, when he said, “screw the truth into men’s minds.” If we don’t take care to do that, this particular truth will always pop out again, rattle on the floor for a moment, and disappear into an obscure corner.

SUBMITTING TO THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD

There is another place in Paul where he summarizes this glorious truth, talking about how the exquisitely pious Jews, in all their zeal, managed to miss it. What went wrong?

“For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:3). 

The word for submit here is hypotasso, and is the same word that is used in a number of other places. Domestic servants, house slaves, are told to be subject to their masters (1 Pet. 2:18). Wives are commanded to be submissive to their own husbands (Col. 3:18). We are called to be subject to principalities and powers (Tit. 3:1). The young should submit to the elderly (1 Pet. 5:5). The problem that the Jews had was found in their unwillingness to submit to the righteousness of God. This is why the gospel is described by Paul as a message to be obeyed (Rom. 10:16), and why those who reject it are described as a disobedient people (Rom. 10:21). 

In our text, Paul says that he wanted to be found in Christ, not having his own righteousness (Phil 3:9). In Romans 10, he says that the Jews went around trying to establish their own righteousness, and refused to submit to the righteousness of God (Rom. 10:3). This means that what we are talking about is not acknowledging that God, over there, is righteous. We are not acknowledging that, but rather trusting in. The righteousness of someone else is imputed to me, and so it is that every form of ego-credit vanishes. 

POISONOUS PRONOUNS

The poison of autonomy is therefore found in the personal possessive pronouns—mine, ours, and so forth. It is not to be found in the external things we cook up to do, which may or may not be noble and right. If I give all my possessions to feed the poor, but have not love, I am nothing (1 Cor. 13:3). This is because I gave everything away except my own righteousness. As long as I cling to that, I am clutching at my own essential unrighteousness.

And this is why the deepest repentance possible is not of the things we are ashamed of, but rather of the things we are proud of. Men are not truly converted until their virtues humiliate them. This is why tax collectors and whores enter the kingdom first (Matt. 21:31). They know how valuable all their virtues are, which cannot be said for the theologians and scribes.  

Flannery O’Connor describes this principle wonderfully at the conclusion of her potent short story Revelation. Mrs. Turpin has been given a vision of a procession into Heaven. 

“Upon it a vast horde of souls were tumbling toward heaven. There were whole companies of white trash, clean for the first time in their lives, and bands of blacks *** in white robes, and battalions of freaks and lunatics shouting and clapping and leaping like frogs. And bringing up the end of the procession was a tribe of people whom she recognized at once as those who, like herself and Claud, had always had a little of everything and the given wit to use it right. She leaned forward to observe them closer. They were marching behind the others with great dignity, accountable as they had always been for good order and common sense and respectable behavior. They, alone were on key. Yet she could see by their shocked and altered faces even their virtues were being burned away.”

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No Confidence in the Flesh
 (Philippians #10)

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INTRODUCTION

Everyone here has an inner life and an external life. If there had been no fall, no rebellion, there would have been a true unity between the two. But the entry of sin into the world made it possible for us to dissemble and to play the hypocrite. When this happens, a person takes advantage of the separation—he can now present one appearance to the world, a holy appearance, and he can keep a lozenge of diseased unholiness under his tongue. 

THE TEXT

“Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless” (Phil. 3:1–6). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Remember that one of the themes of this letter is the necessity of rejoicing in the Lord. This is stated again here (v. 1). Paul does not mind repeating himself, which he certainly does here, and he regards the repetition as being a safety for them (v. 1). Sound doctrine is the foundation of all true joy, and so it is crucial that they be warned away from the false teachers. These false teachers he calls dogs (v. 2), evil workers (v. 2), and the party of mutilation (v. 2). They call what they are doing “circumcision,” but that honor actually goes to the orthodox Christians (v. 3). They are the ones characterized by three things—they worship God in the spirit, they rejoice in Christ, and they put no confidence in fleshly work (v. 3). If it were possible for any man to have confidence in the flesh, Paul could certainly outdo him (v. 4). Paul then pulls out his resume—circumcised on day eight, Israelite stock, a Benjaminite, a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee concerning the law, a zealous persecutor (v. 6), and blameless if you wanted to call this kind of thing blameless. 

TWO KINDS OF BLAMELESSNESS UNDER THE LAW

Throughout the book of Psalms, we see petitions lifted up on the basis of the psalmist’s innocence or blamelessness—“Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity . . .” (Psalm 26:1). 

Zecharias and Elizabeth were blameless in this way:

“And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” (Luke 1:6). 

But they were not sinless, as can be seen in how Zecharias was disciplined for his failure to believe Gabriel (Luke 1:19-20). If God were to mark iniquities . . . (Ps. 130:3). But they were nevertheless conscientious believers, and they were faithful to the covenant of their God—a covenant that made ample provision for sin.  

But prior to his conversion, Paul was not at all like this. He was blameless in the sense that all his papers were in order, but he was also a blasphemer (1 Tim. 1:13), and an insolent man (v. 13). His was an external blamelessness. Internally, he was a rat’s nest of corruptions (Rom. 7:19-20).

One time I asked a leading theologian in a movement that is called the New Perspective on Paul whether or not he believed that Zecharias and Elizabeth, on the one hand, and Paul, on the other, were all basically in the same category. Sure, Paul was something of a hothead, but were they all “blameless according to the law” in the same basic way? He said they were. But this is obviously false. Zecharias was regenerate and Paul, prior to the Damascus road, was unregenerate. The distance between them was the distance between Heaven and Hell.  

MY BIBLE IS MORE UNDERLINED THAN YOURS

The easiest thing in the world is to disparage the external markers of holiness that other traditions or religions hold as precious. In the Middle East, men can buy make-up that will mimic a callus on your forehead, the kind of callus that forms when you pray toward Mecca the way you ought. The bishop wears a mitered hat in order to accentuate his dignity. A pop evangelical preacher wears a Daffy Duck t-shirt to accentuate his relevance and approachability. Funny hat, funny shirt, tomayto, tomahto.

When the Pharisee and the tax collector prayed in the Temple, and the Pharisee prayed like a good Reformed man—soli Deo gloria—“I thank thee, God . . .” he went home unjustified. But how many of us thank God that at least we are not like that Pharisee?

How many Reformed believers know that we cannot take any glory in the creature, none whatever, and somehow take glory in the fact that this is something we understand. Self-righteousness can feed upon doctrines as well as upon flowing robes and stoles. We are fallen and can take ego-credit for anything, and can be quite proud of our humility.

We have to keep an eye on all these twists and turns. As the Baptist minister once put it, with a twinkle in his eye, “We Baptists don’t believe in tradition. It is contrary to our historic position.” 

HEART RELIGION

What indicators can the devil duplicate? The devil can sign an orthodox creed (Jas. 2:19). The devil can quote Scripture from memory (Matt. 4:6). The devil can perform miracles (Matt. 24:24). The devil can conduct his temptations on the pinnacle of the Temple (Matt. 4:5). The devil can dazzle you the way a shining angel could (2 Cor. 11:14).  

What can’t the devil do? He cannot wash your sins away. He cannot usher you into joy. “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.” If you were wearing a beautiful cross around your neck, and I were to use that as an illustration in the sermon, as a thing that some trust in instead of Christ, you could not fix the problem by taking off the necklace. It fixes nothing to replace the “necklace” with “no necklace.” No, the thing must be replaced with joy. 

“For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 14:17). 

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Timothy and Epaphroditus 
(Philippians #9)

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INTRODUCTION

The Christian faith is by no means a solitary business. The grace of regeneration extends to each individual, but because this grace is brought by means of the Spirit of God, one of the first things it does is knit us together with all the other recipients of this same grace. Each Christian is touched by God, but there is only one body. This is manifested in different ways. One of them is the great grace of corporate worship. “I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people” (Psalm 35:18). But another aspect of this is the grace of companionship, a grace that we see several times in this passage. “And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life” (Phil. 4:3, NKJV). 

THE TEXT

“But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s. But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel. Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me. But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly. Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants. For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick. For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation: Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me.” (Philippians 2:19–30).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul had picked up Timothy as his assistant very early on. Several decades after they joined forces, Paul still needs to caution him about not letting people despise his youth (1 Tim. 4:12), and of the need to flee youthful lusts (2 Tim. 2:22). This means Timothy was likely in his teens when he first came onto Paul’s team. Paul’s intention here is to send Timothy to Philippi as his representative (v. 19), in order to learn how they were. Paul says that he has no one else like Timothy, one who would care naturally for them (v. 20). Others were selfish, not seeking out the interests of Christ (v. 21). But the Philippians knew Timothy’s worth, how he had served Paul as a faithful son in the gospel work (v. 22). Paul was going to send him to get news from Philippi, just as soon as he would be able to bring news from Paul. (v. 23). If things worked out, Paul would also follow (v. 24). In addition to sending Timothy, he was also going to send Epaphroditus back to them (v. 25). He was Paul’s brother, co-laborer, fellow soldier, and servant to Paul—but their messenger (v. 25). Epaphroditus was greatly concerned because he knew that they had heard about his illness (v. 26). He had in fact almost died, but God had mercy on both him and Paul (v. 27). Paul was spared sorrow upon sorrow. Paul was therefore very deliberate about sending him home again, to augment their joy and reduce Paul’s sorrow (v. 28).   Paul urges them to receive him back with gladness, and to honor him highly (v. 29). His illness had been work related, and he had risked his life to fulfill the task they had given him to do (v. 30).

THAT NAME EPAPHRODITUS

We should also take a minute to glean a lesson from the fact that Paul’s “fellow soldier” was named (still named) Epaphroditus. That name means “dedicated to Aphrodite,” or Venus, the goddess of sexual love. It is natural and right that we name things after what we love and honor, and I suspect it was not too long in the history of the church before Christian parents stopped naming their kids Epaphroditus. But it is equally important for us not to be too fastidious in the meantime. “Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?” (Ecclesiastes 7:16). Tychicus had a name related to fate or chance, and Mordecai means dedicated to Marduk. 

So you should not be too concerned about meeting someone for lunch on Thor’s Day. Or that some think that Christmas used to be a pagan holiday. That’s all right. We used to be pagans. 

FELLOW SOLDIERS

When the Lord Jesus sent out the seventy, He sent them out “two by two” (Luke 10:1-2). Even though the laborers were few, He did not spread them out into “ones.” Paul goes to Athens alone, but he wanted Silas and Timothy to join up with him with “all speed” (Acts 17:15). After they arrived, the effectiveness of the ministry was amplified (Acts 18:5, 8-10). And when Paul was in Troas, there was a real open door, but he had no peace in his spirit because he hadn’t heard from Titus (2 Cor. 2:12-13). Companionship in gospel work is an assigned strategy.

“Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me: For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry. And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus. The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments” (2 Timothy 4:9–13).

The key to effective ministry. Companions. And books.

SORROW UPON SORROW

Now Paul had just finished saying that if he were to be sacrificed on the altar of the Philippians’ obedience, he would rejoice, and so would they (Phil. 2:17-18). But he says here that if Epaphroditus had died, it would have left him disconsolate (v. 27). Is this a contradiction? It would be if Christian joy were a happy-happy-joy-joy kind of thing, but it isn’t. We are not made out of blocks of wood. It is possible to rejoice in the Lord through tears of grief.

“As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things” (2 Cor. 6:10).

Who do we follow? Who is our Lord? He is the man of sorrows, acquainted with grief (Is. 53:3). He went to the cross for the joy that was set before Him (Heb. 12:2). He is now at the right hand of the Father, where there is an infinite river of pleasure (Ps. 16:11), and fulness of joy. 

   

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No Murmuring at All
 (Philippians #8)

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Introduction

We have been focusing on like-mindedness and joy. But the particular like-mindedness and joy that Paul is urging upon the Philippians is not simply something that would create harmony and happiness within the body of Christ. It also creates a dramatic contrast with the only other way of attempting to be human, the way pursued by those who are outside of Christ. Christians who are living like Christians shine like stars against the darkness of a complaining generation. 

The Text

“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all. For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.” (Philippians 2:12–18). 

Summary of the Text

Paul says that the Philippians are beloved of him, and he remarks on their past pattern of obedience to apostolic authority. As they have been obedient, he wants them now to be much more obedience in his absence (v. 12). The command they are to obey is the requirement to work out their own salvation, and to do so with fear and trembling (v. 12). The reason given why they are to do this that God Himself is working in them, to will and to accomplish according to His good pleasure (v. 13). What should this “working out” look like? We begin by doing all things, not most things but all things, without murmuring or disputing (v. 14). Notice the link between an absence of disputing and like-mindedness. Living this way sets up a dramatic contrast between them and the backdrop of a crooked and perverse time (v. 15). Such blameless and harmless sons of God would shine out as lights against the pitch blackness of a murmuring and disputing world (v 15). Paul wants them to hold forth the word of life (the gospel) so that he might have additional cause for rejoicing in the day of Christ (v. 16). Since he was laboring for the fruit of the gospel in their lives, this would be evidence that his labors were not futile (v. 16). If their obedience were to be the altar upon which Paul was to be sacrificed, he would rejoice and rejoice together with them (v. 17). If he departs to be with Christ, they would triumph together with him (v. 18).  

Work Out, Work In

Paul here tells them to work out their own salvation, so let us consider this first. The reason given for them working out their salvation is that God is working in their salvation. They are to work out what God works in. It is the same root verb in both uses. As God works His will into us, and as He works His good pleasure into us, we work out that same salvation by exhibiting to the world what God exhibited to our souls.

The Pelagian says that God works in nothing, we work the whole thing out. The antinomian says that God works in everything, and we have to do nothing. 

But how much of your salvation is worked into you by God? 100%. And how much of your salvation is worked out by you? Also 100%. As the great Augustine once put it, “Grant what thou commandest, and command what thou dost desire.”  

If we recognize the awesome grace that is involved in this, what we work out is not going to be done in a spirit of showboating, but rather with a demeanor of “fear and trembling.”

What Comes Out in This Working Out

So Paul tells us to work out our salvation. But when we work it out, what is it that comes out? The opposite of murmuring. “Do all things without murmuring and disputing.” Any salvation that is being worked out is a salvation that is resolved to be done without moaning, complaining, grumbling, murmuring, kvetching, fretting, bellyaching, carping, fussing, groaning, grousing, whimpering, whining—and have you ever noticed how many words we have for this? Kind of like  the Eskimos and snow.  

The Stark Contrast

This is a living out of the gospel, the word of life (v. 16). The crooked and perverse nation is the world without the gospel, and is assumed to be sheer darkness (v. 15). When the gospel comes to people in this dark world, and they look to Christ, the end result is that they are saved, and begin to work out that salvation. The fruit of that salvation is love, joy, peace, and all the rest (Gal. 5:22). The fruit of light is that which is good, and right, and true (Eph. 5:9). The fruit of this grace is faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, and the rest (2 Pet. 1:5-8). But in this place, Paul sums up the contrast by saying that the result of working the grace of this salvation is an absence of complaining. 

Think about what happens when you congregate with your unbelieving acquaintances. What do they complain about? They complain about their husbands and wives. They complain about their children. They complain about their parents. They complain about their pay. They complain about the weather. They complain about the stupidity of co-workers. They complain about taxes. They complain and complain, and are in the process of turning into a cluster of grumbles themselves. 

One of the most potent evangelistic things you could do is simply express gratitude publicly for the things that they like to complain about. 

Bring This Back to Christ

Remember the context here. Paul ends this passage by considering the prospect of him being sacrificed on the altar of their obedience, and he rejoices in that. When he commands them later to “rejoice always” (Phil. 4:4), he is not telling them this in the context of a minor problem like sore feet. Paul is cultivating the mind of Christ in his life, and he is urging the Philippians to do the same thing in theirs.

We have just finished considering how Christ made Himself of “no reputation” (Phil. 2:8). Did He have anything to complain about? Was there nothing in the treatment He received that was worthy of a murmuring spirit? Anguish, yes, but complaining . . . no. 

And this is why we are privileged, as believers, to look straight at the cross of Christ. When we do, we also are looking at all the complaints of all of God’s elect. We see them all, but we see them all crucified.  

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The Mind of Christ (Philippians #7)

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Introduction

We have been emphasizing like-mindedness and its relationship to joy. But like-mindedness cannot be cobbled together from side-to-side. If you tied two people’s legs together, what you get is not unanimity, but rather a three-legged race at the picnic, and people falling down. So the like-mindedness that we must pursue must be pursued through our imitation of Christ. Paul said in the first chapter that he wanted them to be of “one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Phil. 1:27). He exhorted them in Phil. 2:2 to be like-minded. In the next verse he commends lowliness of mind (Phil. 2:3). And here we come to the capstone of all of this—which is the mind of Christ.

This is how we are to understand how it all ties together: one mind > like-minded > lowliness of mind > the mind of Christ. 

The Text

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:5–11). 

Summary of the Text

There are good arguments for considering this passage (vv. 6-11) to be an early Christian hymn, one that Paul inserted here to anchor his point about humility of mind. He begins by exhorting them to cultivate the same mind that was in Christ (v. 5). Earlier in v. 3, he told us that we were to have lowliness of mind. Christ was perfect, and Christ was humble.

And here the hymn begins. He was in the very form of God, and so it was not grasping for Him to consider Himself equal with God (v. 6). He was with God, and He was God (John 1:1). So He, infinitely majestic, made Himself to be of “no reputation.” God became a nobody. He was in the form of God, but took on the form of a slave (doulos), and was made in the likeness of men (v. 7). And being found in that form, that schematic, of a man, He humbled Himself—further—and was obedient to God, all the way to death on a cross (v. 8). Because He was obedient down to the nadir of degradation, what did God do? God has exalted Him, and has exalted Him above every possible name (v. 9). Because His name is above every name, the result will be that every knee will bow, whether they be the knees of creatures in Heaven, or on earth, or subterranean (v. 10). Not only will every knee bow, but every tongue is also going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and the end result will be that God the Father will be glorified (v. 11).  

Form of God, Form of Man 

As we see here in this text, and as we learn from the creeds, the Lord Jesus was not an admixture of Deity and humanity. He was and remained fully God. But He did not grasp for the prerogatives of that reality, but rather submitted to the will of His Father. When He did this, He took on the form of a man. He added humanity to Himself, subtracting nothing, and with that union accomplished by the Holy Spirit. This was not a mingling or a mixture. He was and remains fully God and He became fully man. As the Athanasian Creed puts it—“One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh; but by assumption of the Manhood into God. One altogether; not by confusion of Substance [or essence]; but by unity of Person.” In this, the natures of Deity and humanity are not blurred or smudged together. Rather, they are joined, and their distinct natures kept distinct, with the intersection where they meet being the person of our Lord Jesus. 

Cultivate This Mind . . .

According to carnal calculations, the mind of Christ would have no reason to be humble. Why should perfection be humble? But He was absolute perfection, and this means that His humility was absolutely perfect. Humility is one of the attributes of perfection.

And it is here that we must learn to make an important distinction. There is a difference between being humble and being humiliated, shamed, or embarrassed. Now these latter sensations can actually be good for us, and frequently are. God can use them in our lives to great profit. Being taken down a few pegs in such ways can set the stage for growth in humility, but they are not the same thing as humility. 

Growth in humility does not mean identifying yourself as a lousy worm. That would be humiliation, which might be a gospel duty. If you have been behaving like a lousy worm then you should admit it. Such humiliation is good for you. But that is not humility. Humility is the attitude that receives such humiliation. And growth in humility means learning to not think of yourself at all. Humility is that which receives the humbling and does not notice the promotion. 

What It Means to “Not Notice”

There is a not-noticing that is humility, and there is a not-noticing that is simply ignorance and stupidity. Christ has been exalted to the highest place, and it is not as though He does not know this. When Joseph was exalted to high position in Egypt, he knew that this had happened. When Daniel was promoted in Babylon, he was aware of it.

So what do I mean by “noticing” and “not noticing?” I mean noticing your accolades, or your honors, or your promotions, treating them as sweet morsels for your ego. You keep each one of them like a lozenge under your tongue. That kind of thing is perilous for the soul.

Looking to Christ, and Not to Man

“How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?” (John 5:44).

In order to have the mind of Christ, you must look to Christ. When you look to Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, your lust for the praise of man will start to evaporate. And the more you look to man for his praise, the harder it becomes for you to understand the mind of Christ. 

The difference can be put in a nutshell. Looking to man means that you want to go straight to the crown. Looking to Christ means that you want to follow Him through the cross to a true crown, the kind that never perishes. 

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