CREDIT CARD RELIGION

Rev John Westendorp

 

Text: – Philippians 3:1-9

Reading – Luke 18:9-14

Songs – BOW 115, 191, 143, ‘In Christ alone’

 

Introduction:

Over the years I’ve heard two very common complaints about Christian preachers.

And – in a way – we could level those same two complaints also against the apostle Paul.

The first complaint is that preachers don’t know when to say “Amen!”
Well, in our text Paul is thinking of winding up his letter to the Philippians.
Notice that he begins by saying, ‘finally….’ but then he goes on for two more chapters.
Then finally we get another ‘finally’ in 4:8 and then he’s still not finished.
It seems Paul keeps on thinking of more and more things he still wants to tell them.

 

A second complaint is that preachers often repeat themselves (2x). Paul certainly repeats himself.
Joy and rejoicing is a dominant theme in his letter to the Philippians.
And here for the thirteenth time he mentions joy and rejoicing in this epistle.
Rejoice! But then ‘in the Lord’. A deep spiritual joy. An attitude, a mind-set of gladness.
And he’s going to mention gladness three more times later – even more strongly (4:4).

 

So we have in our text his first thoughts about winding up the letter.
And what does he say by way of conclusion? Rejoice in the Lord!
Paul does not get weary of talking over and over about joy and gladness.
He says: I really don’t find it tiring to keep saying this to you.
And for you it’s a safeguard to keep saying it.

 

One reason why Christian preachers repeat themselves is because they consider something important.
And Paul considers this very important. And we, God’s people need to hear this repeated:
That Christians ought to rejoice in the Lord… to develop that mental attitude of joy.
It’s a safeguard… a protection for you. That’s why we need reminding of this.
The devil will not get far with you while you are rejoicing in the Lord.

 

However, the context is a rather unusual setting for gladness and rejoicing.

Paul immediately goes on to give a very stern and solemn warning.

 

A] WARNING AGAINST FALSE TEACHERS.

 

1. Verse 2 of this chapter has some very strong language.

It is a warning against false teachers in the church.

The NIV misses it but he actually calls on them 3 times to watch out.
Watch out for the dogs. Watch out for the workers of evil. Watch out for the mutilators.
Three very sharp, cryptic warnings against false teachers.

 

First he calls these false teachers ‘dogs’.
Want to insult a Jew? Call him a dog. That’s the name a Pharisee gave a Gentile/non Jew.
Dogs! Paul doesn’t mean nice little poodles/lap dogs… but vicious mongrels that roam in packs.
And with only one aim in view – to rip apart and destroy. That’s what these false teachers are.

 

Second, he calls them evil-doers.
These religious teachers were not just somewhat misguided… a little bit wrong.
They are serving the very purposes of the evil one.
Their actions are not just a bit off… there is something outright evil about what they do.

 

Thirdly he refers to them as mutilators.
These teachers taught that circumcision was absolutely essential to salvation.
But without reference to the inner meaning of the outward ritual. Apart from faith.
And then circumcision is no longer circumcision – it is mutilation.

 

2. So we have this vivid threefold description of false teachers (who are elsewhere called Judaizers).

Extremely strong language: Dogs… evil doers… mutilators…!

Paul is talking about religious leaders who taught that Christians have to keep the Law of Moses.
They said: “Unless you keep the Law of Moses you cannot be saved.”

 

It does seem these teachers were not yet a major problem in Philippi.

But they were elsewhere. It seems that they followed Paul around.
They had devastated the congregation at Galatia.
In fact, the letter to the Galatians was written especially to deal with this teaching.
And there too Paul uses very strong language (3:1) Foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you?

 

Why does Paul speak that way?
Because – as we’ll see – their teaching cuts the heart out of the gospel.
It effectively cancels out the good news of Jesus Christ.
That’s why Paul does not mince words.

 

That should make us realise today that we can be too soft on heresy… on false teaching.
We’re not talking here about minor issues on which Christians disagree.
For example: whether baptism should be by immersion or by sprinkling.
We’re talking about teaching where the gospel of Jesus is at stake.

 

One area of concern in our day is the attempt to make homosexuality acceptable in the church.
In Canada several churches have already approved same-sex marriage services.
In the UK the first homosexual bishop has been appointed.
That is not a minor issue. Faithfulness to Scripture is at stake.
And the gospel is at stake because sin is no longer being called sin.
And so Jesus’ saving work is not needed in that area of life.
At times like that we need to have Paul’s courage.
Paul says: Watch out for these dogs… these evil workers… these mutilators.

 

3. Paul does not want to give any credit to these false teachers.

He distinguishes them from true believers. Paul doesn’t even want to affirm them as Christians.

So over against these “Judaizers” Paul says in verse 3, ‘We are the circumcision’.
But he’s saying that to a bunch of people… most of whom were not Jews.
Many, most likely, had never even considered circumcision.

 

And yet Paul says, We are the circumcision.
Because what the ritual of circumcision pointed to was true for the believers at Philippi.
They were spiritually circumcised… set apart for God. And Paul spells that out in three ways.

 

First he says: we worship by the Spirit of God.
It is true for us as believers, what Jesus said to the woman at the well.
They who worship the Father must worship in Spirit and truth. And we do that.

 

Second – we glory in Christ Jesus.
We Christians don’t take pride in the things we do.
We take pride only in the achievements of Messiah Jesus. That is our boast.

 

Third – we put no confidence in the flesh.
We don’t put the emphasis on externals like circumcision… or baptism.
Our confidence is not in something done in or to our bodies. Our confidence is in Jesus.

 

Paul is saying then – You don’t need what these false teachers are offering you.

You no longer need all those rituals of Moses. You have all you need for your relationship with God.

You don’t need circumcision – through faith in Jesus Christ you already are the circumcision.

 

B] PAUL’S CREDIT CARDS – FUTILE.

 

1. However the apostle doesn’t leave it there. He wants to teach the Philippians what is really at stake.

So he puts the whole matter in terms of his own spiritual pilgrimage.

And by doing so he shows up the problem of these false teachers.

 

What these false teachers are really doing is trying to run up some credit with God.

Let me use a modern comparison.
We’re all familiar with credit cards – most of us have at least one.
It’s a quick way of getting what we want now… plastic money.
We can worry about payments later – sometimes even much later.
I met someone once who had a whole wallet full of them.
If one wasn’t accepted then another one was.
Well, “confidence in the flesh” is a little like confidence in a credit card.

 

Paul says: These false teachers reckon they’ve got a good credit card in circumcision.
Well, I’ve got a lot more credit cards like that.
And then Paul takes out his wallet and counts out his credit cards. It’s an impressive list.
Listen to them – and we’re tempted to say: Yep… I’ve got that one too.

 

First, there is RITUAL! Circumcised on the eighth day… marked as born a Jew and not a Gentile.
Paul had been initiated into the people of God when just a mere week and one day old.
It’s like saying: Look God, I’m okay! I underwent a ritual making me part of the church.
We’d say: No problem, my credit with God is good, I was baptised.
My parents brought me into church for a baptismal service. RITUAL!

 

Second, there is RACE! Of the people of Israel… not added to God’s people as a later convert.
I was born into God’s special family.
In fact I can trace my family line right back to the tribe of Benjamin.
My ancestry (meticulously kept) goes back to the youngest son of Jacob.
And then Paul works himself up to a climax.
A Hebrew of the Hebrews… despite having been born in another land.
I always kept up the Hebrew language and culture.
We’d say: my family has always had an honourable place in the church… a good family.
My parents were church goers and so were my grandparents. The credit card of RACE!

 

And then there is RELIGION! I’m a Pharisee. I keep the law. I go to the temple to pray.
They don’t come any stricter. Pharisees were religious down to the most minute detail.
Fasting two times a week… tithing even their garden herbs… keeping the law… scrupulously.

In fact Paul shows how evident his religious zeal was.
I went all over the place persecuting Christians. Well, all right, it was a bit misdirected…!
But no one can ever accuse me of doing things by halves.
And we still rely on that credit card of Religion today.
I say my prayers… religiously! I go to church regularly.

 

So what other standard do you want to measure me by?
Well there is still a fourth credit card… that of RESPECTABILITY!
Try for legalistic righteousness? Law keeping? Doing what is right? I had it all together.
Scrupulous in every respect.
Blameless… not a thing you could fault me on.

 

Do you see what Paul is doing? He’s showing us his track record – and it is impeccable.
What an impressive list of credit cards Paul’s got!
Ritual… race… religion… respectability… Paul’s got the lot.

 

2. And yet the bottom line is that God is not impressed with our credit cards.

It’s like standing in front of an automatic teller machine. You put a card in.
And the machine promptly spits it out with the message: ‘Card not accepted.’
You try another one – but the result is the same.
Credit card religion! It does not work.

 

What credit card are you trying to palm off on the Lord? On what do you base your standing with God?

What are you looking at to give you confidence regarding your eternal destiny?
The credit card that says you’ve always lived a decent sort of life? Respectability?
Or the one that tells that your parents were good Christian people? Race?
Or maybe the one that shows you’re baptised and go to Lord’s Supper? Ritual?
Or the one that says you keep the Lord’s Day holy and attend church regularly? Religion?

 

Some people have an amazing variety of very good credit cards. We just looked at Paul’s.

But think of some of the great people in the world.
Mother Theresa, who worked with dying beggars in the streets of Calcutta.
Jim Elliot, who gave his life to reach Auca Indians in Ecuador. Impressive!
Trouble is, if we could use even those things as credit cards, God is still not impressed.
In fact he doesn’t accept any of our credit cards at all. Full stop.

 

Paul says: Whatever credit cards I had… I had to cut them up.
Humanly speaking they were all to my gain… they meant a lot to me.
But in the end I had to consider them as loss… damaged… useless!

 

3. Paul is picturing the futility of trying to make it with God by our own efforts.

Credit cards aren’t really credit cards anyway, are they?

They are really ‘debit’ cards… because as soon as you use them – you owe.

In the same way we are always in debt with God. All our good works are tainted by sin.
Credit card religion does not work.
You can’t impress God that way. You can’t pay Him off like that.

 

Jesus taught that in the gospels. Do you remember the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee?

The Pharisee in the temple (in Luke 18) came with a pocket full of credit cards too.
Thank you that I’m not like other people God.
I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of all I get.
But Jesus said: that man’s credit cards were worthless.

 

Jesus said that on the last day there will still be people trying to impress God.
Lord, Lord, we did some amazing things. We even preached in your name.
But the Lord will say: Depart from me I never knew you.
Respectable family? Hard work in the church? Humanitarian aid?
Sorry to disappoint you – card rejected… try again.

 

C] THE ONLY CREDIT THAT COUNTS.

 

1. Paul makes a rather amazing statement about all those positive things in his life.

And they were positive things… good things… humanly speaking.

Paul doesn’t say: I regard all these things as valuable credit cards.
Or: I consider them as Brownie points so that I can score with God.

 

No – He says: I consider them as rubbish… absolute garbage.
And then our NIV is being rather polite. The old King James Version called it ‘dung’.
Think of Paul as saying: All this I consider as raw sewage. It’s a load of crap…!
I’m tempted to use another word but if I do the duty elder won’t shake hands with me later on.

 

Why does Paul talk that way about all those good things in his life?

Because he puts all those things, race, religion, ritual, respectability… next to knowing Christ Jesus.

And then there is no comparison anymore.
The glory of what Jesus did and what He achieved
far, far outweigh all the things Paul ever did and achieved
So much so that instead of seeing his achievements as valuable credit cards…
Paul actually sees them as quite different kinds of cards…
the calling cards the neighbourhood dogs leave on your lawn.

 

What a great contrast between the work of Jesus and our good works.

Alongside of HIS we ought to consider everything else as dung… utter garbage.

 

2. This was something Paul had learnt by experience.

He learnt in a blinding flash of revelation on the Damascus road (Acts 9).

While he was running around trying to manage his relationship with God with his own credit cards…
he suddenly discovered that there is only one card God accepts…
and that is God’s credit card – the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

That’s the only card that impresses God.

And it’s a true credit card – because Jesus has already paid all the costs in full.
All the credit you ever need has been made available by His death on the cross.
On the Damascus road Paul made that discovery – Jesus is the only way.
That’s what gave him that totally new outlook and attitude.
I consider all things loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord

 

3. Paul ends up by showing the outcome of this change in attitude.

No longer does he have to battle for a righteousness… a goodness of his own.

No longer does there have to be that ongoing struggle…
madly trying to find more and more Brownie Points to keep God happy…
always unsure of whether our credit rating with Him is high enough.

 

No! Thru faith the righteousness and the goodness of Jesus becomes ours.
What Jesus achieved is credited to our account.
Righteousness by faith alone – in Jesus alone. What a tremendously liberating thing.

 

Do you see why Paul is so vehement against these false teachers?
Do you understand why he calls them mongrels?
They want Christians to fall back into the old credit card mentality.
That’s what the Mormons want when they come knocking on your door.
It’s what Jehovah’s Witnesses are basically on about.
But Paul had been down that road – with more credit cards than anyone else.
And he became the strongest opponent to it… he knew Jesus is the only way.

 

So let me ask again: what kind of credit card are you trying to palm off on God?
Do you think you are right with God because you’ve always been a good bloke?
Do you think you’re okay with God because you go to church fairly regularly?
Sorry! That’s not going to do it for you. In comparison to Jesus it’s all rubbish!
Only yielding your life to Jesus will do it for you.

 

Do you see why precisely here that Paul urges these Christians to rejoice in the Lord?
Because when you know Jesus then you can joyfully destroy all your spiritual credit cards.
And you can be confident that in Jesus you have all the credit with God you’ll ever need.
And that is really something to rejoice about.

 

Amen.