What Is A Christian? (2)

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When our daughters were just babies and young kids,

I can remember Julie changing their eating patterns at various stages of their growth.

There came a time when even as young babies where the milk alone was insufficient in and of itself

to be necessary for their continued health and natural growth as little baby human beings.

So I remember Julie at first with each of them beginning to supplement their milk

with this disgusting watery substance that she tried to convince me was cereal.

That's what she said it was at least.

I don't think it was cereal.

It was something nasty looking.

But whatever it was, it had a certain amount of nutrients in it that was able to supplement

the milk that the girls were getting so that they were able to continue to grow and feel more full

and get the nutrients that they needed that maybe the milk didn't quite provide.

But there came a time when this quote unquote cereal was also insufficient.

And so it wasn't that they could just have the milk and the cereal now.

They needed something else.

And so Julie would go by the jars or she would get a blender and she would put some green beans

in a blender and she blended up until it was real nice and mushy and gross.

And she would begin feeding the kids more solid foods in that way.

And eventually that wasn't enough.

And they worked into chopped up proteins and then so on and so forth until they got to be

the age that they are now.

And they pretty much eat anything and everything that they want to eat.

They never gave up milk.

In fact, even still today, you're going to see Ashlyn or not Ashlyn, but Harper most of the time,

if she's going to ask for a drink, she's going to ask for milk.

But even as babies and as young kids, there was never a time where they gave up milk completely.

In fact, most of the time when you saw them as young children, even toddlers,

they had a bottle of milk somewhere around in the stroller or in their hand or in their bag.

They always had something like that, even though their regular meal and the regular nutrients

that they got was coming from the chopped up chicken or the mushed up peas or whatever it was

that they had at that particular season.

But no matter how prevalent the milk was, no matter how necessary the milk was to their diet,

ultimately, it was still insufficient in and of itself to continue to help them as they grew

and to continue to give them the nourishment and the nutrients that they needed.

The early church was fighting a form of false Christianity that viewed the doctrine of Jesus Christ

in a similar way to my girl's diet.

The teaching of Christ was certainly present and it was even prevalent and predominant in their theology.

But they viewed Jesus as insufficient in and of himself to provide salvation apart from

their own religious works, their moral deeds, and their own especially Jewish structures.

The church leaders in the New Testament fought this and they contended with these people,

confronting the deception over and over as we read the Bible.

And we looked at many of those instances last week.

The New Testament writers warn of the false teaching time and again,

and Jesus confronted them head on.

And even taught that our enemy, Satan, is insistent on inserting counterfeits

every time that God starts a truth or plants a truth.

We see that in the parable of Matthew 13.

God plants the seed of his word and he begins to grow into wheat according to the parable.

But during the night, the enemy comes along and sows tares among the wheat.

And it takes time for the wheat and the tares to grow.

And even in the earlier stages of their growth, they look exactly the same.

It's impossible to tell the difference between what's the wheat and what's the tare.

They look the same on the outside.

They use the same language.

They use the same Christian verbiage.

All the things look very similar.

But the longer that they continue to grow, the more evident it becomes

which one is the true and which one is the false.

And so Jesus confronted this over and over.

Well, the false teachers that Paul anticipated being a problem to the Philippian church,

we talked about last week, are known as Judaizers.

And their deception wasn't always easy to notice because their language was very Christian.

They didn't deny the person and work of Jesus Christ.

They actually believed that Jesus was the Son of God.

They believed that Jesus died a death that in some way or form helped atone for the sins of mankind.

They believed in the power of his resurrection.

They believed that he really did raise from the dead.

And it was a part of their theology.

It wasn't that they taught that Jesus was bad or that he was wrong.

What was so deceptive is that they taught that Jesus just wasn't enough.

They insisted that through Jesus had to be supplemented by conformity to the Old Testament law.

And they had a particular fixation on two components of that law.

One was circumcision and the other was certain dietary restrictions.

They believed that because of their obedience to this religious code,

that they were in fact the true people of God.

That those who would just accept Jesus and his teaching and his death and his resurrection alone

were not actually the true people of God.

That you must also take that knowledge of Jesus,

pair it with religious works and conformity to the Old Testament law

in order to achieve true salvation.

And so Paul uses the entire chapter of Philippians 3 to reemphasize what true Christianity is.

And all the way through the chapter, he contrasts the true against the false.

The true Christian versus the false Christian.

As we have studied in these first three verses,

he does that really head on as he confronts these Judaizers

and their approach to the Philippian church.

In verse number two, he deals with three warnings as it relates to these false teachers.

And in verse number three, he highlights three identifying marks of a true Christian.

The change of focus comes for us through a transitional phrase

in which he proclaims that we are by implication the true circumcision.

And of course, that comes just after he states in verse number two

that these Judaizers were of the false circumcision.

He uses the word concision.

Let's read the verses together again just to refresh our memory

and then we'll jump into our notes for the day.

Finally, my brethren, in verse one, rejoice in the Lord.

To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous,

but for you it is safe.

Here's the warning.

Beware of dogs.

Beware of evil workers.

Beware of the concision.

For we are the circumcision.

By implication here, you could put in brackets,

we are the true circumcision.

Which worship God in the spirit,

rejoice in Christ Jesus,

and have no confidence in the flesh.

Three warnings against the false.

Three truly identifying marks of the true Christian.

Now, before we jump into the three marks,

I want to take just a moment to once again trace a few instances

where the New Testament writers confronted this false teaching.

In fact, we could go to a number of different places

and look at all of the defenses that they made

in defense of justification by faith alone in Jesus Christ.

The first one is in Romans chapter four.

It's really the first 12 verses.

Romans chapter four in the first 12 verses.

Paul uses a defense against this false doctrine

that specifically points out the fact

that Abraham was saved prior to his circumcision.

The Judaizers and the Jews especially,

they correlated their place in God's family

as the children of God

with also being synonymous with being the children of Abraham.

They took great pride in their national heritage.

And they believed that just being the children of Abraham,

which was seen in the surgical operation of circumcision,

or at least as a woman would be believed this to be,

it would be a matter of their intellectual thought

and their belief and their faith and their heart.

They believed that this is what made them

the true children of God.

But Paul points out in Romans chapter four

that Abraham was actually counted as righteous before God

on the basis of his faith

prior to him taking the sign of circumcision.

So Paul's first defense against the Jews and the Judaizers

was even the very one that you say you belong to in Abraham

was not even saved by circumcision or obedience to the law.

The law did not even come to be in existence

for hundreds of years after Abraham.

And his own obedience to God's command for circumcision

for he and those that would follow him

came after God had already declared him righteous.

Let me read a portion of it to you.

Paul writes,

And then he illustrates that.

Paul says,

In other words,

those who work for their salvation,

salvation is not actually a gift of grace.

It is actually in some way an indebtedness that God has

for the individual that has compiled his good works.

And so Paul says,

simple logic tells you that work salvation

has nothing to do with God's grace.

But to him that worketh not,

but believeth on him that justifies the ungodly,

his faith is counted for righteousness.

And then if he skipped down just a few verses,

if you happen to turn to it,

he goes on and he says,

Cometh this blessedness then by the circumcision only

or upon the uncircumcision also

to those who are circumcised or also to the Gentile?

And then he answers,

For we say that faith was counted to Abraham for righteousness.

And how was it counted?

Not in circumcision,

but in uncircumcision.

So Paul's first defense against these Judaizers

is the very one that you even claim to follow in this

was counted as righteous before God

before actually obeying the law.

Now then this is in conjunction with Romans chapter two.

Write down that reference.

You can check it later.

Romans chapter two,

verses 25 to 29.

In this defense,

Paul mentions that the true people of God

is not a matter of national heritage,

nor is it a matter of religious affiliation.

The true people of God is a matter of the heart.

Here's what he says as a part of that section of verses.

He says,

For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly,

nor is circumcision outward and physical.

But a Jew is one inwardly.

And circumcision is a matter of the heart

by the spirit,

not by the letter.

So Paul's first defense in Romans four

is Abraham was justified before God.

He was counted as righteous before God

on the basis of his faith prior to his obedience.

And then his second defense is,

being the true people of God

is not a matter of your affiliation

or of your heritage.

The true people of God is a matter of the heart.

Now Paul mentioned in the book of Galatians,

in fact, the entire letter of Galatians

is written to confront the Judaizers

and their assault on the churches

in the region of Galatia.

In fact, if you really want to dig deep

into how Paul confronted this specifically

in his churches,

start with the book of Galatians.

It will tell you so much there.

But in chapter two,

Paul mentions two things

as a part of this defense.

One, he says that if the Judaizers are right,

then Jesus is a liar.

And then he says,

if the Judaizers are right,

then the death of Christ is pointless

and it's in vain.

Here's what he says in Galatians two.

He says,

but if while we seek to be justified by Christ,

we ourselves also are found sinners,

is therefore Christ the minister of sin?

God forbid.

When Paul was writing to the Galatians,

the Judaizers he was dealing with there

weren't as focused on circumcision

as they were focused on dietary restrictions.

And as he's writing to these Galatian churches,

he brings up a specific instance

when Peter falters

and he begins to capitulate

to some of the Judaizers

in order to save face

in front of the Judaizers

that had come from Jerusalem.

He separates himself from the Gentiles

and he begins to associate with them instead.

Before the Judaizers had shown up,

Peter was happy to participate

in all of the eating

of whatever food he wanted to eat

with the Gentiles.

And he enjoyed it

and he liked it

and he reveled in it

because that was his freedom in Christ.

But as soon as the Judaizers showed up,

he got insecure

about eating things

that were against the dietary restrictions.

And so he left the Gentiles

and he stuck closely to the Judaizers,

making it seem like

he was agreeing with them

about salvation coming on part by works.

So Paul's confronting that

specifically to the Galatians.

When he writes in this verse,

he says that if those of us

who follow Christ

and by implication

eat whatever we want to eat

because Christ has lifted

these dietary laws,

if that means that we're actually sinners

because we've done that,

then you have actually made Christ a liar.

Because in Mark chapter eight,

Jesus made it very clear.

What goes into the body

does not defile a man,

but that which cometh out of the body

defiles a man.

For from within the heart

is adulteries and fornications

and murders and licentiousness

and a whole list of things

that Jesus goes through.

And his whole point was

what goes into the body

isn't a matter of defilement

as far as I'm concerned.

It's actually what is in the heart of a man.

And so Paul writes and he says,

if you're going to demand

these types of restrictions,

what you end up doing

is making Christ a liar.

And then in the last verse

of that section of verse 21,

he says,

I do not frustrate the grace of God

for if righteousness came by the law,

then Christ is dead in vain.

If it was possible for us

to earn salvation in some way,

even with religious commitment,

even if knowledge intellectually

of Jesus Christ is a part of that,

then what was the point

in Jesus's death?

If his death was insufficient

to make an atonement for our sin,

then what was the point

in it to begin with?

So if you're going to attach a legalism

to the doctrines of Christ,

what you end up doing

is rendering the doctrine of Christ

and his death as vain and pointless.

And then the last one I'll give you

before we jump into verse three

is perhaps the most famous dealing

with this evil doctrine.

It's in Acts 15.

Write that down.

Acts 15.

If you've studied the book of Acts recently,

you know that this is

the Jerusalem council.

This topic of circumcision

and dietary laws

had come up

among many of the churches.

And in the early church,

they were navigating

how they needed to approach it

and what the truth was about it.

In Acts chapter 15,

Acts 15 · chapter mention

Peter is the one

that ends up making

the defense of justification

by faith in Christ alone.

Here's what happened.

Verse number seven.

When there had been much disputing,

Peter rose up

and said unto them,

men and brethren,

you know how that a good while ago

God made choice among us

that the Gentiles by my mouth

should hear the word of the gospel

and believe.

He's referencing a man named Cornelius,

a Gentile who had come to faith

because of the preaching of Peter.

Peter witnessed it

apart from the law,

apart from circumcision,

apart from dietary restriction.

Peter witnessed it

and the Holy Spirit

confirmed it on the man's life.

And so Peter goes on to say,

and God,

which knows the heart,

bear them witness,

giving them the Holy Ghost,

even as he did unto us

as Jews that believed.

And God put no difference

between us and them,

purifying their heart

by faith.

faith.

And then he confronts the Judaizers

and he says,

now therefore,

why tempt ye God

to put a yoke upon the neck

of the disciples,

which neither our fathers

nor we were able to bear.

But we believe that through the grace

of the Lord Jesus Christ alone,

we shall be saved,

even as they shall be saved.

Then all the multitude

kept silence

and gave audience

to Barnabas and Paul,

declaring as they did

what miracles and wonders

God had wrought

among the Gentiles

by them.

Here's the final defense

and the most powerful defense.

That Gentile conversion

in Acts 15

had been confirmed

by the Holy Spirit

apart from the law.

Peter says,

you know,

you have heard the stories,

Barnabas and Paul

give representation

to theirs as well.

How that they went

and they preached the gospel

to the Gentiles,

not only did they believe,

but apart from circumcision

and apart from dietary restriction,

apart from conformity

to the Old Testament law,

not only did they believe,

but God demonstrated

his acceptance

of their faith

and their justification

through Christ alone

by giving them

the Holy Spirit

and showing us signs

of the power

of the Holy Spirit

on their life.

So Peter and Paul

and Barnabas

come to this Jerusalem council

in Acts 15

and they say,

we gotta leave off

these restrictions.

This legalism

is not necessary.

These people

are believing

the same way

that we believe

and accept

and apart from circumcision,

apart from the law,

the Holy Spirit

is demonstrating

his power

as would only be evident

in a redeemed,

regenerate person.

And so as we study

the defense

of the early church

and the defenses

of the early New Testament church,

we begin to see

how we too

should defend

the gospel

of justification

by Jesus Christ

alone

and faith in him.

The same defenses

that the early church used

is the same defense

that we are to use today.

When someone approaches you

with a Christian label

that says,

yeah,

I'm a Christian,

yeah,

I believe Jesus.

Yes,

I pray to Jesus.

Yes,

I believe in his death.

Yes,

I believe in his resurrection.

The test is not

in their intellectual knowledge.

The test is,

is it Jesus Christ alone

that you trust?

And if they say

my salvation

is found in Christ

plus my baptism,

that's a false Christian.

They're strapping

on the works of the law

to the gospel of grace

and they render Christ's death

as insignificant and vain.

And if they say,

yes,

I trust in Christ

but I have also prayed

through my rosary

and I've had this system

of prayers

and I've lit a number

of candles

and I've gone through

a number of processes

and I've done the catechisms

and I've done the Eucharist

and I've done the communion

and I've done all the things

and I go on visitation

and I share about Jesus

to other people

and I serve the poor

and I help the widow

and I help the orphan.

If they attach anything at all

to Jesus Christ alone

for salvation,

it is not a true Christian.

And what they end up doing

without intention

is they make Christ a liar

and they render his death

pointless and vain.

So when you approach people

in your life

and a witness

and they tell you,

yes, salvation is by this

but it's also by this.

These are the defenses

that we use.

Not the defenses

of our own logic,

the defenses

of the Bible

and the defenses

of the church

that have stood

the test of time.

How can you know

the false versus the true?

You get really familiar

with what the real thing is.

So Paul uses verse number two

to say warning,

beware of dogs,

beware of evil workers,

beware of the concision.

And then he says,

get to know the truth.

And the more familiar

you are with the truth,

the easier it's going to be

to spot the counterfeit.

Some of the counterfeits

are elaborate

and they're difficult

and it's hard

to wade through it.

But Paul gives us

one of the most

comprehensive descriptions here

of what a true Christian is

in all of the Bible.

And he says,

here is the true Christian.

Here's the marks.

Here's how you know

the difference

between the counterfeit

and the true.

They worship God

in the spirit.

They rejoice

in Jesus Christ.

They take no confidence

in the flesh.

They worship God

in the spirit.

They have no confidence

in the flesh

and they joy

in Christ

Jesus.

notice that

these marks

do not produce

salvation.

Did you notice

the difference

between the false marks

and the true marks?

Look with me again

in verse number two.

Beware of dogs,

beware of evil workers,

beware of the concision.

For we are the

true circumcision,

which worship God

in the spirit,

rejoice in Christ Jesus

and have no confidence

in the flesh.

The marks

of the true

do not speak

of what you do.

The things

in verse number three

are not things

that you do.

They're not actionable.

They don't speak

of function.

They speak

of attitude,

of spirit.

They don't produce

salvation.

They only give evidence

of an inward reality.

But each of these

three marks

do represent

a different facet

of our response

to the gospel.

And that's how

I want to frame it.

First thing,

write it down quickly.

True worship.

True worship.

It's the first mark.

Worship God

in the spirit.

Christians are

fundamentally

worshipers

of God.

In fact,

that's the whole

purpose of salvation.

God has made it

possible for us

to bring him

the glory

that we were

created to give.

And through

the imputed

righteousness

of Christ

by faith,

we are then

made to be

true worshipers

by the indwelling

power of the

Holy Spirit.

But there's a lot

of confusion

about what

worship actually

is.

The Judaizers

would have said,

of course we

worship.

We worship

faithfully

and committedly.

But worship

is not a mere

external practice

of religious

rituals

that takes place

in a specific

dynamic

or place.

True worship

is a matter

of the heart

and is ultimately

exercised in our

spirit before

ever being

demonstrated

in an outward

form.

True worship

is not what

you do.

It is your

response to

who God is

and what

he has

done.

Many Christians

define worship

in a way

that is only

meant to be

an element

of praise

or recognition.

For instance,

many only think

of singing

when they

consider worship.

Churches will

have a staff

member that they

call the worship

pastor and really

what it is is the

music director.

It's their song

leader.

But what they

correlate in their

minds to worship

is really just

limited down

to singing.

But true worship

is really a matter

of how you live

your life.

It's all

encompassing

in the thoughts

and actions

of a true

Christian.

It's our

response to

the wonderful

grace of God

that has been

given to us

in the gospel.

Our worship

does not provide

salvation.

It's a response

to our

salvation.

For the true

Christian,

every moment

of your life

is an act

of worship.

every decision

we make

is to be a

response to

the character

of God

and what he

has done

for us

in Jesus

Christ.

And limiting

worship

to an external

ritual

actually angers

God.

Samuel wrote

that he told

King Saul

that hath the

Lord as great

delight in burnt

offerings and

sacrifices as in

obeying the voice

of the Lord?

He says,

behold,

to obey

is better

than sacrifice

and to

hearken

than the fat

of rams.

Turn with me

quickly.

I want you to

see this.

Isaiah chapter

one.

Isaiah chapter

one.

Listen to what

God says to

the nation of

Israel.

Isaiah chapter

one,

verse number

11.

Verse number

11.

God says,

to what

purpose

is the

multitude

of your

sacrifices

unto me?

That was

the external

worship.

That was

the way

they went

through their

worship

rituals,

sacrifices,

the whole

system,

celebrations,

festivals,

the new

moons,

all of

these things

God had

outlined in

the law

for them

to observe.

But he

says,

to what

purpose

is the

multitude

of your

sacrifices

unto me?

Sayeth

the Lord.

I am

full of

burnt

offerings

of

rams.

In other

words,

I am

sick and

tired of

burnt

offerings

of

rams

and the

fat

of

fed

beasts

and I

delight

not

in the

blood

of

bulls

or of

lambs

or of

e goats.

When you

come to

appear

before me,

who hath

required

this at

your hand

to tread

my

courts?

Bring

no more

vain

oblations.

Incense

is an

abomination

to me,

God says.

The new

moons

even

the

solemn

meeting.

Solemn

meeting,

a reference

to the

holiest

of days.

Day of

atonement.

Your

new

moons

and your

appointed

feast

my soul

hates.

They are

a trouble

unto me.

I am

weary

to bear

them.

And when

you spread

forth your

hands,

that is

in praise

and in

song,

I will

hide

my eyes

from you.

Yea,

when you

make many

prayers,

I will

not hear

you.

Your

hands

are full

of blood.

Wash

you,

make

you clean,

put away

the evil

of your

doings

from before

mine eyes.

Cease

to do

evil.

Learn

to do

well.

Seek

judgment.

Relieve

the

oppressed.

Judge

the

fathers.

Plead

for the

widow.

And

then he

says,

come

now

and let

us

reason

together,

saith

the

Lord.

Though

your

sins

be as

scarlet,

they

shall

be

as

white

as

snow.

Though

they

be

red

like

crimson,

they

shall

be

as

wool.

What's

the

whole

point

in what

God

is

telling

the

nation

of

Israel

there?

He

says,

all of

this

external

stuff

you're

doing,

I

don't

care

about

it.

Keep

your

sacrifices,

keep

your

incense,

keep

your

new

moons,

keep

your

festivals,

keep

your

holy

days.

I

don't

care

about

the

external

worship.

What I

care

about

is

your

heart.

And

if

you

will

come

to

me

in

faith

and

you

will

trust

me

and

you

will

call

out

to

me

then

I

will

accept

your

sacrifice.

Then

I

will

accept

the

new

moons

and

the

Sabbath.

Then

I

will

take

into

account

the

holy

days.

God

is

not

interested

in

mere

outward

forms

of

religious

worship.

He

is

interested

in

the

genuine

nature

of

your

heart

and

your

spirit.

So

Paul

says

the

first

indication

of

a

true

Christian

is

somebody

that

doesn't

worship

the

Lord

in

spirit.

The

Judaizers

cared

all

about

the

outward

part.

They

cared

about

the

circumcision

and

the

laws

and

they

cared

about

the

meetings

and

the

Sabbath

and

the

holy

days

and

the

festivals

and

all

the

things.

That's

what

they

cared

about.

That's

what

they

wanted.

But

God

said

that's

not

it.

Those

things

can't

help

you.

Those

things

are

to

be

a

sign

to

you

of

the

salvation

I

provide

alone

through

my

son

Jesus

Christ.

There's

a lot

of

people

that

say

they're

Christian

and

guess

what?

They

go to

church

every

single

Sunday.

They

don't

miss

a

Sunday.

They

will

find

their

place

in

worship

at

10

o'clock

every

Sunday

morning.

They

will

sing

the

songs.

They

will

open

their

Bibles.

They

will

take

the

notes.

They

will

serve

in

the

ministries.

But

all

they

care

an

evidence

of

true

worship.

True

worship

is a

matter

of

your

spirit

towards

God.

And

while

we're

there,

I'll

just

mention

how

guilty

we

can

be

of

often

judging

the

sincerity

of

another

person's

heart

on

the

basis

of

their

outward

forms

of

worship.

How

guilty

are

we

as

Christians

of

judging

a

person

and

their

worship

on

the

basis

of

whether

or not

their

voice

is

loud

enough

and

their

hands

are

high

enough

or

their

tears

are

wet

enough.

And

when

we

do

that,

we

contribute

to

an

error

that

says

that

worship

is

summed

up

in

an

external

performance.

That's

not

true

worship.

True

worship

is a

matter

of

your

heart's

response

toward

God

and

it's

not

limited

to

a

church

service.

It

is

all

encompassing

every

moment

of

every

day

of

your

life.

So what

does

worshiping

God

in the

spirit

actually

mean?

In

contrast to

the

Judaizers

who

viewed

worship

as an

external

exercise,

true

Christians

are

concerned

with

their

spirit

towards

God.

God

I

will

have

you

turn

there

we

don't

have

time

now

but

if

you

write

down

John

chapter

four

John

chapter

four

Jesus

is

waiting

at a

well

in

Samaria

and a

woman

comes

to draw

water

and he

has

this

awesome

conversation

with this

lady

where she

ends

up

trusting

!

In the

midst

of this

conversation

she

says

I

perceive

that

you

are

a

prophet

you

worship

in

Jerusalem

we

worship

in

Mount

Gerizim

now

where's

their

true

right

place

to

worship

and

Jesus

says

you're

in

essence

he

says

you're

you're

too

focused

on

a

place

worship

is

not

about

a

place

he

says

the

day

is

coming

and

the

hour

draw

at

night

and

it

is

even

here

he

tells

the

lady

when

the

true

!

worshipers

will

worship

God

in

spirit

and

in

truth

what's

the

truth

it's

the

word

of

God

what's

the

spirit

our

hearts

response

towards

that

truth

you

say

well

I

worship

when

I

come

to

church

yeah

this

is

just

a

corporate

expression

if

this

is

what

you

consider

your

worship

it

is

far

lacking

your

worship

is

every

day

it's

every

decision

you

make

being

cognizant

of

the

fact

of

who

God

is

and

you

it

is

our

spirit

response

to

him

that's

true

worship

he

says

the

mark

is

true

worship

the

last

two

true

faith

and

true

repentance

true

faith

and

true

repentance

are

the

last

two

marks

he

says

rejoice

in

Christ

Jesus

that's

true

faith

and

he

says

they

have

no

confidence

in

the

flesh

these

are

really

two

sides

of

the

same

coin

the

mark

of

rejoicing

in

Christ

Jesus

has

to

do

with

our

faith

while

the

last

mark

has

to

do

with

what

we

leave

behind

in

order

to

follow

Christ

in

faith

word

rejoice

means

to

boast

and

it

ultimately

refers

to

who's

getting

the

credit

for

salvation

the

Judaizers

give

themselves

the

credit

because

they

did

everything

they

were

supposed

to

do

they

were

proud

that

they

followed

!

the

rules

the

true

Christian

gives

Christ

all

the

credit

it's

Paul

told

the

Corinthians

let

the

one

who

boast

!

boast

in

the

Lord

Jeremiah

said

thus

saith

the

Lord

let

not

the

wise

man

boast

in

his

wisdom

let

not

the

mighty

man

boast

in

his

might

let

not

the

rich

man

boast

in

his

riches

but

let

him

who

boast

boast

in

this

that

he

understands

and

knows

me

God

says

that

I

am

the

Lord

who

practices

steadfast

love

and

justice

and

righteousness

in

the

earth

for

I

delight

in

these

things

declares

the

Lord

what

is

true

faith

true

faith

is

acknowledging

that

it's

actually

only

of

Christ

that

you

can

be

saved

the

battle

between

the

true

Christians

and

the

false

Christians

in

the

early

church

had

to

do

with

what

made

a

person

righteous

before

God

the

Judaizers

believed

it was

their

own

goodness

the

true

Christian

recognizes

that

that's

futile

and

that

it's

actually

only

Christ

that

can

truly

make

you

righteous

before

God

so

then

the

true

Christian

does

not

boast

in

what

they

do

they

boast

only

in

what

Christ

has

done

there's

a

song