May 2022 | Philippians pt. 5
Philippians 3 | “not a righteousness of my own”
Start this study by reading through Philippians chapter 3 — but before you do, take a few moments to slow down and connect with yourself and God’s Spirit. I encourage you to close your eyes and take a few deep breaths, feeling with your body as you breathe. As you breathe in and out, note that Spirit is present, is with you, and is experiencing God’s Word with you.
What comes to mind when you read the word ‘righteousness’?
For me, it’s always been a somewhat difficult concept to identify with. It’s always sounded stuffy and religious, and I definitely don’t use the word in my everyday conversations. But after spending more time trying to understand a more contextual meaning of this word, I’ve found I can better identify with my need for righteousness.
In the Discovery Bible, scholars help explain the meaning of “righteousness” as “judicial approval” or “the divine approval of God.” So when Paul writes of righteousness here, he is referring to the experience of being accepted by God. Ah - now that is something I can connect to.
In this chapter, Paul refers to his own experience of accepting the “righteousness of God that depends on faith” versus a righteousness he has earned by his own merit. As the reader, it’s so moving to consider that even Paul, coming from his background and everything he did, accepted the reality that his accomplishments and rigorous religious obedience were not enough to obtain divine acceptance from God the Father. Instead, relationship with Jesus brought him connection with the Father and hope for his eternal future.
Paul’s statements here reflect the narrative of Scripture and the truth we know in our souls. When God created humanity, he created them for relationship. The triune, relational God created people in his image, after his likeness. He created us with a hard-wiring to crave connection with himself and with others for our safety and our flourishing. Sin, ultimately, resulted in broken relationship. It brought distrust, blame, anxiety, and shame. Yet through Jesus, we are offered a restored relationship with the God of the Universe. Through faith, a relationship with Jesus, we are saved.
So, it’s only natural the question of acceptance comes up inside of us. Maybe you are like me and don’t use the word “righteous” to describe your need to feel accepted by God, but it is completely normal there are times we find ourselves wondering, “how does God view me?”. We were created to be connected to our Father, so naturally we long to be accepted, safe, and loved.
Reflect / Take a few moments and consider the following questions.
Consider your regular spiritual life. What’s it like when you approach spending time with God? How do you believe God views you when you want to connect with him?
What’s that like for you? How do you experience this in your body during those moments?
Ironically, it can be so difficult to accept the reality that we are accepted before God. It can be so difficult to believe the gospel and that God the Father views us as his children, that he wants good for us, that we are safe to ask him and approach him with confidence and authenticity. This aspect of the gospel of Jesus can almost feel too good to be true; for some of us, it is much easier to accept that we are sinners in need of a Savior. But to accept that we are given eternal acceptance and life through Jesus - this can sometimes feel like too much to take in when it comes against our own shameful narratives.
And this experience makes sense. As we reflect back to the narrative of Scripture, the human experience of shame is evident throughout. Even from the original sin in Eden, the original disconnect of eternal relationship, shame is immediately present. It is a human experience where we tell ourselves we are bad and fear not only how someone else will view us, but how this affects our connection with them; it becomes a sort of “precursor” to the crushing experience of being disconnected. We anticipate not feeling what we were created for - safe connection in relationship, being accepted, and known - and we end up telling ourselves that it’s because of us. It’s because we’re not good enough, it’s our fault, we missed it, etc. So in a way, shame ends up warning us of the ultimate danger - being alone. So as we discuss “righteousness”, or our relational standing with God, we also wade into the ways in which we view ourselves. Which sadly, for so many of us, includes an aspect of shame.
While shame is a normal human experience, it certainly is painful. We long for connection, yet when we feel the risk of not being accepted by others, shame can be the first experience that comes up. And for most of us, if you feel shame with other people, you most likely feel it with God. And as we consider the words of Paul in this chapter, he doesn’t necessarily address a shameful internal narrative, but he does talk about the ways in which following Jesus had changed the ways he believed he earned safe connection with God. He lists all the ways in which he had “confidence in the flesh”, the ways he felt secure, like he was living a successful life in front of others and God. Yet he shares that he “suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish” for the sake of knowing Jesus. Even Paul addressed the ways he sought acceptance by God. Following Jesus caused him to shift his own internal narrative - instead of relying on his own ability to experience right standing before God, he was relying on Jesus to receive the “righteousness” or “right relationship” with the Father.
As we follow Jesus, our internal narratives will change. We are receiving a new, safe relationship and Jesus is teaching us the way of following him in acceptance. He is slowly transforming the ways we have learned to be safely connected with others through perfect connection and love. We don’t have to earn or prove anything or even save ourselves from rejection, and we can remember the words of Paul as we continue on our faith journey. As Paul went through his own internal change, he writes that he had not yet “obtained” a total-life transformation through his faith. He had not yet fully “actively accepted” what was offered to him, and to all of us, through Jesus. But he was looking onward to continue accepting his eternal reality through Jesus (v. 14).
Reflect / Take a few moments and consider the following questions.
What’s it like to read that shame “warns” us of relational disconnect?
How do you experience shame in your relationship with God? What’s it like for you when you feel this?
Can you place a time in your life outside of your relationship with God where you have felt this same emotional experience before? What was happening for you then and what purpose did shame have in that moment for you?
If you can, imagine sharing your answers to the previous questions with God. What would it be like to tell him about that moment and your experience with shame? If comfortable, prayerfully share these things out loud.
Our shame narratives tell us that our relationship with God is important. We long to be accepted by him; and this, too, is understandable. Of course we crave connection and acceptance before God - it is in our spiritual DNA! And as this chapter comes to an end, there is such a beautiful reminder of our acceptance, not just spiritually but physically.
Paul shares mournfully about those who oppose the way of the cross, who revel in the current world and miss the eternal reality waiting for them, the reality which Christians experience internally through faith. Paul writes that we are citizens of heaven, where we await a Savior, who will “transform our lowly body to be like his eternal body.” Even as we experience our earthly journey of receiving salvation, experience righteousness, and living in response to this new reality, we press on towards an eternal hope. Even in our bodies, where we feel the tension of this faith transformation, we will be made new. Our Savior will come and transform our bodies into something eternal, modeled after his own body, and live connected with him forever. As we walk this journey of faith, a relationship with Jesus, we are walking towards eternal and complete relationship with him. In our trial, the gospel tells us that we are not alone; and as we struggle to accept the righteousness of Jesus as our own, he looks at us and says, “Behold, I am making all things new.” For now and into eternity.
Meditate / Take a few moments to meditate on the sentence below as you finish this study today.
“As you seek to experience safe connection with God, you are not alone. Jesus is with you in your current state of faith and following him. He is moving towards you, in this moment, and into eternity.”