Nothing Compares To Christ

What if the very things you’re proud of are the same things keeping you from real joy? We open Philippians 3 with Dr. Timothy Mann and slow down long enough to do what Paul urges: count, assess, and evaluate what we’re truly trusting in. Not just the visible stuff like money and comfort, but the hidden anchors too, reputation, achievement, and the need to control outcomes. God gives good gifts to enjoy, yet Jesus warns that life is not defined by the abundance of possessions, and that tension forces an honest look at what’s been running our decisions.

From there, we walk straight into Paul’s sharp warning about spiritual counterfeits. Dr. Mann explains the background behind the Judaizers, the early church debate over law and grace, and why “faith plus something” is not the gospel. We talk about works righteousness, religious pride, and why adding rituals or performance to salvation always shifts attention away from Christ. You’ll also hear a clear reminder that good works matter, but they follow saving faith, they never purchase it.

Finally, Paul lays out his own religious resume and then calls it loss compared to knowing Jesus. That reversal is the heartbeat of the passage: no confidence in the flesh, no boasting in self, and no measuring ourselves by man-made standards. If you’ve felt stuck, anxious, or joyless under the weight of trying to prove yourself to God, this message points you back to grace and to the righteousness that comes from God by faith. Subscribe for more biblical teaching, share this with a friend who needs clarity on grace, and leave a review with the line that challenged you most.

Transcript

Foundations Of Truth Opening

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You're listening to Foundations of Truth, the radio and podcast ministry of firm foundations. Our mission is to help you build your life on the unshakable foundation of God's Word, rooted in Scripture, anchored in the grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Each week, Dr. Timothy Mann opens the Bible to bring clarity, conviction, and encouragement for everyday life. What if everything you've been counting on wasn't enough? What are you trusting in? Your background, your achievements, your efforts? Today on Foundations of Truth, Dr. Timothy Mann walks us through Philippians 3, where the Apostle Paul explains what he once trusted in and why he gave it all up for something far greater. Nothing compares to Christ. Let's join Dr. Timothy Mann now.

Tangibles Intangibles And Lost Joy

The Word Count And Self-Assessment

Philippians 3 Read In Full

Paul’s Triple Warning Against Legalism

SPEAKER_01 0:48

It's easy for us, I mean, let's be honest. It really is. It's easy for us to get wrapped up in things, isn't it? I mean, some of you may be super spiritual, and that's not ever an issue for you, but I think that it's easy for us to get wrapped up in things. Now, and it's not only the tangible things that we can see, such as cars and houses and money and those kinds of things, but also in the intangible things. It's easy to get wrapped up in the intangibles, such as reputation and achievement, or control. Control the situation, control the circumstances so that they will turn out the way I want them to turn out. I know, listen, we got a bunch of control freaks in this church. Yeah, it's true. I know because I am one. And I see how you live your life and do your thing. And, you know, we all like to have control. That's an intangible thing, though, that we get wrapped up in. The Apostle Paul writes in verse 7, and we'll get to it, but he writes in verse 7 about what things were gained to me. What things were gained to me. And then he also mentions that in verse 13, which I'm not going to touch base on really this morning, but he mentions that in verse 13. He talks about things which are behind. And things which are before to come. Things. And in the Apostle Paul's case, who is the human writer of this letter, it's the Holy Spirit's the author. In Paul's case, some of these things were intangible. Such as religious achievements, a feeling of self-satisfaction, even morality. Those are the things that he's talking about. I believe we today can be entangled and entrapped, snared by tangibles and intangibles. And as a result, what happens is we lose our joy. We lose our joy. But even the tangible things are not in themselves sinful. I want to remind you of that because God made things. And the Bible declares that these things are good. Genesis 1, verse 31. God knows that we need certain things in order to live. Matthew chapter 6 talks about that. In fact, the Bible says in 1 Timothy 6, verse 17, it says he gives us richly all things to enjoy. Isn't that good? Yeah, he does. He gives us all things richly to enjoy. But at the same time, Jesus in Matthew chapter, or excuse me, in Luke chapter 12, verse 15, Jesus warns us that our lives do not consist in the abundance of things that we possess. Quantity does not assure quality. Many people who have the things that money can buy have lost the things that money cannot buy. I want you to understand right before we read this passage this morning, key word, in my opinion at least. The key word in Philippians 3, verses 1 through 11 is the word count. Count. In the original language that this letter was written in, in the Greek language, two different words are used, but the basic idea is the same. And it means to evaluate or to assess. Assess. Socrates once said, the unexamined life is not worth living. The unexamined life is not worth living. And yet, I believe, including myself, far too often over the course of my life, few people ever sit down to weigh seriously the values that control their decisions and control their directions. I want to suggest to you today that many Christians are the slave of things. Both tangible and intangible, and as a result, far too many of us do not experience real Christian joy. I know I fit in that camp far too often. In Paul's case, the things he was living for before he knew Christ seemed to be very commendable. A righteous life, obedience to the law, and a defense of the religion of his fathers. But none of those things satisfied him or gave him acceptance with God. Like most religious people today, Paul had enough morality to keep him out of trouble, but not enough righteousness to get him into heaven. I think that's the case with a lot of religious folks. It was not the bad things, quote unquote, that kept Paul away from Jesus. It was good things. And what had to happen was Paul had to lose his religion to find salvation. In Acts chapter 9, one day Saul of Tarsus, the rabbi, met Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And on that day, Saul's values changed. And when Saul opened his books to evaluate his wealth, so to speak, he discovered that apart from Jesus Christ, everything he had lived for was only garbage. And he explains in this section that we're going to read just now. He explains in this section that there are really only two ways to count. Two kinds of righteousness, if you will. Let's read the scripture. Chapter 3, beginning in verse 1. The Bible says, Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For to me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware of the mutilation. For we are the circumcision who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has confidence in the flesh, I more so circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. Concerning the law, a Pharisee. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church. Concerning the righteousness which is in the law? Blameless. But what things were gained to me, these 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 and be found in Him. Not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith, that I may know him, 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. This is the word of God. Talking this morning about what really counts. What really counts. Verses 1 through 6. Let's kind of go back through that and walk through it, okay? Can I just teach for a few minutes this morning?

unknown 9:30

Good.

How Judaizers Entered The Church

SPEAKER_01 9:30

I'm going to anyway, so here we go. The Bible says, in verse 1 through 3, he mentions some things here, and he says, finally, by the way, I need you to know at this point it doesn't mean that Paul's about to close the letter because he doesn't. He keeps on going. The word means for the rest. For the rest of this. That's what I'm going to do. And he introduces a new section. He actually gets to finally in verse 18 of chapter 4. But here what Paul does is in verses 1 through 3 is he warns the believers at Philippi again, like he did before. He warns them again, and he says, Look out for dogs, look out for the workers of evil, and look out for the mutilation. Beware of these things. Now the question is, it's a good question, to whom, who in the world is Paul referring to in this triple warning? Well, the answer takes us back to the early history of the church. From the very beginning, the gospel came to the Jew first. See Acts 3.26 or Romans 1.16. He mentions that. So that the very first seven chapters of Acts deals only with Jewish believers or with Gentiles who were Jewish proselytes. But then in Acts 8, verse 5 through 25, the message went to the Samaritans. But that really didn't cause too much of an upheaval. That was kind of okay because the Samaritans were at least partly Jewish. But when Peter went to the Gentiles in Acts chapter 10, that caused an uproar. I mean, it created a real problem. Peter was called on the carpet to explain his activities in chapter 11. I mean, after all, the Gentiles in Acts chapter 10 had become Christians without first becoming Jews, and this was a whole new thing for the church. Peter explained that it was God who had directed him to preach to the Gentiles, and that seemed to have settled the matter for the moment. But it was not settled long because Paul then was sent out by the Holy Spirit to minister especially to the Gentiles. Peter had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles in Acts chapter 10, and Paul followed his example now on his first missionary journey. And it did not take long at all for the strict Jewish believers to oppose Paul's ministry and come to Antioch teaching that it was necessary for the Gentiles to submit to Jewish rules before they could be saved. That disagreement actually led to the conference in Jerusalem, which is described for us in Acts chapter 15. And the result of that conference was the approval of Paul's ministry and a victory, it seemed, for the gospel of the grace of God. Gentiles actually did not have to become Jewish proselytes in order to become Christians. That's good. But the dissenters were not content. They were not content. Having failed in their opposition to Paul at Antioch in Jerusalem, they followed him wherever he went. They tried to steal his converts and his churches. Bible students, Bible scholars, call this group of false teachers who try to mix law and grace Judaizers. Judaizers.

Partner With Foundations Of Truth

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Today's message reminds us that nothing compares to knowing Christ. And that truth changes everything. At Foundations of Truth, we're committed to sharing that message clearly and faithfully, day after day, week after week. If you're being encouraged, would you please consider partnering with us? Your support helps bring biblical teaching to others who need it. You can visit us online at firm-foundations.org. Let's return now to today's message. Let's open God's word to Philippians chapter 3 with Dr. Timothy Mann.

Faith Plus Works Is No Gospel

No Confidence In The Flesh

Paul Audits His Religious Credentials

The Wrong Standard And New Values

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As a matter of fact, the letter to the Galatians was written primarily to combat this false teaching. It's this group of Judaizers that Paul is referring to here in Philippians 3, verses 1 through 2. And he uses three terms to describe them. See what they were? Dogs. There's some irony there because the Orthodox Jew would actually call a Gentile a dog. Paul here calls these guys dogs. And he's not just using names. What he's doing is he's comparing these false teachers to dirty scavengers so contemptible to decent people. Patty and I watched a movie the other night. It was about the lost boys of the Sudan. I don't have time to give you the background on all that, but during 2000, several Sudanese orphans, young adults, came here as a result of the genocide and the war that's still going on in Dufar today in the Sudan. The movie showed this one Sudanese guy working at a grocery store. The grocery manager was telling him how to stock the shelves and so forth, and he said, now you need to be sure and always replenish the dog food because uh it's it's you know it goes quickly. And he said, people buy food for dogs here. Couldn't believe it. Because the concept in so many countries outside of our country and other countries is that dogs are just scavengers that roam the streets trying to find any kind of refuge they can to eat. Like these dogs, these Judaizers, snapped at Paul's heels and they followed him from place to place, barking their false doctrines. They were troublemakers and carriers of a dangerous infection. He calls them dogs, he calls them evil workers. See, the problem here is these men taught that you were saved by faith plus something, plus good works, especially and particularly the works of the law. But Paul here states that their so-called good works are actually really evil works. Why? Because they're performed in the flesh, performed by the flesh and not by the spirit. And what happens is they actually glorify the worker and not Jesus Christ. Hey, listen, read Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 through 10. Read Titus 3, verses 3 through 7, and God's word makes it clear that nobody can be saved by doing good works, even religious works. The Bible makes that very clear. We need to understand this morning that a Christian's good works are the result of your faith, not the basis for your salvation. They're the result of your faith. He calls them the mutilation. Here, Paul uses a pun on the word circumcision. You might say, I don't know what that is. Google it. Alright. The word, the word circumcision literally means a mutilation. That's what it means. Literally, the word means a mutilation. The Judaizers taught that circumcision was essential to salvation because that was the physical sign that God had told Abraham to do as a part of the covenant for all males. So the Judaizers taught that circumcision was essential to salvation, but Paul states that circumcision of itself is only a mutilation. That's all it is. And then he goes on to say immediately that the true Christian, who's experienced a spiritual circumcision, a circumcision of the heart, does not need any fleshly operations at all. Circumcision, baptism, the Lord's Supper, tithing, or any other religious practice cannot save you from your sins. None. Only death, only the death and the resurrection of Jesus and saving faith in Jesus Christ can do that. And in contrast to the false Christians, Paul describes these true Christians here in verse 3. He says, He worships God in the Spirit. A true Christian worships God in the Spirit. You don't depend on your own good works, which are only of the flesh. He rejoices or boasts in Christ Jesus. You know what I've come to realize? I'm looking back at my own life and I think, my goodness, how many times did I do this? Here's what I have come to realize as a pastor, especially. People who depend on religion are usually boasting about what they have done. Listen to the conversations. People who depend on religion are usually boasting about what they have done. Listen, we need to understand this morning the true Christian has nothing of which to boast. We have nothing of which to boast. Our boast is only in Christ. We don't rejoice in what we've done, we rejoice in what He's done. We rejoice in Jesus. The popular religious philosophy of today is the Lord helps those who help themselves. It was also popular in Paul's day, and I want to tell you this morning, it's just as wrong now as it was then. It's just as wrong now as it was then. By the word flesh here has no confidence in the flesh. Paul means that old nature, that old aspect of the old nature that we have when we're born. The Bible, understand this morning, the Bible has nothing good to say about the flesh. Nothing. Nothing good. And yet it's amazing that most people today depend entirely on what they can do themselves to please God. And yet the Bible has nothing good to say about the flesh. As a matter of fact, the Bible says that the flesh only corrupts God's way on earth. It says that it profits nothing as far as the spiritual life is concerned. It has nothing good in it. Romans 7, 18. No wonder, based on everything the Bible says, no wonder we should have no confidence in the flesh. A lady was arguing with her pastor about this matter of faith and works. I'll use no names to protect the innocent. Or the guilty, however you want to look at it. She said, I think that getting to heaven is like rowing a boat. One or his faith, the other or his works. If you use both, you get there. If you only use one, you go around in circles. Pastor said, There's only one thing wrong with your illustration. Nobody's going to heaven in a rowboat. That's an absurd answer because it shows the absurdity of what she was saying. There is only one. Listen, there is only one good work that takes a sinner to heaven, and that's the finished work of Christ on the cross. That's it. Nothing else. Let's look at verses four through six. By the way, Paul was not speaking from an abstract view here, from theory, from an ivory tower. He's not. He's talking about personal experience here. He personally knew the futility of trying to attain salvation by the means of good works. I mean, he had done it all. Sat at the feet of Gamelel, the great rabbi. His career as a Jewish leader himself was a promising one, yet Paul gave it all up. Gave it all up. Now, this is an intensely autobiographical section. And Paul examines his own life. He becomes an auditor, if you will, who opens the books to see what wealth he has. And what he actually discovers is that he is bankrupt. That's what he discovers. He kind of goes down the list. He was born into a pure Hebrew family. He entered into a covenantal relationship as far as they were concerned when he was circumcised. He was not a proselyte, nor was he descended from Ishmael, which was Abraham's other son. He was not descended from Esau, who was Isaac's other son. No. The Judaizers would absolutely understand Paul's reference here to the tribe of Benjamin, because Benjamin and Joseph were Jacob's favorite sons. They were born to Rachel, who was Jacob's favorite wife. Israel's first king came from Benjamin, after whom Saul is named. He is his namesake. Even. The little tribe was even faithful to David during the rebellion under Absalom. Paul's human heritage was something to be proud of. And when measured by that standard, he passed with flying colors. He even said, as touching the law is concerning the law, I was a Pharisee. As touching the righteousness which is in the law, I was blameless. Verses 5 and 6. To the Jews of Paul's day, even right here, a Pharisee had reached the very summit of religious experience. The highest ideal that a Jew could ever hope to attain. As a matter of fact, if anybody was going to heaven, it was a Pharisee. He held to Orthodox doctrine. He tried to fulfill the religious duties faithfully. Now today, we're accustomed to using the word Pharisee as a synonym for what? Hypocrite. Somebody who's self-righteous. That usage was not prevalent in Paul's day. Measured by the righteousness of the law, Paul was blameless. He kept the law, he kept the traditions perfectly. But it's not enough to believe the truth. You also have to oppose lies. Paul defended his Orthodox faith by persecuting the followers of that pretender, Jesus. He assisted in the stoning of Stephen. And after that, he led the attack against the church in general. Even in later years, Paul admitted his role in persecuting the church. Every Jew could boast of his own blood heritage. The interesting thing about that is they can take no credit for it. Some Jews could boast of their faithfulness to the Jewish religion, but Paul could boast of all those things plus his zeal in persecuting the church. Well, how could a sincere man, I mean, he was sincere. How could a sincere man like Saul of Tarsus have gone so wrong? The answer is this. He was using the wrong measuring stick. He was using the wrong standard by which to measure himself. Just like that rich young ruler and the Pharisee in Christ's parable, Saul of Tarsus was looking like we do a lot of times. Saul of Tarsus was looking on the outside and not on the inside. He was comparing himself with standards set by men, not by God. Remember, by that time there were 613 laws that they'd made up. As far as obeying outwardly the demands of the law, Paul was a success. But the problem is, is he did not stop to consider the inward sins he was committing. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus made it very clear that there are sinful attitudes and sinful appetites, as well as sinful actions. And so when he looked at himself, and then he looked at others, Saul of Tarsus considered himself to be righteous. That was the problem, wasn't it? But one day he looked at Jesus Christ, but it all changed then. It was then that he changed his evaluations and his values. And he abandoned works righteousness for the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_00 25:39

Thank you for listening to Foundations of Truth with Dr. Timothy Mann. Visit firm foundations.org to learn more or support the ministry. Join us tomorrow. We will have part two of this study on Philippians 3 and the Apostle Paul.