Hold True To What We Have Attained

“Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, Join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.” (Phil 3.16-18)


There will be more to say about this section in connection with the final verses of Philippians 3, but let’s focus on the first line for now. Since my job involves a lot of study time, it is common for me to come across arguments against the gospel message. I’m sure many of you find these things during your study as well. When coming across these writings I would encourage your first instinct to be to hold true to what you have attained by way of your faith, which comes by hearing the word of God. Unfortunately, it seems many first question their faith, rather than the highly deceptive document they are reading, written by a Bible critic (and yes, many of them are totally inaccurate, and meaningless). Give it time, and criticize the writing as carefully as they criticize the Bible, and you will see that their claims are often completely bogus. There are a few things I commonly notice in such material:

1. They make themselves the authority on the subject. For example, critical scholars will say things like, “we know that Daniel was written in 165 BC, not hundreds of years earlier, because his prophecies begin to lose accuracy at that point.” It is my estimation that they are completely wrong about the meaning of Daniel’s prophecies, as many are the prophecies in Revelation. Since the very basis on which they decide 165BC must be the date is not valid, neither is their belief that it was written hundreds of years later than the book claims internally (not to mention they are questioning the integrity of Scripture). They have a huge burden of proof. But rather than bear the burden, they just speak as if they know the facts already. Daniel’s dating is just one example. The same goes for Paul’s authorship for some of his epistles. Their assumptions are inaccurate, and therefore so are their conclusions. These leads to the next common flaw I notice.
2. You know the Bible better than they do. I must admit that there are brilliant Bible scholars with whom I have huge disagreements. In many ways these men are far above my level of expertise in Scripture. But it seems they sometimes miss the simplicity of Scripture. But I’m not talking about these individuals so much as I am the skeptic. Skeptics often try to make arguments from Scripture, as if they really understand it. With a few minutes of study it becomes clear that they have no understanding of the passage in question, or its context. Do not be fooled by poor use of Scripture. Many times, they will selectively leave out significant parts of a passage they are using counting on the fact that people will only look at their quotation. Most, if not all, documents I read questioning the integrity of Scripture, or the character of God, abuse the Bible text. This leads to the final thing I notice about most of these writings.
3. They masterfully craft their documents to deceive. Unfortunately, those who are good at creating doubt in the minds of others are able to spin their ideas into what seems to be an air-tight argument, at least on the surface. I do not always think these individuals are setting out to deceive others. Many of them are self-deceived. They have reason to doubt there being a God, or Christ being the answer to sin, etc. They don’t want to be told what to do, or how to live. Few of us really do. The power of prejudice is unmeasurable. Peter said of such people, “they promise you freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption” (2Pet 219). Speaking of the skeptic, Peter says, “they deliberately overlook this fact...” he goes on to discuss the actions of God in the history of man (2Pet 3.3-7).
   

Although I am first to admit the need to challenge our faith- we might need to change our views in certain areas-- we must also remember to hold true to it until the evidence truly denies it. If anything should be doubted, let it first be the claims of men, often based in false assumptions, not the integrity of Scripture.

I Count Everything As Loss

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ...” (Phil 3.7-8).

After his experience on the road to Damascus, Paul gladly gave up all the benefits and privileges that came from being who he was. King Manasseh may be the only other biblical figure who turned his life around as completely as Paul; however, there is no doubt that Paul had a much greater influence. If you feel like you are too far gone to receive God's grace, remember Manasseh and Paul.

Greek scholars like to point out the vulgarity of the word translated “rubbish” in our text. Paul uses a word most of us would not dare say in our own language (it has been tamed in translation for that very reason) to describe how worthless his past life was compared to the life he found in Christ. Whatever it is we think we are gaining in the world, it is not worth sacrificing “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ.” Many earthly endeavors are fine, and do not stand in the way of service to God. But those that do must be “counted as loss for the sake of Christ.” There are some things we just need to count as "rubbish" if we want to gain Christ.