Ever thought of the saving power of Christ as a detergent / washing powder? Oh, come on! It’s in Revelation (7:14). With a little bit of imagination, one could easily imagine the whole process as an advert – how it dissolves all the little dirty cookie-jar sins and roll-in-the-mud stains we’ve had from childhood on. Close up on the fabric – whoops, there it goes! Up, up and away! This is a SUPERpowder!
So, what now? Guess we can chill! We have received ab-so-lution! In fact, this SUPERpowder is so effective, it might have just dissolved our response-ability.
Guess again.
Paul writes in Philippians 3 about absolution – by talking about righteousness. Almost as if it was a court case, and God, the Judge, has to deliver the verdict. And He simply declares us righteous (i.e. we have no sins) because we believe in Christ.
Guess again.
Rather, for reasons I have set out in my previous post, Paul thinks that righteousness means
to know Christ, to share in the power of his resurrection and to share in his suffering.
Paul has just upheld Jesus as the ultimate example (Phil 2:5-11) – and he wants to follow Christ’s way even if this means that he, too, must die. In fact, Paul is not saying: “I am free of sin, thanks to what Jesus did for me!” but rather: “I wish I could be like Jesus – and put other people’s needs before my own!” (Phil 2:1-5).
Paul is not really into chilling on a sofa with his new sparkly white clothes. Or a synagogue, for that matter. He wants to live a life of sacrifice – which means that he needs to put other people’s needs before his own. That is how he will have the right relationship with God.
OK, so what crappy SUPERpowder is this, then? (If you are affronted by my use of the word “crappy” – well, Paul used it too – in Phil 3:8). Is … Revelation … wrong … or lying? Definitely not. Paul still views Christ’s death (and life) as the way through which we get righteousness. Especially the faithfulness of Christ (3:9). Through Christ’s faithfulness – and his obedience (2:8) – the way has been opened so we can live a life of righteousness – that is, consider other people as more important than ourselves.
Bottom line: belief in Jesus Christ is not the point at which we receive righteousness, but rather the starting point of a righteous life. Which means, incidentally, daily sacrifice (3:7ff).
I live in South Africa. We have one of the greatest divides between rich and poor – with reference to money AND power – and many of the rich consider themselves to be Christians (and therefore, of course, absolved of sin and righteous). Why? Because they believe in Jesus and confess Him as Lord. Methinks Paul would hotly disagree with them. Methinks Paul would rather say that if they do not step away from their riches – or help other people with these riches, they would be failing in living a righteous life!
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